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Chicken Ramen in a black bowl topped with egg, carrots and spring onions
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4.91 from 11 votes

Quick Chicken Ramen Recipe

A quick chicken ramen using instant noodles and cooked chicken for a speedy soup with a flavourful broth. Plus tips for that soft-boiled egg!
Prep Time7 minutes
Cook Time13 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: Chicken Soup, Leftover chicken, noodles
Servings: 4
Author Nicky Corbishley

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 tsp minced ginger
  • 1.4 litres (approx. 6 cups) chicken stock (water plus 4 stock cubes is fine)
  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1-2 tbsp sriracha hot sauce depending on how hot you like it
  • 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or sherry
  • 1 tbsp light brown sugar
  • ¼ tsp white pepper
  • 3 cooked chicken breasts shredded (about 340g/12 oz)
  • 210 g (which is 3 x 70g/2.5oz) packets of instant noodles noodles only, discard the flavour packets

Toppings:

  • 5 spring onions scallions chopped
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs sliced in half (buy ready-cooked hard boiled eggs, or see notes for boiling yourself)
  • 1 carrot peeled and sliced into thin strips
  • 1 tsp black and white sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp chilli oil or chilli paste such as sambel oelek – optional

Instructions

  • Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan, over a medium heat, until the butter melts.
    1 tsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • Add the garlic and ginger, and fry for 1 minute, stirring often to ensure the garlic doesn’t burn.
    4 cloves minced garlic, 2 tsp minced ginger
  • Add the stock, light and dark soy sauce, sriracha, rice wine (or sherry), brown sugar, and white pepper.
    1.4 litres (approx. 6 cups) chicken stock, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1-2 tbsp sriracha hot sauce, 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or sherry, 1 tbsp light brown sugar, 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • Stir together, then add in the cooked shredded chicken breast.
    3 cooked chicken breasts
  • Turn up the heat to high, and bring to the boil, then simmer for 3 minutes to heat through the cooked chicken breast.
  • Add the instant noodles, bring back to the boil then simmer for 3 minutes, stirring a couple of times to separate the noodles.
    210 g (which is 3 x 70g/2.5oz) packets of instant noodles
  • Use a set of tongs to divide the noodles between four bowls. Ladle over the sauce and add the pieces of chicken.
  • Top each bowl with springs onions, 2 pieces of egg and strips of carrot.
    5 spring onions, 4 hard-boiled eggs, 1 carrot
  • Sprinkle on the sesame seeds and drizzle on a little chilli oil or chilli paste before serving.
    1 tsp black and white sesame seeds, 2 tsp chilli oil or chilli paste

Video

Notes

How to make the perfect soft boiled egg for ramen

  1. Take an egg and tap the thicker end gently on a hard surface. You should hear a slight ‘cracking’ sound. We don’t want to actually crack the egg shell, just give it a light fracture. This will help to separate the egg membrane from the shell and make peeling easier later.
  2. Place room temperature large eggs in a medium-sized saucepan (no more than 4 in a pan) and just cover with cold water.
  3. Bring to the boil, then simmer very gently for 6 minutes.
  4. Turn off the heat and place the eggs in a bowl of water with ice for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process.
  5. Carefully peel the eggs before slicing in half.
👩‍🍳PRO TIP I like to lightly tap, then roll the boiled egg on the work surface to crack the shell all over before peeling it off.

A note on salt

Stock cubes plus soy sauce means there’s a good amount of salt in there – which is needed for a great ramen. You can replace with low-sodium stock and soy sauce if you prefer.

Make ahead

Make a batch of the broth ahead (without the noodles and chicken). Then you can cool and refrigerate for up to two days. 
Reheat in the pan until boiling, then continue on with the recipe, adding the chicken and noodles.
You can freeze portions of the broth (without the chicken, noodles or toppings), so you can whip up an EVEN QUICKER ramen whenever you like.
Just defrost the broth in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat in a pan until boiling before continuing with the rest of the recipe.

Ingredient swaps

Swap out the instant noodles for dried, fresh or frozen ramen noodles (frozen Yutaka Ramen Noodles are great).
Rice noodles or soba noodles Are good too. Medium egg noodles aren't bad at a push. They have more of a rich egg taste.
You could swap the cooked chicken breasts for cooked shredded chicken thighs if you prefer, or even some leftovers from your Roast Chicken Dinner!

How to scale up and scale down this recipe

You can double or half the quantities, sticking to the same ratios and cooking time.
If you're just making for two, use one pack of noodles for a lighter meal or two packs for more filling ramen.
Nutritional information is per serving - including the toppings.

Nutrition

Calories: 584kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 275mg | Sodium: 3306mg | Potassium: 527mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 3152IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 4mg

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