How do you make healthy ramen noodles?
Do you like the instant ramen and the convenience they bring? But not so sure about all that sodium and MSG in its spice packet of soup stock? In that case, the answer is simple! It’s time to make your own stir fry sauce! Because this ramen noodle recipe tastes better than anything in a packet! Besides it comes together as quickly as if you were using the ramen packets. So perfect for quick mid-week meal! I also encourage you to try 10 Best Past Recipes.
- First things first, you will need 2 packages of noodles to make the ramen noodle recipe. I used two 3 ounce packages in total.
- You will start by boiling the noodles. Only 2 minutes!
- While they are cooking, we will make the stir fry!
- Simply heat your vegetable oil in a medium skillet and sauté onion, garlic, bell pepper and broccoli. Only enough to make them soft. I did it very quickly, about two minutes.
- Then, I removed the vegetables from the pan and added my ground beef.
- Once you cooked the beef, drain all its liquid and add back the vegetables.
- Now, prepare the sauce by adding soy sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and garlic.
- Finally, drain cooked ramen noodles and toss them in the beef with sauce!
- Top the noodles stir fry with chopped green onions or sesame seeds!
I added sauce and noodles at the same time.
What if I don’t like soy sauce?
If you are not a fan of soy, you can easily replace it with coconut aminos or tamari sauce. If you never cooked with coconut aminos, they are dark in color. Just like soy sauce. But unlike soy sauce, they contain far less sodium. Yet, they still have that salty, umami flavor of soy.
What about Tamari sauce? You will find it stronger in flavor than coconut aminos, but also less salty than soy. If you are gluten free, you can use Tamari instead of soy. I used Tamari sauce in this Easy Chicken Stir Fry as well. Give it a try!
So next time you are reaching for something quick to eat, you know there is a healthier alternative! You can now make this healthy ramen noodles recipe for lunch. Or, dinner. And, you can even add more spice. If so, add a bit more sriracha until desired heat is reached. Or, use less. You can also use sesame oil here, but I find its taste a bit strong. Therefore go slow on it. Start with ½ teaspoon only. So much better than instant Ramen packets! And so healthy!
Healthy Beef Ramen Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- ½ head broccoli cut into florets
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 6 oz ramen noodles (2 packets with seasoning packets discarded)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
- ¼ c. soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp. sriracha
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 scallion (chopped)
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions, peppers, and broccoli and cook until tender, 5 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Add ground beef, season with salt and pepper, and cook until no longer pink, 5 minutes more. Drain fat and return vegetables back to the skillet
- Make sauce: Whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Sriracha, and garlic.
- In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add ramen noodles and cook until tender, 2 minutes. Drain.
- Add cooked ramen noodles to skillet and pour over sauce. Toss until completely combined. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if necessary. Then garnish with scallions and serve.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Do you think I can use rice noodles instead? I forgot to buy ramen noodles!
Yes, absolutely!
LOVED! Used frozen broccoli and rice ramen. Again… LOVED!!!
Perfect! Thank you so much for using frozen broccoli!
Love all the recipes
Thank you, Margret!
So I cook the ramen twice?:
Step 4. “In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add cooked ramen noodles and cook until tender, 2 minutes…”
Just want to make sure this is correct and I don’t overcook the ramen. Ingredients don’t specify cooked ramen and it doesn’t specify to cook it before step 4, but it says to add already cooked ramen to the saucepan and cook.
Adriene – it’s a mistake (where I used the word cooked the first time. You add ramen noodles that are not cooked and cook until tender, 2 minutes). Thank you for pointing that out! I updated the wording and it reads correctly now.
I don’t have any sriracha. Is there a substitute for it?
You can use cayenne pepper, although that’s not ideal:)
How are these ramen noodles healthy when ramen noodles are fried before they are packaged?
You are on point about the fried part, but what makes instant noodles unhealthy is eating them as is (with no protein) – it’s the perception of ramen noodles as a whole meal which is very unhealthy since with no protein to accompany this highly processed, high carb meal, you do risk a lot with your liver and metabolism.. Adding beef (or any other protein) is what makes them healthier by stabilizing the blood sugar surge due to the processed nature of the noodles, adding more nutrition and balance to the ramen noodle concept, but I do agree about the fried part.
What’s your take on using frozen broccoli?
Very positive! Cooking frozen broccoli in a skillet is perfect, because it’s already blanched! You will not cook it for too long.
Do you think ground pork be used in this instead of ground beef?
Yes, absolutely!
are there any gluten free ramen noodles to buy that you recommend?
These Thai kitchen rice ramen noodles! They sell them in grocery stores.
Awesome recipe! Very easy yet very tasty. My picky husband loved it! Glad I made a double batch! We will def make this again!
And I am glad that you reported back on a double batch:)!