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This Spicy Creamy Vegan Ramen recipe is inspired by the delicious ramen at Jinya Ramen Bar. It’s creamy, savory, rich and topped with silken tofu, spinach, green onion, sesame seeds, chili oil, and garlic oil. This ramen is honestly addicting! Best of all, it’s ready in 30 minutes and can be made in the Instant Pot.
Note: This recipe was updated on December 31, 2022 to include better recipe images. The popular recipe remains the exact same.
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This recipe is inspired by Jinya Ramen Bar’s Spicy Creamy Vegan Ramen. The first time I had Jinya’s ramen was at their Vancouver, BC location and I was blown away! It was so incredibly delicious I genuinely could not stop eating! Plus it was raining out, making it all the more cozy. No other ramen I have ever had has come close to their vegan ramen. It’s that good.
I must say though…this one’s pretty dang close to the Jinya ramen and I am VERY PLEASED. I don’t live close to another Jinya location at all and I was genuinely dying for some good copycat Jinya ramen in my life! If you love Jinya’s ramen, you will love this recipe. Promise!
What You’ll Need
Jinya shares on their website that their secret to a creamy vegan ramen is sesame paste. Now, I don’t have sesame paste in my pantry and I didn’t want to hunt it down just for this recipe so I decided to use tahini instead. Tahini is also made from sesame, it’s just as creamy, but it is a bit lighter and milder in flavor! So, to help compensate for the milder flavor, I added in some miso paste to give it depth. And whoa, it worked! The broth of this ramen is probably as close as I’m going to get to Jinya ramen and it certainly helps satisfy the craving!
How to Make Spicy Creamy Vegan Ramen
Although this recipe is super easy, I do recommend taking the extra step to cook the noodles separately. I know a lot of ramen recipes call for cooking the noodles in the broth, but I find it makes the broth too starchy. It’s worth the extra five minutes to cook them separately!
If you’re using the Instant Pot, boil the noodles using the sauté function before making the broth. Once the noodles are cooked, rinse them with cool water to prevent them from sticking together and set aside with the rest of your toppings.
If you’re using the stovetop, cook the noodles separately in a small pot once the broth has about 5 minutes left of simmer time.
Once your broth has cooked, add in your spinach until bright green and slightly wilted. Don’t add it in too early or the greens will get too soft!
Ladle the broth into large bowls and then add in the noodles and all of your toppings! It’s fun to add all of the ramen toppings to little bowls and let your family or dinner guests add on their own toppings! A true ramen bar.
Note: You may notice that I chose not to make the broth actually spicy, but instead added chili oil on the top! This is so that people can add the amount of heat they prefer and it can be completely mild for kids if need be! If you do like spice, I recommend this Vegan Chili Oil Sauce. It has simple ingredients, no fish sauce, and is very versatile. I personally like to add quite a bit to my ramen!
Spicy Creamy Vegan Ramen Recipe (Jinya Copycat)
4.99 from 56 votes
click stars to rate!
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
Cost: $10.02 per recipe / $5.01 per serving
Easy 30 minute Spicy Creamy Vegan Ramen recipe that's savory, rich, creamy and so satisfying! Topped with tofu, spinach, green onion, sesame seeds and a generous splash of chili oil. This Jinya Ramen bar inspired ramen is addicting and a fraction of the cost.
Ingredients
Ramen
- 4 cups vegetable broth ($0.32)
- 1/4 cup tahini smooth and runny ($0.70)
- 2 tablespoons miso paste I prefer white miso paste, but red miso paste works too ($0.92)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup ($0.26)
- 3 cloves garlic minced ($0.18)
- 1 yellow onion diced ($0.60)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil ($0.19)
- 2-3 cups spinach substitute kale if desired ($1.80)
- 2 bricks ramen noodles ($1.66)
Toppings
- silken tofu cubed ($1.09)
- green onion to taste ($0.22)
- crispy onion strings ($0.28)
- sesame seeds ($0.36)
- chili oil to taste ($0.68)
- garlic oil ($0.78)
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
Turn on sauté function and add 3-4 cups of water. Once water is simmering, add in 2 bricks of ramen noodles and cook according to package instructions.
Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking and prevent sticking. Set aside.
Again, using sauté function, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté onion and garlic. Stir frequently to prevent burning the garlic.
Once the onion is translucent and fragrant, add in 1 cup of the vegetable broth, 1/4 cup of tahini, 2 tablespoons miso paste, and 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Stir vigorously until tahini and miso paste have completely dissolved and are well incorporated with broth. This will help prevent the tahini and miso paste from separating or sticking to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Next add in remaining 3 cups broth. Stir well and add the lid. Make sure the valve is set to seal.
Pressure cook on high for 7 minutes. Release pressure immediately once cooked.
Stir in 2-3 cups spinach and the cooked noodles to warm though. Alternatively, you can add the spinach raw as a topping.
Ladle the ramen into serving bowls and top with desired toppings and chili oil to taste!
Enjoy.
Stovetop Instructions
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large pot over medium heat (I used a 5 qt). Sauté onion and garlic until translucent and fragrant. Stir frequently to prevent burning the garlic.
Next, add in 1 cup of the vegetable broth, 1/4 cup of tahini, 2 tablespoons miso paste, and 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Stir until tahini and miso paste have completely dissolved and are well incorporated with broth. This will help prevent the tahini and miso paste from sticking to the bottom of the pot while simmering.
Once incorporated, add in remaining 3 cups vegetable broth. Stir well and add the lid. Allow broth to gently simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring it half way through to be sure miso paste isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pot.
When the broth has 5-10 minutes left to simmer, cook your ramen noodles according to package instructions in a separate pot.
After 20 minutes, stirin 2-3 cups spinach and the cooked noodles to warm though. Alternatively, add spinach raw to the top of ramen bowl.
Ladle the ramen into serving bowls and top with desired toppings and chili oil to taste!
Enjoy.
Notes
- The broth of this ramen is not actually spicy. I chose to add the chili oil to the top so everyone can spice their ramen to their own liking.
- What is silken tofu? Silken tofu is a very soft tofu that has a very high water content. It’s great for soups and ramens! I generally buy this one.
- Where do I buy chili oil/chili sauce? Your local super market should have some, but if not, I like this one and it is available on Amazon.
- How to prevent the tahini from “curdling”: When tahini undergoes a drastic temperature change very quickly, it is likely to appear curdled. This affects the appearance of the broth, but still tastes very good. However, to prevent this from happening, you have a few options:
- Let the tahini come to room temperature before whisking into the broth. Alternatively, you can microwave the tahini until lightly warmed. This will prevent a temperature shock that will happen when you add cold tahini to hot broth.
- Thin the tahini with broth before adding to the ramen broth. This is similar to making a cornstarch slurry. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the tahini with 1 cup of broth until well emulsified and creamy. Then, add to the soup broth as usual.
- Heat gradually. This is easiest to do with the stovetop method. Keep the heat low when combining the broth and tahini until well emulsified, then increase the heat slowly.
- Blend the broth ingredients.A lovely reader shared this method and this would work wonderfully. Place the broth, tahini, maple syrup, and miso paste in a high speed blender. Blend for 2-3 minutes, or until fully emulsified and creamy, then add to the pot as usual.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 420kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 28g | Sodium: 2575mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 14g
Disclaimer: The Nutritional Information provided for this recipe is only an estimate. The accuracy of the facts listed is not and cannot be guaranteed.
Author Nicolette Wax
Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Did You Love This Recipe?
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4.99 from 56 votes
Note: This recipe was updated on December 31, 2022 to include better recipe images. The popular recipe remains the exact same.
Photography by: Stacey Gaar
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