Cooking: Simple ramen noodle recipes

Merkuri · Mar 29, 2009

I always take my lunch to work, and on days when I don't have enough time to prep in the morning or am out of ingredients for a normal lunch I take one of my "emergency noodles", which is my name for a store-bought kit that contains a bowl, pre-cooked noodles, and sauce or broth flavoring (depending on whether it's just noodles or soup). You add water, mix it all up, and heat it in a microwave (or use boiled water).

It's pretty good as far as taste goes, and throwing it together doesn't take that long, but my fiance and I have been trying to save money on groceries lately and I've noticed that the "emergency noodles" I've been buying cost about five dollars a bowl. Even though I only use it once a week on average, that's still a bit much, especially when I could buy a package of six ramen noodles for a buck fifty.

My dilemma is that I don't really like the flavors that come with ramen. I used to, but having gone through a period in college where I ate almost nothing but ramen noodles for a couple years has completely worn the liking for ramen out of me. I don't think its the noodles themselves that I've grown un-fond of, just the flavor packet, which is really too salty for a healthy lunch anyway.

So what I'm looking for is if anyone has any simple recipes of things to do with ramen noodles that doesn't involve the flavor packet or a stove - just a microwave and/or boiled water. I'm imagining that I could make my own "kit" by taking a ramen packet, a bowl, and a little baggy of my own pre-mixed spices or something like that.

So, any suggestions? What spices do you think would make a good ramen soup? Any other ingredients that would be easy to toss together in the morning before work?

Fallen Archon · Mar 30, 2009

Quick spaghetti:

Heat noodles as per instructions. Add sauce of your choice as topping.

Merkuri · Mar 30, 2009

Fallen Archon said:
Quick spaghetti:

Heat noodles as per instructions. Add sauce of your choice as topping.

That might be good, but I work with people a lot of from Italy and they'd probably draw and quarter me for that.

Pbartender · Mar 30, 2009

Merkuri said:
I don't think its the noodles themselves that I've grown un-fond of, just the flavor packet, which is really too salty for a healthy lunch anyway.

So what I'm looking for is if anyone has any simple recipes of things to do with ramen noodles that doesn't involve the flavor packet or a stove - just a microwave and/or boiled water. I'm imagining that I could make my own "kit" by taking a ramen packet, a bowl, and a little baggy of my own pre-mixed spices or something like that.

So, any suggestions? What spices do you think would make a good ramen soup? Any other ingredients that would be easy to toss together in the morning before work?

First, don't use the whole flavoring packet. I've had the same problem -- the packet is too salty -- so I just use about half of it. Or, skip the flavoring packet, and just add a little low salt soy sauce.

One of my favorite quicky ramen recipes is to mix in a big spoonful of chunky peanut butter, and a squirt of hot sauce (Tobasco works, but I like the Sriracha "Rooster" sauce better)... Poor Man's Thai Noodles.

Fallen Archon said:
Quick spaghetti:

Heat noodles as per instructions. Add sauce of your choice as topping.

I once knew a guy in college who liked to eat instant ramen noodles with ketchup...

Mercutio01 · Mar 30, 2009

Something you could do is maybe cook them the night before (or sometime earlier in the week), drain them, and then use them in a stir fry with some veggies and soy sauce.

I know it's not exactly what you were looking for, but might be something to think about?

Wycen · Mar 31, 2009

I also agree that the packet is too salty and don't use the whole thing (unless I haven't had ramen in a long time).

Of course, I end up adding celery salt, so that isn't really any better.

But hot sauce that is a ubiquitous addition for almost anything.

Merkuri · Mar 31, 2009

Pbartender said:
Or, skip the flavoring packet, and just add a little low salt soy sauce.

Oo, that sounds like a good idea and would be pretty simple to put together quickly. I'm surprised I didn't think of it. Do you add the soy sauce to the water after you boil it and have it like soup, or do you drain them and just sprinkle the soy sauce on top and have soy noodles?

I could probably bring in a little teryaki sauce and have teryaki noodles, too. One of the store-bought kits I used to have is basically that.

Pbartender said:
One of my favorite quicky ramen recipes is to mix in a big spoonful of chunky peanut butter, and a squirt of hot sauce

That one sounds a little weirder, but I might try it just once.

Mercutio01 said:
Something you could do is maybe cook them the night before (or sometime earlier in the week), drain them, and then use them in a stir fry with some veggies and soy sauce.

That's an idea, but they're not quite "emergency noodles" anymore if I have to prepare them the night before.

Achan hiArusa · Mar 31, 2009

Throw away the packet, add a generous pinch of chicken bouillon, garlic powder, couple of dashes of soy sauce, and a large pinch of brown sugar. Much better. An egg cracked and thrown in at the last minute then allowed to cook is always good. A bit of lemon juice, some cilantro leaves, ginger, and a few jalapeno slices will also bring out the Thai flavor.

Darn, now I want some. And spaghetti sauce in ramen, yuck. The texture is wrong.

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 31, 2009

I used to cook a lot with Ramen when I was in school- you can't beat a 25¢ hot meal.

But over time, I started jazzing it up.

Typically, I'd add a single chicken bullion cube, some dried mushrooms, canned peas, canned carrots, and a single egg. (When doing this, I wouldn't use much water, since the canned veggies added a fair amount.) I typically added garlic and onion powders and a dash of black pepper.

It tasted good and it looked a LOT more like what was on the package than what you got for a quarter.

Pbartender · Mar 31, 2009

Merkuri said:
Oo, that sounds like a good idea and would be pretty simple to put together quickly. I'm surprised I didn't think of it. Do you add the soy sauce to the water after you boil it and have it like soup, or do you drain them and just sprinkle the soy sauce on top and have soy noodles?

I'd drain it and use the soy sauce. If I wanted broth, I'd use a half packet of seasoning and a dash of soy sauce.

Merkuri said:
I could probably bring in a little teryaki sauce and have teryaki noodles, too. One of the store-bought kits I used to have is basically that.

In fact, any pre-made sauce would work... Teriyaki is good. Sweet & Sour or Duck Sauce is tasty. Spicy Sriracha sauce. You could even try just a little bit of Barbecue sauce, if you get the right one (something sweet or tangy, avoid anything "smoky") and add a little bit of chopped ham.

Here's another one... Curry powder. Just mix in a small spoonful of curry powder to the broth or sauce.

Merkuri said:
That one sounds a little weirder, but I might try it just once.

It's pretty good, but to be clear don't use the peanut butter alone... Reserve a bit of the hot seasoned broth to mix it with so it turns into a spicy peanut buttery sauce.

As I said above, think of it as "Poor Man's Pad Thai".