How to Make Your Instant Ramen Healthier and Tastier

With just a few simple tips and tricks, you can transform the humble instant ramen into a healthier meal —adding nutritious twists that make this classic meal so much better for you!

I think we can all agree, there’s nothing better than enjoying a bowl of noodle soup on a cold winter’s day! But what do we think of when we think of ramen noodles? An inexpensive and easy-to-make cup of noodles with dried veggies and with stock full of sodium and all these other preservatives we can’t even pronounce, right? With the rising demand for healthy, wholesome eating in modern diets, most will often exclude ramen due to this. This is where we say, nay, nay, for like many other dishes, ramen is also changing with the times. But before we get into how it’s changing, let’s talk a little about where ramen comes from!

Ramen was invented sometime in the early 1900’s. It’s come to be a traditional dish that many people believe started in Japan, and while that’s somewhat true, it actually was made with imported Chinese wheat noodles brought over to Japan in the mid 19th century, where restaurants that specialized in Chinese cuisine started selling these noodles soaked in pork broth with limited toppings. From there, ramen would come to be revolutionized in its recognizable instant form in the 50’s, where it gained popularity and is massively produced to this day.  

Since then, people have constantly revamped ramen, using different ingredients and interpretations. Nowadays, people are falling in love with ramen again, especially with how versatile this dish has become, and we’re here to show you a few different ways that you can become a hopeless ramen-tic for ramen and how you can cater it to your diet! 

DIY Ramen & Healthy Ramen Ingredients

Nowadays, ramen is all about variety. From different noodles, stocks, and toppings, ramen can be made in many different ways, and this also includes the ramen that you can easily make at home!

A big reason why people avoid ramen is because the most commonly known ramen isn’t gluten free as it’s most often made of wheat flour, which is something that many stay on the lookout for when deciding on a healthy dish to enjoy. But there are easy alternatives to wheat flour ramen noodles that you can substitute for when making ramen at home. A few gluten free options to wheat noodles are rice noodles, millet noodles, and shirataki noodles to name a few! 

Another big reason is the seasoning packet that comes inside of ramen, while it is delicious, it’s usually chalk full of sodium, preservatives, and other artificial ingredients that most people want to avoid. But taking the first iteration of ramen’s stock (a little salt and some pork bone broth) into consideration, you can easily make your own stock with a few simple ingredients and seasonings to substitute the seasoning packet while making ramen at home. Try simmering a premade bone broth or miso soup of your choice as the soup’s base to save yourself time and garnish with toppings like chili miso oil, seaweed or some ginger sauce! With simple, healthier ingredients, you can make your own, restaurant quality ramen right in the comfort of your own home! 

Try Mason Jarring It!     

DIY your own instant ramen by using mason jars! This is a fun and healthier twist on instant ramen that allows you to enjoy a quick and efficient way to get some ramen in your diet that isn’t the store bought variety and you can take it on the go so if you need a quick and nutritious lunch, this way of making ramen is for you! If you’re stretched for time to make your own bowl of ramen for dinner and have some mason jars handy, you can prep all the ingredients that you enjoy in your typical bowl of ramen and seal it tight in your cabinet for when you’re ready to make it! You can add in dried (or precooked noodles rinsed with some cold water beforehand so they don’t lose their texture) noodles along with bouillion, soy sauce, maybe even a dollop of sesame oil, or any other spices you like, topped with an boiled egg (you can pre marinate it in advance with soy sauce, sugar and water to dilute), green onions and bamboo shoots (if you like)! The ingredients and toppings are endless when it comes to this easy to make meal prep “instant” ramen. We call it instant because when you’re ready to enjoy your meal, like other instant ramens, all you need is some hot water and a few minutes. Enjoy!

Try a healthier instant ramen! 

Okay, okay, so maybe you don’t have time to prepare some ramen jars to enjoy throughout the week, or to whip up a bowl on the fly for dinner, but this doesn’t mean you should bid adieu to ramen. If you really want something as quick and easy to make as the ramen you’d find on the shelves of grocery stores in your childhood, then opt for a healthier instant ramen! 

Like you, these brands all had fond memories growing up with instant ramen in their childhoods only to realize how artificial instant ramen actually was later on, so they decided to change up the instant ramen game! Want a ramen that’s vegan? Chef Woo is the plant based, high protein alternative to the conventionally purchased instant ramen with the same cooking time! On a keto diet? Immi may be the perfect instant ramen choice for you! Or looking for gluten free ramen? Check out Lotus Foods, the certified gluten free, easy to make ramen! There are a number of companies that are changing the instant ramen game so that everyone can get the most out of their meals and so that everyone feels good about eating instant ramen again! Of course, you can 100% make even instant ramen to your own liking; top with your favorite oil, garnish with spices and seaweed, or add in additional protein of your choosing!    

Safe to say that there’s absolutely no one way to enjoy this classic dish, and it’s something that you can cater completely to your tastes and preferences! From healthy instant ramen to making restaurant quality ramen in the comfort of your home, you can make ramen any day whichever way you enjoy it so that you can fall in love with ramen and feel great about eating it as a meal!