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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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?
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:
- Teriyaki Bowl
- Zoodles in a Jar
- Vegan Taco Salad
- Chickpea Tacos
- Loaded Sweet Potato
- Sweet Potato Pad Thai
- Almond Butter and Veggie Zoodles
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!
Simple Vegetarian Ramen
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.
I’ve been looking for a Ramen soup recipe that I like and this one fits the bill! Easy & flavorful. I made it exactly as written and can’t wait to make it again.
You’re so right, this one is super easy to throw together!
Loved this one too! I made it with miso and skipped the red pepper flakes and cilantro. Will be making it again
Miso is a great idea, Manuela!
Simple and tasty ramen! As suggested, I used miso instead of vegetable stock and it was a great miso ramen.
So glad you like this one, Yayoi!
I’m going a little out of order with the soup challenge (due to ingredient availability). Modified it a bit… First, sautéed the chunky part of the bok choy as well as the red cabbage in sesame oil, then took it out of the pot, broth in pot. Meanwhile, cooked some udon noodles and spiralized one zucchini. Drizzled a bit low sodium soy sauce on the zoodles (didn’t have tamari). Added a good squirt of Sriracha and little squirt of white miso paste to the broth. Then dumped everything (udon, zoodles, sautéed and fresh veggies (thinly sliced green onions, green part of bok choy and shaved carrots)) in the pot. Quick stir, off the pot and into bowls. Yummy!
Hi Daria! No worries on going out of order. Sounds like your version turned out great!
Loved this! Added a bit more salt and pepper, as I did in most of the other soup recipes as well.
So glad you liked the ramen!
Day 9 was easy and quick to make and for me that’s a 5 star! I think one could use just about any veggies as the base is receptive to them all. It’s a canvas waiting for paint really. You can add whatever spices and flavors you like. I used 1/2 the ramen to lower the carbs and I think next time I make this I’ll cook the ramen separately.
You’re so right, K.B. You can’t go wrong with any veggie in this one!
Not my favorite soup. I’m not a huge fan of cabbage or bok choy. It also seemed a little bland to me. I think more tamari might have helped…
Hi Becky! More tamari is a great idea!
Almost there.
Hi Ingrid! Glad you like this one!
I started a few days late. But finished. Yeah! Just wanted to let you know Jen, I enjoyed all the soups. I saved the Ramen until last and savored it with friends. With several cooks in the kitchen, we made some tweeks along the way. But the soup was delicious. We did cook the veggies to tender in the broth, chopped the baby bok choy, and added the fresh sliced radish as a topping. One friend dropped an egg in her soup. Not vegetarian I know. Thanks for all of your encouragement. May you continue to be blessed on your journey.
Found the recipe quite enjoyable. Hadn’t used bok choy before. This makes a nice presentation in a bowl.
I’ve never had a Ramen bowl but this was so good. Very fresh and a rainbow of veggies. Fairly simple and light.
So good! Plus easy to make and versatile! This has been my favorite so far.
This one was ok….our granddaughter liked it the best.
Love Ramen bowl. Never made it at home. Eady and delicious
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!!
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.