1 day Ago By [email protected] (Jay Wilson)
There are plenty of ways to upgrade instant ramen. You can use it in a totally different dish, add canned soup to boost the flavor , or even serve it as a dry, crunchy snack that still pops with taste. However, even when you're upgrading instant ramen, it can feel difficult to escape the seasoning packets that come in each plastic sleeve.
These seasoning packets are what give ramen the majority of its flavor, but they can also leave you wanting more nuance. In cheaper instant ramens, these flavor packets can taste mainly like salt with a hint of herbs or spices -– and even the more expensive ones can be chock-full of sodium and not have a lot of depth to them. Don't fret, though, folks: The good news is that these instant ramen seasoning packets can be easily substituted for more flavorful and often more healthy options.
Choosing a paste instead of a seasoning packet can give your ramen a boost of umami and a touch more body, with certain pastes also providing you with spicy, herbal notes. Unexpected dried ingredients like garam masala or nutritional yeast can add oodles of flavor while also making your ramen a touch more nutritious. Plus, if you're in the mood, you can put together your own ramen seasoning to rival the very best packaged products out there.
1. Homemade ramen seasoning If you want the flavor and ease of an instant ramen seasoning packet without the intense amount of sodium and extra additives, then it's time to roll up your sleeves. Homemade ramen seasoning is a breeze, and you'll usually have the ingredients you need for it in your pantry already.
Most instant ramen packets are made with dried ingredients like dried parsley, garlic powder, and onion powder, which give the noodles a huge amount of taste. Throw these in alongside some crushed bouillon cubes, a little salt, and any other additions you want to make, and you're good to go. The best thing about making homemade ramen seasoning is that it's totally adaptable.
If you want your ramen to have a little more fragrance and pungency, then add in some ground cumin and ginger. If you'd like some extra heat, pop in some chili powder or ground cayenne pepper. If herbs are your thing, sprinkle in some dried oregano or rosemary.
The choice is yours, and you can make that choice without having to put up with half of your recommended daily salt intake in one serving. 2. Miso paste It's a well-known fact that miso paste can improve the flavor of pretty much anything, from mashed potatoes to hard-boiled eggs .
What's slightly less well-known is that you can use it as the primary ingredient in instant ramen. Dissolve the paste in a little water to make a quick and easy broth that will give your ramen a huge amount of flavor. Miso paste has an intense umami note that makes the ramen taste way meatier than it actually is, and because it comes from fermented soybeans, it has a nutty, earthy quality that also adds depth.
It's worth remembering that white, yellow, and red miso all have slightly different flavors. Red miso is a lot more powerful and may leave you with a bolder dish than you'd like. If you want to keep things a little more subtle, go for white or yellow miso.
Keep in mind, too, that miso can be incredibly salty, which is partly what gives it a punchy flavor — but this will likely make it less of an appropriate swap for anyone skipping their ramen seasoning packets because of the sodium content. 3. Soy sauce Why use ramen seasoning when a dash of soy sauce will do? This is probably the simplest substitute out there for your instant ramen flavor packet, but that doesn't make it any less effective.
Using soy sauce instead of ramen flavoring will give your noodles that seasoned quality while also providing a pop of umami. It'll also give the ramen a beautiful, nutty color, which makes it all the more appealing on the eye. Importantly, there isn't just one type of soy sauce.
There are plenty of soy sauce varieties that you can try with your noodles. Light soy sauce may give your ramen a salt-forward flavor, while dark soy will likely give it a little more body and a caramelized note. Sweet soy, meanwhile, will introduce a pop of sugar into your instant ramen.
Some types of Japanese shoyu will have a more aromatic quality, while Indonesian kecap manis will have a syrupy quality. There are so many types of soy sauce to choose from that it can be difficult to keep track. In our opinion, the best way to go is to use a little bit of a few different kinds to give your instant ramen more complexity.
4. Nutritional yeast Cheesy ramen is very much a thing, and if you've even glanced at social media in the last few years, you've likely seen evidence of this. Whether it's folks making carbonara-style ramen or throwing slices of cheese into their regular bowl, the world just can't get enough of the combo of creaminess, tanginess, and soft noodles.
However, there's one secret weapon that can give you restaurant-grade cheesy ramen without the need for a seasoning packet, and it comes in the form of nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is a store cupboard staple for plant-based eaters thanks to its ability to provide cheesiness without any dairy. It's a standard ingredient when making "cheesy" vegan pasta , thanks to its ability to dissolve and turn into a thick, creamy sauce.
It manages to provide this flavor without having a high sodium content, and it doesn't have any fat or sugar. As such, it's the perfect healthy substitute for those artificial flavor packets that give you creaminess and cheesiness — but you may also want to smooth things out a little with some oat or almond milk, as on its own nutritional yeast can sometimes be a little gritty. 5.
Bouillon If you're looking for a substitute that's as close as possible to ramen seasoning, then bouillon is likely going to be the choice for you. Bouillon gives your ramen all of that umami, salty flavor that you likely expect, with different types giving you different notes. Beef bouillon, for instance, will give your ramen slightly more depth and meatiness, while vegetable bouillon will provide herbal notes.
Chicken bouillon, on the other hand, will have a slightly more straightforward flavor along with a punchy saltiness. So why use bouillon instead of ramen seasoning if it's so similar? Well, because ramen flavor packets generally don't come in low-sodium versions, but bouillon definitely does. If you're concerned about sodium but still want that classic taste, then this is the best choice you're likely gonna find.
For chicken ramen flavors, you can also opt for chicken powder. Just remember that chicken powder and bouillon are not the same , with chicken powder having a much more, well, chicken-y flavor, and bouillon generally having a little bit more going on by way of vegetable notes. 6.
Kimchi juice Here's the thing about instant ramen flavor packets: They can give you a lot of saltiness, and a lot of umami, but what they generally don't give you is any sourness or funkiness. If you're looking for that in your meals, that can be a big problem — and that's why you need to sub out these packs for kimchi juice. Kimchi juice is a total flavor bomb for your noodles, giving you intense layers of taste instantly.
As well as the sour, fermented notes that kimchi has in such abundance, the juice also has saltiness, savoriness, a big punch of spice, and a lovely hint of vegetal earthiness. Honestly, don't knock it 'til you've tried it. You can use kimchi juice on its own, and your instant noodles will taste fantastic, but you can also bulk it up even further.
Add kimchi juice and regular kimchi to make a kimchi ramen, which you can then top with all manner of seasonings, meats, or tofu. Alternatively, keep things slightly simpler, and mix in a little sesame oil or sesame seeds with your kimchi juice. If your kimchi is on the milder side, boost the heat with some more gochugaru, or just throw in some regular chili flakes.
7. Garam masala Curry-flavored ramen noodles are a firm favorite. However, even when seasoning packets are piled full of curry spices, they can also have loads of other ingredients in there you might not want.
So, we recommend you simplify things for yourself by subbing in some garam masala. Garam masala literally translates to "warming spices," and they get that warming nature through being toasted before being ground up into powdered form. This toasted nature doesn't just mean that garam masala has a supreme nuttiness and depth –- it also means that you don't have to cook it to release any flavor, which is, of course, perfect for instant ramen.
You can just mix it straight in, and you're good to go. It's vital to remember, though, that garam masala won't dissolve in the same way as a seasoning packet might. These spices don't have any emulsifiers or additional ingredients that can allow them to become a sauce.
You therefore may wish to add another liquid element to smooth out their flavor and texture and prevent them from being too gritty. A little low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth will do the trick, providing moisture without too much sodium or extra flavor that will get in the way of your spices. 8.
Fish sauce If you want the quickest, easiest way to introduce umami to your instant ramen, fish sauce is the way to go. This funky sauce is a standard ingredient in Thai and Vietnamese cooking, and it is prized for its ability to instantly add intense flavor. When combined with a plain-tasting ingredient like instant ramen, fish sauce can give the noodles a pop of savoriness without overwhelming them.
Fish sauce can be used as a seasoning at the end of a cooking process, and as such, you may be able to simply shake milder fish sauces straight onto your noodles and go to town. Fishier-tasting fish sauces may need to be cooked to take the sting out of their flavor, as otherwise they can be just too briny and intense. You may also wish to balance the fish sauce out with some contrasting flavor elements like lime juice and sugar, so that the fermented fish taste doesn't overwhelm things too much.
As well as this, you'll want to make sure you're using a quality fish sauce . A high-grade fish sauce with minimal ingredients will give you a superior flavor, while fish sauces that are clouded with extra additions will just taste muddy and weird. 9.
Chili garlic sauce If you want punch without too much effort, then mixing a chili garlic sauce into your instant ramen can do the trick. Chili garlic sauce gives you the heat of chili and the briny fragrance of garlic and ties it all up in a slick, moist package that keeps your noodles loose. In store-bought chili garlic sauces, you'll usually also get notes of vinegar or another acid and a hefty pop of saltiness, meaning that a little goes a pretty long way here.
Adding chili garlic sauce to instant ramen is as simple as opening your favorite jar and pouring some in. However, if you want to keep things a little more rustic, you can make your own sauce fairly simply. All you need to do is blitz chili peppers, garlic, sugar, vinegar, and salt in a food processor until you have a thick paste.
Once that's done, just simmer everything together for about 10 minutes (we'd really recommend that you wear goggles here, or at least open a window — otherwise, get ready for your eyes to sting!), season it to your liking, and store it in the fridge until you're ready to add it to your ramen. 10. Thai curry paste Thai curry paste can be used for a lot more than just a Thai curry (anyone who's ever used Thai curry paste to transform their dips can tell you that).
One of our favorite things to do with it is sub it in for instant ramen flavor packets to create a Thai-inspired noodle dish. Thai curry paste adds a huge amount of instant, intense flavor to instant ramen. Depending on the paste you're using, you can fill your noodles with spicy, warm, aromatic, sharp, or funky notes.
You really don't need a lot to make a big difference, and it'll completely transform your dish. Having said this, a lot of Thai curry pastes can't be used on their own. While some looser jarred versions out there exist, you can often tell a good-quality paste by its thickness and the density of its ingredients.
It doesn't dissolve as easily as you might think. So, our top tip is to combine your curry paste with a little coconut milk to make a thick curry sauce. Once this is done, dip your instant ramen noodles into the sauce, using a little bit of the cooking water if you wish to loosen it up.
We guarantee that you won't miss the seasoning packet. 11. Ponzu sauce If you want to upgrade your ramen with a single sauce , then you should reach for the ponzu.
Ponzu sauce is like next-level soy sauce, and indeed it starts with that condiment as a base. Rice wine vinegar, bonito flakes, mirin, and kelp are added in, and the whole thing is tied together by a citrus juice. This is traditionally made with yuzu, but other folks make it with lemon or grapefruit juice.
The main thing is that it's tart, sharp, and fresh. The combination of these flavors is pretty simple, but the effect it has is rather stunning. The soy sauce seasons the ponzu sauce and gives it a saltiness and an umami flavor, while the citrus juice balances this out and invigorates the sauce hugely.
The rice wine vinegar adds a slightly different acidic note with a more gentle taste, and the additional ingredients provide further layers of flavor. It's a deceptively complicated combination that will hit most of the main flavor notes without any extra additions. If you want to, though, you can, of course, mix other ingredients in.
12. Gochujang We don't know about you, but we like our instant ramen to have a little bit of heat to it. When we get tired of using the flavor packet to generate that spice, we reach for gochujang instead.
Gochujang is a fermented rice and soybean paste that's heavily flavored with gochugaru, or Korean chili flakes. The fermentation process gives it a funky, sour edge that's balanced with a serious dose of sweetness, and it's also got a punch of salt. We can't forget about the spice, either: Gochujang is fiercely hot.
All of these flavors come together to make something pretty special, with the deep red of the sauce also giving it a pleasing visual impact. Adding gochujang to instant ramen is easy (all you have to do is spoon it in), but you might be a little thrown by how thick it is. You'll likely need to slacken the gochujang with some water or broth to mix it in properly.
When you do, though, it'll turn into a thick, glossy sauce that will coat every strand. 13. Bone broth If you're bored of the broth that your instant ramen seasoning packet makes and just want something a little more, well, mature, then bone broth is the place to be.
Strictly speaking, bone broth isn't a strongly flavored ingredient. In its basic form it can actually be pretty bland, with an undercurrent of fattiness and a gentle hint of umami that can almost be imperceptible. However, bone broth comes alive when you add extra ingredients to it — and when it serves as the base for your ramen noodles, it's pretty special.
By jazzing up your bone broth with ingredients like garlic, ginger, mushrooms, and spices, you can give it a much more rounded taste. Simultaneously, you highlight the natural umami notes in the bone broth itself, with the fat in it smoothing out the flavor of your additions. Everything comes together to make something delightfully complex and wholesome; you basically end up with a classic ramen soup without any of the strange ingredients that can be found in those packets.
14. Mushroom seasoning powder If you've never used mushroom seasoning powder, now's the time to start. This ingredient isn't super common, but those in the know are well aware of how much flavor it can add to the simplest dish.
Homemade mushroom seasoning powder is a simple blend of dried mushrooms and salt, blitzed until fine. This allows the umami of the mushrooms to shine through in all its glory, giving anything you add it to a deeply savory flavor that boosts the meatiness of a dish, without any meat in sight. Combining instant ramen and mushroom seasoning powder is a simple way to season the noodles, or you can use it as an ingredient in a more complicated broth or soup.
You can also find store-bought mushroom seasoning powders that take the hard part (the preparation) out of using it. Bear in mind, though, that some of these store-bought powders may have a pretty high salt content. If you're trying to cut down on your sodium by skipping the instant ramen seasoning, you don't want to undo all your hard work by adding it all back in with mushroom powder.
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