Even Professional Chefs Cook Instant Ramen — Here’s How They Make It Restaurant-Quality
Level up packaged noodles with these tricks from F&W Best New Chefs.
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There’s a common misconception that professional chefs cook complex meals at home. In reality, the last thing most chefs want to do after a long day in the kitchen is to spend hours making food for themselves. Instead, they opt for quick, easy, and reliable meals — even instant ramen.
But even a dish as simple as packaged noodles can become something exceptional in the hands of chefs. Read on for seven ways that F&W Best New Chefs hack their instant ramen.
Related: The Nine Instant Noodles That Our Editors Can't Stop Slurping
Replace the water with stock
“My favorite hack is using some nice-quality meat stock instead of water,” says 2014 F&W Best New Chef Ari Taymor. This easy swap adds extra umami to your seasoning mix of choice and flavors the noodles as they cook. Taymor pairs the stock base with simple, fresh toppings like scallions, bacon, and a soft-boiled egg.
Turn it into carbonara
2024 F&W Best New Chef Leina Horii transforms her instant ramen into a creamy carbonara. She first cooks her ramen in water or broth (using about one-third less liquid than the package instructions state), adds the seasoning packet, then removes the pot from the heat. Next, Horii adds an egg yolk and stirs vigorously to emulsify the egg, forming a silky, rich sauce that coats the noodles. Channel classic carbonara by topping your ramen with Parmesan, pancetta, and chives, or follow Horii’s model and season with white vinegar, soy sauce, scallions, nori, and kimchi.
Related: 15 Can't-Miss Carbonara Recipes
Make it cheesy
An even easier way to make your ramen creamy: Add half a wheel of Boursin, a soft and crumbly French cheese. 2021 F&W Best New Chef Thessa Diadem mixes the shallot and chive flavor into Shin Ramyun-brand ramen, then adds pan-seared pork belly, a soft-boiled egg, crispy shallots, chopped scallion, and nori. “It’s a simple hack, but one that uplevels the broth,” she says.
Food & Wine / Photo by Robby Lozano / Food Styling by Jasmine Smith / Prop Styling by Tucker Vines
Bacon, melted American cheese, and a poached egg turn ramen into breakfast.Have ramen for breakfast
When making instant ramen, 2024 F&W Best New Chef Camari Mick takes notes from Rasheeda Purdie, chef and owner of Ramen by Ra in New York City. “I copy her bacon, egg, and cheese ramen,” says Mick. “It’s comforting, indulgent, and everything you didn’t know you needed in a bowl of noodles.” You can take breakfast ramen in a lot of directions. In our version, the broth is flavored with bacon fat and sautéed scallions. Then the ramen is topped with a poached egg, melted American cheese, and — of course — bacon.
Ramen-ize it further
According to 2024 F&W Best New Chef Nicole Mills, a couple additions will take instant ramen broth from satisfying to restaurant-quality. “I make a cheat ramen broth with hondashi [instant dashi], kombu, shiitake mushrooms, and miso,” she says. Similarly, 2024 F&W Best New Chef Mary Attea adds hondashi, miso, and soy sauce to her broth before she cooks the noodles. “This makes the broth rich and full-bodied,” says Attea. “It feels more like you are eating a real bowl of ramen.”
Add some curry powder
After a long shift at Friends and Family in Oakland, California, 2021 F&W Best New Chef Gaby Maeda makes a bowl of Itsuki-brand ramen. “I like to load it up with veggies and eggs, but if I don’t have any extra ingredients, it’s S&B Curry Powder, tons of cracked black pepper, and La-Yu chile oil,” she says. S&B, a Japanese seasoning full of turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, and cumin, will turn any basic ramen into bold, savory curry ramen in a flash.
Related: The Real Story of Curry
Ignore the instructions
Most package instructions call for adding the uncooked noodles to boiling hot water, followed by the seasoning packet. Instead, several chefs recommend pouring hot water directly over the noodles, seasonings, and toppings. As with classic cup noodles, the water will cook your raw ingredients directly in your desired serving vessel, meaning you don’t even have to dirty a pot. 2024 F&W Best New Chef LT Smith uses this method whenever he has instant ramen noodles and leftover turkey. “I get hot water from my electric kettle, pour it on top [of the noodles and other ingredients], and let it heat up for a few minutes,” says Smith, who doctors up a bowl with some greens and a few “hefty dashes” of hot sauce.
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