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Also known as, glorified Ramen.
Soooo, you guys have had Ramen, right?
I think it is probably the most consumed food among high school and college students out there. I kind of have a feeling that if I was a normal twenty-year old, sharing a dorm with other normal people, that this said dorm would most likely be packed with Ramen.
College readers? Am I right?
I have not had Ramen since third grade when my mom and I discovered that our beloved noodle soup actually had not an ounce of nutritional value.
This was a huge bummer for the both us.
Like fudge, what the heck are we going to eat now. It was mid winter in Cleveland when we found this info out and if you have ever been to Cleveland mid-winter, then you know just how much we needed this soup. Seriously, all Cleveland winters NEED a good noodle soup and even though Ramen was maybe twenty-four cents and came from a bag, it was still our soup of choice.
Until we found out it really was doing nothing for us. Oh, and do not ask me why I cared about this in third grade. All I can say is that I have always been a really healthy eater. Meaning I really just only prefer good homemade food that I know what went into it. It’s more a control thing than a healthy thing.
So we ditched the Ramen right then and there.
Whatever, no biggie. And it really wasn’t for me, but I am pretty sure my mom had some serious withdrawals. She is a noodle soup freak and by noodle soup, I really only mean noodles and broth. She takes it heavy on the noodle with a decent amount of broth, but she is good with just that. Nothing else. So, obviously Ramen was her favorite.
I had not thought about Ramen for so long, but then I got a text from my brother, Brendan. If you are somewhat new around this blog, Bren is the brother who lives in Tahoe. Well, actually I think right now he is in Salt Lake City, but I am thinking that is only for the next couple months. No actually I heard he is going to Iceland at the end of the month. I do not know, he is kind of all over the place doing his snowboarding thing. He might creep you out just a bit when you first meet him, but don’t let his bad boy image freak you out. He is honestly one of the most kind and caring guys you will ever meet. And he is a crazy fun, go with the flow, loving life kind of guy. Trust me, you’d like him.
Anyway, he text me after this post and asked for budget meals, “you know, something I could actually afford”.
Budget meals? Ahhh, you mean I can’t use a block of eight dollar cheese? Fudge.
One of his ideas? Glorified Ramen.
I kind of just loved the sound of that, so I went with it. I was this close (imagine me pinching my index and thumb finger together to show you how close) to titling this post “Glorified Ramen”, but the logical side of my brain went with the pungent flavors in the glorified Ramen instead. So lame, I know.
I am not sure how cheap this meal actually is with all the chicken, coconut milk and Thai curry paste, but it’s a pretty dang good, and healthy too! Well, minus the Ramen noodle part, but I am told that if you don’t use the seasoning packet, which is full of sodium and MSG, and boil the noodles, that they are not THAT bad. Ah, yeah and don’t tell me otherwise or I may freak.
Obviously, if you want to make this über health you can swap in your favorite whole grain pasta, but make sure to cook the pasta in the soup a little longer. Oh, and this can be made on either the stove or in the crockpot. The stove is the super quick 30 minute version and the crockpot is the throw everything in, walk away for six hours and come home to dinner version. Both are just as good!
Thai Peanut Chicken and Ramen Noodle Soup
Servings: 6 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 367 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1 pound chicken thighs or breast or a mix sliced (or left whole if using the crockpot)
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated (you may add more to your liking)
- 1 cloves garlic minced or grated
- 1 sweet potato chopped (skin removed if desired)
- 2 red peppers thinly sliced
- 12 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1/4 cup thai red curry paste
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 ounce can coconut milk 14
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 lime juiced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 packages Ramen noodle soup seasoning packets discarded (you may also just use your favorite pasta)
- chopped peanuts for serving
- chopped cilantro for serving
Instructions
- To make this on the Stove: Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and the chicken. Brown the chicken, stirring once or twice for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Carefully remove the chicken from the pot.
- Add another tablespoon of peanut oil, the ginger, garlic, sweet potato and peppers. Cover and cook 8-10 minutes or until the sweet potato is tender. Add the mushroom and cook 5 more minutes. Add in the curry paste and smoked paprika, stirring until the curry paste has coated the veggies.
- In the meantime, add 1 cup of chicken broth to a heat safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute or unitll very hot. Carefully stir in the peanut butter until completely smooth.
- Add the chicken back into the pot along with the coconut milk, remaining chicken broth, soy sauce, fish sauce, peanut butter mixture, lime juice and brown sugar. Stir until the peanut butter has been fully incorporated into the soup. Bring the soup to a boil and then add the ramen noodles and cook for 3-4 minutes (if using regular noodles you will need to cook the noodle for a longer period of time, probably about 8 minutes).
- Once the noodles are ready serve soup immediately and garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and peanuts.
- To make this in the crockpot add the peanut oil, chicken, ginger, garlic, sweet potato, red peppers, curry paste, smoked paprika, coconut milk, chicken, broth, soy sauce, fish sauce, peanut butter and brown sugar to the crock pot bowl. Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 4 hours on high, stirring if you can once or twice.
- During the last 30 minutes add the mushrooms and then during the last 5 minutes add the noodles (if using regular noodles you will need to cook them for a longer period of time, probably about 10 minutes). Once the noodles are cooked serve immediately and garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and peanuts.
Notes
*The ramen noodles soak up a lot of the broth if not eaten right when the noodles are done cooking. You can prepare this ahead of time, just make sure to add the noodle right before you are ready to eat.
It’s Glorified Ramen time. Slurp.
Love this recipe! Just eating it now and wondering what you would recommend to add some spice that is complimentary to the other flavors? Thanks!
Hi Lauren,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe! Try adding some red pepper flakes for extra spice! Please let me know if you have any other questions. xTieghan
Amazing , as are all of your recipes !!
I am cooking for a vegetarian family , what could I add instead of the chicken ? I’m not too familiar with vegetarian at all .
Thank you ?
Thank you Jenny! I am so glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Made this tonight, and my husbands first words about it was “this is delicious” and he wasn’t wrong. This was very good ramen. Soo creamy, so peanutty, so yummy. I did follow the recipe, and i dont think i changed anything up. Maybe just added some extra salt. While eating it, i couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. Maybe it was some spiciness, maybe something else, im not sure. I syill ate it and enjoyed it.
Husband also said “this is the only thing we’re eating from now on” lololol when i mentioned something about food.
Great recipe, 10/10 would recommend. we will likely have it again in the future.
That is so amazing to hear Angie! Thank you so much! xTieghan
Hi, we made this last night and it had great flavor but a tad too salty. Any suggestions? I used low sodium soy sauce and chicken broth.
HI! I would reduce the soy sauce to 2 tablespoons and see if that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Glad you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan
Made this tonight for dinner. The flavors are to die for…so warming. Next time I will use 2 packets of noodles as they absorb all of the broth. It ended up tasting more like noodles with sauce as opposed to a brother soup!
That said, it was fabulous. Thanks!
Thank you so much Kay! I am so glad you loved this recipe!
I used Hakubaku organic ramen noodles. They have9 G protein answers 3 g fiber if you eat a whole bundle, which I did not. They’re fairly high in sodium though. Anyway, this was delicious and a fish my family could all agree on.
I am so glad your family loved this recipe, Louise! Thank you!
My son a very picky eater send me this recipe and asked that I make it for dinner one night. Well let me tell you it was amazing!! I couldn’t even believe how good it was. My son said nothing during dinner he just ate! Can you suggest more recipes using the fish sauce and red curry paste? I have been telling everyone to check out the recipe.
Hi Heather! I am so glad you and your son LOVED this recipe! I will link some more recipes below for you!
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/coconut-curry/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/slow-cooker-thai-butternut-squash-curry/#bo-recipe
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/thai-peanut-chicken-pumpkin-curry-wsticky-pomegranate-rice/#bo-recipe
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/coconut-lime-chicken-curry-rice-noodles/#bo-recipe
Do you think you could substitute almond butter for a slightly different taste instead of peanut butter?
Yes, I think almond butter would work great! Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
I knew when I read it that the cooking time was off. To prep the many ingredients takes a 1/2 hour. So, it’s not quite as quick and easy as it is presented. I made it almost exactly as written (added 2 cups of chicken broth and cooked noodles separately). I liked the mix of veggies and the flavor was great. The real test of whether I will make it again will be how the leftovers hold up.
Made this last night for my husband and I. We couldn’t deal with how good it tasted. Super clutch recipe. You inspire me for days, Tieghan! Can’t wait to start a blog on my own. I have been wanting to for a while and you really make me want to get my act together and start doing it!
I am really happy you and your husband loved this recipe Samantha! You should definitely start a blog of your own, if thats what you love! Thank you!
Searching for new recipes and this looks great. Can’t wait to make it this week to bring to the ski lodge for lunch! But, thought you should know, it looks like this guy stole your recipe – even your text and pictures! http://thedisasterchef.com/survival-thai-peanut-chicken-and-ramen-noodle-soup/ His post is coming up in some of those recipe slideshows and I only found you because I was looking for similar recipes with reviews and tips from people who had tried them.
Hi! Thank you so much for letting me know. I will look into it.
I’m very excited to try this recipe! I just have one question, what can I substitute for sweet potatoes? I love them, and I think they will add nice flavor, and I don’t want to miss out on that, but I can’t eat them anymore. They make me sick 🙁 any ideas for a good substitute?
haha! over sweet potatoes, huh? I get that! lol! You can use carrots, brussels sprouts, really whatever your favorite veggie. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love this and Merry Christmas?
OMG! I unfortunately didn’t have ramen noodles so I had to use elbow macaroni but wow this was so good. I didn’t even have all of the oils (I had to use some substitutes) but it was still amazing. Can’t wait to try it again with ramen!
So happy you loved this!! And yes try with ramen haha! Thank you!
So when do you add the garlic and ginger if you’re cooking on the stove???
Hi! Add them with the sweet potatoes and peppers. Sorry about that, fixing the recipe. Hope you love this. 🙂
I put this in the crock pot this last night and couldn’t wait for lunch time as soon as I woke up this morning! I love this sauce and will definitely be using the recipe again. The only thing I would change would be to add the peppers a few hours into cooking, as mine turned out very soggy! I will probably put some more sweet potato in next time as well. Love the crock pot hack!
Thank you so much! So happy you loved this and love the suggestion about the peppers! 🙂
Awesome! So happy you enjoyed this Megan!! Thank you!