Peanut Gochujang Ramen

Published: Apr 8, 2023 · Modified: May 20, 2024 by Richa 143 Comments

Spicy Gochujang peanut butter ramen is an absolute comfort food recipe with a delicious, creamy broth, gochujang flavors, lots of ginger and garlic, topped with Gochujang tofu. It’s a 30-minute, One-pan meal! Options for gluten-free Soyfree Nutfree included.

bowl of peanut gochujang ramen next to a plate of gochujang tofu

Table of Contents

Why You’ll Love Spicy Peanut Butter Ramen
More Vegan Ramen Recipes
Recipe Card
Ingredients and Substitutions
Tips
How to Make Peanut Butter Ramen
Frequently Asked Questions

For this spicy peanut butter ramen, you cook the noodles directly in the broth, so you only need one pot. I topped it with some crispy tofu, and you can use the same pot to crisp up the tofu that you use to cook the ramen. You can bake the tofu, though, if you prefer.

The peanut butter gives this ramen a creamy, rich broth, and gochujang brings sweet heat and gives this vegan ramen recipe such a special flavor! You will want to make this every day! Change up the veggies and toppings for variation.

noodles in the peanut broth, after cooking, garnished with green onion

Why You’ll Love Spicy Peanut Butter Ramen

spicy-sweet-creamy broth
One Pot dinner
nut-free option
crispy gochujang garlic tofu is toothsome and flavorful
Good balance of protein.
Versatile, add more of less veggies to balance in the broth

spicy peanut butter ramen in the bowl, after adding tofu, green onions, and sesame seeds

More Vegan Ramen Recipes

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5 from 82 votes

Spicy Peanut Butter Ramen

Spicy peanut butter ramen is an absolute comfort food recipe with a delicious, creamy broth, gochujang flavors, lots of ginger and garlic, topped with Gochujang tofu. It's a 30-minute, One-pan meal. The noodles are cooked directly in the broth, so you only need one pot.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: dinner, Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Asian fusion

Keyword: peanut gochujang ramen, spicy peanut butter ramen

Servings: 4

Calories: 342kcal

Author: Vegan Richa

Ingredients

For the crispy gochujang garlic tofu:

10 oz (283.5 g) firm or extra firm tofu pressed for at least 15 minutes and sliced into rectangles or cubes or whatever shape you like
2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
2 teaspoons gochujang
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch or tapioca starch

For the peanut butter ramen:

1 teaspoon oil optional
6 oz (170.1 g) sliced mushrooms such as white or cremini or portabella
2 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste or you can mince or blend 1 inch of ginger and 3 cloves of garlic with a few teaspoons water, to make a paste and use
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon gochujang or other Asian chile sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
4-6 cups (1182.94 ml) water or stock **
6 oz (170.1 g) ramen or thin udon noodles

For garnish:

lime wedges, green onions, sesame seeds

Instructions

Make the gochujang garlic tofu.

Press and cube the tofu if you haven’t already and add it to a bowl.
In a small bowl mix the soy sauce, gochujang, garlic powder, and sesame oil and pour it over the tofu. Toss well to coat. Add 2 teaspoons of the cornstarch and toss well. If the mixture is still somewhat wet then add the rest of the cornstarch and toss well.
Then either bake the tofu: transfer the tofu cubes to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake it at 400ºF (205c) for 20-25 minutes , or transfer them to a hot wok with a teaspoon of oil and cook them until they are crisp on most of the edges, about 5-6 minutes.

Make the ramen:

I use the same wok for making the tofu as well as the ramen. Remove the tofu once crisp from the pot and then make the ramen. Add oil, mushrooms, and a good pinch of salt and cook for 2-3 minutes to brown the mushrooms on some of the edges. Then add the ginger-garlic paste, peanut butter, gochujang, maple syrup and soy sauce and mix really well. Add ¼ cup of the water or broth and mix in. Mix well to incorporate the peanut butter.
Bring the mixture to a boil then gradually add the rest of the broth. Mix and Bring to a good rolling boil, then add your noodles. Press to submerge in the boiling broth, then cook them according to the time on the packaging. Ramen noodles will cook pretty quickly, within 3-4 minutes, while udon noodles will take around 7-8 minutes.
Once the noodles are cooked to your preference, switch off the heat. Taste and adjust salt and flavor. If you want it sweeter then you can add more maple syrup. You can more salt if needed or some black pepper for extra heat.
To serve, ladle the broth into your serving bowls. Then transfer some of the noodles with mushrooms to your serving bowls. Top it with the crispy tofu, a squeeze of lime or lemon, lime wedge, green onions, and sesame seeds, and serve.
To make ahead: cook the noodles separately and store. Crisp up the tofu and store. Add only 3 cups broth and boil and refrigerate after cooling. To serve, bring the broth to a boil, add noodles and serve. Refrigerate for up 3 days.

Video

Notes

Nutfree: use sunflower butter or almond butter instead of peanut butter for Peanut-free
Glutenfree: Use Glutenfree or rice noodles, use tamari instead of soy sauce. ensure that Gochujang is gluten-free
Soy-free: Use chickpea tofu instead of tofu, coconut aminos for the soy sauce. Gochujang often has soy, so use 2 teaspoons each of gochugaru pepper flakes, chickpea miso, coconut aminos and. 1 teaspoon maple syrup to make your own Gochujang.

** Use 3.5-4 cups for noodle stir fry kind of result , 6-7 cups for more brothy noodles . Liquid content also depends on the type of noodles and the brand. Ramen that cook faster will absorb less. Udon will absorb more. I mostly use udon and the recipe reflects corresponding liquid amount.

Add veggies such as broccoli or bok choy or other half way through the noodle cook time.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Spicy Peanut Butter Ramen

Amount Per Serving

Calories 342 Calories from Fat 99

% Daily Value*

Fat 11g17%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Sodium 625mg27%

Potassium 306mg9%

Carbohydrates 45g15%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 10g11%

Protein 18g36%

Vitamin A 13IU0%

Vitamin C 2mg2%

Calcium 114mg11%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Did you make this recipe?Please do leave a comment and rating below.. Tag me on Instagram @veganricha

ramen and spicy peanut sauce ingredients in bowls on the kitchen counter

Ingredients and Substitutions

tofu – This is your protein. You can use chickpea tofu, if you prefer. Do know that gochujang contains soy. You can make your Soyfree Gochujang and use that instead..
soy sauce – Adds salt and umami to the tofu flavoring and to the broth. Use tamari for gluten-free
gochujang – This adds a sweet heat that’s just amazing in the peanut butter broth! You’re using gochujang in both the tofu and in the broth.
garlic powder – Deepens the flavor of the tofu.
cornstarch – Helps the tofu get really nice and crisp. You can use tapioca starch, if you prefer.
sesame oil – Oil helps the tofu get crispy, and using sesame oil specifically also adds even more flavor!
mushrooms – These add a nice texture and flavor to the peanut butter ramen broth.
ginger-garlic paste – Ginger and garlic pair so well with peanut butter! You can use minced or pureed ginger and garlic if you can’t find ginger-garlic paste.
smooth peanut butter – Makes the broth creamy and gives it an amazing flavor!
water /stock – This bulks out the broth and cooks the noodles at the same time, in the same pan.
noodles – Use ramen or thin udon noodles to make this soup.
garnishes – Lime wedges, green onion, and sesame seeds finish this ramen.

Tips

Make sure that you press your tofu for 15 minutes before cooking! You can prep the rest of the ingredients while the tofu presses.
You may not need all of the cornstarch listed. Start with two teaspoons, and see if that’s enough to soak up the moisture, so it adheres to the tofu. If needed, add the remaining cornstarch.
When you add that first quarter cup of broth, whisk well to get the peanut butter to dissolve, so you won’t have any lumps.

How to Make Peanut Butter Ramen

First, make the gochujang garlic tofu.

Press and cube the tofu, and add it to a bowl.

In a small bowl mix the soy sauce, gochujang, garlic powder, and sesame oil and pour it over the tofu. Toss well to coat.

sliced tofu in a bowl with gochujang added

Add two teaspoons of the cornstarch and toss well. If the mixture is still somewhat wet, then add the rest of the cornstarch and toss well.

gochujang tofu after mixing in the cornstarch

Then you can either transfer the tofu cubes to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake it at 400ºF for 20-25 minutes or you can transfer them to a hot wok or saucepan with a teaspoon of oil and cook them until they are crisp on most of the edges, about 5-6 minutes.

gochujang tofu in the frying pan, before cooking

gochujang tofu in the frying pan, after cooking

I use the same wok for making the tofu as well as the ramen. Remove the tofu once crisp from the pot and then make the ramen.

Add oil, mushrooms, and a good pinch of salt and cook for 2-3 minutes to brown the mushrooms on some of the edges.

adding mushrooms to the pan after removing the tofu

Then add the ginger-garlic paste, peanut butter, gochujang, and soy sauce and mix really well.

adding ginger-garlic paste to the pan of mushrooms

adding peanut butter and spicy gochujang to the pan of mushrooms

Add a ¼ cup of the water or broth and mix in to mix the peanut butter, else it will clump up . Bring the mixture to a boil then gradually add the rest of the broth and mix in.

peanut butter mixture dissolved in hot water in the pan

spicy peanut butter broth after adding the additional water

Bring the broth to a good rolling boil, then add your noodles and cook them according to the time on the packaging. Ramen noodles will cook pretty quickly, within 3-4 minutes, while udon noodles will take around 7-8 minutes.

adding ramen noodles to the spicy peanut broth

Once the noodles are cooked to your preference, switch off the heat. Taste and adjust salt and flavor. If you want it sweeter then you can add more maple syrup. You can add more salt if needed or some black pepper for extra heat.

noodles in the peanut broth, after cooking

Serve the broth using a ladle into your serving bowls. Then transfer some of the noodles with mushrooms to your serving bowls. Top it with the crispy tofu, lime wedge, green onions, and sesame seeds, and serve.

spicy peanut butter brot, ladled into the bowl

adding ramen noodles to the bowl of spicy peanut butter broth

spicy peanut butter ramen in the bowl, after adding tofu and green onions

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this peanut-free?

To make this recipe without peanuts, you can use sunflower butter or almond butter instead of peanut butter.

What is gochujang?

Gochujang is a spicy-sweet Korean chili paste made from fermented glutenous rice and soybeans with red chilis and salt.

Can I make this gluten-free?

Use Glutenfree noodles, use tamari instead of soy sauce. ensure that Gochujang is gluten-free

Can I make this soy-free?

Use chickpea tofu instead of tofu, coconut aminos for the soy sauce. Gochujang often has soy, so use 2 teaspoons each of gochugaru pepper flakes, chickpea miso, coconut aminos and. 1 teaspoon maple syrup to make your own Gochujang.

Peanut Gochujang Ramen

Why You’ll Love Spicy Peanut Butter Ramen

More Vegan Ramen Recipes

Recipe Card