A flavorful ramen comprised of a simple tomato soup base. Dressed with cooked ramen noodles, roasted eggplant, and chopped spinach. Garnish with fresh bean sprouts, sliced green onions, red pepper flakes, fried onion bits, chili-garlic sauce, or your favorite ramen toppings.
fresh bean sproutssliced green onions, red pepper flakes, fried onion bits, chili paste, or your favorite ramen toppings
Instructions
Make the tomato soup base. In a medium saucepan, sauté the onion, carrot, and garlic over medium to medium-low heat until softened, about 10-12 minutes. Add broth or avocado oil, if needed, to prevent from sticking.
Stir in the crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, rice wine vinegar, dried basil, gochujang, and maple syrup. Bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
Stir the miso and nutritional yeast into the tomato soup base. Taste and adjust seasonings to taste, including salt and ground black pepper.
Use an immersion blender or blender to puree the soup base smooth, if desired.
Meanwhile, roast the Eggplant. Cut the eggplant into large cubes or wedges. Toss the eggplant in the avocado oil until evenly coated.
Grill Option: grill eggplant over medium-high heat until slightly charred on the surface. Rotate and continue grilling until the eggplant is soft inside, about 10-15 minutes.
Air Fryer or Oven Option: place eggplant in a single layer cut edge facing up. Cook at 450° F until slightly charred on the surface, about 15 minutes. Rotate and continue cooking until slightly charred on the outside and tender inside, about 5-10 minutes more.
Skillet Option: place eggplant in a single layer in the skillet over medium-high heat and cook until slightly charred on the surface. Rotate and continue cooking until tender inside.
Meanwhile, in a large pot, cook the ramen according to the package instructions. If your ramen came with a seasoning packet, do not use it in this recipe.
Serve. Divide the cooked ramen into individual bowls. Ladle the tomato soup broth over. Dress with roasted eggplant, chopped spinach, sliced green onions, and bean sprouts, as desired. Enjoy!
Leftovers. Store any remaining tomato soup broth and eggplant separately in air-tight containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
* This is a fairly mild ramen. Omit the gochujang or red chili sauce if you don’t like any spice. If you’d like more, add more. Start with 2 teaspoons, you can always add more.** I do not peel the eggplant. The peel helps retain the shape of the eggplant and prevents it from being mushy.*** Do not use the ramen seasoning packet. If your ramen package includes a seasoning packet, do not use it. It is not needed in this recipe. If you must, add some of the seasoning packet to the tomato soup broth, but only after tasting it first.