This vegetarian ramen recipe is my take on a classic! It’s meal prep-friendly, easy to cook and super customizable as always.
I didn’t start liking ramen until I went to Japan. I’ll never forget finishing off my first full day in Tokyo with a bowl of ramen. It was so intimidating to order from the machine, sit down and try to slurp up my noodles properly. I only finished half the bowl, but it was mind-blowing. The broth is truly everything.
I’ve made ramen at home about a dozen times at this point but haven’t quite gotten it to taste the same. Ramen can be a bit of a project because, as mentioned, the broth is everything and that “everything” takes time!
But lo and behold—this version is something I’m proud of. It tastes really similar to the vegan ramen I tried in Tokyo at this restaurant in Tokyo Station.
How to Make This Vegetarian Ramen Recipe
In this homemade vegetarian ramen, we’re using the fun cheap ramen noodles (sans flavor packet), marinated eggs (optional!), sauteed mushrooms, carrot ribbons, corn, green onion and tofu (optional).
These veggies are by no means traditional for Japanese ramen (although corn is found in ramen from the northern regions of Japan!). These choices were influenced by the colors and textures I wanted in my ramen and as always, the veggies are customizable.
Most of the work you’ll do for this meal involves making the broth, eggs and tofu. And that means you can break it into steps if you want.
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How to Customize this Vegetarian Ramen
So many veggies are great in ramen! Here are some I would use. You can add these raw, but I recommend giving them a quick saute first.
- bell pepper
- eggplant (my fave)
- zucchini
- chopped kale
- sugar snap peas
- regular peas
- cut-up green beans
- sliced bok choy
- shredded cabbage
- bean sprouts
- seaweed (wakame and nori)
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- jalapeno
Tasty Vegetarian Ramen Toppings
To customize this ramen even more, add some of these before you’re ready to eat!
- sriracha or hot sauce
- seaweed (nori)
- bamboo shoots
- lime juice
- butter (adds creaminess!)
- eggs – fried, poached, or boiled
Key Ingredients: What makes vegetarian ramen extra good
To take your ramen to the next level, focus on enhancing the broth.
Load up your broth with kombu (dried kelp which is used to flavor dashi, a common Japanese broth). Kombu is inexpensive and found in Asian grocery stores. It lasts a long time in the pantry and appears often Japanese cooking. So if you’re interested in upping your Japanese food game at home, it’s a great purchase.
Another important broth ingredient is mirin, a type of rice wine for Japanese cooking. Adding mirin to your broth will add a subtle sweetness, and make your broth taste like ramen broth instead of just a regular mushroom broth. Mirin is a great ingredient for teriyaki sauce and definitely something I recommend keeping on hand.
If you don’t want to get kombu and mirin, but still want to add more flavor to your broth, throw in veggie scraps, whole heads of garlic, and big chunks of onion. And if you can’t find dried mushrooms, whole fresh mushrooms are good too!
Replacing marinated eggs
You can use soft-boiled, hard-boiled, or leave them out altogether! Check out the video above on how to get the perfect soft-boiled eggs every time!
For the Protein
If you don’t want to use tofu, tempeh, edamame or seitan would also work in this. Here’s a video on how to make delicious, tasty tofu!
Do you have a meat-eater in your family? You can easily prep meat on the side to add to any ramen bowl. Chicken, shrimp, beef, and pork can be cooked and stored on the side to add to this vegetarian ramen when served.
For the Ramen Noodles
You can use any noodles of your choice if you don’t want to use ramen. I would recommend a longer noodle such as soba, udon, spaghetti, or linguine. Use GF noodles if needed, here is where you can get them!
I like to use the cheap ramen noodles you can find in any convenience store, I just leave the packet out of the meal! But if you have access to higher-quality ramen noodles, go for it.
5 More Vegetarian Recipes To Try
- Vegetarian Shoyu Ramen
- Pineapple Fried Rice with Tofu
- Vegetarian Korean Ramen Recipe
- Momofuku Vegetarian Ramen Broth
- Peanut Tofu Stir Fry with Broccoli, Peppers and Quinoa
How to store and reheat vegetarian ramen
Keep the broth and eggs separate from the other ingredients. This is really important because if you store the broth with the noodles in particular, the noodles may not hold well over the course of a several days.
When you’re ready to eat this vegetarian ramen, heat the broth in the microwave or on the stovetop and pour it over the toppings!
The marinated eggs will last about 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. I recommend letting the eggs marinate for only 24 hours, then drain the marinade and leave them in the sealed container in the fridge. Otherwise they tend to get a little soggy from the marinade.
The homemade broth will last 4-5 days in the refrigerator, but you can also freeze any extra you made! The veggies and protein will last 3-4 days.
Veggie Ramen With Tofu & Marinated Eggs
Ingredients
For the ramen broth
- 1 tsp olive oil or oil of your choice
- 1/2 onion roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic roughly chopped
- 1 inch ginger roughly chopped
- 8 oz shiitake mushrooms sliced, you need 1 small handful for the broth, the rest for the toppings; or white or baby bella mushrooms.
- 32 oz vegetable broth or water
- 2 cups water
- 1 TBSP miso paste veg soup stock paste/cubes or Yondu can work too
- 2 TBSP soy sauce or tamari or liquid aminos, plus more to taste
- 3 packages ramen noodles discard the flavor packet, sub 6-8 oz noodles of your choice
For the veggie toppings
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 carrot peeled into ribbons
- 1 cup corn frozen, fresh or canned
- 3 scallion green and white parts chopped; throw the white parts in the broth!
For the tofu (optional)
- 14 oz package of firm tofu drained and chopped into cubes or rectangles
- 1 TBSP cornstarch or arrowroot starch
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil or avocado oil
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari or liquid aminos
For the marinated eggs (optional)
- 3 eggs
- 4 cups water
- 2/3 cup soy sauce or tamari or liquid aminos
- 1/3 cup mirin
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large pot over medium heat, followed by the onion, garlic, ginger and handful of shiitake mushrooms. Stir frequently and saute over medium-low heat for about 6-8 minutes, until fragrant. Add the broth, water, miso paste, and soy sauce. Stir and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cook, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes. If you wish to cook longer than 30 minutes, cover the pot and continue simmering. Make sure to taste it after 30 minutes and adjust as needed.
- Cook the remaining mushrooms: Add about a tablespoon of oil to a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms with a little salt and pepper and stir. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are fragrant and have shrunk in size. If the pan looks dry while cooking, add a splash of water. Set the mushrooms aside.
- Prep the rest of your vegetables. Throw any scraps into the broth!
- In a medium bowl, gently toss the tofu cubes/rectangles with cornstarch. Heat up the same skillet you used for the mushrooms with the vegetable oil (or avocado oil) over medium heat. Add the tofu to the pan. You may need to do this in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Sprinkle salt over the tofu and let it cook for 5 minutes. Flip and repeat: sprinkle with salt and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the tofu from the pan and repeat the process with the second batch of tofu.
- Add all the cooked tofu to the pan, then add the soy sauce. Gently coat the tofu in the soy sauce so it's evenly covered and cook for 3-5 minutes. Set aside.
- Grab a big bowl and strainer. Pour the broth through a sieve/strainer into a large bowl or glass measuring cup. Discard the scraps (or compost them) and clean out the pot. Add the broth back to the pot. Bring the broth to a boil and cook the noodles (they cook really quickly!). Remove the noodles from the pot when finished. Do not discard the broth!
- Add the eggs and water to a pot. Bring it to a boil, then turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let the eggs cook for 4 minutes for a soft egg and 7 minutes for a harder egg. Whatever you decide, use a timer and time from when you turn off the heat. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of very cold water and let them sit for 5-10 minutes before peeling. Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce and mirin in a meal prep container big enough to hold the eggs. Place the eggs inside and refrigerate.
- Add noodles and toppings (corn, carrots, cooked mushrooms, tofu, chopped scallions) to meal prep containers. Keep the broth and eggs separate. When you're ready to eat, heat up the broth and add all the toppings to the bowl. Pour the warm broth over the toppings. Add the egg and enjoy!
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