These Miso Butter Noodles are made with ramen noodles cooked in a white miso butter sauce with garlic and soy sauce, easy and ready in 10 minutes. They're so good they're addictive. White miso adds a salty umami flavor to this ultra simple dish.
Miso butter noodles are excellent reheated for leftovers, picnics, or packed for kids school lunches. Make them for a main course, lunch, or a side.
What is Miso?
Miso is a paste made from fermenting soybeans and is used in Japanese cooking. It is fermented using koji, which grows on grains such as rice and barley.
It has a similar flavor profile as soy sauce. Not the same, but close and salty like soy sauce. If you haven't tried it, its a fun way to incorporate a new flavor/technique and it makes for the most addicting sauce and noodle dish.
This recipe calls for white miso which is sweeter and milder than red miso. For more details on miso see this Epicurious article.
I used a brand called Smart Miso, which is available at Whole Foods. The product itself is called Light Sweet Miso. It comes in a white pouch and is a product of Japan.
Ramen Noodles
Ocean’s Halo makes ramen noodles, which you can find at Whole Foods or some large grocery stores. I love these noodles. We also use them to make Short Rib Ramen and Duck Fat Ramen.
Ramen noodles are great noodles for this dish because of the extra texture of the curly noodles and how it soaks up the sauce. The texture of the noodles adds quite a bit since the dish itself is very simple. However, you can choose other types of Asian noodles, like brown rice noodles which I use in this Chiang Mai Thai Noodle dish or even just spaghetti.
Miso Butter Sauce
This miso butter sauce is made with miso, melted butter, soy sauce, and garlic. I’ve made this sauce without the soy sauce and it doesn't quite work. Adding in a little bit of soy sauce makes a big difference.
The minced garlic also goes well with the miso, the butter, and the noodles. It adds extra savoriness. Since you’ll use a sauté pan anyway to finish cooking the noodles in the sauce, it only takes an extra minute or two to sauté the garlic first. Totally worth it.
What To Serve with Miso Butter Noodles
You can serve these Miso Butter Noodles with pretty much anything. They are also great on their own. This dish is super simple and pairs well with plenty of things, but here are three suggestions.
- Pan fried Salmon and Baby Broccoli: Two quick items that’ll be done in about 15 minutes, for a super easy, quick, mostly healthy dinner.
- Fried Egg: Also done in just a few minutes, the egg adds a little more protein to make it more of a meal.
- Stir Fried Veggies: Chop a few bright green veggies like bok choy, snap peas, baby broccoli or add in color with a red pepper. Sauté in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and serve alongside the noodles.
Miso Butter Noodles: Step-by-Step Photos
Make the Miso Butter: combine the melted butter, white miso, and soy sauce.
Cook the ramen noodles according to the package directions, but shorten the cooking time by 1-2 minutes. Sauté the garlic with a little butter in a large sauté pan for 1-2 minutes. Then add the ramen noodles. Pour the miso butter sauce over the noodles.
Stir to coat the noodles in the sauce. Remove and top with green onions.
Miso Butter Noodles FAQs
Miso is available at Whole Foods (Smart Miso: Light Sweet Miso). They have a few different miso options, white and red. You can also find it at an Asian grocery store or online.
Miso is a paste made from fermenting soybeans used in Japanese cooking. It is fermented using koji, which grows on grains such as rice and barley.
The white miso from Whole Foods tastes similar to a lighter, but very salty soy sauce. It’s not quite the same, but has a generally similar taste. If you taste it on its own your first thought will be, "thats salty".
Better than buying, make miso butter by buying miso and mixing it with melted butter. Super simple. Find white miso at Whole Foods or an Asian Grocery store.
If you're looking for other dinner recipes, you may love these:
30 Minute Duck Fat Ramen: Vegetable ramen made savory with duck fat (found at Whole Foods).
Weeknight Vegetable Dumplings: Homemade, but not time consuming, vegetable dumplings. Fast enough for a weeknight.
Short Rib Ramen: Low and slow ramen with a broth made from short ribs.
If you make these Miso Butter Noodles, I'd love to hear from you and learn how it went. Leave a rating and a comment down below and let me know how it turns out! Your feedback means a lot!
Miso Butter Noodles
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon melted butter + more for sautéing
- 1½ tablespoon white miso buy at Whole Foods* see note above
- 1½ tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ lb ramen noodles Ocean's Halo or other* see note above
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, miso, and soy sauce. Set aside.
- Cook the ramen noodles for 1 minute less than what is indicated in the package directions. For Ocean’s Halo ramen, bring a pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat. Add the noodles and allow to steep for 2 minutes (1 minute less than the package indicated 3 minutes). Then drain.
- Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat (4 on a scale of 10). Add a thin sliver of butter, then the garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the ramen. Pour the miso butter sauce over the noodles and stir to coat. Cook for another 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and top with green onions.
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