13 Healthy Ramen Noodle Recipes You’ll Want to Make Again and Again

By Kevin Lee, co-founder of immi. First published July 2020, updated October 2026.

These are the healthy ramen noodle recipes I’d actually send a friend. Thirteen bowls grouped by protein (chicken, pork, beef, seafood, plus a couple of vegetarian and vegan ones), each with a short honest note.

I’m Kevin, co-founder of immi. We make a better-for-you instant ramen, so I think about what goes into a bowl of noodles more than most people. Seven of these recipes we developed and published on the immi blog. The other six come from food bloggers we like.

Btw I’m using “healthy” loosely. A couple of these (pork belly, BLT) are on the richer side and I’ll say so. For the label side of things, I covered that in is ramen healthy?. If protein is your main goal, my high-protein ramen recipes page is the better fit. This one is the broader roundup.

What makes a ramen recipe healthier?

There’s no magic ingredient. When I decide whether a ramen recipe belongs on a list like this, I’m mostly checking a few things.

Protein. Noodles on their own usually won’t keep you full for long. A real protein (chicken, eggs, tofu, shrimp, lean beef) turns it into a meal. For five-minute shortcuts, I keep a list of high-protein additions to instant ramen.

Vegetables and fiber. Bok choy, cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli, bean sprouts, whatever’s in the fridge. They add bulk and crunch for very little work. Fiber also depends on the noodle, so check the label.

The noodles. Most standard instant ramen is fried wheat noodles and not much else. We built immi to be higher in protein and fiber and lower in carbs than typical instant ramen, but every recipe here works with the noodle you already have. If carbs are the main thing you’re watching, I listed a few noodle swaps further down.

Broth and sodium. This is where most of the salt lives (seasoning packet, soy sauce, miso, fish sauce). I’m honestly not anti-salt, and I wrote a whole post on why salt isn’t the enemy. But it stacks up fast in ramen. Start with part of the packet or sauce, taste, then add more. You can always add, but you can’t unsalt so just be careful.

Fat and portion. Pork belly, bacon, mayo, and a heavy pour of chili oil taste great and are also where calories pile up. I’m not saying skip them, I just use less. Our calories in ramen post shows how much broth style and toppings move the number.

If you’d rather skip the big bowl of soup altogether, dry ramen recipes toss the noodles in a small amount of sauce instead.

Healthy ramen recipes with chicken

Chicken is the easiest place to start. Leftover or rotisserie chicken works in all three.

1. Simple Homemade Chicken Ramen

Image: Fork Knife Swoon

This simple homemade chicken ramen skips the seasoning packet and builds the broth from chicken stock, soy sauce, aromatics, and shiitake mushrooms, then finishes with a soft-cooked egg and scallions. It takes a little under an hour. Since you control the stock and soy sauce, it’s one of the easiest bowls here to keep sodium in check.

2. Chicken Ramen

Image: Chelsea’s Messy Apron

The weeknight pick of this section. This 30-minute chicken ramen works with any noodle. Use whatever vegetables you have. We like red pepper, zucchini, and broccoli, with sesame seeds, green onions, and cilantro on top.

3. Tasty Teriyaki Chicken With Ramen Noodles

Image: Taste.com.au

Eight ingredients, about 20 minutes. This teriyaki chicken ramen stir-fries chicken thighs in sesame oil with teriyaki sauce and chili, then adds noodles, snow peas, carrots, and cilantro. Bottled teriyaki is sweet and salty, so I’d use a bit less than it calls for.

Healthy ramen recipes with pork

Pork is where “healthy” gets more relative. All three came out of our own kitchen and I’d make them again. Just know which ones are rich.

4. Ginger Scallion Ramen With Chashu Braised Pork Belly

This one started after we took our chef to one of San Francisco’s oldest Chinese restaurants for Hainan chicken with ginger scallion sauce. We built a ginger scallion ramen around that sauce, with chashu pork belly, a poached egg, and chili oil. Pork belly is rich, so do a couple of slices and more greens. Our chashu guide covers the pork from scratch.

5. Spicy Almond Tantan Ramen With Chili Bean Ground Pork

Tantanmen is the Japanese take on Sichuan dan dan noodles, usually made with sesame paste. We wanted a lower-carb version, so our spicy almond tantan ramen uses almond butter instead, which comes out nutty and a little less bitter. Ground pork, chili bean sauce, bok choy, and bone broth do the rest.

6. Bacon Lettuce Tomato Ramen With Mayo Shio Tare

We saw a BLT ramen in one of Ivan Orkin’s cookbooks and honestly assumed it was a joke. It wasn’t. Our BLT ramen has bacon, iceberg lettuce, roasted tomatoes, and a mayo shio tare. It’s the most indulgent bowl here, I’ll admit that. It made the list because it’s fun and the lettuce and tomato keep it fresh. Go easy on the mayo and bacon if it becomes a regular.

Healthy ramen recipes with beef

One slow simmer, two fast ones.

7. Taiwanese Spicy Beef Ramen

I grew up eating Taiwanese beef noodle soup and it’s still one of my favorite bowls. My mom would start beef shank at a low simmer early in the day and the whole house smelled like five-spice by dinner. Our Taiwanese spicy beef ramen uses beef shank, doubanjiang, a DIY spice sachet (star anise, Chinese cinnamon, fennel, cumin, five-spice), and baby bok choy. It takes time. For a lighter broth, chill it and skim the fat before reheating.

8. Marinated Beef and Broccoli Noodles

Image: Inquiring Chef

These marinated beef and broccoli noodles use thinly sliced sirloin, marinated ahead in a sweet and savory sauce (recipe included), then tossed with noodles and a lot of broccoli. Easy once the marinade is done, so plan that part ahead. Sirloin is a leaner cut.

9. One-Pot Easy Beef Drunken Noodles

Image: Sweet C’s

A 30-minute stir-fry with thinly sliced beef, garlic, fish sauce, black pepper, Thai basil, and chili. These beef drunken noodles call for rice noodles, but ramen noodles swap in fine. Fish sauce is salty, so taste before you add more.

Healthy ramen recipes with seafood

One weekend project, one quick stir-fry.

10. Jjamppong Spicy Korean Seafood Ramen

Jjamppong is a Korean-Chinese spicy seafood noodle soup. A few years ago I took a friend to a Koreatown plaza to try it and he asked why a Korean place was serving cioppino. I kind of see it (both are red seafood soups). Our jjamppong recipe uses clams, mussels, shrimp, squid, a little pork, vegetables, chicken stock, and gochugaru. Worth it for a weekend.

11. Stir-Fried Spicy Mi Goreng Ramen

Our spin on the Indonesian fried noodle dish, and yes, the secret ingredient is ketchup. The spicy mi goreng ramen has shrimp, chicken, egg, and tofu, topped with green onions, bean sprouts, red chili, and lime. That’s a lot of proteins for one pan. One or two is plenty (shrimp and egg is great).

Healthy vegetarian and vegan ramen recipes

Two meat-free bowls here. For more, see our vegan ramen recipe ideas and this guide to vegan ramen noodles.

12. Avocado Miso Ramen Topped With Avocado Tempura

We live in California, so of course we tried putting avocado in ramen. This avocado miso ramen blends avocado into a miso broth and tops it with avocado tempura in an almond flour batter. The batter uses eggs, so it’s vegetarian as written. To make it vegan, use aquafaba (chickpea liquid) instead. The tempura is fried, so this is more of a treat.

13. Vegan Peanut Noodles

Image: Veggie Society

These vegan peanut noodles are good hot or cold. Cabbage, cucumber, bell pepper, scallions, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, basil, and tofu, tossed in peanut sauce. Probably the most vegetables of anything here, and you can swap in whatever’s in season.

Which one should you make tonight?

• Under about 30 minutes: the 30-minute chicken ramen, teriyaki chicken, beef drunken noodles, or mi goreng.
• Plant-based: vegan peanut noodles, or the avocado miso ramen with the aquafaba swap.
• Weekend projects: Taiwanese beef, jjamppong, or the ginger scallion bowl with homemade chashu.

A few healthy ramen hacks that work on any bowl

Most of the recipes above build their own broth or sauce. If you’re starting from a packet in the pantry, these are the small changes I’d make first. They’re older tips from our blog that I still think hold up.

Swap the noodle if carbs are your thing

Soba and rice noodles get called the healthier swap a lot. If you’re keeping carbs low, try shirataki (made from konjac), kelp noodles, hearts of palm noodles, spaghetti squash, or zucchini noodles. The texture is different from wheat noodles so just expect a different bowl. We built immi to be lower in carbs than typical instant ramen, so that’s another option. There is more in our posts on low-carb noodles and keto noodles.

Build your own broth instead of using the whole packet

The seasoning packet is the fastest way to flavor the water, and it’s also where a lot of the salt is. You can make your own base with miso paste or a broth (vegetable, chicken, or beef bone broth). Then add fresh ginger, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, and sesame seeds. Sriracha if you want heat. Taste first and salt last.

Frozen vegetables count

You don’t need fresh produce. Frozen vegetables work fine, and spinach, bok choy, zucchini, scallions, and shiitake mushrooms are all easy adds. We also like throwing in kimchi. Our kimchi tofu ramen is built around it.

Keep edamame in the freezer

No leftover chicken? Frozen shelled edamame is the easiest plant protein to keep around. Add it in the last few minutes so it heats through. More five-minute ideas are in my list of high-protein additions to instant ramen.

Healthy ramen recipe questions

Can ramen noodles be part of a healthy meal?
I think so. Add a real protein and some vegetables, go easy on the seasoning, and pick a noodle that fits your goals. More on labels in is ramen healthy?

Can I make these with regular instant ramen?
Yes. Just follow the cook time on your package. Most of these build their own broth or sauce, so use part of the seasoning packet or skip it.

What’s the healthiest ramen broth?
Usually the one you season yourself. Low-sodium stock plus garlic, ginger, scallions, mushrooms, lime, or vinegar gives you a lot of flavor before much salt. Miso, soy sauce, and fish sauce are salty, so add them a little at a time. And you don’t have to drink the whole bowl.

Which of these are vegan?
The peanut noodles as written, and the avocado miso ramen with aquafaba. Others can work with vegetable stock and tofu instead of meat.

Want more ideas? Everything we’ve published is on our ramen recipes page.