Easy One Pot Chicken Ramen (2024)

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Quick, easy and nutritious, this Easy One Pot Chicken Ramen is packed full of delicious Japanese umami flavours – like seaweed, miso and soy sauce – but takes just 20 minutes to make and only uses one pot. Perfect when you need dinner in a hurry, but don’t want to compromise on flavour!

What is Chicken Ramen?

Ramen is a Japanese dish that typically consists of noodles in a meat or fish-based broth, often flavoured with soy sauce or miso, and finished with toppings such as meat, hard boiled eggs, seaweed, beansprouts and spring onions.

It is hugely popular in Japan and has become very popular in the West too in recent years, in large part thanks to the Wagamama chain of restaurants.

Chicken Ramen but way easier!

I am always looking for shortcuts, cheats and tricks to make classic dishes quicker and easier to make, and at least as delicious as the original – if not more so!

I have been tinkering away at my version of the classic Japanese dish of ramen for a while now.

Most recipes seem to involve lots of pots and pans and faffing about… but really there’s no need. So long as you get your timings right, you can absolutely make Chicken Ramen in one pot – and, better still, it’s a super speedy recipe when you cut all the faffing about out.

To successfully make my Easy One Pot Chicken Ramen, all you need to do is prep everything in advance and then stick to the timings of the recipe and it’s practically foolproof!

And, of course – only one pot to wash up afterwards 😀

Packed with umami deliciousness

Have you heard of ‘umami’?

It’s supposed to be the fifth taste (the other 4 being sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness).

Umami is a Japanese word, roughly transalted as “pleasant savoury taste” or just utter deliciousness!

Well, this Easy One Pot Chicken Ramen is packed full of umami!

The seaweed, miso, soy sauce, chicken and mushrooms are all foods considered high in umami. Just one of these flavours is delicious, but put them all together in one dish and you have something rather special on your hands.

Not a classic presentation

OK, so I’ll admit – my version of this dish is not classic in its presentation.

Typically all the elements of a ramen (broth, noodles, meat, eggs and vegetables) are cooked and presented separately.

Because my version of ramen is all cooked in one pot, you do lose a little in the aesthetics department. But I can assure you, my version more than makes up for that in the taste department…

(I realise this is a bold statement to make, but I think my version of Chicken Ramen tastes EVEN BETTER than the Wagamama version!)

As always, I have prioritised deliciousness and easiness over everything else. So I hope you will forgive the rather atypical presentation.

Make it your own

This Chicken Ramen recipe is really easy to adapt and make your own.

You could:

• swap the cooked chicken for leftover roast pork
• leave out the chicken and add in a large handful of cooked prawns, just before serving up
• make it veggie (and indeed vegan) by using tofu instead of the chicken
• use a chicken stock cube instead of the miso
• use whatever green vegetables you like in place of the broccoli / pak choi / green cabbage combo I’ve used
• use fresh wild mushrooms instead of dried ones
• add in a handful of beansprouts just before serving up
• add chilli sauce to make it hotter

Or whatever you want to! This is a very flexible dish and you are limited only by your imagination!

What are the best noodles for Chicken Ramen?

‘Ramen’ is actually the name of the noodles typically used in Ramen dishes. Ramen noodles are Japanese wheat noodles, made from wheat, water and salt.

You can buy ramen noodles in specialist shops and some larger supermarkets, but be careful – what is often sold as ramen noodles are actually more like flavoured instant noodles – not what you want in this recipe!

My absolute favourite noodles for Chicken Ramen are wholewheat noodles – they are utterly delicious and I think add yet another umami dimension to this umami-rich meal. However, you can totally make this recipe with whatever noodles you like best!

I actually used regular Chinese-style medium egg noodles for the photos here and that works very nicely too.

What to eat with Chicken Ramen?

I think Chicken Ramen is a complete meal on its own, but if you feel you want more, you could absolutely serve this alongside a few of your favourite Japanese dishes, such as edamame with sea salt, gyoza, yakitori, kimchi… or just some plain rice.

What to drink with Chicken Ramen?

The best wine match for Japanese noodle dishes, like Chicken Ramen, is invariably an aromatic white wine.

My top picks would be a dry Riesling, a Gruner Veltliner from Austria, an Albarino from Spain/Portugal or a lighter style of Sauvignon Blanc from France or Chile.

If you prefer beer, go for a crisp refreshing premium lager.

Alternatively, for the full Japanese experience, go for sake or green tea!

Can you reheat Chicken Ramen?

I really wouldn’t recommend it. This really is a dish best served as soon as it is made – while it is piping hot and before the noodles have soaked up all the broth.

At a push, you could make the broth, but leave out the noodles and green vegetables. Then the next day, simply reheat the broth and then cook the noodles and green vegetables in the broth… but really it’s best to make it fresh!

Can you freeze Chicken Ramen?

Again, I really wouldn’t recommend it. This dish is far better served fresh.

If you like this recipe…

…you might also like:

• Chicken and Prawn Yaki Soba (Wagamama Copycat)
• Easy Homemade Chicken Stir Fry
• Easy Homemade Stir Fry Sauce
• Sticky Chicken Traybake
• Easy Quorn Stir Fry with Noodles

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