Gluten Free Ramen (Quick & Easy!)

This healthy, gluten free ramen recipe is the ultimate cold-weather comfort food! All you need are a handful of simple ingredients and 15 minutes to make this easy soup featuring a creamy broth & craveable, chewy noodles. 

Jump to:

• 🍜 Reasons to love this recipe
• 🧂 Ingredients you need to make it
• 💭 Top Tips
• 🍳 Topping ideas
• 🍄 Variations
• 🍲 Storage and Prep Tips
• 💬 Answering your FAQs
• 🥣 More gluten free soup recipes
• Gluten Free Ramen (Quick & Easy!)

🍜 Reasons to love this recipe

It can be tricky when you're gluten-free to navigate dining out or enjoying your favorite foods like you used to.

I have a gluten sensitivity, so I LOVE having some backpocket recipes at home that I can lean on and feel like I’m never really missing out.

And this simple, healthy, gluten free ramen is one of my all-time favorite easy soup recipes!

The deliciously simple and creamy broth is flavored with fresh garlic, ginger, green onions, broth, soy milk, rice wine vinegar and tamari (a super tasty gluten free soy sauce).

Store bought rice ramen noodles cook quickly and make prep a breeze, so you can enjoy some cozy ramen at home anytime the craving strikes.

The best part is all you need to make it are a handful of simple ingredients and 15 minutes (almost as easy as those instant ramen packets)!

This recipe uses non-traditional ingredients like gluten free noodles & tamari. For an authentic, Japanese recipe using a dashi broth I highly recommend Nami from Just One Cookbook's recipe for vegetarian ramen! 

🧂 Ingredients you need to make it

Gluten free ramen noodles: I find these in a large value pack at Costco but you can also find the same rice ramen noodles in smaller packs online (or check the Asian foods section of your local grocery store). The ones I use are a blend of brown rice flour and millet flour. You can, of course, use regular ramen noodles too if gluten free isn’t a concern for you!

Broth: I used low sodium chicken broth but you could also use vegetable stock in its place to keep this a vegetarian and vegan friendly recipe. For even bolder & richer flavor, try using homemade bone broth instead - whether that’s chicken, pork or beef broth.

Unsweetened soy milk: The soy milk adds a little bit of creaminess to the broth and makes it extra comforting & rich. You could also use almond milk in its place, but I do not recommend using dairy milk or coconut milk for this recipe. Whichever you choose, just make sure it’s unsweetened and unflavored (cause no one wants vanilla ramen!).

Tamari: Soy sauce traditionally is made with wheat and soy, so I used gluten free soy sauce (aka tamari) to keep this recipe naturally gluten free. If gluten isn’t an issue for you, you can of course use regular soy sauce.

Rice wine vinegar: I used rice wine vinegar since that’s what I usually have on hand in my pantry, but you could also use mirin for a more traditional flavor.

Garlic: Since we’re using so few ingredients and they require so little prep, it’s great to use fresh garlic, ginger and green onion to amp up the flavor in this simple ramen soup. But you could also use granulated garlic powder.

Ginger: The ginger makes the broth super nourishing and warming (bonus points that it boosts the nourishing health benefits factor in this cozy soup!).

Green onion: The green onion cooks super fast to bring big flavor to the broth without a lot of effort. I like to saute the white parts into the soup and then garnish with the green parts after it’s done cooking. You could also use finely chopped shallot, dried minced onion or onion powder. Or if you don’t like or can’t have onion, skip it altogether.

Sesame oil: I love the flavor of the toasted sesame oil in this recipe but you could also use coconut oil or avocado oil (or another neutral cooking oil) in its place.

As written this recipe is naturally vegan, vegetarian, nut free, dairy free and gluten free. But to keep it vegan and vegetarian friendly, be sure to use vegetable stock.

💭 Top Tips

If you're making the noodles ahead of time, toss them in a little oil: The sesame oil will prevent them from sticking together or to the colander. Especially helpful if you’re making a lot of portions of noodles at one time.

Don’t overcook the noodles: Since you’re adding them to a hot broth, they’ll soften even further. So make sure you don’t overcook them (you can even pull them a bit earlier than the recommended cook time on the package if you want them a little chewier). I do cook them separate from the broth so they don’t get gummy and don’t make the broth too starchy.

For the best flavor, add the tamari and rice wine vinegar at the end: This seems to be the more traditional way to create a tasty shoyu ramen broth, and helps you get the best & boldest flavor (versus simmering it with the broth and soy milk).

Wait to salt until the end: Note that since we’re using tamari and it carries its own saltiness, I did not include salt in this recipe - you may need to salt to taste depending on if you’re using regular, light or low sodium tamari, and how salted your broth is. If adding a chili garlic paste, you also may not need to salt it since it includes salted chilis in the ingredients.

This recipe is written for one serving but can easily be doubled, tripled or quadrupled to serve more people. You can make a big batch of broth, and a big batch of noodles (tossed in sesame oil to prevent them from sticking) to easily feed a fuller table!

🍳 Topping ideas

This ramen recipe is delicious served as-is but you could add steamed veggies, some wilted spinach, or a cooked protein on top too. 

We usually add some shredded instant pot chicken, more green onions, some togarashi and a jammy soft boiled egg. 

Here’s some more ideas to get you inspired:

• Protein: Soft-boiled egg, leftover rotisserie chicken, shrimp, pork belly, thinly sliced beef, tofu.
• Veggies & greens: Wilted baby spinach or kale, microgreens, steamed broccoli, bok choy, napa cabbage, corn, mushrooms.
• Yummy extras: Nori sheets, togarashi, furikake, fried garlic, fish cake, chili crunch, chili oil or chili garlic paste.

For the perfect jammy soft boiled egg, simply bring a small pot of water to a boil and cook your eggs for 7-8 minutes (depending on how gooey a yolk you like). Then drop them into an ice bath (aka a bowl of water and ice cubes) for 2 minutes, remove, lightly crack, peel and cut down the center.

🍄 Variations

For a spicy ramen: Either stir in some chili garlic paste, chili oil or chili crunch before serving. Or add some red pepper flakes to the hot sesame oil before bringing the broth to a simmer.

For miso ramen: Add 1 tablespoon or red miso paste (or white miso paste). Stir into the sauteed green onions, ginger and garlic mixture and then add the broth & soy milk, whisking to ensure it’s fully incorporated. 

For ramen with mushrooms: Saute 1-2 ounces of shiitake mushrooms with the green onions, garlic and ginger.

For a soy free version: Use coconut aminos in place of tamari and almond milk in place of soy milk. Note you may need more aminos than soy sauce, and to add salt for the same intensity of flavor.

For extra noodles: Cook 2 ramen noodle cakes instead of the 1 written in the recipe card.

🍲 Storage and Prep Tips

This recipe is best enjoyed right after making it, since the noodles will get soggy and start to breakdown when stored in the broth.

But if you wanted to prep it ahead of time you could make a big batch of the broth and store it separately from the noodles.

To make the noodles ahead of time you’d want to cook them and then toss them in a little oil before storing in the fridge (so they don’t stick together or dry out).

The broth will keep well in the fridge in a tightly sealed lidded container for up to 3-4 days, the noodles are probably best when enjoyed within 2 days of storing in the fridge.

💬 Answering your FAQs

Are Japanese ramen noodles gluten free?

• Traditionally, ramen noodles are made with wheat flour and therefore, do contain gluten - it’s one of the reasons they have that delicious chewy texture! There are other Japanese noodles that do not contain gluten like soba noodles made with buckwheat, but they’re not traditionally used in ramen. Luckily there are a number of gluten free ramen noodles available in stores & online now that you can use instead.

What kind of ramen is gluten free?

• Most instant ramen noodles like Maruchan are made with wheat and do contain gluten. So for gluten free ramen noodle alternative, try rice ramen noodles - my favorite are by the brand Lotus Foods and can be found in large value packs at Costco. They’re a blend of rice flour and millet flour and the result is a deliciously chewy noodle that holds up to hot broth and toppings. You’ll also want to make sure you use or make a broth that is gluten free.

Which ramen broth is gluten free?

• Many ramen broths use soy sauce as a base, so you’ll want to make sure you use a gluten free soy sauce (like tamari) or another gluten free alternative like coconut aminos to flavor your ramen broth.

🥣 More gluten free soup recipes

Spicy Miso Ramen with Mushrooms

Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

3-Bean Slow Cooker Turkey Chili