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First ramen my wife has ever liked. Tofu is incredible, easy to cook, will definitely make this again!
Adam Cass
This tofu ramen is lyfe. 🙌
Thanks for coming, end of story, goodbye, see you next time!
Okay, I’m kidding – but I really almost feel like I could just leave it at that “Tofu Ramen is Lyfe” statement and there would be nothing more that would need to happen here except you grabbing a big bowl, piling it high with slippery ramen noodles, pouring that spicy miso broth over the top, adding a scoop of seared tofu or a soft boiled egg, drizzling everything with sesame or garlic oil, tossing in a handful of scallions, and going to town with your chopsticks to the delight of your little ramen-loving heart.
Amiright?
What I Love About This Tofu Ramen
This is not necessarily a super authentic spicy ramen recipe. Because, like, I don’t really know my way around authentic ramen.
This is more like one of those times when you go to an adorable Japanese bistro and have LIFE-CHANGINGLY-DELICIOUS spicy house-made ramen, so you go find an authentic-looking recipe online, and then just make a less-authentic version of it using whatever you can get your hands on without running around to 12 different grocery stores. Yes. That is our ZONE today.
We are being tutored by the greatness of Lady and Pups and we are making the ramen situation work for the average person with an average-ly stocked kitchen. Annnnd ordering a few things on Amazon will help us out big time. God bless Amazon.
Ingredients You Need
Here are the products I recommend ordering for this recipe, in order of importance.
- Ramen Noodles (tastes ridiculously similar to FRESH ramen when cooked 😍).
- Red Miso (might be able to find this at some grocery stores).
- Tofu Press (not really necessary, but fun for tofu lovers).
There is a good chance you can find miso paste at the right grocery store, and the tofu press is sort of just an extra fun thing.
But the ramen noodles.
WHOA BABY those ramen noodles are yummy. They are dry, like the regular pasta that we buy all the time, but they are at least five steps up on the food scale from the small 20-cent packages of ramen that you might otherwise be tempted to use (I only say it because I’ve been there).
How To Make This Tofu Ramen
Once you have your paste prepped and made, this ramen comes together quickly (under 30 minutes!).
Let’s start at the top.
Step #1: Make a Miso Paste
You’ll use a mix of red and white miso, and lots of other yummy aromatics and spices. Once it’s all pulsed together, you can freeze half of it for another batch later! The miso paste will be used in the tofu AND the broth.
Step #2: Cook Tofu
Press your tofu and get it all nice and crispy in a pan!
Step #3: Simmer the Broth
Mushrooms, miso, broth, and soy milk. It’s creamy, salty, umami, and delicious!
Step #4: Cook Noodles and Eggs
Cook some soft boiled eggs (directions below!) and cook your noodles.
Step #5: Serve
Ladle the broth and tofu over your bowls of noodles and top with an egg and scallion!
How To Make a Soft-Boiled Egg
It’s actually kind of hard to make a soft-boiled egg.
But it’s worth trying, and it’s still worth serving an egg with your ramen even if it looks like someone clawed it apart in a moment of uncontrolled hunger.
Here’s how I do it:
- Bring a pot of water to gentle boil (you want enough water to cover eggs by about one inch).
- Gently add eggs to the water and time for about 6 1/2 minutes.
- Remove and transfer to a bowl of ice water to cool.
- Peel, cut, YUM! Those jammy yolks!
That is all.
If you realllllly want an easy button option, I’ve loved this (relatively cheap!) egg cooker and used it many times over the years! (affiliate link)
Video To Make This Ramen
Homemade Spicy Ramen with Tofu
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Homemade Spicy Ramen recipe with an easy spicy miso paste for the broth and dry ramen noodles that taste JUST like fresh! Vegetarian / vegan.
Ingredients
Spicy Miso Paste:
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1/2 cup red miso
- 1/2 cup white miso
- 3 tablespoons sambal oelek
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2-inch piece fresh ginger
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Ramen:
- 12–15 ounces extra-firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 4 eggs
- 5 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped (but see notes about dried mushrooms!)
- 3–4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- 2 cups plain unsweetened soy milk
- 6 ounces ramen noodles
- scallions, roasted seaweed, sesame oil for serving
Instructions
- Make Miso Paste: Pulse all miso paste ingredients together in a food processor until a smooth, thick paste forms. You will use about half of it for this recipe and the other half can be frozen or refrigerated for a few days.
- Cook Tofu: Press as much moisture as you can out of the tofu using paper towels or a tofu press. Cut into cubes. In a large pot, heat the oil on medium high heat and start frying the tofu. Once the tofu has browned, add 1/4 cup of the spicy miso paste and cook for another minute or two to get a nice golden color. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Make Broth: (See notes about dried mushrooms if using) To the same pan, add the chopped shiitake and a tablespoon or so of miso paste and stir fry until golden brown. Add the stock and soy milk and bring to a simmer. Place 1/2 cup spicy miso paste on top of a very fine sieve. Lower the sieve half-way into the simmering soup and use a spoon to slowly dissolve the paste into the soup. Discard the “solids” remaining in the sieve and let the soup simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning – add salt or a little soy sauce until it tastes like a spicy ramen broth.
- Make Eggs and Cook Noodles: Cook the ramen noodles according to package instructions and drain well. While the ramen is cooking, bring a small pot of water to boil. When it reaches boiling, add 4 eggs and reduce heat to the lowest possible setting. Cook for exactly 7 minutes, remove eggs from water, run under cold water, and let them set for a few minutes. Peel shells off carefully. Yolks will be soft.
- Finish and Serve: Divide the noodles into four large bowl and ladle the soup on top (you may have a bit more than needed). For each serving, top with the tofu, 1 soft-boiled egg (cut in half), scallions, and sesame oil.
Notes
Mushrooms: For the mushrooms, the original recipe said to use dried but they can be hard to find which is why I wrote the recipe to use fresh mushrooms. As written, the recipe will yield a slightly thicker broth because it includes a little bit of the paste stir fried with the fresh mushrooms. **But if you can find dried, then just skip the stir fry step and go straight to simmering the dried mushrooms, broth, and soy milk together. This gives you a much lighter, thinner broth that is very slurpable and delicious.
Along the same lines, for the spicy miso paste in step three – if you dump the whole thing directly into the soup, it will make the soup very thick. Not good.
Miso: You cannot use just white miso for this recipe (too sweet) but you could use just red miso. We made a version that used just red miso and it worked out okay.
Vegetarian and Vegan Swaps: To make this vegetarian and/or vegan, omit the eggs and/or swap chicken stock for vegetable stock.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Asian
Keywords: homemade ramen, spicy ramen, tofu recipe
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is already fully vegetarian!
Omit the eggs and this is entirely vegan.
Use gluten-free ramen noodles, and ensure that your miso paste is gluten-free.
These are the ones I love the most! (Affiliate link) They’re dried noodles, but taste fresh! If you can’t access them, you can use regular bricks of ramen and just omit the flavor packet.
I like to keep the noodles separate from the broth so that they don’t get mushy! The leftovers overall will keep for 4-5 days. The broth will settle so just ensure you mix it well before reheating.
I find white miso to be too sweet, so I would not use just white miso. You could use red miso paste on its own and just add a bit of sugar to add some sweetness.
Yep! Here are directions for air frying tofu. I also love ramen with shredded crispy tofu on top!
Yep – you could use ground chicken or ground pork in place of the tofu and cook it in a skillet until crisped.
This ramen recipe is a keeper – made this for the first time a few years ago and we’ve been consistently making it in the winter months ever since – finally thought I would add a review because it’s one of our favorite recipes!
nothing worth writing home about by any means
I’ve made the first two ramen recipes MINUS soft boiled egg.
just my flavor palate.
no runny eggs. maybe
add more mellow miso
Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe! Very comforting ramen soup in the cold winter! =^.^=
Has anyone actually made this recipe? All the comments are “this looks amazing”.
This came out so good! We were slurping it up. Loved the spice. Thinking leftover broth may have even more heat. Thank you for a great ramen recipe.
I am not much of a cook but I get cravings for ramen and wanted to try making it myself. Well, I amazed myself that I actually did it! This Recipe is delicious and easy. I added a dash of soy sauce to the pot and it added the perfect tang! If i can do it, anyone can do it. I will be making this recipe on the regs. So good.
This looks amazing!! Can you save and reheat leftovers?
Yes!
This looks super delicious, will be making tonight! One thing – it’s noted as a vegetarian/vegan recipe but has chicken stock in the list of ingredients. Should that say vegetable stock?
Thanks for pointing that out! We will get that updated. Enjoy the ramen!
Hi there! We made it and liked it, thank you. Any suggestions for what to do with the leftover miso paste?
Here’s a great roundup of miso recipes!
Another fantastic POY recipe! For even more flavor I marinated my soft boiled eggs in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, garlic, star anise, and ginger for 2 hours. Cannot wait to use the leftover spicy miso paste that I froze to make this again soon! Thanks for a delicious, easy, flavorful recipe!
Really great recipe! I ended up replacing the soy milk for coconut milk for more of a panang curry taste and it worked out well.
The real rockstar of the recipe is the miso paste, which I reused as a marinade for salmon. All you have to do is mix in about another tablespoon of oil with about a half cup of the paste and marinate for 30-60 minutes before baking. Looking forward to using it with more stuff!
This recipe has become a staple in our house with one exception. The first time I made it, the soy milk overpowered the broth. Now we just do all broth/mushrooms/miso paste and it is sooooo good. Thanks for this recipe!
This recipe is outstanding. The broth is so good that you crave it. So excited to make it again this week while it’s cold and rainy. Thanks for this excellent adaptation.
What do I do with seaweed.?!
I’ve been looking for eons for a bowl like you have pictured. Retail potter?
Lindsay’s father-in-law makes them. Here’s the link to his shop: https://www.larryostrompottery.com/shop
thanks a million!
I think my kids would like this too! Has anyone tried this with their little ones?
This was really good!! I used vegan “chikn” broth and leave off the egg to make it vegan. SUPER yummy!!! Thank you!
Thanks for sharing!
Ok, I’d been looking at the for a while and finally decided to give it a whirl.
Whoa!! This was absolutely awesome!!
I’ll be making this on a regular basis.
Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Delicious!! Thank you so much for the recipe. I like that there is leftover paste to freeze. It will make throwing the recipe together in a pinch easy for a last minute dinner. The only thing I changed was to use my favorite vegetables for the soup. So flavorful and satisfying. This recipe is a keeper!
Just wanted to let you know that your recipe has become a staple in our household. We are Japan lovers, and have small children in the home, but omitting the chili paste, this is a perfect recipe to eat with them! And we love it so much. I just made the miso pasta again and just the smell is already divine! Will make it with some dashi, but normal broth is just fine too! Thank you so much for writing it down! Love from The Netherlands!
Thanks for sharing, Nienke!
This is honestly the absolute BEST vegan Ramen recipe I’ve ever made! My boyfriend keeps requesting for the “spicy ramen” at least once a week!! Although there are a few components to it, it’s rather easy to put together. I froze half the miso ramen mixture and made another batch a few weeks later and it tasted just as good!
Thank you for this recipe 🙂
Glad you enjoyed this, Claudia!
Hi! I found dried shiitakes, but they’re sold in half-ounce containers and are quite pricey. Would I still need to use five ounces of dried, just as with fresh? I’ve made this recipe 100 times and love it, and I’m curious to see what difference the dried mushrooms make. Thanks!
We’d guess you’d be okay using just one container of dried in that case.
Vegetarian ramen has chicken stock…fired
it looks really good & I like the recipe. but… if you give it the title ‘vegan’, then it can’t have eggs, and it sure as hell can’t have chicken broth… just because there’s some tofu involved doesn’t mean it’s vegan. learn the meaning of vegan and vegetarian before you start using the terms.