Most ramen noodles are vegan, but not all of them. Certain instant noodle brands like Maruchan contain egg whites in the noodles.
Additionally, the seasoning ingredients usually contain animal products, so instant ramen as a whole isn’t usually vegan.
However, there are some exceptions.
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Non Vegan Ingredients in Instant Ramen Noodles
Ramen noodles can be made with just flour and water in theory.
However, the packaged ones that you buy have other ingredients added.
Most brands just add preservatives, but some ramen noodles also have egg in them.
Even if the noodles themselves are vegan, there’s often dairy or other animal products (e.g. beef extract, sardines) in the seasoning.
Always check the ingredients, and look for a brand that is clearly labelled vegan friendly if possible.
Are Maruchan Ramen Noodles Vegan?
There is no flavor of Maruchan ramen that is vegan friendly.
Their noodles have egg in them, and there are milk ingredients at the very least in the soup base. Some flavors have other animal products like sardines in them too.
Even the soy sauce and spicy miso flavors, which sounds like they might be vegan at first, are clearly not vegan.
Among other like sardines
Even in soy sauce and spicy miso flavors
Are Mama Noodles Vegan?
Unfortunately, Mama Instant Noodles are not vegan.
Every flavor appears to contain cream powder (which has milk ingredients) at the very least.
There are other animal products like shrimp powder and fish sauce in varying flavors.
Is Top Ramen Vegan?
The noodles in Top Ramen are vegan, but some of the flavors are clearly not (chicken flavored, beef, shrimp, and hot & spicy beef).
The soy sauce flavor and chili flavor both appear to be vegan, but do contain a few ingredients like palm oil and sugar that are grey areas for some vegans.
Is Samyang Ramen Vegan?
There are no obvious egg or dairy ingredients in Samyang ramen noodles, which is a good sign.
Even in the hot chicken flavor, there doesn’t appear to be any chicken ingredients in it, instead they use “artificial” chicken powder. While it’s possible for artificial chicken flavor to contain dairy, I’ve read a few different accounts of people contacting Samyang who states that theirs does not contain animal products.
The only other ingredients you might be concerned about are:
- Palm oil
- White sugar
By most definitions of vegan, Samyang ramen is vegan friendly.
Vegan Ramen Brands
Let’s say you’re a very strict vegan and really only want to buy products that are 100% vegan friendly and ethically made.
In that case, you’ll either need to make your own ramen noodles, or buy a brand like Dr McDougall’s Vegan Miso Ramen.
Not surprisingly it will be more expensive than the alternatives, but you can be sure that the ramen is vegan.
