Miso ramen is one of my favorite soup noodle dishes! I think you’ll love the savory and nutty flavor of the broth. This is an easy ramen recipe anyone can make at home – and it only takes 20 minutes!
Ramen is extremely versatile. In Japan, there are many different types of ramen available depending on what city you are visiting.
For example, if you travel to the south around Fukuoka, you will find that tonkotsu ramen (pork base broth) is their pride and specialty. Tonkotsu ramen wins my heart every time because it was the first flavor of ramen I ever tasted. My mother is from the south of Japan, so I was introduced to flavors from the Kyushu area at an early age.
But since I rarely eat red meat these days (only on special occasions), I have taken a liking to lighter ramen broths such as shoyu (soy sauce), shi (salt), and miso. This miso ramen recipe is one I often make when I want something easy and satisfying.
Table of contents
Miso Ramen Ingredients
- Napa Cabbage: Shredded or finely chopped cabbage adds a nice pliant crunch to the dish.
- Carrots: Peeled and cut into thin strips, carrots will soak up the flavor of the broth while lending their fantastic sweetness.
- Vegetable Oil: Any neutral oil such as vegetable oil or grapeseed oil will work for this miso ramen recipe.
- Garlic: Garlic adds a mild sweet, floral, and spicy element to the stir fried vegetables.
- Scallions: There’s nothing like finely chopped green onions to add a summery, fresh element.
- Ramen Noodles: Feel free to use fresh, dried, or instant ramen noodles.
- Low Sodium Chicken Stock: Since we’re using miso paste in the soup base (which is quite salty), low sodium chicken stock will add a savory element without becoming overpoweringly salty.
- Ramen Egg: While this is an optional topping, ramen eggs are sort of a required topping for ramen noodle shops – and at our house too!
- Miso Tare: For this miso ramen recipe, I’m using awase miso paste, mirin, sake, ginger and sesame oil.
How To Make Miso Ramen
Scroll all the way down to the recipe card to get the full recipe.
- Mix the ingredients for the miso tare in a bowl and set aside.
- In a medium sized pot, heat up chicken stock.
- Then in a separate pot, bring about 6 cups of water to boil.
- In the meantime, in a medium sized pan over high heat, add oil and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add cabbage and carrots and cook for 2 minutes until carrots are tender but still yielding a crunch. Set aside.
- When water is boiling, add ramen noodles and cook. Follow the instructions on the package (usually about 3 minutes). Drain and set aside.
- Divide miso tare evenly between 2 bowls (about 2 tablespoons each).
- Add the ramen noodles and chicken stock to the bowls.
- Top this miso ramen with scallions, cabbage, carrots and a ramen eggs (ajitsuke tamago). Serve hot.
Cooking Tips
- Cook the noodles just short of al dente to prevent them from getting soggy too quickly.
- Add 1 tablespoon to the miso tare to infuse the broth with extra umami.
- Use other ramen toppings such as bean sprouts, menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), chashu (sliced pork), cooked shiitake mushrooms, corn, naruto fishcakes, or a sheet of nori.
- Drizzle some chili oil if you like your ramen to be spicy, or other types of flavored oil. This really adds depth of flavor!
Best Noodles For Ramen
If you haven’t made ramen at home before, you might be feeling a little confused about what type of noodles you should be using.
The general rule of thumb when it come to choosing your ramen noodles is to pick thick noodles for lighter broths and thin noodles for heavier broths. This way you get a nice balance of heavy and light in your bowl.
- Tonkotsu ramen (milky white pork based broth) → thin noodles
- Shoyu ramen (soy sauce broth) → thick noodles
Best Noodles for Miso Ramen
I personally prefer thinner noodles for miso ramen. But in the end, it all boils down to what you like. Don’t fret too much and go with what you are craving.
Storage
Miso ramen cannot be saved for later since the noodles will expand and become soggy.
But you can prep many parts of this recipe ahead of time and save them separately!
- Make the broth and save it in a storage container. It will keep in the fridge for about 5 days.
- Make the ramen eggs and refrigerate them for up 1 week.
- Chop the scallions and save them in a container in the fridge. I always keep a container full of scallions in the fridge since I cook a lot of Asian. It’s a huge time saver and they will keep for about 10 days.
- Make the cabbage and carrot stir fry and save it in a container. Refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pretty much everywhere these days! But to find the best noodles you will have to visit a Japanese or Korean supermarket. They might also be available at an Asian grocery store. The freshest noodles are usually labeled ラーメン in the Japanese katakana syllabary, and can be found in the refrigerated section or frozen section.
Yes it can but because it’s a fermented ingredient, it should last for up to one year. A darker color and a sour smell/taste are signs that your miso paste should be replaced.
Some miso pastes are while others aren’t. Because miso can be made using barley and wheat, it can contain gluten. Make sure to look at the list of ingredients to make sure that the miso paste you are buying is gluten-free, such as the Miso Master brand.
Other Delicious Japanese Recipes
If you are a lover of Japanese food like I am, you might be interested to give these other popular Japanese dishes a try:
- Nasu dengaku
- Japanese curry rice カレーライス
- Japanese restaurant style ginger salad dressing
- Japanese fried rice – Yakimeshi
- How to make onigiri (Japanese rice balls)
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Did you like this miso ramen recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comment section below!
PrintMiso Ramen – ミソ ラーメン
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Noodles
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Japanese
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This is an easy miso ramen recipe that only takes 20 minutes to make from start to finish!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Napa cabbage, shredded or finely chopped
- 1/3 cup carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 scallions, finely chopped
- 2 packages dry or fresh ramen noodles, or egg noodles
- 4 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 2 ramen eggs (optional)
Miso Tare
- 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon ginger, peeled and grated
- 1/4 cup white miso paste or awase miso paste (which is a mix of white and red miso paste)
- 1 tablespoon cooking sake
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients for the miso tare in a bowl and set aside.
- In a medium size pot, heat up chicken stock.
- In a separate pot, bring about 6 cups of water to boil.
- In a medium size pan over high heat, add oil and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add cabbage and carrots and cook for 2 minutes until carrots are tender but still yielding a crunch. Set aside.
- When water is boiling, add ramen noodles and cook and follow instructions on the package (usually about 3 minutes). Drain and set aside.
- Divide miso tare evenly between 2 bowls (about 2 tablespoons each).
- Add ramen noodles and chicken stock to the bowls.
- Stir well and top with scallions, cabbage, carrots and pickled eggs. Serve hot.
Notes
You can substitute tobanjan with a dash of soy sauce and a squirt of sriracha sauce. The result won’t be the same but similar in flavor.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 551
- Sugar: 9.1g
- Sodium: 1046mg
- Fat: 15.9g
- Saturated Fat: 3.8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 68.6g
- Fiber: 4.2g
- Protein: 27.3g
- Cholesterol: 189.5mg
How much is 2 packages of ramen noodles…I have a large package I will need to divide.thanks
Hi Mara! Are the noodles dry or fresh?
love love love this recipe! have made the most delicious (and beautiful!) ramen bowls
Thank you so much Damien! 🙂
I recently developed a serious allergy to all legumes (so soy and every other kind of bean) and have been missing good ramen. Just as an experiment, I tried this recipe subbing shio koji with a dash of mushroom powder for the miso and Sriracha with a little Maggi seasoning (the red cap version) for the tobanjan. It was delicious! Not as good as it would’ve been with real miso, I’m sure, but still fantastic. Thank you!
Thank you so much Claire! 🙂
I made this ramen tonight- it was filling and delicious! I had to make a couple of substitutions (bok choy instead of Napa, rice wine vinegar instead of mirin, dry sherry instead of cooking sake) but nonetheless it was packed with flavor and very satisfying- not to mention super easy to do. Thank you
Thank you so much Sandra! 🙂
This has become a bit of a weekly staple for us. Very yummy
That was unbelievable and so delicious! Easy too. Thank you for this recipe. I found fresh ramen noodles at my local asian grocer. I couldn’t find the Korean Bean Chili paste but subbed with a Chinese version. I even made the Ramen Eggs from your recipe. I’m in love with those and this dish. Slurpy heaven. 🙂
L.O.V.E. this recipe! I make it all the time now when I need a Japanese noodle fix (I lived in Japan for 3 years and now I can’t go long without a ramen boost). I was a little nervous about making ramen at home, but it’s a super easy recipe. (honestly, the video gave me the courage I needed to fire up the stove top… haha!)
Delicious and so easy to make! I love the traditional Japanese flavors, they blend so well together. Thanks for the recipe!
This was wayyy too strong with the sake. it also lacked the complex flavor I was expecting.
Could I still make this dish if all my grocery store has is “minute miso”? (Made by Hikari) If so, how would I subtitle for it? I know it’s more of a liquid than a paste.
I would love to make this, so I have the minute miso can work!
Hi Crystal! I have never tried minute miso but after doing a bit of research I think you can use it and get a similar taste. You will need to use more of it to get the same flavor so I would suggest you try using 1/2 cup of minute miso for the miso tare and start with 1 cup of chicken broth per bowl (instead of two). Slowly adjust the flavor after taking a few sips until you are happy with the taste. Let me know how it turns out!
Thank you so much for responding! I managed to find both red and white miso paste after searching a couple times. Ends up they needed to restock it! This dish was great! I added a little bit of spinach, baby portobello mushrooms, couple pieces of pork and a delish medium cooked egg. Thank you for sharing this recipe!