Best Vegan Ramen Recipe – High Protein, Tasty, Light
‘Love this. Easy and quick to make. Also easy to prepare for two portions and cook one and save one to cook fresh for next night.’
Kerry B, Cumbria; Black Labrador Member
Table of Contents
- ✨ Before We Begin…
- The Cook’s Mind
- A Note on Origin
- Ingredient Focus: Togarishi Spice
- My Favourite Way To Eat
- Multi-Purpose Recipe
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- What Will You Learn Whilst Making This Recipe?
- Handpicked to Go With This One
- Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!
- The Best Vegan Ramen Recipe
✨ Before We Begin…
Hailing from China, the word ramen conjures up tasty broth and noodles. And health. I first met ramen when travelling for work in Hong Kong and China. Office workers were eating it huddled together in the morning. Holding the bowls close to their faces, shovelling the noodles into their mouths with chopsticks. This vegan ramen recipe is the best because it’s delicious, it’s very light with plenty of flavour, and the broth is balanced to enhance the tofu (which is pan-cooked to emphasise the marinade). The broccoli is quickly steamed to retain bite and clean the palate and the noodles retain bite and flavour.
‘Must be best food offer, of any genre, in Kendal. Hugely accomplished cooking and very much recommended.’
Tony P, Kendal; Food Customer
The Cook’s Mind
This ramen teaches patience – not the slow kind, but the attentive kind. It’s about gently layering flavour into a broth that feels light on the spoon but deep on the tongue. You’ll learn how to bring contrast through texture – slurpable noodles, crisp tofu, bright greens – and how a well-placed garnish or topping can turn a bowl into something quietly extraordinary.
Make-Ahead
The broth can be made and stored for up to 4 days – its flavour improves over time. Prep your toppings and noodles separately, then reheat and assemble to serve. Don’t store assembled ramen – it turns soggy.
Freezer-Friendly
- Freeze broth only – not the toppings or noodles.
- Label clearly and defrost slowly for best results.
- Warm gently and build your bowl fresh.
Key Substitution Ideas
I would urge you to go for what I’ve done here. The chunky broccoli on top is perfect, both visually and in the mouth. You need something green on top. You could sub the tofu for tempeh, but I won’t take responsibility for that because tempeh has a different flavour and will alter how you taste the broth. I do think sweetcorn kernels on top would work.
A Note on Origin
To quote Yow Hong Chieh, ‘ramen has a long and storied history in Japan. It first gained popularity in the late 19th century as a Chinese dish catered to the working class.’ To continue reading this article, click here.
Ingredient Focus: Togarishi Spice
Togarishi – often shichimi togarashi, meaning “seven-flavour chilli pepper” – is a lively Japanese spice blend that brings brightness, warmth, and a little flicker of heat. Traditionally combining red chilli flakes, sesame seeds, orange peel, and nori with other aromatics, it’s a seasoning made for scattering: over noodles, rice, soups, or anywhere you want a quick lift.
Rather than overpowering, togarishi dances – its tiny, vivid bursts of citrus, nut, and spice waking up the palate without overwhelming the dish. In vegan ramen, it’s the finishing touch that brings all the deep, brothy richness into sharp, joyful focus.
✨ A scatter of heat and sunlight.
My Favourite Way To Eat
If I’m totally honest, I like this for a Saturday lunch. It feels right. Good for energy in the afternoon; nice and clean. I prefer this for lunch, though I know a lot of people eat ramen for an evening meal.
Multi-Purpose Recipe
This recipe has more than one life… This broth is a base to build a thousand bowls – switch the noodles, swap the toppings, make it lighter or heartier with a flick of your wrist. Use it to simmer tofu, steam dumplings, or sip straight from a mug. A culinary playground, hot and nourishing.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This vegan ramen doesn’t just copy the spirit of traditional ramen – it carries it, with deep respect and quiet ingenuity. A broth rich with soul, noodles that invite slurping, and toppings that feel built by hand, not committee. It’s a bowlful of warmth, depth, and joyful detail – the kind of meal you’ll crave on grey afternoons and golden ones alike.
- Deep, savoury broth – layered with umami, without shortcuts.
- Built to customise – play with toppings, build your perfect bowl.
- Comfort with soul – rich enough to satisfy, light enough to return to.
What Will You Learn Whilst Making This Recipe?
- the elements of the tasty, delicious and clear ramen broth
- marinading and pan-frying tofu for vegan ramen
- cheat’s way for perfect non-mushy noodles
- eating plain hard broccoli to clean the palate
- the use of broccoli stalks in the broth
- how to successfully make-ahead
Handpicked to Go With This One
A few recipes that play well together — flavour friends, not just neighbours.
Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!
Got something spare – a handful, a spoonful, or the end of a packet? These tags help you find other ways to use it. It’s a small step toward cooking intuitively and wasting less❣️
broccoli, firm tofu, fresh ginger, japanese 7 spice, mirin, nori, rice wine, sesame oil, shaoxing wine, shiitake mushrooms, soft light brown sugar, soy sauce, spring onion, togarishi, white miso paste
The Best Vegan Ramen Recipe
The Best Vegan Ramen – high protein, tasty, light
A rich, umami-forward broth is the base of this light but nourishing ramen. Shiitake, nori and ginger create depth, while springy noodles and crisp veg add texture. Finished with golden tofu and a handful of toppings, it’s a bowl that restores as much as it satisfies.
Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.
Ingredients
Tofu and tofu marinade (tare) ingredients
- 1 tbsp soy sauce | Kikkoman or other light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine | Shaoxing or other
- 1 tsp soft light brown sugar
- 175 g firm tofu
Noodles
- 30 g wholewheat noodles
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 pinch salt
Broth ingredients
- 320 ml boiling water
- 1 pinch togarishi or japanese 7 spice | large pinch!
- ½ tsp mirin
- ½ tbsp soy sauce | Kikkoman or other light soy sauce
- 1 tsp white miso paste
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 g fresh ginger | unpeeled and grated in
- 2 units spring onions | finely sliced, just the white parts (see Toppings, below)
- 3 units shiitake mushrooms | fresh, sliced
- 20 g broccoli stalk | finely sliced and chopped into small pieces
- 1 unit nori sheet
Toppings
- 80 g broccoli | cut into neat florets
- 2 units spring onions | finely sliced, just the green parts
Instructions
Make the tare (marinade)
- Put the soy sauce, rice wine and sugar into a shallow dish and mix thoroughly.1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp rice wine, 1 tsp soft light brown sugar
- Cut the tofu into slices and cut each slice in half (please see the picture of the finished dish). Add the tofu slices to the tare and turn the tofu slices into the tare with a spoon to coat the tofu. Leave to marinade for 30 minutes, turning the tofu every now and then.175 g firm tofu
Cook the noodles
- Bring water to the boil in a pan, and then add the noodles. Immediately turn off the heat and let the noodles sit in the hot water for about 8 minutes. Test a noodle to ensure it is soft all the way through and then tip the noodles into a sieve to drain. When the water has gone, tip into back in the pan and toss in the sesame oil (to coat the noodles). Add a punch of salt and toss the oiled noodles again. Tip into a microwave bowl and put a lid on.30 g wholewheat noodles, 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 pinch salt
Make the broth
- Get out all the broth ingredients and measuring spoons. Put the kettle on to boil.
- Chop the spring onions finely on the diagonal. Retain the green parts for the topping and the white parts for the broth. Get out the ginger and grater. Slice the mushrooms (5mm thick slices). Remove the exterior of the broccoli stalk and then finely slice it and chop the slices in half.2 units spring onions, 3 units shiitake mushrooms, 20 g broccoli stalk
- Measure the boiling water into a pan and put it low heat to gently simmer. Add the Togarishi, mirin, soy sauce, miso paste and salt. Whisk lightly to break up the miso. Turn the heat off.320 ml boiling water, 1 pinch togarishi or japanese 7 spice, ½ tsp mirin, ½ tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp white miso paste, 1 pinch salt
- Add the white spring onions, mushrooms, broccoli stalk and grate in the ginger. Using scissors, cut the Nori into short thin slices and add to the pan. Mix the ingredients and put the lid back on the pan.3 g fresh ginger, 1 unit nori sheet
Cook the tofu
- Heat a large frying pan with the oil on low ring. Once the oil is shimmering and easily rolling around the pan, add the tofu slices. Spoon the remaining marinade into the broth pan. Cook the tofu until there is some colour on each side, roughly 2 minutes each side. Be wary about the heat: remember excess heat will burn the sugar.
- Whilst the tofu is cooking, steam the broccoli for 3-4 minutes and heat the noodles in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.80 g broccoli
Finish the dish
- Spoon the noodles into a bowl. Pour the broth over the noodles. Top with the tofu and broccoli and dress with the spring onions.2 units spring onions
Nutrition
Calories: 413kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 27gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 9gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 1900mgPotassium: 493mgFiber: 5gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 720IUVitamin C: 91mgCalcium: 295mgIron: 5mg
Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on specific ingredients used. Nutrition is per serving. Information is for the main recipe, not optional accompaniments.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
COPYRIGHT
© The Golden Polar Bear, 2025. Recipes and photography by Julia Savory. If you share this, please pass it along with kindness and if possible share a link back to this site. #ForTheAnimals
Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.
Next Steps?
You’ve got the full recipe — now take it further. Inside Black Labrador, you’ll find structured video courses and an ever-growing cookbook designed to help you cook with understanding, not guesswork. Learn, revisit, and deepen your skills at your own pace.
‘Totally recommend the cookery course. The meals are really tasty and full of flavour (not like most of the vegan mush I make for myself).’
Kerry B, Cumbria
