Spicy Ramen

This Spicy Ramen recipe is quick, easy, wonderfully versatile and the flavor is out of this world! And don’t let the word “spicy” scare you away – you can completely customize the heat simply by using more or less sriracha. You can also use any protein or vegetables you have on hand for a delectable clean-out-the-fridge or last-minute dinner – because this ramen recipe is all about the SAUCE! To make these Spicy Ramen Noodles come together even quicker, you can whisk your sauce up in advance and have all your veggies chopped so its virtually 10 minutes to dinner!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 12

Total Time 22

Servings servings

Ingredients

3 ramen packets discard seasoning
2 tablespoons sesame oil divided
1 pound lean ground pork or ground chicken
1 small onion chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 carrots cut into matchsticks
1 red bell pepper chopped into 1/2” pieces
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
1 cup cocktail peanuts may sub other peanuts

SAUCE

1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons Japanese rice wine may sub dry sherry
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce (Lee Kum Kee or Kikkoman)
1 tablespoon Asian sweet chili sauce (like Mae Ploy)
1-2 tablespoons sriracha hot chili sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Garnish

chopped green onions

Instructions

Cook ramen in boiling water for 2 minutes (no longer)! Reserve one cup pasta water. Rinse with cool water and toss with a drizzle of sesame oil to prevent the noodles from sticking. Set aside.
Heat a large wok or skillet over medium high heat. Add peanuts and dry roast peanuts until golden and toasted in a few places, tossing occasionally, approximately 3 minutes. Remove to a plate.
Mix Sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.
To the now empty skillet, heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil over medium high heat. Add ground pork/chicken, onions, salt and pepper and cook until browned. When meat is almost cooked through, add carrots, bell peppers, garlic and ginger and cook 2 additional minutes.
Stir in sauce and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 seconds then add noodles and toss until evenly coated. Add cabbage and peanuts and toss to combine. Heat just until noodles are al dente and cabbage has softened, about one minute. Add additional reserved water if needed to reach desired consistency.
Taste and season with additional sriracha, salt and pepper if desired. Garnish with green onions.

Notes

If you have questions about any of the sauce ingredients, see the post for details. All of the ingredients can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store.
You can swap the vegetables out with your favorites.
You can make vegetarian ramen and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. You will want to add extra vegetables to replace the meat otherwise your ramen will be too saucy.
1 tablespoon sriracha is medium spicy. I would start with one tablespoon if you like heat and add more to taste at the end of cooking unless you know you LOVE heat then start with more. Use 1-2 teaspoons sriracha if you want to make the ramen very kid friendly then add additional sriracha to your own serving.