Easy Chicken Ramen Recipe: How to Make Homemade Chicken Ramen

Chicken ramen is a Japanese chicken noodle soup that features a chicken stock base. The stock for ramen noodles is often flavored with bonito flakes, soy sauce, salt, and miso paste. Ramen can be topped with a variety of ingredients, such as eggs, nori, scallions, bell peppers, red pepper flakes, cilantro, and sriracha.

Ramen noodles are thin, yellow noodles made from wheat. Kansui (alkaline water) gives ramen noodles their unique, springy texture and yellow color. Ramen originated in China, but it became popular in Japan, particularly after World War II, when Americans occupying Japan imported the large quantity of wheat needed to make ramen noodles mainstream. Eventually, the popularity of ramen rose above other Japanese noodles such as soba and udon.

Chicken stock (also known as chicken bone broth) is the liquid—technically a “water extract”—that results from simmering chicken bones with water, often with the addition of meat and aromatic vegetables, herbs, and spices. Simmer the bones for 45 minutes for a light stock, or all day—perhaps taking advantage of a slow cooker—for a richer stock. Roast the bones for depth and color, or blanch them for clean flavor and a lighter color, or use raw bones.

To make homemade chicken ramen, source the best ingredients and prepare the toppings ahead of time.

1. 1. Start with flavorful chicken stock. Ramen chefs spend years perfecting their soup base. You can use store-bought chicken broth in a pinch, but for the very best ramen, invest some time in making homemade stock from chicken wings, backs, or feet. Those parts are high in fat and connective tissue, yielding a silky ramen broth.
2. 2. Add a bouillon cube. It might seem counterintuitive to adulterate your homemade chicken stock with a broth cube, but chicken bouillon cubes often contain monosodium glutamate (MSG)—the molecule that creates the umami flavor. Adding a small amount into your stock will yield restaurant-quality results.
3. 3. Source quality ramen noodles. Fresh ramen noodles, available at Asian grocery stores, have a chewier texture and will hold up better than instant ramen noodles in the soup. In a pinch, you can use a packet of instant ramen—just discard the seasoning packet.
4. 4. Use pre-cooked chicken. Use last night’s poached boneless chicken breasts or braised chicken thighs, or pick up a rotisserie chicken to shorten the time needed to make chicken ramen.
5. 5. Prep toppings ahead of time. Ramen noodles cook quickly. To avoid soggy noodles, make sure your soup base and toppings are ready before you start cooking the noodles.
6. 6. Don't salt the ramen cooking water. Although ramen noodles cook similarly to pasta, you don't need to salt the cooking water since the noodles already contain salt.