45 Delicious Side Dishes to Pair with Ramen

You’ve come to the correct spot if you’re wondering what to serve with your ramen.

In this essay, I present 45 of the most popular ramen side dishes.

Are you in a hurry? Here’s the quick solution.

Soy sauce eggs, gyoza, egg fried rice, agedashi tofu, and seaweed salad go well with ramen. Quick kimchi, pickled ginger, seaweed salad, chicken karaage, smashed cucumber salad, or fried enoki mushrooms are additional options. Try cheesy garlic toast for something different.

Ready? Let’s get started.

Great flavor pairings for ramen

Ramen is a Japanese meal that consists of wheat noodles in a thick, umami-laden chicken or pork broth. The taste is mostly determined by the broth type and the toppings utilized.

Ramen complements:

• Acidic tastes give a refreshing counterpoint to the richness of the ramen broth. Consider topping your ramen with pickled ginger or offering a salad with a rice wine vinaigrette as a side dish.
• Naturally umami-rich additives like as seaweed, miso, and mushrooms assist to enhance the savory tastes in ramen, making it particularly delectable.
• Spicy tastes Heat and spice offer a dimension of complexity to ramen and help balance the richness of the broth and toppings. Serve side dishes with a spicy taste profile or garnish with chili crisp.

Toppings

Toppings are the simplest way to elevate a bowl of ramen.

Classics include jammy soy sauce eggs and nori sheets, but I like to add something fresh and crunchy like soybean sprouts.

Why not violate the rules and have some cheesy garlic bread?

Soy sauce eggs

Soy sauce eggs are a classic ramen garnish.

They’re soft-boiled eggs with jammy cores and salty, umami shells.

These might be difficult to master, but Sandra Valvasorri provides several tips and tactics to assist you.

The most vital piece of advice? The eggs are being cooked for exactly 6 minutes and 30 seconds!

Why we like this recipe: they’re also delicious as a snack or with rice.

Recipe Featured Eggs with soy sauce Make it unique. Tea eggs from China Korean-style quail eggs

Fried enoki mushrooms

Another classic ramen topping is boiled enoki mushrooms, but why not try frying them instead?

It’s hardly a revolutionary alteration, but the enoki mushrooms crisp up and lend a crunchy bite to the chewy ramen noodles.

To guarantee that the mushrooms crisp up properly in the hot oil, blot them dry before marinating them.

Why we adore this recipe: they’re quite addicting.

Recipe Featured Enoki mushrooms, friedAdd a savory twist Enoki mushrooms coated with bacon Avoid using the cooktop. Oyster mushrooms, roasted

Red pickled ginger

This pickled condiment, also known as beni shoga, goes well with tonkotsu ramen.

The plum vinegar adds a tart, acidic taste that cuts through the rich, flavorful broth of your ramen.

You can purchase this condiment in a bottle, but I prefer to make it from home if I have fresh ginger on hand.

We like this recipe since it may be preserved for up to a year.

Recipe Featured Ginger pickled in red Another timeless classic takuan (pickled daikon radish)Add additional vegetables Fast refrigerator pickled vegetables

Quick kimchi

We’ve all heard of conventional kimchi, but if you’ve never eaten fresh kimchi, you’re in for a treat!

It is not fermented, thus it lacks the normal stinky taste of traditional kimchi.

Yet it’s still full of sweet-fiery flavors and has a terrific crunch.

If you can’t get napa cabbage, you may use normal green cabbage.

Why we like this recipe: it’s great for kimchi newbies.

Recipe Featured Kimchi in a hurry Back to the fundamentals Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish. Leave out the napa cabbage. Kimchi with green onions

Cheesy garlic bread

This may seem like an unusual topping choice, but since ramen can be served with grilled cheese toast in Japan, why not try garlic bread?

With this combination, you’re getting a lot of carbs, but you deserve a treat now and again!

Eazy Peazy Mealz goes above and above by using both fresh and powdered garlic for maximum cheesy, garlicky flavor.

Why we love this recipe: everyone will be asking for seconds.

Recipe Featured Garlic cheesy bread Leave out the cheese. Texan toast prepared from scratch Reduce the carbs. Breadsticks made with cauliflower

Japanese favorites

Keep ramen’s Japanese origins in mind and pair it with these traditional Asian dishes for the perfect Asian feast!

A tempura plate is always a good choice, but karaage is also a good alternative.

Gyoza is a must-order.

Japanese gyoza 

Gyoza dumplings are smaller than conventional potstickers and have a finer texture to their contents.

You may purchase them frozen and ready to cook, but I like to make them from scratch.

Just follow Wok of Life’s example and whiz the gyoza filling ingredients in your food processor.

Remember to leave space for your ramen.

Why we like this recipe: it’s quite thorough and includes pictures to help you fold delicious dumplings.

Recipe Featured Gyoza (Japanese dumplings) Skip the heating and go ChineseCantonese shumai Spring rolls with prawns

Agedashi tofu

The nicest things in life are the simplest, such as this agedashi tofu!

To get a crispy crust, the tofu slices are coated with cornstarch and deep-fried. Yet it’s the flavorful, umami-packed sauce created from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin that truly elevates the meal.

Psst, are you trying to keep healthy? Instead of deep-frying the tofu pieces, air fry them.

Why we like this recipe: it tastes exactly like what you’d order at a Japanese restaurant.

Recipe Featured Make it Chinese-inspired with agedashi tofu. Make it special using salt and pepper tofu. Tofu covered in nori with teriyaki glaze

Chicken karaage

One of my favorite ramen side dishes is chicken karaage.

These chicken bits are marinated in soy sauce and sake before being coated in potato starch, which makes them exceptionally crunchy and juicy.

Rasa Malaysia suggests marinating the chicken for at least two hours, but I usually soak it overnight to ensure it’s tender and tasty.

Why we like it: it’s perfect for hectic weeknights.

Recipe Featured Karaage (chicken karaage) Leave out the chicken. Squid kara-age Make it vegetarian. karaage with eggplant

Egg fried rice

Combining rice with ramen is a carb overload, yet it’s a common side dish at Japanese ramen establishments.

You may have plain steamed rice, but I like egg fried rice. Its stir-fry sauce adds a lot of umami richness that complements the flavorful broth of the ramen.

Just a heads up: you may need a sleep after this lunch!

Why we like this recipe: it tastes better than takeout.

Recipe Featured Fried rice with eggs Maintain simplicity. Japanese rice with seasoning Remove the rice. Fried quinoa rice

Yakitori

You don’t like crunchy karaage? Instead, try chicken yakitori!

This traditional Japanese dish consists of grilling chicken skewers with a sweet-savory marinade until they are perfectly sticky and caramelized.

These skewers may be prepared with any piece of chicken (including gizzards and hearts), but I like thighs since they are more tasty.

Why we like this recipe: it is suitable for children.

Recipe Featured Make it meatless with yakitori. King trumpet yakitori (vegetarian) skewers of miso-glazed eggplant

Vegetables and salads 

Ramen is a complete meal on its own, but it never hurts to supplement it with a vegetable side or a bowl of salad!

A simple cucumber salad will suffice, but you may also roast some bok choy leaves in the oven.

Seaweed salad

This seaweed salad goes well with a steaming bowl of ramen.

The seaweed salad is dressed with a simple Japanese-inspired vinaigrette of rice vinegar, soy sauce, and mirin.

It adds a strong acidic taste that helps balance out the savory flavors of your ramen.

Serve immediately since seaweed may get sticky if left out for too long.

Why we like this recipe: it’s a simple and delicious way to spotlight an underutilized ingredient.

Recipe Featured Salad with seaweed Get rid of the seaweed. Salad mizuna myoga Make it fusion-style. Salad Caesar with nori

Spicy garlic ginger edamame

This edamame side dish is often served with sushi, but it also goes well with ramen.

The ginger-garlic sauce, produced from sambal oelek, lends a hot kick to the creamy broth of your ramen.

What’s more, the finest part? A dish for four people takes just 10 minutes to prepare (including prep time).

Why we like it: it’s difficult to goof up.

Recipe Featured Edamame with spicy garlic ginger sauce Edamame with soy and sesame sauce, without the heat Make it from scratch. Salad with edamame

Smashed cucumber salad

Everyone has their own take on a simple cucumber salad, but this is my personal favorite.

Cucumbers and chile oil combine to create a flavor combination that will both excite and calm your taste buds.

Japanese cucumbers are used in Healthy Nibbles & Bits for their sweet flavor, but I’ve prepared this using English cucumbers and it still tastes great.

Why we like this recipe: each dish has just 120 calories.

Recipe Featured Salad with mashed cucumbers from China Remove the chili oil. Salad with sesame and cucumber Leave out the cucumbers. Salad with Asian zucchini

Stir-fry sugar sesame snap peas

Sugar snap peas are delicious fresh, but they’re even better stir-fried with sesame oil, ginger, and garlic.

It’s a simple procedure, but the sesame adds a wonderful nutty taste that makes these crisp-tender vegetables addicting.

This side dish may be made using frozen sugar snap peas, but they won’t have the same snap as fresh ones.

Why we like it: it’s perfect for meal prep.

Recipe Featured Sugar sesame snap peas stir-fry Turn on the oven. Sugar snap peas roasted Prepare a salad Salad with Asian snap peas

Roasted baby bok choy

Would you want some lush greens with your ramen? Have a look at this roasted bok choy side dish!

The high heat crisps up the green portions while softening the meaty stalks.

Yet it’s the vibrant, tangy sauce you sprinkle over these lush greens before serving that makes them especially wonderful.

And did I mention how nutritious bok choy is? It’s loaded with healthy vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to round out the meal.

Why we like this dish is that it needs no hands-on cooking.

Recipe Featured Baby bok choy roasted without the oven Keep it fresh with sauteed bok choy Salad with bok choy

The best side dishes for ramen

• Eggs with soy sauce
• Enoki mushrooms, fried
• Ginger pickled in red
• Kimchi in a hurry
• Garlic cheesy bread
• Gyoza (Japanese dumplings)
• Tofu agedashi
• Karaage (chicken karaage)
• Fried rice with eggs
• Yakitori
• Salad with seaweed
• Edamame with spicy garlic ginger sauce
• Salad with crushed cucumbers
• Sugar sesame snap peas stir-fry
• Baby bok choy roasted