Cheesy Gochujang Ramen Noodles
These cheesy gochujang ramen noodles are super easy to make and perfect for anytime you need a fast, easy, and delicious meal. This spicy cheese ramen recipe uses basic ingredients, takes less than 10 minutes to make, and can easily be upgraded with any of your favorite ramen toppings!
This is one of those recipes for the times when you want something nice but can’t afford it, or when you need a really quick dinner but don’t want to eat takeout. For a while, I wasn’t sure I was ever actually going to post this recipe. After all, it’s pretty much just upgraded college food (no offence).
But after thinking back on how many times I’ve eaten these cheesy ramen noodles, I figured it couldn’t hurt to share it. After all, there might be people out there who will love it as much as I do.
Really, though, I guess this is more of a food hack than a recipe—it’s just a simple way to upgrade store-bought packaged ramen noodles. But since it calls for more than two ingredients, I figured it still counts.
This recipe is not only super easy to make and perfectly cheesy with just the right amount of spice, but it’s also fairly cheap and the perfect meal for when life just isn’t going according to plan.
I know the recipe card might make it seem like these noodles aren’t as easy or cheap as I’ve claimed, but trust me—a container of gochujang paste used one tablespoon at a time will last a very long time. The same goes for the mayo and sugar (yes, sugar—trust the process).
Ramen is still incredibly cheap, and you can easily use canned or frozen veggies or leave them out altogether. Heck, you can even leave out the cheese, though I wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyway, these cheesy gochujang noodles truly are super easy to make, pretty darn cheap, and perfect for when you need to stick to a budget, need dinner in under 10 minutes, are moving, between classes, late for work, or any other time you need to eat real food but don’t have the time, the money, or either.
How to Make Spicy Cheesy Gochujang Ramen Noodles
Ingredients
- Butter or oil for the pan, any kind of butter or neutral oil will work
- White or yellow onion, diced (red onion works too)
- Corn kernels, frozen, canned, or fresh
- Chicken-flavored instant ramen + seasoning packet*
- Real mayo
- White sugar
- Gochujang paste**
- Shredded cheese, I like cheddar, but whatever you have on hand will do.
Upgrade / Topping Ideas
- Hard-boiled or fried egg
- Sesame seeds
- Sesame oil
- Green onion
- Ground pork
- Shredded chicken breast
Directions
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, add the dry ramen noodles and cook according to the package instructions. When the noodles are cooked, drain the water and place the noodles in a bowl. Return the pan to the heat.
Add the butter or oil to the pan, followed by the onion and corn. Cook for 1–2 minutes, or until the onion becomes translucent. Add the mayo, white sugar, gochujang paste, and the ramen seasoning packet, then stir to combine.
Cook for about 1 minute, stirring often, or until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cooked noodles back to the pan and toss to combine. Remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top, and let it melt completely before transferring everything back to your bowl.
Add any additional toppings and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Personally, I’ve only ever made this recipe using chicken-flavored ramen, but feel free to try it with any of your favorite instant noodle packet flavors instead.
* Over the years, I’ve mostly stopped using the seasoning packets that come with ramen noodles, as I don’t love the ingredients. While I know ramen itself isn’t exactly healthy, sometimes I just need a cheap packet of instant noodles. Recently, I’ve started using ½–1 tablespoons of soy sauce in place of the chicken seasoning packet.
** Gochujang, fermented Korean chili paste, can be found in most grocery stores these days or easily bought online. While it might seem a tad pricey at first, the small amounts used in recipes (especially this one) make it a very affordable ingredient overall. That said, you can substitute hot sauce or crushed red pepper flakes if you don’t have gochujang on hand—or don’t want to buy any.
Be Sure To Check Out These Super Easy Noodle Recipes Too!
Spicy peanut ramen | Thai-inspired recipe
Spicy Beef Noodles (30-minute recipe!)
Easy Gochujang Noodles | 10-minute recipe
Cheesy Gochujang Ramen Noodles
Ingredients
- Butter or oil for the pan any kind of butter or neutral oil will work
- 1/2 White or yellow onion diced. (red onion works too, if that's all you have on hand)
- 1/4 cup Corn kernels frozen, canned, or fresh
- 1 pack Chicken-flavored instant ramen + seasoning packet*
- 1 tbsp real mayo
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 1/2 tbsp Gochujang paste**
- 1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheese I like cheddar, but whatever you have on hand will do.
Instructions
- Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, add the dry ramen noodles and cook according to the package instructions.
- When the noodles are cooked, drain the water and place the noodles in a bowl. Return the pan to the heat.
- Add the butter or oil to the pan, followed by the onion and corn. Cook for 1–2 minutes, or until the onion becomes translucent. Add the mayo, white sugar, gochujang paste, and the ramen seasoning packet, then stir to combine.
- Cook for about 1 minute, stirring often, or until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cooked noodles back to the pan and toss to combine.
- Remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top, and let it melt completely before transferring everything back to your bowl.
- Add any additional toppings and serve immediately.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Hard-boiled or fried egg
- Sesame seeds
- Sesame oil
- Green onion
- Ground pork
- Shredded chicken breast
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
