We use vegetable stock, mushrooms, miso paste, & soy sauce, to give this soup the savory umami flavor we crave in a bowl of ramen noodles. My vegan ramen recipe uses a rainbow of veggies and flavors to create a simple yet filling meal.

Vegetarian Ramen soup in a bowl next to chop sticks, red pepper flakes and green onions.

Whenever I visit NYC, I have to enjoy a bowl of vegetarian ramen. It’s always so delicious and soothing after a cold day walking the streets. I love all the bright colors, as well as the complexity of flavors a ramen dish provides.

It makes me feel fancy when indulging in these flavors, yet the reality is it can be quite affordable to make at home. My recipe is for vegan ramen — and can be modified easily depending on your preferences.

Table of Contents
  1. Origins of Ramen
  2. What Makes This Recipe Vegan
  3. How To Make Vegetarian Ramen
  4. More Vegan Recipe Options
  5. Simple Vegetarian Ramen Recipe
Ingredients for easy ramen including cilantro, radishes, ramen, carrots, mushroom, tamari, red pepper flakes, purple cabbage, bok choy and green onions.

Origins of Ramen

Most people believe ramen originated in Japan, yet it actually started in China. Chinese tradesmen brought their ramen recipe to Japan in the 19th century. What Americans know (and love) as instant ramen, came to America in 1958.

Today, ramen can be found both in 33 cent styrofoam containers, as well as $16+ bowls at fancy restaurants. Vegetarian or not, ramen is a great on the go meal, as well as a fun date-night-in dinner under candlelight.

red colander of bok choy.

What Makes This Recipe Vegan

Ramen noodles are often made with a chicken, pork, or beef broth base. This vegan ramen recipe uses a low-sodium vegetable broth. I have tried ramen both ways, and honestly like the lighter taste and feel of a veggie broth over a chicken broth.

If you want to up the protein, then add in tofu. With ramen, there’s really no wrong way to go! Just a side note, vegetarian ramen can still use a meat-based broth, yet full on vegan ramen should only use vegetable broth.

blue stock of vegetable stock next to a white tray of fresh vegetables.

How To Make Vegetarian Ramen

My vegetarian ramen recipe starts with noodles. Sometimes I’ll load the bottom up with mung bean sprouts first. If you have that option available to you, then I highly recommend it. Otherwise, start with the noodles.

After the noodles go in, then it’s time to load up the bowl with your favorite veggies. I love adding bok choy, shredded carrots and sliced shiitake mushrooms, as well as purple cabbage. The heat of the hot broth helps soften the veggies a bit. If you prefer the veggies to be more tender than crisp, saute or steam the veggies before adding them to the bowl.

Add a little drizzle of sesame oil and tamari over the veggies and green onions. Next ladle piping hot, just-simmered vegetable broth to the bowl next.

Then it’s topping time! Add your favorite toppings – keep this vegetarian ramen simple, or go fully loaded. I go with a basic trio of cilantro, thinly sliced radishes, and red pepper flakes. Other ideas: avocado, tofu cubes, more bean sprouts or microgreens, thinly sliced hot chili, or even a drizzle of sriracha.

rainbow carrots.

Vegetarian Ramen Ingredient Swaps

I try to stay away from gluten, so instead of wheat noodles, I love using Lotus Foods millet and brown rice ramen noodles. They’re super delicious, and I can get a big bag at Costco.

If you aren’t able to find bok choy, swap in swiss chard instead.

Coconut aminos are a great swap for tamari. If you’re not a fan of mushrooms, then why not switch them out with some tofu?

blue stock pot of vegetable stock next to a bowl of vegetarian ramen.

More Vegan Recipe Options

Eating plants doesn’t have to be difficult. I hope you enjoy this vegetarian ramen recipe! The truth is: a little prep, as well as a plan goes a long way in helping you naturally incorporate more veggies into your diet. Check out a few of these plant based recipes:

I challenge you to incorporate 1 plant based meal into your dinner rotation every week. If you already do ‘meatless Monday,’ then try adding in a second plant fueled meal.

Eating more plants doesn’t have to be an all or nothing choice, yet taking steps to add more plants will only benefit you and your family. If you start with the vegan ramen recipe below, don’t forget to leave a comment and let me know how it turned out!

Vegetarian Ramen recipe
4.39 from 97 votes

Simple Vegetarian Ramen

Ramen, the staple food of college students, moves to the head of the class thanks to a plant-based overhaul. Load up this Simple Vegetarian Ramen with your favorite veggies and enjoy!
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 15 minutes
Author: Jen Hansard
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Japanese-Inspired, Plant-Based
Serves: 2

Ingredients  

  • 2 packages ramen noodles gluten-free
  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 head baby bok choy halved
  • 1 cup shiitake mushrooms sliced
  • ½ cup red cabbage thinly sliced
  • ½ cup carrot shredded
  • ¼ cup green onions thinly sliced
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tsp tamari
  • red pepper flakes

For garnish

  • radish
  • fresh cilantro

Instructions 

  • In a pot, bring the vegetable broth to a boil over medium-high heat. 
  • Add ramen noodles and cook according to package directions.
  • While noodles are cooking, get out two wide, deep soup bowls.
  • Add cooked noodles and all your veggies to the bowls.
  • Ladle the hot broth over the veggies and noodles. Drizzle with sesame oil and tamari, and garnish with red pepper flakes, radish slices, and cilantro, if using. Serve immediately.

Notes

  • This ramen is also very good made with miso or mushroom broth.
  • For a grain-free version, feel free to substitute spiralized vegetables such as zucchini or sweet potato in place of noodles.

Nutrition

Calories: 510kcal, Carbohydrates: 76g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Sodium: 1773mg, Potassium: 718mg, Fiber: 9g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 5753IU, Vitamin C: 18mg, Calcium: 61mg, Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe? Show me!Mention @SimpleGreenSmoothies or tag #SimpleGreenSmoothies!

About the Author

Jen Hansard

I went from exhausted mama to running across the Grand Canyon, riding & hiking to the top of the tallest waterfall in North America with my kids. How? I fell in love with the smoothies and plant-based meals you can find on my blog.

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Rating




Comments

  1. 4 stars
    I’ve never had a Ramen bowl but this was so good. Very fresh and a rainbow of veggies. Fairly simple and light.

  2. 5 stars
    Gorgeous to look at; feast for eyes & tastebuds alike. Living in Richmond / Vancouver Canada, we have a huge Asian population so things like bok choy are readily available. For the Ramen noodles, I used organic konjac noodles… konjac flour and oat fibre [“Better than Noodles” brand(?)] current brand available from London Drugs. Almost no sodium, very low cal, high fibre. Ready to eat; just rinse and add. Previous brand they had was partly soy so this one is nice . It’s a Chinese product and the “noodles” are curly like ramen versus the spaghetti version. Used my own broth. Yum!!

  3. 4 stars
    I do not know how to evaluate this soup. It was so different from anything I have ever made or tried. I made one quarter of the recipe and it was like a double portion for me. By the time I got it all together, it was lukewarm, so I microwaved it a minute. The fresh vegetables were better than I expected. I really enjoyed the bok choy which I do not think I have ever had before. I will make this again to use up the rest of the ingredients. Maybe I will get better at it. While I am not that fond of fresh vegetables, they are making me feel healthier.

  4. 4 stars
    This was pretty good! I used gluten-free Ramen noodles by Lotus and subbed coconut aminos for tamari as I try my best to be Soy-free. I had read thst shitake mushrooms need to be cooked do I sautéed them first. I’d make it again!

  5. 4 stars
    Versatile soup dressed up fancy and colourful – what a healthy homemade version of a staple meal.

  6. 4 stars
    It was hard to find just Ramen noodles, but after an all day search I did find them. I added the veggies stock and the noodles and miso, dropped in the veggies. I drizzled tasted sesame oil and tamari over the thinly sliced radishes and it was a meal. Slept like a dog after we did the dishes.

  7. 4 stars
    The Simple Vegetarian Ramen Soup was very healthy, however; it was not as flavorful when I made it and is not one of my ‘favorites’. But I tried it!

    1. 4 stars
      The nice thing about this recipe is how quick it is – no real cooking, just chop the veggies, boil the noodles, and ta da, soup! I boiled the noodles in the broth to not waste the water. The radishes were an odd addition to me, and when I do this again in the future I think I will include some pan-cooked tofu.

  8. 5 stars
    Flavor packed and easily customizable! I couldn’t find bok choy anywhere so subbed in broccoli slaw. Used 1/2 zoodles, 1/2 ramen and Chili Sesame Oil for some heat, yummy.

  9. 4 stars
    I always tell my clients that if they eat ramen, just add some frozen mixed veg! This, of course, was a significant upgrade. I bought the expensive organic ramen at Whole Foods (no flavor packet but still 290 mg sodium!!!) and subbed spinach for the bok choy (couldn’t find it anywhere) and it was good.

    1. 4 stars
      Versatile soup dressed up fancy and colourful – what a healthy homemade version of a staple meal.

  10. 5 stars
    Colorful bowl of tasty ramen and veggies. Served it to houseguests and it was a hit! Let each one customize exactly what portions of veggies and seasonings they wanted. Perfect!