In 20 minutes, you can make this Chicken Ramen Stir-Fry for dinner tonight. It tastes better than take-out, has less than 400 calories, and it’s fast (did I mention that?). The secret? Quick-cooking ramen noodles. Toss those sodium-packed flavor packets they come with and make a quick sweet and sour sauce – they’ve got nothing on this fresh, real food version.
More nights than I’d like to admit, it’s tempting to pick up pizza for dinner. Work runs late, I get delayed at the preschool, and sometimes Frank and I find ourselves walking in the house after 6pm without even having thought about dinner.
It’s why we wrote Takeout At Home. Even though I cook professionally now, I still need an arsenal of healthy, satisfying 30-minute dinners to throw together in a pinch.
Ramen Stir-Fry Key Ingredients: Noodles and Vegetables
Those super cheap packets of ramen noodles are a secret weapon for fast dinners. We always toss out the flavor packets that come with them, but what remains is a tender, curly, fast-cooking noodle that just needs to be soaked in hot water to serve. To round out these bowls of noodles, you only need a few other ingredients. But the vegetables are totally interchangeable. This is a great dish for frozen stir-fry vegetables or any fresh vegetables in the bottom of the crisper that need to be used.
Ramen Stir-Fry Sauce
The sauce in this dish is one that I use frequently for stir-frys. I use it so often that I never even measure the ingredients. These ingredients tend to just work together even when the amounts vary. (But don’t worry, I DID measure them in testing this recipe!)
It’s Wednesday! What are you having for dinner?! Make it this ramen stir-fry and be happy you did!
- ¼ cup Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Cornstarch
- ¼ cup Low-Sodium Chicken Stock
- 1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
- 6 oz Ramen Noodles (Instant Ramen works best, but discard any flavor packets)
- 2 Tbsp Cooking Oil, divided
- 1 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, chopped
- 8 oz Broccoli Florets, fresh or frozen
- 2 Green Onions, chopped (opt)
- 1 Tbsp White Sesame Seeds (opt)
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the soy sauce and cornstarch until no lumps remain. Add chicken stock, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and garlic and whisk until evenly combined.
- Put ramen in a large bowl and pour very hot tap water over it (I let the water run for a minute to get steaming hot). Set it aside to let the noodles soften.
- While noodles soak, toss chicken with some salt and pepper.
- Heat a wok or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil and then chicken. Saute until chicken is cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Set chicken aside.
- Return wok to medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil and then broccoli. Saute broccoli until it turns bright green and then continue cooking until broccoli is tender (if using frozen broccoli, just saute it until it's heated through and the excess water cooks off).
- Add sauce to the pan and toss to coat broccoli. Continue cooking until sauce reduces slightly, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, drain ramen noodles and add them to the pan. Add chicken to the pan and toss everything to coat in sauce.
- Remove form heat and add green onions and sesame seeds, if using. Serve immediately!
These noodles get a ringing endorsement from the toddlers at our house, though it’s a shock they had room for dinner after eating chocolate chip muffins earlier in the day. The look on Clara’s face probably needs no explanation, but that, friends, is the look of a girl who just convinced her twin sister that she “needs” a bite.
I love easy, cozy meals like this! And oh those darling girls are getting so big. 🙂
They ARE getting so big, Karista! Part of me wants to stop time but part of me just loves each new stage. Parenthood I guess, right? 😉 Hugs.
Ooh gosh, this stir-fry looks ridiculously tasty! We ended up going out tonight after getting home late and realizing that the dinner we had planned wouldn’t be ready for nearly two hours…we certainly could have used a recipe like this! But I’m sure there will be a “next time,” and I’m looking forward to try this! That first photo in particular makes me want to dive in head first.
CakePants recently posted..Apple Pie French Toast Casserole
Your SO lucky to be able to look at your children, and give them all of your love through big hugs and cuddles.
Make food for them, make food with them and laugh about silly things together…. I’m never going to be able to have a baby for me to have these moments.
I don’t mean to be a negative wet blanket, i just wanted to i guess make sure that to have those kids you have are SO VERY lucky… You all deserve that loving bond and they deserve it from you also.
Never ever let a day go by without knowing you’ve let them know through either words or actions that you LOVE them to the end of the earth.
Bless all of you beautiful momma’s and dad’s.
Happy Holidays,
A
What sweet words – thank you Ally.
This was so good and easy! I added asparagus and half a bag of Cole slaw mix!?
Not much left over, but what is will be my lunch tomorrow!
Great idea to add asparagus and cole slaw mix! (I’m always looking for ways to use up leftover half bags of cole slaw mix – mental note!)
I just made this, as written, and I can’t put down my fork…even though my stomach **hurts** from inhaling this DELISH dish!! Thank you so much for sharing such an Easy & YUMMY recipe, that even I, a novice in the kitchen, could make! And your girls are so ADORABLE!!! That Look! 🙂
Cathy – thank you so much for your sweet note both about the recipe and our girls. I’m so thrilled that you enjoyed it – this is one of our favorite dinners!
I wod rather boil the water, instead of using hot tap water for the ramen noodles. Other than that, sounds wonderful. Will try it.
I tried this recipe today for my family & it was a hit everybody loved it. This recipe was easy to follow, no time in the kitchen, & better than most of the take-out we have had recently. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much for letting me know Tyettea! I’m so glad that everyone liked it!
can i tell you how much of a delicious thing this turned out to be? tried it and now i’m loving it 🙂 Thanks for sharing
My family enjoyed this one immensely! It is definitely going in the rotation. Thank you
Thank you. This went together quickly and easily. I like the noodles in hot water shortcut.
So glad you liked it, Lee Ann – it’s a favorite for us, and so quick. Thank you for letting me know!
If I wanted to use shrimp instead of chicken, would I still need the chicken broth?
Hi Aubrey – shrimp is a great idea. I’d just use water instead of the chicken broth.
Do you have any tips on how to ensure the ramen noodles don’t get mushy when you add them to the stir fry? I made a modified version of this recipe and in the process of stirring the noodles in the wok I overlooked the noodles and it became a mushy mess. FYI I cooked the noodles first then added to wok.
Hi Tara. That’s definitely the only part of this recipe that’s a bit finicky. I’d do it exactly the way you mention – cook the noodles first then add to the wok.
The two keys are that the noodles need to be just barely cooked and need to spend very little time in the hot wok. You can even run them under cool water when you drain them to stop the cooking process when they are first cooked. With ramen noodles, this is tricky because they cook so fast, so err on the side of undercooking them. Even if they’re still chewy, you’ll have time to cook them a bit more with the sauce. Then when you add them to the sauce, cook them as little as possible.
Now that you’ve had them get overcooked (<-PS it just autocorrected mine to overlooked too!) once, I bet you'll get the timing perfect next time.
I made this for dinner tonight. I doubled everything except the noodles, 2 was plenty. Not bad, definitely easy and will probably make it again.
Glad you enjoyed it Lori! The speed at which it can be made is probably my favorite part of this one! 😉
Oh wow. This was very good. But i think your missing out not using the chicken flavored ramen packet. It was the only thing i changed. I put in the chicken flavored packet with some water. It was very very good.
Heather – Believe me, I LOVE those flavoring packets! I’m sure it was a great addition! I just leave them out because they’re so high in sodium that I prefer to skip them for the kiddos.
I made this tonight. It was a hit with my husband and 4 year old! I added in matchstick carrots, shredded cabbage, grated ginger, and a random leek I had in the fridge to add more nutrients. I also doubled the recipe to have lunches. This I’ll definitely go in the rotation! Thanks for the recipe!
Great ideas for additions Danielle – I love fresh ginger!!
This turned out perfect. Whole family was impressed. Will definitely be making again! Thanks!
Glad to hear! 🙂 Enjoy!!
This tasted amazing! I’m a cook a lot like you it seems, I didn’t measure anything, it still turned out very well though. I replaced the rice vinegar with the apple cider vinegar I had on hand and added sliced fresh mushrooms into the mix, I’m definitely making this again.
Made this dish tonight! It was delicious. I used frozen stir fry veggies and it came out great. My husband, two year old and one year old devoured it.
Meant to say overcooked not overlooked lol