• 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

My go to additions:

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

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.

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

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 :)

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.

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

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.

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

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

Mix some tuna into that bad boy

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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!

Egg, pan fry Spam or other meat to get a bit of crust on it, hot sauce and I'm good to go. I do like using Buldak noodles vs most others. They are thicker and denser than the usual maruchan.

Every once in a while we need a quick easy meal for the family.
I chuck a few chicken flavoured ramen in a bowl and throw some boiled water on them, once they are done I drop in two cans of tuna.

Yummy, cheap, easy.

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...)

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

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

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

Look up real ramen recipes and think about what each ingredient adds. Use other frozen veggies - a bag of stir fry mix can't be that different from a bag of broccoli price wise. Eggs definitely. Sausage (or bacon, or Taylor ham, or Spam) can be a good flavor bomb. Frozen seafood mix adds protein, flavor, and changes the dish.

Also consider seasonings - any of the following help. Paprika, turmeric, garlic, onion, dill, bay leaf. Look at international noodle soups, adapt the flavors.

Oh, and you can also replace the packet seasoning with a low salt bouillion cube. Still a good flavor, but so much healthier. Mushrooms help too!

I’ve found that if I add boiling water to just the noodles, let sit and stir a little until they’re soft but not too soft, then drain like 60% of the water and then mix in the seasoning, it’s way tastier and doesn’t cost extra.

I also like to add seaweed and kimchi

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

Heat the frozen veggies in the broth instead of microwave (keeps any remaining water soluble nutrients in the dish, and makes the veggies less wilted imo).

Try different frozen veggies (green beans, carrots, corn, spinach, avocado?).

Most fresh veggies can be sliced or diced into it as well whenever there's a good price on them, and the taste and texture provides avriety from frozen veggies, but in my experience frozen are usually cheaper. But half a fresh bell pepper can give plenty of good crunch of you add it raw on top. Or thinly sliced or chopped cabbage.

Add one or a half package of drained ready-to-eat beans (packages in water, not dry) for fiber, protein and minerals.

Experiment with different spices and sauces to put on top. Coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, sriracha, sesame oil, crushed tomatoes..anything you've got available can go in (but not everything goes well on the same occasion). The more you spice it yourself the less you need to put of any included spice mix, which is mostly salt, while the noodles themselves are usually also mostly salt.

We just had ramen for dinner last night! It depends on whats in the fridge but for veg we do grated carrot, broccoil, and shredded cabbage almost always. Last night we pan fried sliced tofu with some sesame oil and soy, excellent for sandwiches the next day too. A nice seared steak thinly sliced is a treat in a heavier flavoured ramen. If I see one marked down heavily I’ll throw it in the freezer for this. My new thing I’ve been doing is dice up some mushrooms, some lightly smashed cashews, sesame seeds, frozen corn, and some chili crisp and fry it in a pan with some sesame oil. Makes a nice topping, kinda like on tantamen ramen.

Edit: Oh! I forgot my favorite treat. A slice of american cheese. Like the singles. I don’t do it all the time, but man, it melts into the broth and is SO GOOD. It’s a Korean comfort food I read about, though they poach an egg in there too.

Throw the packet away. Reserve a little water you boil in. Drain pasta. Add pepper, parm cheese and some of that water you reserved

#2. Cook a breaded chicken patty. Boil ramen noodles. Toss the packet. Plate the noodles. Top with chicken patty. Top that with red sauce. Finally add a sprinkle of mozzarella

I would say your best bang for the buck is something concentrated you can add in small amounts, combined with cheap frozen veggies.

Marmite, fish sauce, whatever kind of umami face slapper you prefer, plus a handful of frozen peas will go a long way towards satisfying you rather than just feeding. Gotta go easy on stuff like marmite though, the salt levels combined with the packet can be intense.

But you can grab a bag of peas, plus whatever other veg you like. Split them up into single serving containers of whatever sort you prefer, then just pull them as needed. You gotta make sure that the biggest pieces will be done in the time ramen takes to boil and finish, but that isn't difficult

Unsalted cashews. Pop them in with the water before you let it sit.

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.

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 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.