Spring Ramen in an Instant Pot is Easy and Delicious
Get rich and flavorful ramen with our easy Instant Pot Spring Ramen recipe below!
What makes ramen so satisfying to eat? Is it the rich broth? The delicious toppings? Whatever the reason, people seem to love it — our community members included!
Ramen is a Japanese soup (though it actually originated in China) composed of a broth typically made from meat and noodles. The other ingredients that go into the soup — such as soft-boiled eggs, bok choy, and bean sprouts — vary from one style of ramen to the next.
Traditionally, ramen broth takes hours, if not days, of simmering to develop rich flavors. In our original Spring Ramen recipe, we used the slow cooker to get the job done. In this version, which was converted for use in the Instant Pot with the help of our member-run Cook Smarts Instant Pot community (join them here!), we use high pressure to get the same delicious flavors but in much less time!
“Absolutely amazing — this is the best ramen recipe I’ve made AND it’s the easiest!”
— Catalina G.
In our Instant Pot Ramen recipe, the broth (which is perhaps the most important element!) gets infused with flavor in two stages. First, we cook pork, onions, garlic, ginger, and dried shiitake mushrooms in stock under high pressure. Then, we set the Instant Pot to Sauté and whisk in miso paste and ponzu, and let the broth simmer to develop even more flavor.
Ladle the noodles into the broth and top with pork, snap peas, cilantro, and lime wedges. Leftover pork freezes well and is a great addition to salads, wraps, or tacos later in the week!
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Instant Pot Tip: It usually takes hours, if not days, of slow simmering to develop a flavorful and complex broth. With the high heat and pressure of the Instant Pot, it takes about a hour.
(For more Instant Pot tips, check out our article here.)
Prepping Smarts
- Garlic, ginger, and cilantro can be prepped up to 5 days ahead of time. Watch our videos below to see how! You can also store the garlic and ginger in the same container to reduce the number of dishes you clean later.
How to Mince or Crush Garlic
Garlic adds great flavor and aroma to any dish. Learn how to impart the flavors of garlic to any dish with this short video.
How to Peel, Grate and Chop Ginger
See how easily we peel ginger and then grate it or chop it.
How to Chop Cilantro or Parsley
Learn how to chop parsley using the 'pivot-and-fan' chopping technique with this short video.
Equipment Smarts
- Instant Pot – a multicooking tool that does most of the cooking in this recipe!
- Strainer – helps remove any solids from the broth
- Skillet – used to saute snap peas
For more kitchen and equipment and tool smarts, visit our Essential Kitchen Cookware and Tools
Ingredients
- Onions - 1, quartered
- Garlic - 6 cloves, peeled and crushed
- Ginger - 3 Tbsp, peeled and sliced
- Pork, bone-in shoulder roast (sometimes labeled pork butt) - 3 lbs
- Peas, snap, fresh or frozen - 20 oz, chopped (sub spring peas)
- Limes - 2, wedges
- Cilantro - 1/2 cup, chopped
- Oil, cooking - 2 Tbsp
- Mushrooms, dried shiitakes - 1 oz
- Stock, any low-sodium variety - 6 cups
- Miso paste, any type - 1-1/2 Tbsp
- Ponzu - 2 Tbsp (sub rice vinegar)
- Oil, toasted sesame - 2 tsp
- Noodles, dried ramen - 12 oz
Instructions
Prep
- Onions / Garlic / Ginger – Prep as directed and combine. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Pork – Season pork with salt and pepper. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Snap peas / Limes / Cilantro – Prep as directed. If using frozen snap peas, run under warm tap water to defrost. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
Make
- Heat Instant Pot on Sauté function and add oil. Once heated, sear pork on all sides until golden brown.
- Combine onions, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, stock, and pork in the bowl of the Instant Pot. Cook pork for 55 minutes on the Manual function until it is tender and falling off the bone. When pork is finished cooking, do a natural release. Remove meat from the Instant Pot and place on a cutting board.
- Place a strainer over a large mixing bowl and pour cooking broth through the strainer. Reserve broth and discard any solids caught in the strainer. Return broth to the Instant Pot. Set the Instant Pot to the Sauté function and whisk in miso paste and ponzu. Simmer broth (it will continue to develop flavor while you prepare the rest of the ingredients).
- Shred pork and discard bone. Taste and season meat with some salt and pepper.
- Heat a skillet with sesame oil over medium-high heat. To heated oil, add snap peas and a pinch of salt. Sauté until peas turn bright green and are warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes (be careful not to overcook or they will lose their crunch). Transfer peas to a serving bowl.
- Add noodles to simmering broth and cook until noodles are tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
- When noodles are finished cooking, taste broth and season with additional miso, ponzu, or a bit of hot sauce if you like spice. (Don’t skip this final seasoning step because there is variation in the flavor and sodium content of stock.)
- Ladle noodles and broth into serving bowls. Top each bowl with pork, snap peas and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over the finished dish. Enjoy!
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If you love this recipe and want more ways to use your Instant Pot, get our Instant Pot Cheat Sheet eBook for all the IP cooking times, as well as how to convert your favorite recipes for the Instant Pot – all for just $9.99. Also, consider joining our meal plan members who love getting exciting, healthy, and smart menus delivered to their inbox every week!
