This easy chicken ramen noodles recipe is ready in 30 minutes. Give your instant ramen noodles a delicious makeover by adding veggies (bell peppers, spinach, basil), nuts, sesame seeds, and homemade Asian-style stir-fry sauce. This budget-friendly dinner is cheaper, faster, and tastier than packaged instant ramen or a take-out. It might become one of your family's favorite ways to cook ramen noodles!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Keyword chicken ramen noodles
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 15 minutesminutes
Total Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 4people
Calories 712kcal
Author Julia
Ingredients
Nuts and seeds
1tablespoonwhite sesame seeds
1tablespoonblack sesame seeds
4ozcashews
Ramen
5.6ozramen noodlesI used 2 packages (2.8 oz each of Lotus Foods brand gluten-free rice ramen noodles)
Toast cashews and sesame seeds on the parchment paper lined baking sheet in the preheated oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes.
Cook ramen
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add instant ramen noodles and cooked according to package instructions (usually between 2 and 5 minutes). Drain.
Make sauce
Combine all sauce ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir well to combine.
Cook veggies and chicken
To a large, high-sided, heavy-bottomed skillet, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sliced bell peppers. Cook until just softened, about 5 minutes, on medium-high heat. Remove them from the skillet.
Add ground chicken and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the same, now empty, skillet, and cook, crumbling it until completely cooked through, occasionally stirring occasionally. Drain any liquid and fat.
Add spinach to the skillet and cook until it wilts on medium heat.
Assembly
Add cooked bell peppers back to the skillet.
Add the sauce and half of the toasted cashews. Stir to combine.
Add drained and cooked ramen noodles to the skillet with the ground chicken. Stir to combine.
Season with salt and pepper, if desired, or simply add 1 more tablespoon of soy sauce (or tamari sauce) or more.
When serving, top each bowl with toasted sesame seeds, the remaining half of toasted cashews, and fresh basil.
Notes
Substitute for red chili paste. I used red chili paste (Thai Kitchen brand). If you can't find it, you can use Sriracha sauce, red curry paste, or Gochujang sauce instead.
How to make this recipe gluten-free
Use tamari sauce labeled as gluten-free or soy sauce labeled as gluten-free.
Use gluten-free ramen noodles (I used rice noodles by Lotus Foods brands).
Rice vinegar is usually gluten-free, but just in case you can use apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, or red wine vinegar instead.
I used red chili paste (Thai Kitchen brand). You can also use Sriracha sauce, red curry paste, or Gochujang sauce instead. All these are usually gluten-free, but always check the labels!