If you can dish a little extra cash, Shin Black ramen is great. It comes with all the spices.

Two to three drops of sesame oil will help the flavor of any ramen considerably. Also a dash of chili flakes, or a tiny (like 1/2 tsp) scoop of fermented miso. Oh and a pinch of MSG

• use broth instead of water
• cook in a pot instead of with a water boiler
• add baby bok choy
• get better brands of instant noodles (according to your preference). Some brands are quite good already on their own

crush some peanuts into small pieces, fry in oil, ideally sesame oil.

avocado is a great ingredient too.

Get a squeeze bottle of that Gojujang sauce. It makes a lot of food better.

My go to additions:

• frozen peas/corn
• TINY AMOUNT of sesame oil
• a big glob of chili oil
• an egg or two
• american cheese

East Meets Southwest: Discard packet. Combine about 3/4 cup salsa (a whole cup if salsa is chunky) and 2 teaspoons soy sauce. May add about 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, if desired. Cook noodles, drain and add to sauce.

I've made this since the late 90s. If you like both Southwestern and Asian cuisines, you might like this.

Get some dried wood-ear or shiitake mushrooms. Soak them in boiling water to rehydrate them, then use that mushroom-infused water to make your noodles. If you're using shiitake, fry them up in a pan; wood-ears are ready to eat without doing so.

Throw some kimchi in there, too. It's good for your guts.

Cook noodles, but drain most of the water, add some peanut butter with the seasoning, some veg, and some chili crisp. Now you have pad thai ish.

Cheese is a thing some people do as well.

Off-topic ~ If you’re on a budget and need a cheap and easy lunch buy a big bag of oatmeal, the kind without the added sodium and sugars, a bag of raisins and some brown sugar, optional but adding super seeds like flax an nuts is nice touch. Your gut health will thank you.

Egg drop is the best I've found, at least for the classic chicken flavored ramen packs.

Some cheap frozen gyoza, some pak choy (or bok choy), an egg or 2, top it with sesame seeds.

My favorite "weird" addition is blue cheese crumbles. I also usually do the egg drop thing, green onions, maybe some spinach, chili oil... Oh! Butter (probably unsalted) can also add a nice, old creaminess.

The other way I like to go with ramen noodles is fried. Undercook them a smidge, drain the water, toss the noodles in a skillet with some oil, a scrambled egg, veggies, and other flavorings (soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, red pepper...)

Fry an onion and some bits of bacon drop in the ramen with some
frozen peas, add seasoning’s and an egg if wanted.

You can also add hot-sauce and mix up the veg by adding bell peppers, maybe add paprika or even cheese.

Ramen has little flavour of its own and little nutrition but it makes a great base for anything. Imagine ramen tortilla :)

I usually add a bit of soy sauce and Gochujang and anything veggie I have a home cut into small pieces, like julienned carrots, leeks, mushrooms, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, ...

My girlfriend yells at me cuz I'll drop a can of green beans in it with an egg, apparently frozen is fine, but canned is gross

Get some dashi, Kewpie, egg, and the seasoning packet.

Mix vigorously with some hot water to get a nice paste. Then add your cooked noodles and water to taste.

Dash some roasted sesame oil and maybe some chilli oil for a topping.

Always tried and true for me and works with any ramen.

Chili crisp. Easy, cheap (homemade to make it as cheap as it gets), delicious

Add stuff and flavor. When it comes to ramen, more is more.

I usually use some combination of these:

Stuff:

• Softboiled egg
• Onion, Carrot, Veg
• Pork/Chicken/White meat
• Sardines/Fish

Flavor:

• Lemon joose
• Honey
• Worchestershire
• Fish sauce

Really anything that's fresh from the grocery store can be cooked and added.

Mix some tuna into that bad boy

Ramen eggs if I remember to make them. Otherwise I like adding some dried mushrooms when it's boiling away. Even if it already has some, more mushrooms!

Go to an Asian market and buy better Ramen. The good brands have three packets, soup base, flavored oil, and chili...

Though everyone else's recommendations are much more healthy.

I was always a fan of just tossing a bunch of spices in there. The big ones were chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, basil, oregano, and cumin, but I'd switch it up every time just to keep things fresh.

Spices (pepper, paprika, curry, etc), sauces (hot sauce, soy sauce, stir fry sauce, etc), veg add like carrots onion, lentils or beans, peanuts, egg

I add whatever leftovers I have, especially meat. The pickings from a rotisserie chicken, an extra pork chop (diced), etc. Then add carrots, celery, etc., soy sauce, swirl in an egg, and a spoon of gojuchang paste, and it's delicious. I make it about once a week.

Wilted collards

That doesn’t mean old collards, it means separate the center stem from the leaves, cut them up and in the same pan you fried your bacon and eggs for your ramen, pan fry them until they turn a darker deeper green.

It’s called kilt as well if you’re in a place where people do this.

Save the cut up stems for stock or pickling. Pickled collard stems, bamboo shoots and watermelon rinds are good in ramen too.

You can do this with all kinds of greens but some like turnip don’t need it.

If you’re insanely poor and ill equipped, a half cup of the little frozen mixed vegetable cubes turns packet ramen into cup noodles.

I toss copious amount of green onions in

mushrooms are great, even raw

peppers do ok

these are things I often have around so I don't get fancy I just toss 'em in

My favorite is frying mushrooms and an egg in oil while the ramen microwaves then combining them

I used to do an egg and a couple pieces of lunch meat.

Now I don't eat eggs or meat anymore, so I tear up a sheet of nori (dried seaweed), add about six ounces of cubed tofu, one spoonful of sambal oelek (chili paste), and a little bit of sesame oil (add the sesame oil last, after taking it off the heat).

Per serving, the tofu is the most expensive, then the nori, so if the budget is tight you could cut there (but the tofu is also the only protein). One container of chili paste or sesame oil is enough for many servings, I couldn't say how much it costs per serving but it it's probably less than the noodle packet.

Dried seaweed is really cheap and adds flavor and texture.

Green onions and broth. Meat if thats your kind of thing

Any green herbs you have on hand or in your garden. Leaks, onion, mints, etc. From the Asian market you can also get seaweed, sesame oil, pepper flakes, soy sauce which also give a lot of milage.