4 Instant Ramen Hacks: Turn Ramen Noodles Into Tasty Meals

1. Spicy peanut ramen

The first ramen noodle meal that I am going to be making for you is spicy peanut ramen. 

The first thing you need is half of a cucumber. I am going to slice the cucumber in half then I'm going to make very thin round slices. For one serving, all you need is half of a cucumber. 

Place your thinly sliced cucumbers into a bowl. You're going to need one teaspoon of sugar. I have some coconut brown sugar. You're going to need two teaspoons of rice vinegar.  

To pickle vegetables, you can use any vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar, but this is what the recipe called for, and I had this in my pantry already, so that I will use that today. Next, you're going to need half a teaspoon of salt. Mix this up and set it aside. 

This is just a quick pickle of these cucumbers. 

Next, you're going to boil your ramen. You won't use the chicken flavoring inside; you'll use the noodles. You'll have the chicken flavoring for another recipe. I have some water boiling on the stove and will place the ramen noodles there. In a saucepan, you're going to add garlic, and you're going to cook it on medium-high heat for about 30 seconds until it's fragrant.  

You're going to add all your ingredients to make the sauce into the saucepan. 

I have soy sauce here. I use low sodium. I'm using rice vinegar, sugar oil, red chili paste, and my favorite chili garlic sauce. So I have some of that in here and half a cup of water. I will add that to the pan and get all that sugar in there too.  

Then you are going to add in your peanut butter. You'll cook this on medium-high heat and let the peanut butter melt down. 

I topped this dish with some chopped peanuts, which looks delicious. 

I forgot the pickled cucumbers; you can have that on the side. They are light and bright to combat the heaviness of the noodles and the peanut butter.

2. Ramen carbonara

I have never made carbonara, so I hope I don't scramble my eggs. You need some eggs, Parmesan cheese, pepper, and bacon. 

I picked up the bacon bits because this was super cheap compared to buying a package of bacon, which is a budget-friendly meal. You need some pepper and some oil, and of course, your ramen. 

The first thing you will do is cook your bacon; I will warm this up on the stove. 

Next, in a bowl, you will add one egg, one egg yolk, your Parmesan cheese, and some pepper, and you will whisk it.  

You remove the bacon from the heat. You add a small amount of the ramen noodle pasta water; I don't know how much. This is half a cup. So I will add that and then stir it all around. The recipe I'm using says to add your ramen in just like that. 

 Then it says to add your egg mixture to the noodles. 

We do not want scrambled eggs, so I will do this slowly. Add it in; of course, you want this to be creamy.  

If it needs to be more loose, like the sauce, you can add more pasta water, which I did reserve, but you might not need it. Now we're going to mix everything up.  

Here is your ramen carbonara. 

Add a little bit of parsley to the top for some color.

3. Creamy, spicy ramen

You'll need another ramen noodle packet, oil, and mushrooms; you'll also need a can of coconut milk, some broccoli, lime, chili garlic sauce again, and chicken broth. 

I have the olive oil spray that I am going to use. Into the pan, I am going to add some oil. Then I will saute up the mushrooms, maybe get them a little brown on their sides just for a bit of color.  

You're going to add some chicken broth. I'm going to put it in a cup. Then I am going to add the whole can of coconut milk. 

Make sure you get that solid because that is where all of the flavor is. 

Then melt that down into the broth. I'm just going to add about three teaspoons of the chili sauce. If you don't like spice, make sure you put in less. I am just going to mix that in, and I am going to simmer for about 15 minutes. 

I'm just going to add a little bit of cilantro on top and the lime juice. 

There is your creamy, spicy ramen. 

4. Spicy mushroom ramen

For this recipe, you're going to need another package of ramen, a clove of garlic, mushrooms, an egg, and some oil. 

Again with the chili garlic sauce, some spinach, ginger, more chicken broth, and green onions. 

Into the pan, you're going to add some oil. We're going to saute the garlic and the ginger together. Next, add the mushrooms.  

Next, add a cup of chicken broth, a cup of water, and you're going to bring this to a boil and add the ramen.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir. Turn this down on low. 

Crack an egg in here and let it sit there for six minutes until the yolk or the egg whites are cooked through, and the egg is still runny. 

To serve, I just added some green onion to the top, along with some of that chili garlic sauce. 

Again, if you don't like spice, you don't need to add it. There is the runny yolk, and it looks beautiful. 

Instant ramen hacks

I hope you enjoyed these four instant ramen recipes. What are your favorite instant ramen hacks? Share your recipes in the comments below.