Chicken-Ramen Stir Fry

Chicken-Ramen Stir Fry is a nourishing, fun, kid-friendly recipe that is also on the lighter side. It’s great for a lunch dish or as part of a multi-dish Asian-inspired dinner.

I don’t use a lot of ramen in my cooking; it’s relatively high in saturated fat and sodium. And frankly, I associate it with my “broke-girl” days, when I ate countless bowls of ramen – and only ramen – just to get by.

But several decades ago, I ran across a recipe that added chicken! and some vegetables! to ramen, and started to look at it in a different light. As an ingredient, not a meal. As a foundation for a recipe that could be really tasty, filling, and even mostly good for you.

I’m sad to say that I’ve long since lost the source of that first recipe. But I did try it once and remember it was bland, bland, bland. And not real exciting visually, with just pale ramen, pale chicken, and a few green veggies.

I set out to make my own version that would amp the flavors, balance out the sat fat and sodium, and add contrasting textures for a more interesting dish.

How to Scale This Recipe

Nowadays, I use this recipe only for lunch prep, so it’s scaled BIG – 10 servings to serve the two of us for the entire workweek. You can, of course, scale it down. My recipe card software below currently doesn’t offer the ability to scale down, but here’s what I’d suggest for a half recipe:

• Use about 2 pounds chicken breast, or thighs, or a combination, and reduce the chicken cooking time to about a half-hour (check for doneness)
• Or use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken – it should yield around 2 pounds of skinned and deboned chicken
• Reduce all the other ingredients by half (i.e. 3 packages ramen, 1/4 cup onion, etc.)

How to Make Chicken-Ramen Stir-Fry

I love this recipe because most of the prep can be done while something else is cooking. To begin, remove any giblets from the chicken cavity, and pull off any excess fat from the opening to the cavity. Place the chicken in a large stockpot, and add cold water to almost cover it. Add a good teaspoon of salt, and turn the burner on to medium-high.

Watch it carefully, you want to bring it only to a simmer (with a few lazy bubbles drifting up through the water). Reduce heat to keep the chicken at a simmer, and simmer for one hour or until chicken juices run clear (no pink) when pierced with a knife. You may have to adjust the temperature down more than once to keep the chicken at a simmer – but it’s important you don’t let it get to a rolling boil.

I’ll cover this in another article, but vigorous boiling, in general toughens meat. It’s especially true with chicken. That’s why it’s key to keep it at the simmer, not the boil.

Prep the Ramen and Veggies

While the chicken is simmering, do your other prep work. Chop the onion, slice the bell pepper and carrots, separate broccoli florets then peel and slice the stems. You want everything bite-sized. You can also crumble up the ramen noodles inside their packets (I use the heel of my hand for this), open them, and set aside the seasoning packets.

When chicken is done, remove it from the pot and set it aside to cool. Bring the chicken cooking water back to the boil. Add the ramen noodles and cook per package directions (should be about 3 minutes), then drain in a fine-meshed colander at the sink. (You won’t need the cooking water anymore at this point.) Add the ramen back to the now-empty chicken cooking pot and sprinkle the seasoning packets over it. Give it a toss to combine well.

Cooking the Veggies for Chicken-Ramen Stir Fry

At this point, the chicken will still be too hot to handle comfortably so it’s time to work on the veggies for your chicken-ramen stir-fry. Add a tablespoon of oil to a 12-inch frypan and set the burner on medium. Add the chopped onion, the bell pepper, and carrots you prepped earlier. Sauté, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent, bell pepper is crisp-tender and carrots are starting to caramelize a little.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet, and add the broccoli. Sauté it for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just starts to brown up a bit. Add about a half a cup of water, cover it (I use lid from the stockpot for this), and let it steam about 5 minutes or until it’s crisp-tender. Remove the lid and any excess water boil off, then add it to the ramen mixture in the stockpot.

Almost done! Just bone, skin and cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks and add it to the pot. Drain and add the sliced water chestnuts or bamboo shoots. Give it all a good stir, and serve! It’s good hot (reheats well in the microwave), warm or even cold.

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