Name: Vegan Ramen with Shiitake Broth
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 1 large onion-diced; 2 smashed garlic cloves; 1-2 tablespoon olive oil; 4 cups veggie stock; 4 cups water; 1/2 cup dried Shiitake Mushrooms, broken into small pieces (see notes ); 1 sheet Kombu seaweed (available at Asian markets) –optional, but good!; 1/8 cup mirin ( Japanese cooking wine); 1-2 tablespoons white miso paste; pepper to taste; for spicy, add sriracha to taste, or hot chili oil; 6- 8 ounces Ramen Noodles; 8 ounces Cubed Crispy Tofu; Optional veggies: Steamed or sauteed bok choy, fresh spinach, shredded carrots or cabbage, roasted winter squash, roasted cauliflower, roasted carrots, roasted sweet potato, sauteed mushrooms, smoked mushrooms, baby corn, Bamboo shoots, Enoki mushrooms, Kimchi, Soft boiled eggs (obviously not vegan) daikon radish, pickled radish, fresh herbs.; Garnishes: scallions, Furikake or toasted sesame seeds, sriracha and sesame oil

Vegan Ramen with Miso Shiitake Broth- a delicious healthy ramen recipe with mushrooms, tofu, bok choy, sesame seeds and scallions in the most flavorful broth! One of our favoite vegan recipes on the blog! Plus a simple tip to making this “creamy”!

Vegan Ramen with Miso Shiitake Broth with tofu and veggies in a bowl

Sumptuous and oozing with flavor, a good bowl of Ramen is pure comfort food. Here’s a recipe for Vegan Ramen that is made with a flavorful, rich Miso Shiitake Broth. This is actually one of the oldest recipes on the blog that desperately needed a little updating. I simplified the recipe and updated the photos… I hope you like it!

What I love about this recipe, is you can meal-prep the flavorful broth on a Sunday, then store it in the fridge in a jar, for the busy workweek, heating it up as you need it, pouring it over noodles and veggies. Deeply satisfying and nurturing.

How to Make VEGAN RAMEN! | 45-second Video

While in Japan, we tried many different types of Ramen. I can honestly say, that every single bowl I had there was a mind-blowing experience. Every bowl was the best bowl of ramen, I’d ever had. It’s crazy how nuanced and different each one was, each with a personality of its own. Anyways, I’ll never forget it.

Three components to ramen:

The broth
The noodles
The toppings

Four most popular types of ramen broth:

Shio ramen with its clear, light-bodied salty chicken broth
Shoyu Ramen, a soy sauce flavored chicken broth
Tonkotsu ramen, a rich pork-based broth, which is fatty and milky white in color.
Miso ramen, which is miso-based.

How to make Vegan Ramen:

This recipe starts with the flavorful broth! It’s hard to believe the broth is totally plant-based, it has so much flavor!

How to make the BEST VEGAN RAMEN BROTH:

Deeply caramelize the onions (you could even char them over a wood fire!)
Add veggie stock, water and dried shiitake or fresh mushrooms.
Add a sheet of Kombu, dried kelp found in Asian markets adds complexity and depth.
Add a splash of MIRIN
Miso paste! Use this instead of soy sauce, for better flavor.

WHAT IS KOMBU?

It’s basically a type of sea kelp, that adds complexity, depth and that delicious umami flavor we all crave. It’s different than nori (nori is seaweed, kombu is kelp). It is typically used in Japanese cooking to make Dashi Broth. Here we are borrowing that idea for this vegan ramen broth. Now you can leave the kombu out, if in a pinch, but to elevate this, add the Kombu!

Make sure to rinse the Kombu first before placing it in the stockpot with other ingredients.

Bring to a boil and turn heat down to medium, and simmer 30 minutes (uncovered), remove kombu and season, this will impart depth and complexity to the ramen broth.

TIP: For a “creamy” style ramen broth, blend up the broth after it’s cooked – those tender shiitakes will give it a delicious creaminess! Or leave it unblended and brothy- up to you!

blending the vegan ramen broth to make it creamy

While the flavorful broth is simmering, prep any other veggies. In winter, I’ll add roasted veggies, in summer, fresh crunchy veggies.

Today I’ve added baby bok choy, fresh shiitake mushrooms and crispy tofu.

bok chow and shiitakes sautéing in a pan

Make some simple Crispy Tofu.

OPTIONAL VEGAN RAMEN TOPPINGS:

crispy tofu,
bamboo shoots,
seaweed (nori),
corn,
carrots
daikon radish
finely shredded cabbage
steamed bok choy
mushrooms (smoked are nice- see below!)
baby spinach,
scallions,
pickled vegetables
roasted veggies (especially nice in winter)
braised winter greens

You can always add a soft jammy boiled egg- obviously not vegan. 😉

And I love these little enoki mushrooms for garnish – just use fresh and raw! They are so tiny they will cook enough in the ramen broth.

Enoki mushrooms (also referred to as the velvet shank) are delicate yet flavorful mushrooms that grow on tree trunks, roots and branches mostly found in Japan.

fresh ramen noodles

What are RAMEN NOODLES:

There are two main types of ramen noodles used for ramen, yellow egg noodles, and white flour noodles. In the past, yellow egg noodles were the most common – these are the type found in most dried ramen packages.
Recently, flour noodles have been gaining in popularity. The two types differ in size and texture. Egg noodles are fairly thin, firm to the palate, and slightly curly. Flour noodles are soft and wide.
Many Japanese say that the ramen noodles found in the United States lack the depth of flavor because of the absence of kansui, a highly alkaline mineral water found in Asia. Some chefs use baking soda in their noodles to approximate the flavor.

These ramen noodles shown above are freshly made, vegan, all-flour noodles, available in the refrigerated section at the Asian market. To cook, follow the directions on the package. You could also use gluten-free rice noodles.

cooking the ramen noodles in a pot of water

Assemenble the Ramen Bowls:

Begin filling your veggie ramen bowls with noodles first, then the toppings.

I love adding a piece of toasted nori to the bowl- it gives it a delicious flavor.

assembling the ramen in a bowl

Then top with your veggies (bok choy and mushrooms) and garnishes. You could also try your hand at Smoked Mushrooms! Super easy and flavorful!!!

Vegan Ramen with Miso Shiitake Broth- an easy healthy ramen with mushrooms, tofu, Bok Choy and scallions. Plus a simple tip to making this "creamy". #veganramen #easyramen #bestramen #vegetarianramen #ramen