Homemade Ramen Noodles Recipe gives you springy, chewy noodles with clean wheat flavor that soak up broth and cling to toppings. You will love it if you want from-scratch noodles for shoyu, miso, or tonkotsu bowls, and the total time lands around 1 hour 30 minutes including a short rest. I learned this after a few noodle nights with my stand mixer and a lot of flour on my slippers.
Why You Should Try This Homemade Ramen Noodles Recipe
This Homemade Ramen Noodles Recipe puts texture in your control, so you get bouncy, slurpable strands that hold up in hot broth. Store-bought packs work in a pinch, but fresh alkaline noodles bring a deeper chew and better aroma. You also save money and tailor thickness, curl, and width to your favorite styles.
I also like the pantry flexibility. You can use bottled kansui or make a simple baked baking soda substitute. Once you try it, you may never settle for soggy noodles again.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Bread flour, 3 cups or 360 g (high-protein flour gives better chew; I like King Arthur Bread Flour). Sub: use all-purpose flour plus 2 tsp vital wheat gluten to boost strength.
- Fine sea salt, 1 tsp.
- Water, 120 to 140 g or about 1/2 to 2/3 cup, cold.
- Alkaline source:
- Bottled kansui, 1 tsp mixed into the water, or
- Baked baking soda, 1 tsp stirred into the water. Pantry shortcut: bake regular baking soda on a foil-lined sheet at 250°F for 1 hour, cool, and store in a jar.
- Optional egg yolk, 1, for richer color and a touch more bite. Reduce water by 15 g if you add it.
- Dusting starch: cornstarch or potato starch for rolling and storing.
- Neutral oil, 1 tsp, optional for storage to keep strands separate.
Equipment notes and shortcuts:
- Kitchen scale for accuracy. Cups work, but a scale makes texture more consistent.
- Stand mixer with dough hook, or a food processor, or strong arms and a rolling pin.
- Pasta machine with cutters helps a ton; I use a Marcato at settings 1 to 5 before cutting. You can hand-roll and knife-cut if needed.
- Large pot for boiling, spider or strainer, sheet pan, plastic wrap, and zip-top bags for storage.
How to Make Homemade Ramen Noodles
Prep Time 85 minutes, including a 30 minute rest
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
- Mix the alkaline water. In a cup, dissolve 1 tsp baked baking soda or 1 tsp bottled kansui and 1 tsp salt into 120 g cold water. If you plan to add an egg yolk, whisk it in now and reduce the water to 105 g.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Add flour and optional vital wheat gluten to a mixer bowl. Start the mixer on low and slowly drizzle in the alkaline liquid.
- Form a shaggy dough. Let the mixer run until small pebbles form and the flour looks evenly moistened. Add up to 20 g more water, a teaspoon at a time, until the dough just comes together. The dough should feel stiff, not soft.
- Knead until smooth. Increase the speed slightly and knead 6 to 8 minutes until the dough turns smooth and elastic. If you knead by hand, press and fold for 10 minutes. Your biceps will earn their ramen.
- Rest the dough. Wrap the dough tightly and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. This relaxes gluten and makes rolling easier.
- Divide and flatten. Cut the dough into 2 to 4 pieces. Flatten each piece into a rectangle with your palm, then dust lightly with starch.
- Roll with a pasta machine or by hand. Start at the thickest setting and roll each piece through. Fold it like a letter, rotate, and roll again. Step down settings one by one until you reach 1.5 to 2 mm thickness. If you hand-roll, aim for a thin, even sheet you can almost see through.
- Laminate for extra bite. Fold the sheet into thirds, roll it back out, and repeat once more. This adds spring without much extra time.
- Cut the noodles. Run sheets through a fine cutter for standard ramen width, or slice by hand into 1.5 to 2 mm strands with a sharp knife. Dust cut noodles with starch and toss to keep them separate.
- Add curl if you like waves. Gather a small bundle in your hands, compress gently, then release. The strands will spring back with a light curl.
- Cook the noodles. Bring a big pot of water to a rolling boil and add a small pinch of salt. Drop noodles in, stir with chopsticks, and cook 60 to 90 seconds for fresh, 2 to 3 minutes for thicker cuts. Drain, rinse briefly under cool water to stop cooking, shake dry, then slide into hot broth.
- Serve. Portion noodles into bowls, ladle in your broth of choice, and top with scallions, nori, soft eggs, and your favorite protein.
Tips
- Weigh flour and water for consistent texture.
- Keep the dough on the dry side; soft dough loses chew.
- Use bread flour or add vital wheat gluten if you only have all-purpose flour.
- Bake a batch of baking soda and store it so you always have a kansui substitute.
- Rest the dough; it rolls smoother and tears less after 30 minutes.
- Dust generously with starch during rolling, cutting, and storage.
- For strong curl, compress small bundles, let them sit 5 minutes, then cook.
- Cook noodles just shy of tender, then finish in hot broth so they keep their snap.
- Add only a pinch of salt to the cooking water since ramen broth usually brings plenty.
- Freeze uncooked noodles on a sheet pan, then bag them for easy weeknight bowls.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Dust fresh noodles with starch, portion into bundles, and refrigerate in a covered container for up to 48 hours. Freeze on a parchment-lined sheet until firm, then bag and keep for 1 month. Cook from frozen without thawing and add 30 to 45 seconds to the cook time. Store cooked noodles separately from broth, toss with a touch of oil, and chill up to 24 hours for next-day bowls.
Nutrition Information
- Serving size: one fourth of the batch
- Approx per serving, without toppings or broth: 325 to 350 calories, 68 g carbs, 10 to 12 g protein, 1 to 2 g fat
- Sodium from dough: about 400 to 600 mg, with some loss in cooking water
- Values are estimates and vary with flour brand, hydration, and optional egg yolk.
Homemade Ramen Noodles Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix the baking soda and salt into the flour in a large bowl.
- Slowly add the water while mixing until a dough forms.
- Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes until smooth.
- Cover and rest the dough for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll out the dough thinly and cut into noodle strips.
- Boil the noodles in water for 2-3 minutes until cooked but still chewy.
- Drain and use immediately in your favorite ramen soup.