Leftover Roast Chicken Ramen
This udon noodle ramen is a great way to use up leftover roast chicken! There’s a punchy chicken broth, thick noodles, a fudgy soft boiled egg, chunks of chicken & lots of veg.
If you’re a ramen fan & have got some leftover roast chicken that needs using up, this is the dish for you! This hearty chicken ramen takes 30 minutes or less to make from start to finish & is absolutely jam packed full of flavour! It will also work with other roasted meats like pork & lamb.
For this homemade ramen, we start by making a simple, yet incredibly flavourful chicken broth, which we’ll be using to reheat our leftover chicken in. This is a quicker version of a classic ramen broth but it still has plenty of flavour! There’s no need to simmer it for hours here as we’re using a ready made chicken stock. This might not be entirely authentic but this dish is designed to be a quick & easy way to use up leftovers, I feel like that’s ok.
Along with our chicken broth, this ramen has all the usual components, including noodles, fresh veg, soft boiled eggs & a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
For more dinner recipes, check out our ever growing collection of main course recipes. There’s lots to choose from here, from pasta dishes, to steaks, roasted meats, pies & more…
Ramen Components
The great thing about ramen is that it can be customised pretty much however you like! So feel free to swap out the garnishes & vegetables in this recipe to suit your taste.
- Chicken Broth – For this ramen, we’re making a quick chicken broth. Here, we’re flavouring chicken stock with garlic, ginger, soy, rice vinegar, sugar & white miso.
- Udon Noodles – I find that thick, chewy udon noodles work really well in ramen but feel free to use a different type of noodle if you’d prefer.
- Leftover Roast Chicken – This ramen is designed to use up leftover roast chicken but will also work with other leftover roasted meats, like pork & lamb. I used leftovers from my slow roasted chicken recipe.
- Vegetables – You can use pretty much whatever veg you like for ramen. I used baby pak choi, mushrooms & spring onions. Sweetcorn, carrot & bean sprouts will all work as well.
- Garnishes – We’re topping our ramen with a soft boiled egg & a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. If you’d like a bit of kick, some sliced chilli would make a nice addition!
How To Make Leftover Roast Chicken Ramen
This ramen is all about using up leftover roast chicken! And as such, I’ve made it as quick & easy to come together as possible. The key thing here is to time all the components so that they’re ready at the same time. Don’t worry, it’s easier than it sounds! It’s all in the prep.
- Chicken Broth
We’re making the chicken broth first as it needs to simmer for at least 20 minutes, to give it the best flavour. To make the broth, we fry off some sliced garlic & fresh ginger then add in chicken stock, miso paste, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar & a small amount of light brown sugar. We cook this over a low heat for 20 minutes, making sure not to let it boil (this can make the broth turn cloudy).
The best way to incorporate the miso is to make a thinner paste with a splash of the stock first. This way, you won’t get any lumps in your broth! - Soft Boiled Eggs
Whilst our broth is cooking, we can cook some soft boiled eggs. I like my ramen eggs to have fudgy yolks which means cooking them for exactly 7 minutes in constantly boiling water. Make sure to refresh the eggs in ice water as soon as the time is up to stop them over cooking! Once cooked, we let the eggs cool, peel them then cut in half. - Shred Chicken & Reheat (In Broth)
Next, we shred our leftover roast chicken, keeping it quite chunky. This helps prevent the chicken from drying out. Once shredded, we add the chicken into the broth & let it warm through gently. - Cook Veg & Noodles
Whilst the chicken is heating up, we need to sear our pak choi then drop it into the broth, fry some mushrooms & cook the udon noodles (following the packet instructions) then drain. - Plate Up & Serve
To plate up our ramen, we add the noodles into bowls then ladle the chicken broth on top, making sure to equally divide the chicken & pak choi between the bowls. Then we top each portion of ramen with the fried mushrooms, a soft boiled egg, sliced spring onions & a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Shredded leftover roast chicken will take around 10 minutes to heat up in the ramen broth. It’s important that you get the chicken piping hot before serving.
For ramen broth, you can use either homemade chicken stock or stock pots/cubes dissolved in hot water. If you’re using stock cubes, don’t make the stock too strong as it could be too salty.
To cook boiled eggs with fudgy yolks, boil them for exactly 7 minutes then refresh in a bowl of ice water. Make sure to use room temperature eggs & that the water is at a rolling boil at all times.
Leftover roast chicken ramen is best served as soon as it is made. However, the chicken ramen broth & boiled eggs can be made up to a day in advance & stored in the fridge. To serve, reheat the broth over a low heat then add in the shredded chicken (to reheat).
Ramen broth can become cloudy if it gets too hot & starts to boil. Cooking the noodles in the broth can make it cloudy as well. To avoid this, cook the broth over a low heat & cook the noodles in a separate pan of water.
More Dinner Recipes To Try!
- Foolproof Roast Chicken (Slow Roasted)
- Reverse Seared Fillet Steak
- Butter Chicken & Bombay Potato Pies
- Goose Fat Jacket Potatoes
- Smoked Ham Hocks
- BBQ Lamb Kofta Meatballs
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Leftover Roast Chicken Ramen
Equipment
- Large Saucepans
- Large Frying Pan
Ingredients
Miso Chicken Broth
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- A 1" Piece Of Ginger
- ½ tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1.2 Litres Chicken Stock (See Notes)
- 1 tbsp White Miso
- 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 tsp Light Brown Sugar
To Serve
- 4 Large Eggs
- 300 g Leftover Roast Chicken (Cut/Shred Into Chunks)
- 4 Baby Pak Choi (Each Cut In Half)
- 450 g Ramen Noodles (See Notes)
- 200 g Chestnut Mushrooms (Thinly Sliced)
Toppings
- 6 Spring Onions (Peeled & Thinly Sliced)
- 2 tsp Toasted Sesame Seeds (See Notes)
Instructions
Miso Chicken Broth
- Peel the garlic cloves & garlic then thinly slice.I like to cut the ginger so that it's a similar size to the sliced garlic but feel free to cut yours as big as you like.
- Set a large saucepan over a medium heat then add in the vegetable oil. Once hot, add in the sliced garlic & ginger & cook, stirring frequently for 30 seconds – 1 minute, until golden.
- Turn the heat down to low & add in the chicken stock. Leave this to warm through for a minute or two.
- Next, add the miso paste into a small bowl & add in 4 tbsp of the warm stock. Stir/whisk until smooth then add into the stock along with the soy sauce, rice vinegar & sugar.
- Let the broth warm gently whilst you prep the other ingredients (around 20 minutes or so).Don't let the broth boil as it will turn cloudy!
Ramen
- Set a large pan of water over a high heat, bring to the boil then carefully add in the eggs. Cook for 7 minutes then refresh in a bowl of ice water. Peel once cool then cut each egg in half & set to one side.Make sure that your water is boiling at all times!
- Cut/shred the roast chicken into chunks then add into the broth. It's best to keep the chunks of chicken fairly large, so they don't dry out as you reheat them. The chicken will take around 10 minutes to warm through (make sure that it's piping hot!). We'll be adding the pak choi in after the chicken's been in for about 6 minutes, to finish cooking it.
- Next, set a large pan of water over a high heat & bring to the boil. At the same time, set a large frying pan over a medium heat & add in ½ tbsp of vegetable oil.
- Once the oil in the pan is hot, add in the pak choi (cut side down) then fry for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown. Add the pak choi into the broth & cook gently until tender. This will take around 3-4 minutes.
- Next, add your udon noodles into the pan of water, cook following the packet's instructions then drain. Then in the meantime, add the sliced mushrooms into the frying pan, season with salt then fry until tender. Transfer the mushrooms into a bowl once cooked.I used fresh udon noodles which only take a couple of minutes to cook. Dried will take 5-10 minutes, so will need to be cooked a bit earlier, so that everything comes together at the same time!
Plating Up
- Divide the udon noodles between 4 bowls then use a ladle to add the broth on top. Make sure to equally divide the chicken & pak choi between each bowl.
- Next, add a generous spoonful of mushrooms into each bowl then top each portion of ramen with a soft boiled egg, sliced spring onions & a sprinkle of the toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.
