This Easy Ramen Noodle Soup is just how the name suggests — easy! It warms you up from the inside out and is filled with good-for-you ingredients!

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From kids to college students to adults, I don’t know many people who don’t love a good ramen noodle soup. It’s quick, easy and not to mention super affordable! This recipe loses the little packets of powder and replaces it with ingredients you likely already have in your pantry!

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There weren’t a lot of convenience foods like boxed muffin and pancake mix, cup of soup and frozen waffles in our house when I was growing up, but one item I absolutely loved whenever my mom made it for us was instant ramen noodles. She would boil water, toss in the brittle brick of tightly wound noodles, then dump in the contents of that little seasoning pack, which contained not-so-good ingredients, but man, was it tasty!

This recipe takes the idea of ramen noodle soup to a whole new level. You still get the delicious salty flavor that you’re used to in the instant variety, but I use nutritious miso to give it that incredible and irresistible umami flavor. Don’t forget your seasoning — a shake of garlic and onion powder adds a ton of added flavor to this dish — and don’t be shy about the other ingredients you can add to this soup. 

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Make it your own. I usually lay out a bunch of options, let everyone tell me which ones they want and personalize each person’s bowl. I discovered just how much my kids crave seaweed and shiitake mushrooms when I started putting them in my soup and then watched as they shamelessly begged for bite after bite from my bowl.

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Easy Ramen Noodle Soup

This Easy Ramen Soup is just how the name suggests — easy! It warms you up from the inside out and is filled with good for you ingredients!
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Servings: 4
Author: Catherine McCord
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients  

  • 32 ounces chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons yellow or white miso
  • 2 3-ounce packages ramen noodles
  • 4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons mirin
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 cup scallions, green and white, sliced

Optional Additional Ingredients:

  • fresh spinach, nori, wakame, hijiki, arame, chicken, shrimp, cubed tofu

Instructions 

  • In a large saucepan add the chicken stock, water, miso and bring to a boil.
  • Add any optional additional ingredients and cook for 3 minutes or until the ramen noodles are soft.
  • Add the scallions and serve.

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Nutrition

Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 1960mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g
Did you make this recipe?Mention @Weelicious or tag #weelicious!

About the Author

Catherine is a mama of three. A Kentucky girl living in California. Here’s what I know: all kids can be great eaters and mealtime must be easy. I create simple, healthy recipes the whole family will love.

Comments

  1. Have made this many times as you have it listed, thanks so much! Always a hit and the ingredients make great / versatile pantry staples.

  2. […] Healthy Ramen Noodles Kids love | Weelicious.com – Make these fast and easy healthy ramen noodles! They’re free of MSG, but packed with flavor and are perfect for a family on a budget…. […]

  3. Cut the calories and fat by cooking the ramen noodles in a separate pot until they are almost cooked through. Throw out used noodle water. Then place cooked noodles into the miso soup.

  4. to be clear, I mean the ingredients written on the package of ramen noodles, for the noodles (not just the spice pack, and not the ingredients you listed for the recipe) sounds bad.

  5. Yeah, I bought the two packs of ramen and think it’d be helpful if you put other options for noodles in the indgredients list. The ingredients for the noodles don’t sound good.

  6. Mirin is also labeled rice wine vinegar at most supermarkets, I have also found rice noodles at Trader Joe’s in the fridge section, great option and was GF. I halved this and used half a pack of rice noodles. Other half is for Pad Thai, baby!

  7. Just to piggyback on others’ comments about finding the ingredients–I couldn’t find either Miso or Mirin at any of my local grocery stores. Finally went to the nearest Asian market and found both, although I had to ask. It was also a fun experience–my son was fascinated by the live fish, crabs, and frogs! (and so was I, a little…)

  8. This is the second recipe I have tried from your site, and it is delicious! I love the versatility that this recipe has. I have never cooked with miso but will be making variations of this soup to use it up. The soup was pretty salty, but maybe I can dilute it or use a little less miso next time? I appreciate all the comments about finding healthy noodles, as well as suggestions for what to put in the soup. Beyond the ingredient list, I added a little bit of seaweed and small cubes of firm tofu, plus a few drops of siracha. Next time I will try to add more greens or other veggies. Thanks for a great cooking resource!

  9. Love this recipe…I’m going to try your broth with my kids who are nuts for ramen. Conventional brands are a no go, but I find if I buy the organic brands, it’s a guarantee that they are free of MSG and other mystery ingredients, and are usually air-dried instead of deep fried.

  10. I just tried this recipe and it is wonderful! I used 2 T of Minute Miso. I didn’t have mushrooms or scallions, but used a leftover leek, some bits of carrot and daikon radish, and shavings of dried beef. My husband and I both loved the flavor, and felt good knowing how much healthier it was than using the packet that came with the ramen. I’m looking forward to trying different variations. Thank you Catherine!

  11. I am so excited to try this recipe. I’ve been craving Ramen Noodles, but knowing there is MSG in them I’ve had to forgo them. Now I can make my own.

  12. Miso is fermented soybeans so there are trace amounts of alcohol as a result of the fermenting process. Some brands add a little alcohol to enhance the flavor, and there are some brands that do not list alcohol as an ingredient. The alcohol is a very small amount and cooks out when you cook with miso.

  13. I’ve been to four Asian stores in our area and only two of them carried miso. However, all the miso I’ve seen so far have listed alcohol as one of the ingredients. Would love to try this recipe but worried about the alcohol content. It should be minimal since it was listed as the last ingredient. Do all miso have alcohol in them?

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  16. I had a really Hard time finding the miso paste here in Louisville. Finally went to the Asian market and got it. My kids all love this meal. I looked at the label for the miso paste and found out it has MSG! Yikes. Is there a brand that makes miso paste without MSG?

  17. Sadly, most of your recipes still don’t make it into my toddler but mommy and daddy LOVE them! I doubled the stock and seasoning and made this w a bag of chopped up Asian “slaw” mix and a bag of baby spinach, a little shredded rotisserie chicken and fresh lo mein noodles. Such a versitille idea!! Thank you!

  18. Made this last night and we all loved it-even my super picky boys! We always scramble an egg into our ramen so did the same. Delish! Would love a way to cut the sodium still as I found it too salty for my taste. Thanks for your amazing meal ideas. LOVE your recipes!!

  19. We cooked ours with brown rice spaghetti noodles. Pre-packaged top ramen is definitely not healthy. I was addicted to that stuff from childhood through college. 🙂

  20. Yes, miso is high in sodium, but a little goes a long way and it is a great source of Manganese, Vitamin K, Vitamin B-12, and Protein!

  21. Ok find the stuff and made it and then looked at the miso and it is 720mg of sodium per Tbl! Did I get the wrong stuff? I know this is healthier version and I am not being critical just wondering if I bought wrong stuff? It was like a paste? Boys love it though!

  22. Reference…

    And here is a good illustration of just what I’m talking about with that…

  23. I must confess I love Instant Ramen and this was almost as easy to prepare and so rich and delicious and comforting… Children were asleep, while hub and I devour it. I can’t wait to prepare for them as well. I used vegetable stock that I had at home and real onion and garlic (just browned a little in olive oil) since I did not had the powdered ones. It worked great. Thanks!

  24. Made this for dinner and the whole family loved it. My 10 month old ate it up and my hubby loved it too. My super picky 4 yr old didnt eat it but he’ll eat the soup with rice. Thank you for this healthier version of one of my faves! (Just added a tad more soy sauce and onion powder) I used organic udon noodles and diffferent veggies in it. Love this because I know the soup is so versatile- my son will especially like this w/ tofu and rice.

  25. I am so glad to find this. And so funny you just posted. We recently began giving my boys Ramen Noodles and they want them now for lunch. I was not happy knowing all the sodium and fat. I will make a batch of this and try.

    Question: Where do I find Mirin?

  26. What a great idea! And I’m sure my homemade vegetable broth would work wonderfully in this! Mushrooms sounds like such an interesting flavor combo with this.

  27. Hi all! Def lots of “instant” noodles out there in any Asian market to choose from. Fresh or pre-packaged, just read ingredient list & pick. It’s one of my default quick meals which my kids & I love. I add tofu, greens of any type that is available in fridge, radish, sliced boiled eggs, basically whatever is available. Delicious everytime.

  28. I run a blog (www.ramenrater.com) where I review instant noodles every day. I’m up to 650+ unique varieties. As far as healthy additions, try cheese and broccoli – makes the broth creamy and adds vitamins and protein!

  29. Hi Catherine. I’m a vegetarian,would it be okay to sub vegetable broth or will I lose the flavor? Thanks for the great recipes!

  30. I agree, everything in baby steps. For a family who’s using prepackaged soups, small steps count toward big changes. For folks worried about the ingredients in this recipe, make the chicken stock yourself and freeze it. It’s super easy to boil a chicken with some herbs until it’s cooked through, save the stock use the cooked chicken pieces in another dish. You’ll have zero sodium that way. Substitute unhealthy noodles for a healthier version — check out your local Asian grocer – they will definitely have whatever kind of noodle floats your boat. Add more green ingredients as people embrace the new dish. Many years ago, that family would have been ours, and now we never use premade stock, fried noodles, or flavor packets.

  31. I’m def going to try this with Angel Hair RICE noodles! I had no idea that Ramen was so bad! (Deep Fried??) I don’t eat Ramen in my house, but I did as a kid, and do still crave it from time to time…This sounds delicious! Thanks!

  32. Totally agree. It is really generous that Catherine develops and tests these recipes and then choses to provide them for free on her website. I have found lots of good ideas on this site.

  33. You are amazing, and thank you for sharing all your wonderful recipes Catherine! I think it’s just silly how people nit pick and freak out over an ingredient or two. C’mon people….if you don’t like something, substitute or leave it out, geez…

  34. ps. I do love the idea of setting out all the toppings and letting everyone make it their own way!

  35. I’m not so sure the recipe implies you use the same packaged ramen & just toss the seasoning packets (though that in itself is a much healthier option), but that you buy (or make, if you really want to be healthy) the noodles. I buy fresh, refrigerated ramen noodles from an Asian grocer near me, and the ingredients are: wheat flour, liquid whole egg, potassium carbonate, water, cornstarch & salt. They are also most definitely not fried in anyway. I haven’t eaten packaged ramen in years, but often eat authentic Japanese ramen and have never seen them deep fried….or maybe you’re specifically referring only to the packaged ones? Either way, homemade ramen is usually a long, laborious process, so I appreciate a quick & easy way when I need a fix!

  36. Just for you, Joy and Alissa I changed the name to “Healthier” Ramen Noodles. Everything in baby steps. For people giving their kids ramen noodle packs several days a week, I wanted to offer a variation getting away from the MSG packs. There are several brands of noodles of Ramen noodles on the market like Kame that don’t deep fry their noodles and you can absolutely use angel hair pasta!

  37. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to agree with Alissa on this one. I’m shocked to see ramen noodles on your “healthy” list. It’s not just the sodium count or the other junk that’s in the flavor packet that is bad for you. The noodles themselves are deep fried fat, flour, and sugar. I agree that this recipe makes them healthier, but definitely still not healthy. I was thinking you were going to have switched out the regular ramen noodles with something like angel hair pasta. The recipe sounds good, but I’m definitely going to try it with regular pasta instead of deep fried ramen noodles.

  38. You can find miso at grocery stores in the refrigerator section and in health food stores in the asian section as well. Sadly, they don’t carry it Trader Joes, though.

  39. LOVE THIS! We just bought Ramen at the store and would love a healthier version. Can I find miso in the asian section of the grocery store? Do you know if they sell it at Trader Joe’s? Thanks!!!

  40. I just made this for my 2 year old and he slurped it right up. I reduced the amount of miso and also used low sodium chix brother. I added peas and corn, 2 of his fav veggies. Thanks for posting!

  41. I’ve heard that the ramen noodles (in the packaged soup) are fried. Are these the same noodles your using? If not, where in the store do you find them?

  42. What about the excess sodium in the chicken stock and soy sauce? Should probably specify that low sodium or no sodium versions of those would make this healthier. Also some suggestions to liven it up a bit and get some more balanced nutrition in their tummies, add some kale or edamame. You said you make it custom for who is there, which is great, but many readers might appreciate the extra suggestions.

  43. Hi Catherine, have you read the ingredient list for just the noodles? I am generally a huge fan of your recipes and your use of real ingredients, and am therefore surprised that you would promote a recipe as “healthy” and only containing ingredients that are good for your kids when packaged ramen noodles are made with trans fats and other additives. Here is a streamlined list: Enriched Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Salt, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Potassium Carbonate, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Alginate, Tocopherols. I hope you’ll reconsider this post as it stands out as being inconsistent with the rest of the great recipes on your site, and I’m afraid you’re encouraging parents to feed their kids a highly processed ingredient that should be used extremely infrequently, if at all!

  44. I’m going to try this! I haven’t used the seasoning pack in quite a while. I’ve been using soy sauce and sesame oil instead. Love the addition of Miso! I can imagine this brings it to a whole new level!

  45. You are awesome! I just emailed my friend for a ramen recipe because I was craving it. “Healthy” ramen- I’m sold! Love your site. Brown rice pudding is a hit in our family.

  46. Cut up baby bok choy is also a great addition. Looking forward to trying this even though I am not a fan of miso.

  47. I am so excited to make this!! I’m 9 months pregnant and craving Asian food big time, but live in Germany with not a lot of options. Hopefully my toddler will love it too! Thank you so much for another healthy recipe!

  48. they sell large quantities of the noodles in wholefoods instead of buying the ramen… i usually use a tbspn of braggs and my son LOVES them but this is much better! going to try!

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