20-Minute Chicken Ramen Stir-Fry
Published Mar 17, 2020•Updated Jan 12, 2024
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Chicken Ramen Stir-Fry is tender, springy noodles with chicken and broccoli in a sweet and savory sauce. It tastes better than take-out, has less than 400 calories, and comes together in about 20 minutes. Perfect for dinner tonight!
The secret to this fast and easy dinner? Quick-cooking ramen noodles. Toss those sodium-packed flavor packets they come with and make a quick sweet and savory sauce. Instant Ramen’s got nothing on this fresh, real food version.
Ingredients for Chicken Ramen Stir Fry
- Dry Ramen Noodles– Those inexpensive packets of instant ramen noodles are a secret weapon for fast dinners. Toss out the flavor packets that come with them and what remains is a tender, curly, fast-cooking noodle that just needs to be soaked in hot water to serve.
- Cooking Oil– Any high heat oil will work here. I use avocado oil or grapeseed oil in most of my cooking. Vegetable, canola, or peanut oil would work too.
- Chicken Breast– Chicken thighs would work as well. Feel free to use thinly sliced pork or beef which should cook in about the same time as the chicken. Tofu is great for a vegetarian version.
- Broccoli– Look for those bagged, pre-chopped broccoli florets to save time. Any other vegetable you like would work too. This is great with sliced bell peppers, snow peas, or sliced green beans.
- Low-Sodium Soy Sauce, Rice Vinegar, Brown Sugar, Chicken Stock, and Cornstarch– These pantry staples are all you need to make a flavorful Asian-inspired sauce. I always test with low-sodium soy sauce, but you can add a bit of extra brown sugar to balance the salt flavor if using regular soy sauce.
- Green Onions and White Sesame Seeds– These are just for garnish and a little flavor and crunch. Feel free to skip them if you’re in a rush.
More Quick Recipes Using Ramen Noodles
Wondering what to have for dinner? Make a stir-fry and be happy you did!
- Sesame Garlic Ramen Noodles
- Shrimp Teriyaki Noodle Bowls
- Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles
- 20 Minute Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles
- Ginger Scallion Ramen Noodles
- Beef and Broccoli Ramen Stir-Fry
- Thai Noodle Mason Jars with Peanut Dressing
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20-Minute Chicken Ramen Stir-Fry
Chicken Ramen Stir-Fry is tender, springy ramen noodles with chicken and broccoli in a sweet and savory sauce. It tastes better than take-out, has less than 400 calories, and comes together in about 20 minutes.
Equipment
- Small Mixing Bowl
- Microwave Safe Bowl or Saucepan
- Wok or Large Skillet
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 1/4 cup Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1/3 cup Low-Sodium Chicken Stock (substitute water)
- 1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
Stir-Fry:
- 6 ounces Ramen Noodles (Instant Ramen works best, but discard flavor packets)
- 2 Tablespoons Cooking Oil, divided
- 1 pound Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, chopped
- 8 ounces Broccoli Florets, fresh or frozen
- 2 Green Onions, chopped (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon White Sesame Seeds (optional)
Instructions
- 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.
- Heat a pot or bowl of water in the microwave or on the stove until steaming. Add noodles and set let them soak until just tender. (Check the package instructions for the recommended timing, but reduce by one minute since noodles will continue to cook slightly more when added to the stir-fry.) When the noodles are tender, drain.
- 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.
- Add chicken and noodles to the pan and toss everything to coat in sauce.
- Remove from heat and add green onions and sesame seeds, if using. Serve immediately!
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 396kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 788mg | Potassium: 725mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 387IU | Vitamin C: 53mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This was fantastic! So thankful to come across it. We made with some frozen stir fry vegetables in place of fresh. So fast, easy, and delicious. Excited to add it to my easy weeknight dinner meals. Thank YOU! I’ll be back on to check out some additional recipes here soon!
So glad you liked it Jackie!
Aw, this was an incredibly nice post. Spending some time and actual effort to make
a very good article? but what can I say? I hesitate a lot and don’t seem
to get anything done.
My wife found this recipe when we were out of oriental noodles but we had a few packs of instant noodle soups. Due to the unfortunate pandemic, the local grocery stores did not have any oriental noodles either. We also couldn’t get our hands on fresh ginger, so my wife found a cooking oil with ginger and garlic already infused. It’s a bit more expensive, but in the end the taste was great, and it took less time to prepare.
To say that I loved making and eating this dish is an understatement. I have now made it four times in the past three weeks, and I tried a couple of experiments:
1. In my opinion, a stir-fry is not complete without mushrooms and onions. Before I cooked the chicken, I chopped one medium onion into eight parts (better than dicing or fine chopping in my opinion) and sliced four large mushrooms. I sauteed them in 1 tbsp of cooking oil on medium-high heat for about three minutes, just enough for the onion to fall apart and become translucent. I then moved the mushrooms and onion into a bowl. The mushrooms absorbed just about all of the oil, so I needed another tablespoon of cooking oil for the chicken. I then continued to follow the recipe, and added the mushrooms and onions back into the pan once the broccoli was ready to be sauced.
2. The first time I made the dish, we only had regular soy sauce, not half-salt, so I did not add salt to the chicken, only pepper.
3. I love shrimp and chicken together in a stir-fry. I purchased a bag of jumbo (size 16-20) raw frozen deveined shrimp (Black Tiger or Zipper Back are best). I thawed them in warm running water for about two minutes. The first time I made it I peeled the shell before frying, but then I found that frying them in the shell came out better. Only add the shrimp about one minute before you are ready to add the sauce. *** Do not cook with the chicken. *** Shrimp, even large ones, only take about 2 minutes to fully cook, after which they turn to rubber. They only need one minute in the pan (flip after 30 seconds), then add the sauce, chicken, and noodles, combine everything in the pan for just a few seconds and plate up. The shrimp will continue cooking when surrounded by the rest of the hot food, so you don’t need to cook them in the pan for the full two minutes.
4. Spicy chicken – I love spicy food, so one time I added Cayenne pepper to the chicken along with the salt and pepper. Or you can lightly sauce the chicken with Sriracha before cooking. Just make sure you wash your hands very well after touching both raw chicken and pepper sauce.
This dish is yummy, healthy, and very versatile. Thank you for posting this! I now have a great dish that I can use to entertain guests (once the pandemic is over), and I can make a large batch of the sauce and refrigerate it so that there is less prep work once I am ready to cook.
Sincerely, Jordan
Jordan – thank you so much for this thoughtful comment and all of these fantastic tips and substitutions!
Chicken, broccoli stir fry was flavorful and filling, while easy to make. Great quick weekend dinner!
Thanks Alexandra! Glad you liked it!
Quick, easy, and love by all! My daughter loves when we go out and eat hibachi. I told her this was our homemade hibachi and she loved it!
Thanks so much Kimberley! I’m so glad to hear you liked it!
This was excellent!! I added onions and mushrooms and doubled the sauce. I didn’t have rice wine vinegar so I substituted apple cider vinegar and it worked out perfectly. It tasted just like chicken lo mein. We all loved it and I will be making it again very soon!! Soooo good!!
I think my stove gets hotter than yours, the sauce reduced INSTANTLY. Still delicious! Next time I plan to use 3 ramen instead of 2, and double the sauce so everything gets covered.
I never leave reviews but I felt compelled to. This recipe is awesome!! I am always so hit or miss cooking up Asian dishes but this is a winner! It is sooo easy yet so flavorful. The first night I made this we had no leftovers and less than a week later I had the ingredients so I whipped it up again. The only thing I added in mushrooms. I shared this with a coworker who made it and loved it just as much as I did and now several copies were handed out around the office. It also tastes great reheated. 5/5 for sure! SOOO happy I found this !
Yay! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review and comment, Amanda! I’m so glad you liked it!
I never post on recipes but this was TOO GOOD not to!! Thank you for this delicious and easy recipe !!!
Awesome – I’m so glad you liked it Sophia!
I’m gonna give this a try with some shaved beef and use beef broth instead of chicken. I think it will be a great combo with that broccoli. Thanks for the recipe.