Easy Vegan Ramen

This easy vegan ramen recipe is made with ramen noodles and is loaded with flavor. It can easily be made ahead of time, and is filled with fried tofu, spinach, mushrooms, and ramen noodles.

Vegan ramen is so easy to make, it’ll make you question ever ordering ramen take-out! I mean, kind of. Take out has its time and place, but I almost always prefer a home-cooked meal.

Truthfully, the word “ramen” makes me think of those 25 cent packs of ramen. You know, the kind you’d eat in college. Those were the days! Just kidding — homemade vegan ramen is way more flavorful, delicious, healthy, easy, and filling.

WHY YOU NEED THIS VEGAN RAMEN

• It can easily be made ahead of time, making weeknight dinners more manageable
• It’s a tasty plant-based meal loaded with protein
• It features crispy fried tofu (the best!)

HOW TO MAKE CRISPY TOFU

There are two methods for making crispy tofu: frying or baking. I wrote an in-depth tutorial on how to fry tofu in this post, and another one on how to bake tofu here, so if you want all the details be sure to check them out. The short version is that you need to press the tofu, then coat it in cornstarch before frying it in olive or avocado oil.

HOW TO MAKE VEGAN RAMEN

Sauté the vegetables: In a large skillet or dutch oven, sauté the green onions, mushrooms and garlic for 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms are soft.

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer: Once the vegetables are cooked, add the miso, soy sauce (or tamari), syrup, sesame oil, and finally the vegetable broth and simmer for 10 minutes. Then, add the ramen noodles and spinach and simmer for 2-3 minutes until they’re cooked.

Fry the tofu: While the soup is simmering, fry the tofu. You can follow the tips in the section above

TIPS FOR MAKING PERFECT RAMEN

• Use toasted sesame oil: Truth be told, not all sesame oil is made the same. There’s sesame oil, and then there’s toasted sesame oil, and toasted sesame oil is what you want for this recipe because it’s much more flavorful, and a little bit goes a long way.
• Use super firm tofu: The firmer the tofu, the less liquid there is, and when frying tofu, you don’t want much (if any) liquid.

HOW TO PREP VEGAN RAMEN AHEAD OF TIME

Make the ramen first: If you want to make this recipe ahead of time, simply follow the recipe below to make the ramen, but omit the tofu. Then, once you’re ready to eat the ramen, fry the tofu according to the recipe instructions.

Add water if needed: when making the soup ahead of time, you might find that the ramen noodles absorb some of the broth. So, you may need to add a cup of two of water to the bowl of ramen.

OTHER DELICIOUS TOFU RECIPES

• Tofu Broccoli Stir Fry
• General Tso’s Tofu
• Sesame Tofu Quinoa Bowl