This delicious bowl of birria ramen features instant noodles cooked with succulent, shredded birria meat and a flavorful broth served with soft-boiled eggs and crunchy spring onion.
Why you’ll love this birria ramen recipe
Whenever you make a batch of my quesabirria, the leftover meat works wonders in tons of recipes, especially ramen!
- It is a wholesome meal. This recipe is a well-balanced meal in a bowl. With ample carbs, proteins, fats, and a nutrient-rich broth, this dish is satisfying and filling.
- Deliciously spicy. If you enjoy savory, spicy food like Korean spicy noodles, this recipe will not disappoint.
- Quick. If you have beef and broth ready, it takes only minutes to put this dish together.
- Customizable. Choose from your favorite Japanese or Mexican toppings to make this ramen to your liking (like a cross between pad see ew and carnitas!).
- Incredible flavor. What I love about this recipe is the blend of comforting flavors and textures. The melt-in-your-mouth beef combined with chewy ramen and a silky broth is a treat for every ramen lover!
What is Birria Ramen?
Birria is a traditional Mexican stew made during celebratory occasions. Seared meat is slow-cooked in a flavorful broth until fork tender and served with the stew.
To make birria ramen, you must cook instant noodles in birria consommé with meat.
Ingredients Needed
One weekend prep to make the birria broth and meat, and you’ll be set for many birria-inspired meals. Here’s the complete list of what you need:
- Ramen noodles. Use your favorite brand of ramen noodles.
- Birria cooking liquid. The broth is made by infusing beef stock with roasted chiles, onion, tomatoes, and garlic. Learn how to make birria broth from scratch in my quesabirria tacos recipe.
- Birria meat. It is beef chuck roast, seared and slow-cooked in spiced birria broth until fork shreddable. To make the perfect birria beef at home, follow the instructions in the quesabirria tacos recipe.
- Eggs. To top off the ramen.
- Spring onion. Thinly slice fresh spring onion for a flavorful crunch.
- Radish, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges. To garnish.
How to make birria ramen
- Boil the ramen. Bring the birria cooking liquid and meat to a simmer, add the instant noodles, and cook per the package instructions.
- Boil eggs. Boil eggs for about five minutes in a separate saucepan until runny inside.
- Garnish and serve. Portion the noodles into bowls, top them with radishes, sliced green onions, eggs, cilantro, and lemon wedges, and serve hot!
What to serve with birria ramen?
This Mexican-Japanese fusion recipe needs no accompaniments.
But if I have to choose a few sides for this comforting recipe, they must be grilled Mexican corn, kale chips, kani salad, crab rangoon, arepas, and salmon croquettes.
Recipe variations
- Top with fried bacon. Add a rich, crunchy element by topping your ramen with fried bacon chunks.
- Add pickled jalapenos. If you love the spicy zing, add slices of pickled jalapenos to the ramen.
- Tone down the heat. Use fewer chiles in the broth to dial down the spice levels. Another way to counter the heat is topping the ramen with buttery sliced avocados or a dollop of sour cream.
- Use a different protein. You can prepare meat like pork, beef, or lamb using the birria method and use it in this ramen.
Storage instructions
To store. You can refrigerate the leftovers, covered, for 2-3 days.
To freeze. I don’t advise freezing noodles as they tend to lose their structure upon thawing. But you can freeze the birria meat and broth separately in ziplock bags for later use.
To reheat. Heat the leftover ramen in the microwave for a few seconds to enjoy it warm.
Recommended tools to make this recipe
- Dutch oven. To cook the birria meat on the stove and then in the oven.
- Blender. If the broth is too thick, you can blend it into a smooth puree.
- Saucepan. To boil eggs.
Recipe tips and tricks
- Boil noodles in the birria broth. To maximize the flavor of the noodles, cook the ramen noodles in the broth and not in water.
- Adjust the consistency of the ramen. Add more water while boiling noodles if you like soupy ramen.
- Get a runny yolk. After boiling your eggs for 4-5 minutes, immediately transfer them to an ice bath to stop further cooking. This way, you’ll have perfect runny yolks when you slice into them.
- Strain the spices. If you want to reduce the heat and spiciness in your final dish, strain the bay leaves, peppers, and chiles before blending the cooking liquid.
More comforting recipes to try:
Birria Ramen
Ingredients
- 2 packets ramen noodles 2 noodle packets
- 4 cup birria broth
- 1 cup birria meat
- 2 large eggs
- 1 green onion sliced
Instructions
- In a saucepan, heat the Birria broth with meat until it starts boiling. If you'd like a thinner soup, add one cup of water or beef broth.
- Add ramen noodles to the soup and cook per package instructions and set aside.
- Boil the eggs for 5 minutes, until soft boiled.
- Divide the soup between two bowls, slice an egg in half in each one and sprinkle with sliced green onions.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently asked questions
Although I have not tried making this recipe with other noodles, I encourage you to cook with angel hair, spaghetti, rice, egg, or soba noodles.
You could cook fried tempeh or tofu in a vegetarian birria-spiced broth and use it as a base to make this ramen.
Birria ramen is not overtly spicy despite adding chili varieties and spices. You get a balanced hum of spiciness running through your palate without actually overpowering the other flavors.
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