Chewy ramen noodles seasoned with a delicious spicy, garlicky chili oil. These quick and easy garlic chili oil ramen noodles are ready in 5 minutes with minimal ingredients! Great as a tasty snack or light meal.
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This garlic chili oil ramen is made of cooked instant noodles lightly seasoned with a savory and spicy chili oil sauce that requires minimal ingredients!
It's a fantastic Asian noodle dish because it's such an easy way to elevate your ramen noodles to the next level.
This is a Japanese-Chinese fusion dish as the technique of pouring hot oil over chili powder and aromatics originates from China and ramen noodles come from Japan.
The best part is that these chili oil noodles are made with simple pantry ingredients. Making it great for busy weeknights when you have little time or energy to cook.
To make it a complete meal, you can top it off with a fried egg and cooked vegetables but I also share other topping ideas below.
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Instant Ramen Noodles: use your favourite ramen brand and I recommend using thicker noodles. Or substitute with fresh ramen noodles, yaki soba, udon noodles, wheat noodles, knife-cut noodles, or spaghetti cooked to package directions.
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is a last resort. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Chinese Black Vinegar: a black mild vinegar made of fermented black glutinous rice and used in Chinese cuisine. Or substitute with rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Do not use balsamic vinegar.
- Sesame seeds: or substitute with sesame oil for a more potent taste. If you're allergic to sesame, please omit.
- Chicken Bouillon Powder: this is also known as chicken stock powder to add depth of flavor.
- Fresh Garlic
- Green Onion
- Gochugaru: aka Korean red pepper powder. It's a spicy red chili powder or red pepper flake that is seedless. Commonly used in Korean cooking. Avoid substituting with red chili flakes as it's not the same.
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil that has a low smoke point.
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients or check online stores, like Amazon.
Other Topping Ideas
Feel free to add these toppings to your ramen noodles to make it a complete meal:
- cooked eggs: either fried sunny side up, over-easy, hard or soft boiled, or scrambled
- pan fried spam, ham, bacon, or mini sausages
- cooked chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or tofu
- kimchi or pickled daikon
- cooked vegetables like sautéed baby bok choy, yu choy sum, cabbage, bean sprouts, mushrooms, carrots, or bell peppers.
- thinly sliced cucumbers
Expert Tips
- Use your favourite kind of ramen noodles that you would enjoy on a regular basis.
- Use fresh aromatics for best taste.
- Don't over cook the ramen noodles or they will taste soggy. 2 minutes is usually suffice unless they're very thick noodles.
- Aim the smoking hot oil at the aromatics when pouring so there's less oil splash back. Don't aim it at the wet noodles.
- Reserve the hot ramen water near the end of the ramen cooking process so it's starchier and helps the chili oil stick to the noodles.
- Quickly mix everything together adding in the leftover ramen water to help loosen the noodles again.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make garlic chili oil ramen:
- In a small pot filled with 2 ¼ cup or 550 ml water, bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Boil the instant ramen for 2 minutes until al dente. Then reserve ¼ cup of the noodle water for later.
- Strain the cooked ramen and transfer noodles to a heatproof bowl. Then add 1 tablespoon of the reserved noodle water to the bowl.
- Pour regular soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, gochugaru, chicken bouillon powder, sesame seeds, minced garlic, chopped green onion on top and in the center of the noodles.
- Next heat vegetable oil on medium high heat in a small saucepan until it starts to smoke. Pour and aim the hot oil over the aromatics, not the noodles.
- Quickly mix everything together until noodles are coated in the chili oil. Feel free to add more noodle water to help loosen the noodles more. Enjoy as is or refer to the blog post for topping ideas.
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 2 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes or reheat on the stovetop in a pan on medium heat until hot. Please note the ramen noodles will naturally become soggy with time.
- Freezer-friendly? I don't recommend freezing garlic chili oil ramen as the freezer will make the noodles soggy.
Pairing Suggestions
These garlic chili oil ramen noodles pair well with:
FAQ
Garlic chili oil ramen noodles are best enjoyed fresh. However, you could make them up to 2 days in advance and store them into an airtight container and reheat them in the microwave with a couple tablespoons of water to loosen the noodles. Please note that ramen noodles tend to loose their chewy texture with time.
I used the brand called "Samyang" that only comes with the ramen noodles, without the soup base or dried vegetable flakes.
Other recipes you may enjoy
📖 Recipe
5-min. Easy Garlic Chili Oil Ramen
Ingredients
- 1 serving instant ramen approx. 3.88 oz / 110 gram per serving
- 1 tablespoon green onion finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar or rice vinegar/apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon gochugaru (aka Korean red pepper flakes/powder)
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds
- ¼ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder (aka chicken stock powder)
- 1.5 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Instructions
- In a small pot filled with 2 ¼ cup or 550 ml water, bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Boil the instant ramen for 2 minutes until al dente. Then reserve ¼ cup of the noodle water for later.
- Strain the cooked ramen and transfer noodles to a heatproof bowl. Then add 1 tablespoon of the reserved noodle water to the bowl.
- Pour regular soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, gochugaru, chicken bouillon powder, sesame seeds, minced garlic, chopped green onion on top and in the center of the noodles.
- Next heat vegetable oil on medium high heat in a small saucepan until it starts to smoke. Pour and aim the hot oil over the aromatics, not the noodles.
- Quickly mix everything together until noodles are coated in the chili oil. Feel free to add more noodle water to help loosen the noodles more. Enjoy as is or refer to the blog post for topping ideas.
Joy
Thank you for this quick and easy recipe! I just added more gochugaru in mine because I want it spicier ^_^
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for the positive review! Glad you enjoyed it with more gochugaru!
Joy
Thank you for this delicious and easy-to-prepare recipe!
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe, Joy! Happy I could share it with you!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Your ramen flavors are just dynamite... I could eat this every day too!