Tips for Reducing the Salt in Ramen Noodles

By Mike

Just like 90% of all college students (and even pre-college), I thrived on ramen noodles (aka “oodles of noodles”) due to their cheap price (5-10 cents per pack) and tummy-filling goodness. These aren’t those high quality bowls of ramen that you’d find in a Japanese restaurant. No, these are sodium- and MSG-packed bricks of dehydrated noodles that spring to life with a bit of boiling water and a pack of pure, flavored salt.

While my wife is a dietitian, she also recognizes that many Americans don’t eat healthfully, nor will they ever give up their favorite snacks, just like I still enjoy a couple packs of Ramen noodles here and there. So in that vein, I’ve concocted my own ways to reduce your sodium (salt) intake when dining on that juicy brick of joy:

Fixing a “Healthy” Bowl from Ramen Packs

First, I’ll talk about those plastic-sheathed packs of Ramen that you generally make in a pot of boiling water at home. These aren’t the portable “Cup-O-Noodles”, which I’ll talk about next.

First, what is the nutritional value of a brick of Ramen? For the beef flavor (all flavors differ), a serving size is “half a block”. Well, I’m surprised as I usually eat two blocks in a sitting! Oops!

Moving on, assuming you’re eating a full block, or two servings, you’re taking in about 380 calories, 14 grams of fat (7g of saturated fat), and 10g of protein. But the worst thing about these noodles is the salt content: You’re taking in about 1600mg of sodium, or 66% of the daily value! I can only assume that this counts the seasoning pack that comes with every block of Ramen.

And that’s what I’m here to talk about: reducing the salt in your Ramen.

I’ve found it is easier to keep the sodium down in the blocks of Ramen than the cups, simply because you can control how much salt you add with the seasoning pack. But I don’t stop with the salt pack:

1. Boil a pot of water. Add the Ramen block. Let the noodles get almost done (still slightly firm).
2. Drain all of the water out of the pot and add in the appropriate amount of fresh water for which you normally eat your Ramen. Personally, I just like the noodles, so I drain out all the water. But if you like it as soup instead, add in more water. The reason I drain is to remove the sodium and other additives that have leaked out during boiling. Plus, the noodles get a fresher flavoring.
3. Reheat the noodles, but you probably don’t need to bring them back to the boiling point as they were almost done. Be careful not to overcook the noodles or they’ll be mushy (unless you like mushy noodles).
4. Add less than the full pack of seasoning. For me, since I don’t have much broth, I use half a pack of seasoning. Since there is so little water to dissipate the taste, I don’t need the full brunt of the beef flavoring. I could put in even less than a full pack, and I do sometimes, but half is a good starting point.
5. Enjoy

Honestly, comparing when I was a fatty in high school eating 3 packs of ramen at a time, with all 3 flavor packs added, I can’t tell the difference with my new method of preparation.

Fixing a “Healthy” Cup of Noodles

First, I need to say that a serving of a half block of Ramen is 42 grams, while a serving of the Cup of Noodles is 64 grams, so I can’t quite do an exact comparison of servings.

I will say, though, that the Cup of Noodles is less healthy than the block of noodles, based on the product label. The numbers in the previous section were based on 2 servings, or a whole block, of ramen, which is 84 grams. While that block has 14 grams of fat, a lesser amount (64g) of the cup also has 14g of fat. While the cup has about 90 fewer calories than the full block of ramen, it has over 1,400mg of sodium, or just shy of the block’s 1,600mg.

So, those 99 cent cups that you probably eat during your lunch hour at work are horrible for your figure. Utterly horrible. And how many of you just eat the cup for lunch? Do you also tack on a sandwich? A bag of chips? Shame, shame

So here are my tips for reducing the salt content in Cup of Noodles. As a note, the package says to heat water separately, then add to the container. My steps are just heating the water directly with the noodles. Both methods are bad for you since you get all the unsavory chemicals leeching out of the styrofoam from the hot water. You should probably just heat it in a microwave-safe ceramic bowl:

1. Open the paper lid halfway. Dump out the junk on top. While this means you’re probably tossing out what little vegetables and minuscule bits of meat came with the cup, you’re also tossing out the top coating of salt. But don’t stop there…
2. Fill the cup with water and dump it out a few times. Once the water become pretty clear, then fill the water up to the inside line (the “fill line”) and heat the noodles until almost done.
3. Dump out the water again (be careful not to lose the noodles!) and fill it up one more time. I fill mine up only halfway as I don’t like the broth (or I know it’s where most of the salt is).
4. Heat a little longer to get it up to your preferred temp.
5. Enjoy!

While I don’t know the new nutritional value after these two methods, I’m positive I’ve reduced the sodium content by half or lower. By using less of the “flavor pack” and dumping the scummy water and rinsing the noodles, you’ll have a healthier, and still cheap, meal. Granted, the Ramen still isn’t very healthy compared to freshly-made dishes with real veggies, etc., but if you’re on the run, or on a very, very tight budget, I guess Ramen is OK once in a while

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