If you are looking for a cheap meal then ramen is probably on your list of things to pick up.
Tasting and review
Until recently, I did all of my ramen shopping at my local H-Mart. If you don't have an H-Mart by you then it's an Asian grocery store.
My husband is the ramen soup fan between the two of us. Often times he would ask for ramen and throw in the fact that he prefers spicy ramen.
So in H-Mart, there are lots of ramen options. Most of which you have to take an educated guess as to what is actually in each package as most of the ones I reach for don't have much English on them.
So, I found this one package of spicy chicken ramen. Awesome I thought. It was clear that it was chicken. It was clear that it was spicy. I felt like it was mission accomplished.
I nearly killed my husband. Or at least burned his insides out. Ok, not literally, but I'm pretty sure it felt that way.
We both found out after the fact that there is some sort of YouTube challenge devoted to this spicy chicken ramen. Without knowing this I used the whole spice packet and fed it to him.
He was so hungry that day that he consumed it without thinking much of it. But then there is that notorious heat delay. And then my husband sat there with his mouth wide open in hopes of cooling off his now blazing palate.
We still laugh about it to this day.
I don't use the whole spice packet either. A drop or two is all.
But this ramen that Trader Joe's sells, is not spicy in any way. This is pretty much the same format as the Miso but with chicken.
In about 7 minutes, you have noodles in a cup. The broth is decent tasting for something that started off as a powder. Garlic, onion, and green onion round out the flavors here.
The noodles grow into a healthy quantity that is similar in size to angel hair pasta.
Overall
There are only 180 calories in this little bowl, so you could easily bulk up this meal with other protein add-ons. It was nice that it had its own cup so you can grab and go.
For $1.29 it isn't as cheap as the small package of 4/$1 ramen, but those don't come with their own bowl. Overall, if you need a quick meal and soup tastes good to you, then this is a good one to reach for.
Would I buy this again? Yes, I would buy Trader Joe's Chicken Ramen Soup again.
Product photos
The container of Trader Joe's Chicken Ramen Soup:
The nutritional information:
The ingredients:
Directions
After being cooked you get:
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Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
The Bottom Line
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Trader Joe's Chicken Ramen Soup
Product Name: Trader Joe's Chicken Ramen Soup
Product Description: Trader Joe's Chicken Ramen Soup is one of a few ramen options now at Trader Joe's.
Price: $1.29
Summary
Trader Joe's Chicken Ramen Soup was tasty and affordable.
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Taste
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Value
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Worthy of Repurchasing
Pros
- Trader Joe's Chicken Ramen Soup is one of two new flavors of ramen soup hitting store shelves.
Cons
- Like all ramen noodles, this a relatively high in sodium.
But you are paying for a "cleaner" ramen soup. Not full of chemicals. So it is worth the higher tag.
Hey Alek! Absolutely. The ingredient list was pretty short and sweet on this one. Nothing weird or out of the ordinary. And yes, a good deal for the money.
Is this boiling water going straight into a styrofoam cup? I'm not entirely convinced that this is safe, particularly since then it is microwaved. I've seen ceramic Pyrex cups with lids in the grocery store that might better suit this purpose. I understand this produces a cup to wash, but what sorts of chemicals are you ingesting by using the styrofoam cup?
The reason this is fresh in my mind is that I just tossed three bigly pieces of sirloin into the 3-quart InstantPot on the counter and added about two cups of water, with three or four different Penzey's spices. I did NOT pre-brown the meat at all. I set it for an hour and took a nap. The resultant meat will provide a variety meals, and there is a quart of natural juice that I made into a delicious gravy. Alternatively, the broth that accumulated was unbelievably flavorful, and could easily accommodate some regular noodles for a still quick, but less chemically infused Ramen.
Noodles keep very well in a plastic bag in the refrigerator - at the ready. Just press out as much of the air from the bag as you can, and tie it up tight with a twist tie. However pastas that are tubed shaped may not compress down as far as flat noodles. Linguini is particularly useful for this, as it is substantially sized, and you can cut them to the length that suits your bowl.
Virtual hugs,
Judie
I freaking LOVE H mart!! However the vegetarian ramen options are very slim.
I had bought a cheese ramen for my nephew there (which had chicken broth) and it came with a separate packet of red chili- thankfully he only tasted a tiny speck of it!
Your husband could always add some guochujang or chili flakes to this cup.
Hey Ttrockwood! You and me both. There are times I've thought about spending a day a week on here reviewing my H-Mart finds. My husband loves the cheese ramen. The one in the yellowy-orange packet right? That's his favorite, but yes, vegetarian options in that aisle are limited. Thanks so much for stopping by!
My daughter and I just tried this the other night for dinner. They were sampling it at the store and we both really liked it.
Hey Sunshine and Savory! Thanks so much for adding this. You answered something that I couldn't. It's good to know this is a kid-friendly item! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and share!
You’re welcome! My daughter is 19, but I think kids of all ages would enjoy it. 😊
Well, at 19 I think that age can still be classified as a kid. My pediatrician saw me until 18. Just sayin'. Thanks so much for stopping by!