This spicy ramen noodles recipe is easy to make and so much better than store bought ramen, plus you can make it as spicy as you want! Ready in minutes!
This spicy ramen noodles recipe makes it easy to enjoy homemade ramen with bold, fiery flavor. Skip the store-bought packets - making your own spicy ramen at home is simple, satisfying, and totally customizable.
Why You'll Love This Ramen
- Quick & Easy. Your homemade ramen is ready in about 15 minutes with simple ingredients you already have on hand.
- Bold & Spicy. A fiery twist on classic ramen soup that’s completely customizable to your heat level. This is made for spice lovers, with plenty of room to kick it up even hotter, or milder if you prefer.
- Better Than Packaged. Skip the seasoning packet. This homemade ramen is fresher, healthier, and way more flavorful.
Bust out the ramen bowls, my friends! It's time to make spicy ramen the right way!
Want more quick and easy (and spicy) noodles? Try my spicy noodles recipe, drunken noodles, or my Lo Mein noodles recipe.
Key Ingredients
- Broth. I use chicken broth as my base, but you can use vegetable broth. Beef broth works, too, but will have drastically different flavor.
- Sliced Peppers. I use serrano peppers for a good level of heat, though you can use milder peppers, such as jalapeno peppers. Try habanero peppers, ghost peppers or something superhot like scorpion peppers, 7 pot peppers or the Carolina reaper for some dramatic heat.
- Fresh Garlic and Ginger. I use smashed garlic and minced ginger to season the ramen broth, but you can use dried if you'd prefer.
- Gochujang. 3 tablespoons gochujang, or to taste - I usually use 1/4 cup. If you're concerned about the gochujang, simmer the ramen based with 1 tablespoon first, then adjust from there.
- Chili Crisp. I use 1 tablespoon chili crisp, though you can use hot chili oil as a substitute. The chili crisp is great to get those extra crispy bits and also heat. Try my homemade chili crisp recipe.
- Soy Sauce.
- Sesame Oil. Hot sesame oil is ideal here for the spicy food lover, though you can use a milder sesame oil.
- Sambal Oelek. 1 teaspoon sambal oelek, or use chili-garlic sauce as a good substitute. You can add in more if you'd like.
- Rice Wine Vinegar.
- Sriracha Sauce. Use sriracha sauce to taste, or you can use your favorite hot sauce.
- Ramen Noodles. 4 ounces ramen noodles is perfect for 2 people. You can try this with other noodles, but ramen instant noodles are ideal. Or use thin round wheat noodles.
- Shrimp. You can use other cooked proteins like chicken, pork or beef. Tofu is popular, though we're using shrimp today.
- Eggs. Use 2 soft boiled eggs for extra flavor and garnish, if desired. Or use these homemade ramen eggs!
- For Serving. Fresh chopped parsley, green onion or scallions, spicy chili flakes, sesame seeds
How to Make Spicy Ramen - Step by Step
Heat the Broth. Add the chicken broth to a large pot and heat to medium heat.
Stir in the Spicy Ingredients. Stir in serrano peppers, garlic, ginger, gochujang, chili crisp, soy sauce, sesame oil, sambal oelek, vinegar and sriracha. Stir until everything is completely incorporated.
Simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes to let the flavors develop. It should look like the photo below.
The Noodles and Proteins. Stir in the noodles and shrimp (or other cooked proteins) and cook the ramen noodles until they are softened and the shrimp is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Serve Your Ramen Noodles! Serve into bowls and garnish with sliced soft boiled eggs, fresh chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, green onion and sesame seeds.
Boom! Done! Spicy ramen noodles are ready to serve! Looks great, doesn't it? I love a good spicy ramen recipe. So delicious! And super easy to make, isn't it? Ready in about 15 minutes or so. I do love easy cooking, especially with such HUGE flavor.
Mike's Recipe Tips & Notes
The Proteins
I am using shrimp for this recipe, but you can use chicken, pork, beef, fish, tofu or other proteins. I love a good chicken ramen or miso ramen. Try my birria ramen recipe, too.
Ramen is perfect for leftover proteins. Just toss them into the broth to warm up!
Other Seasonings and Flavors
Ramen is VERY easy to customize with other spices and ingredients. Some popular additions include miso paste, fish sauce, chili sauce, rice vinegar, hot sauce, brown sugar, and more. Use your favorites!
Extra Spicy Ramen Noodles
This recipe makes flavorful, spicy ramen noodles with a heat level most spicy food lovers will enjoy. For extra spicy ramen, add hotter peppers (like habanero), more chili flakes, and extra gochujang. Prefer it milder? Just scale back the heat.
Storage and Reheating
Keep leftover spicy ramen noodles in a sealed container in the refrigerator. They’ll stay fresh for up to 3 days. The noodles will continue to soak up broth, so expect them to soften more as they sit.
To reheat, warm gently on the stovetop over medium heat or in the microwave until heated through. If the noodles have absorbed too much liquid, just add a splash of broth or water to loosen them up.
Tip: For best texture, store the broth and noodles separately if you plan ahead. Combine them when reheating for fresher-tasting ramen.
That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy my spicy ramen noodles recipe. Let me know if you make it. I'd love to hear how you tweaked it to make it your own, you crazy chiliheads! Keep it spicy!
This Recipe Is In our Cookbook - FLAVOR MADNESS
Did you know that you can find this recipe in our new cookbook FLAVOR MADNESS? It's waiting for you on PAGE 219.
Try Some of My Other Popular Recipes
- Try my Tom Yum Soup recipe, which you can make clear or creamy, and add noodles, too!
- Yaki Udon Noodles
- Chili Oil Noodles
- Spicy Stir Fry Sauce
- Szechuan Chicken
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Spicy Ramen Noodles Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 cups chicken broth or use vegetable broth
- 2 serrano peppers sliced (use jalapeno for milder)
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 thumb sized knob of fresh ginger peeled and sliced
- 3 tablespoons gochujang or to taste - I usually use 1/4 cup
- 1 tablespoon chili crisp or use hot chili oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon sambal oelek or use chili-garlic sauce
- 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
- Sriracha to taste or use your favorite hot sauce
- 4 ounces ramen noodles
EXTRAS
- 1/2 pound shrimp peeled and deveined (or use other cooked proteins)
- 2 soft boiled eggs
- Fresh chopped parsley, green onion, spicy chili flakes, sesame seeds for serving
Instructions
- Add the chicken broth to a large pot and heat to medium heat.
- Stir in serrano peppers, garlic, ginger, gochujang, chili crisp, soy sauce, sesame oil, sambal oelek, vinegar and sriracha. Stir until everything is completely incorporated.
- Simmer for 10 minutes to let the flavors develop.
- Stir in the noodles and shrimp (or other cooked proteins) and cook until the noodles are softened and the shrimp is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Serve into bowls and garnish with sliced soft boiled eggs, fresh chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, green onion and sesame seeds.
Video
Nutrition Information
NOTE: This post was updated on 9/5/25 to include new information and video. It was originally published on 10/14/20.
Tanya Cumbo-Milligan says
@Chilipeppermadness this was a Great Recipe. I used the shrimp the 1st time and the 2nd time I made it, I used Gator Sausage as the protein! This is a Fantastic recipe and the broth is outstanding! Thank you so much for sharing.
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Thanks, Tanya! I'll have to use gator sausage next time! Nice.
Alex says
I followed the recipe for 4 servings, but I used hot-chili oil and chili-garlic paste as substitutes. It came out absolutely delicious and was exactly what I was going for. I love eat spicy beef garlic ramen when I'm out but I wasn't able to recreate it at home until now. So happy to have found this recipe
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it, Alex! Thanks for sharing this!
jimmothy66 says
Hi Mike, awesome recipe! I toned it down a bit and used jalapenos only as my sister does not like overly hot foods, but plan on doing the serrano and habanero version for myself. One question, have you tried freezing the broth? Would you omit the fresh peppers, and add them when reheating, or do you think they will be fine?
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, you can definitely freeze the broth. It freezes nicely. You can freeze the peppers with the broth, no problem.
Scarlett says
I made this ramen this evening for me & my boyfriend it was delicious! Wish we’d seasoned the chicken beforehand. Thankyou for this recipe, I got some of the spicy broth in my eyes as I put the gochujang paste in, it really was chilli pepper madness ️ worth it though! Hahaha
Mike Hultquist says
Nice! Thanks, Scarlett!
Ed Moder says
This was a great recipe! But again, I overdid the spices. I used the recipe for 4 servings which called for 4 serrano peppers. I did not have serranos so I used 2 jalapenos and 1 habanero thinking that was equivalent. Apparently that is not equivalent since it was 4-alarm plus. But some sour cream fixed the problem.
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I used 4 poached eggs instead of soft boiled and we ate them all with the first 2 servings. I will make 4 more for the leftovers.
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Anyway, it was a great recipe and one I will add to my list for the future, but no habaneros. lol
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Mike Hultquist says
Haha, oh no! Is this why Connie texted Patty and said she got spiced out?? LOL. Glad you enjoyed it, Ed! See you soon!
Ed Moder says
We fixed the spiciness! As I said earlier this ended up being too spicy for us. We had exactly 7 cups leftover, so I added an unmeasured amount of sour cream (a good half cup or more) and today I made 2 instant ramen noodle packets. We used chicken because we had some already cooked and needed to use it. I will use shrimp next time. Anyway, I added some chicken bouillon powder to the new mix and cooked it. Then I added the cold 7 cups of leftovers. Add 4 poached eggs and we have a 2-alarm meal (just right). I say 2-alarm, Connie says 3-alarm. And we have 6 cups left for one more meal.
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I actually think today's meal was better than the original, even after factoring in the spice level.
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Mike Hultquist says
Outstanding, Ed! Glad you got it just where you want it. =)
David says
Absolutely fantastic. I was worried it would be too hot for me, but it was perfect. I used leftover pork belly and added some shitake mushrooms. This recipe is a keeper!!
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it, David!
Maureen E says
This recipe is a keeper! I love Ramen and seek it out anytime I'm eating out in a big city. This is recipe is even better than what I've had in some restaurants. My husband raved about it. So easy and just YUM!!!
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome to hear, Maureen! Glad you all loved it! This is one of Patty's favorites, too.
James says
wow, very tasty just the right amount of heat. my picture wasn't as pretty as yours...lol. going to a staple. just need to learn how to use chopsticks.
Mike Hultquist says
Nice!! Glad you enjoyed it, James! It's definitely a staple here, one of Patty's favorites in the world. She can't get enough ramen. Thanks for sharing!
Tana Macdonald says
Holy moly. You’re talented. And what a beautiful website/blog. Such a pleasure. And everything I’ve made thus far is beyond delicious. Cheers!
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks so much, Tana!
Graham Leach says
The Spicy Ramen modified with bean shoots, shitaki/oyster mushrooms, Tempura Prawns and beef (Surf & Turf) added to the original recipe were absolutely amazing . The ingredients you suggested were an experience of there own.
Mike Hultquist says
Outstanding! Thanks for sharing, Graham!
Ken says
This one is a keeper, Mike! I was nervous about the raw chilis being too hot, but their heat dissipates into the broth and they mellow when simmered to provide a nice background heat. Combined with the upfront sriracha gives it a great layered effect. I dunked some fresh spinach a few minutes before serving (gotta have my greens!) to make it an excellent one pot meal. Thanks!
PS: I'm gonna try nice, fat udon noodles next time.
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Ken! Very happy you enjoyed it!
Elisabeth Marshall says
Very good and well-balanced. Inexpensive, healthy and delicious!
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Elisabeth!
Damien C. says
Wow, this is a great one. Everyone here loved it. Perfect spice levels as always.
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Damien! Glad you enjoyed this one!