Vegan ramen with mushrooms and tofu recipe – with a spicy option (Oil free, Vegan)

I have made all kinds of spicy noodle soups, including several rough takes on ramen. But I have never made anything that resembled what I have ordered in a restaurant, until now. This vegan ramen recipe is easy to make, and is incredibly easy to adjust to what you have on hand.

I’ll usually make extra broth (or just not use too much in the bowl) and save the leftovers in my fridge. Then for lunch over the next couple days I’ll simply make fresh noodles, find some vegetables in the fridge or freezer for toppings, and heat up the broth for a quick and easy meal.

Vegan Ramen with Mushroom and Tofu

This mushroom based ramen is entirely plant-based, and takes advantage of the rich flavor you can get from assorted mushrooms to form its base. Topped with assorted fresh and pickled vegetables, you get a ton of flavor and texture.

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Course: Main Course, Side Dish, Soup

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: cabbage, chili garlic sauce, corn, ginger, green onion, mirin, mushrooms, pickled ginger, pressed tofu, Ramen noodles, shallots, tahini, tamari, umami seasoning blend, white miso

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 Servings

Calories: 238kcal

Author: Jen deHaan

Ingredients

Broth

• 6 cups mushroom or vegetable broth Look for oil free and low sodium.
• 2 cups water Or sub broth.
• 1/4 cup mirin See notes.
• 1/4 cup shallots Diced. Can sub onions or use both.
• 3 Tbsp tahini Sub hummus
• 2 Tbsp miso paste White miso if possible.
• 1 Tbsp tamari Sub soy sauce, liquid or coconut aminos.
• 2 Tbsp garlic Fresh, minced.
• 2 Tbsp ginger Fresh, minced.
• 1-2 tsp broad bean paste Optional spicy chili paste to taste (sub chili garlic sauce).
• 1/2 tsp white pepper Optional.
• 3 Tbsp umami seasoning blend Click for recipe, or see notes.

Toppings

• 3 servings ramen noodles Your choice of brand and type (see notes). Use three to four servings.
• 2 cups mushrooms Sliced. Wood ear, enoki or shiitake preferred, if available. Just use what's available.
• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup cabbage spinach, or bok choy (or similar asian green)
• 1/2 cup firm tofu Sliced. Make your own, buy, or experiment with homemade burmese tofu.
• pickled red ginger Shredded. See notes.
• 1/3 cup green onion Diced.

Instructions

• Add all ingredients from the broth section to a large pot, whisking all ingredients together well, and bring to a simmer. The tahini will be a bit gritty, but I just keep whisking it and the texture ends up fine (to me anyway!). Add mushrooms to the pot.
• While simmering, cook ramen noodles according to package directions in a separate pot. Rinse well and set aside.
• Prepare the toppings and set aside.
• Divide ramen noodles between several bowls, and then top with broth and mushrooms. Then add the remaining toppings and enjoy!

Notes

The Nutritional Value panel is using a typical low-sodium vegetable broth. Note that, as this is a soup, the sodium is higher than a typical meal: but you probably won't drink all of the broth so you will likely consume much less sodium than indicated in the nutritional values (unless you drink the broth!) To further reduce the sodium, use or make a home-made sodium free broth.

Ramen noodles are offered in gluten free and regular options - regular noodles are wheat based. Most dry noodles (at least all I've seen) are oil free and vegan by default. Fresh might not be, so read packages carefully.

The broad bean paste is easy to find at many larger grocery stores or at an international/asian grocery store.

The umami seasoning blend can be made from a recipe on this site, found at Trader Joe's, and is also offered by additional brands (you can order it online). The nutritional values are using the recipe found on this site.

Pickled ginger used on ramen is not the same as sushi ginger. It is pickled in plum vinegar. You can either make your own, or find it at an international or asian grocery store. I found a large package at my local store in a small town, so it should be somewhat easy to find, or of course you can omit.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Ramen with Mushroom and Tofu

Amount per Serving

Calories

238

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

7

g

11

%

Saturated Fat

 

1

g

6

%

Sodium

 

972

mg

42

%

Potassium

 

392

mg

11

%

Carbohydrates

 

40

g

13

%

Fiber

 

3

g

13

%

Sugar

 

6

g

7

%

Protein

 

9

g

18

%

Vitamin A

 

5150

IU

103

%

Vitamin C

 

11.7

mg

14

%

Calcium

 

67

mg

7

%

Iron

 

1.6

mg

9

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Tried this recipe? Customized it?Let us know how it was in the comments!

Ingredients

The ingredients are all easy to find – they were all available in my somewhat “boonies” area on Vancouver Island. If you have an international or asian grocery store, you will be able to find everything there. The bean paste and mirin should also be easy to find in most international aisles at a standard grocery store. The mirin is what you need for that typical “ramen” flavor.

Alternatives and options

You can use vegetable or mushroom broth instead of water for a more full-bodied flavor.

For gluten free, find rice-based ramen noodles (available at Costco and many other grocery stores: look for Lotus Foods brand), and a gluten-free tamari sauce.

There are tons of different toppings you can use (there are tons of different variations of ramen recipes). You can add some seaweed, which is usually on ramen (I didn’t have any on hand at the moment). The cabbage can be swapped for all sorts of different greens, from bok choy to spinach. If you use spinach, boil or steam it and then squeeze out the water in advance. Get creative with what is in season, or what’s in your fridge!

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Jen deHaan

Owner at Plant Based Recipe

Jen is a plant-based nutrition enthusiast and vegan living in British Columbia, Canada. She has over 20 years experience in software, graphics, and art, including many years in Silicon Valley corporations. Jen completed the Developing Healthy Communities graduate program at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Jen really likes dogs and dancing too.

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