This post is sponsored by Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork, all opinions are 100% my own
Grilled Pork Ramen:
Juicy grilled pork tenderloin, a flavorful, but easy broth, and all your favorite toppings for ramen. This simplified version of Japanese ramen is not lacking in flavor, and is easy to make.
Juicy Roasted Garlic & Cracked Black Pepper Marinated Fresh Pork, tender ramen noodles, a hard or soft boiled egg, and plenty of vegetables make this a meal you will want to have on repeat. And did I mention how fast it is to make?
I went to Japan in October 2018, and ate my weight in delicious ramen, and have been trying to make something similar since. I have been recipe testing and tweaking to get the broth to the right amount of flavor, as well as trying to figure out which meat goes best.
Once during my recipe testing, I had a friend coming to lunch, and she asked me what I was making. When I told her ramen, she immediately thought I was making an instant ramen for her.
We both laughed about it later.
She explained, “I figured you had a busy day and it was all you had on hand.”
When she realized I was making a homemade version of this Japanese classic she was as thrilled as she had been disappointed.
She loved every bite, and asked me to send her my recipe. And it is no wonder why: This grilled pork ramen captures all the flavors with easy to find ingredients, and no special cooking tools required.
What Is Ramen?
Like with my friend, I want to make it clear, this is not an Instant Ramen. It is a homemade version with a homemade broth, delicious grilled pork tenderloin, an egg (hard or soft boiled), lots of vegetables like bok choy and mushrooms and a flavorful broth.
Ramen is a traditional Japanese dish. Typically it has Chinese style wheat needles, a tasty broth flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as sliced pork, nori, menma, and scallions.
For this recipe I am using a brown rice and millet ramen noodle I found at Costco, but you can use whatever ramen noodles you can find.
For vegetables there are mushrooms, bok choy, green onion/scallions, onions, and some basil.
The broth is comprised of ingredients found in most grocery stores on the asian food aisle. It has miso, ginger, soy sauce, and sriracha, as well as some sesame oil and chicken stock. It is very flavorful, and easy to adjust to your preference.
I chose Smithfield Roasted Garlic & Cracked Black Pepper Marinated Fresh Pork Tenderloin for this tasty dish.
If you haven’t tried Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork, you are missing out. It is my go-to for a quick and simple meals because it is high quality and conveniently pre-seasoned. Which makes this ramen even faster and easier to make.
Plus, it is made from 100% fresh pork with no artificial ingredients and is packed with protein. #Perfection
Because the marinating and prep work is done on the pork, you can grill it and put together this meal in about 30 minutes or less of cooking time. That is such a win for busy moms like me.
Do I Have to Grill the Pork Tenderloin?
No, absolutely not, the beautiful thing about the Smithfield products are that they come pre-marinated and can be cooked in a variety of ways.
You can roast it in the oven, or even cook it in the slow cooker, air fryer, or instant pot.
Why did I choose to cook it on the grill?
Not only does grilling the Smithfield Roasted Garlic & Cracked Black Pepper Marinated Fresh PorkTenderloin bring out its natural flavors, but it is also a super-fast, low mess, easy way to cook.
Plus grilling season is here, and there is just something about that extra flavor from the smoke and fire that really amps up this ramen.
I grill all summer long, and having Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork on hand makes summer dinners so easy. Just pick your favorite cut and flavor and pop it right onto the grill. No work. No mess.
If you love grilling as much as I do, be sure to check out the “Get Grilling America Sweepstakes” information at the bottom of this post (right above recipe card).
But of course, Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork is totally versatile, so if grilling isn’t your thing, you can roast, sauté or slow-cook!
Grilled Pork Tenderloin
As I as trying to find the best meat for this ramen, I toyed with tonkatsu which is a fried meat. But quickly realized there was too much work involved for not a huge payoff. I knew I wanted pork, and wanted to keep things easy peasy.
This is where Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork came into play.
You already know how much I love the simplicity of using Smithfield Fresh Marinated Pork in recipes like Sweet and Smoky Pork Stuffed Peppers, Roasted Garlic and Herb Penne with Pork, and Grilled Pork Power Bowls. But have we talked about the flavors?
Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork is available in an assortment of mouthwatering flavors. And I don’t even know how to narrow down my favorite. Right now I am obsessed with the ready to grill options like Roasted Garlic & Herb and Hickory Smoked Brown Sugar Pork Chops, as well as the regionally inspired Dry Seasoned Ribs. YUM!
But for this ramen, I opted to go with the Roasted Garlic & Cracked Black Pepper flavor, and a tenderloin because I felt like it would complement the other flavors best. And I was right! Delicious.
But of course, you can select from the various flavors and wide variety of fresh cuts (chops, roasts, loin filets, ribs, sirloins, etc.) to change up this recipe or any of your go to meals.
Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork is available at select grocery stores and retailers nationwide. So check your local ShopRite, Food Lion, Publix, Albertsons/Safeway, Save a Lot and Walmart.
Find your favorite flavor at www.Smithfield.com as well as inspiration and other awesome recipes.
What is in the broth?
Ok, once you have the pork tenderloin grilling, it is time to make your broth. The broth is going to taste complex because it has so much flavor, but lucky for you, it comes together in under 30 minutes while your pork grills.
The broth is aromatic, made with chicken stock, and flavored with onions, miso, garlic, ginger, sriracha, and soy sauce. It has whole peppercorns in it for added flavor.
Pro Tip: place the whole peppercorns in a cheesecloth bag so they can infuse your broth with flavor, but are easy to remove. That way you don’t have to pick them out, or end up eating a whole peppercorn
In Japan, a lot of the ramen I tried was creamy and a little thicker. I found for this recipe, adding the egg helped make the ramen creamy and I did not need any thickness. However, if you want to thicken the broth some, you can do this with a starch like flour or corn starch.
In a separate container, whisk a few tablespoons of starch into a little of the broth, then add it into the main pot.
What Type of Noodles Do I Use for Ramen?
You can use whatever ramen you like best. Traditional Japanese noodles are thin, wheat-based noodles made from wheat flour, salt, water, and water.
Like mentioned before, I found a brown rice and millet ramen I like that cooks quickly, and used that. But you could even use the noodles in the instant ramen packages, just discard the seasoning packet like I do for this Chicken Ramen Stir Fry.
For this recipe, avoid using Shirataki noodles, which are clear, and often chewy or rubbery.
When Do I Add the Vegetables?
For this grilled pork ramen, the veggies cook quickly. The mushrooms need to be added with about 4 minutes of cook time, and the bok choy, only needs about a minute.
The scallions and basil are added raw on top for garnish and freshness.
When Should I Add the Grilled Pork to the Ramen?
When your Smithfield Roasted Garlic & Cracked Black Pepper Marinated Fresh PorkTenderloin is done grilling, you will want to let it rest so the juices have a chance to reabsorb into the muscle.
While it rests you can add your vegetables to the ramen, as well as the noodles, as they only need a few minutes of cook time. And then start dishing up.
Slice the tenderloin against the grain into even, thin slices, and top your ramen with it. Thin slices are best, so that it is easy to eat. The flavors pair beautifully.
What Can I Add to Grilled Pork Ramen?
One of the great parts of ramen is being able to top it as you like. There are so many fun ways to make this dish. Obviously, I listed all my favorites in the recipe card.
However, you can add whatever strikes your fancy, here are a few thought starters:
- Sautéed garlic
- Green peppers
- Carrot sticks
- Red pepper
- Shitake mushrooms
- Microgreens
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Other Recipes:
- Asian Chicken Pasta Salad
- 10 Kid Friendly Drinks
- Chocolate Cake (Classic)
- Super Creamy Mint Chip Ice Cream
- Chow Mein
Grilled Roasted Garlic & Cracked Black Pepper Pork Tenderloin Ramen
Ingredients
Pork
- 1 Smithfield Roasted Garlic and Cracked Black Pepper Marinated Fresh Pork Tenderloin
Ramen
- 4 millet and brown rice ramen
Broth
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 Tbs miso paste
- 1 Tbs ginger paste
- 1 Tbs garlic cloves minced
- 1 Tbs sriracha sauce adjust to heat preference
- 2 tsps black peppercorns either whole or grind them in a spice mill
- 3 Tbs soy sauce
- ¼ cup yellow onion sliced
Vegetables
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 2 cups bok choy chopped
Garnish
- 1/4 cup basil coarsely chopped
- 4 green onions sliced
Eggs
- 2 eggs
Instructions
Pork
- Preheat grill to 350°F / 180°C.
- When the grill is preheated, grill the pork tenderloin for about 30 minutes, flipping once. (Until the internal temperature is at 145°F).
- Once it’s cooked, remove from the grill, cover and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.
Eggs
- Cook eggs to preferred temp in preferred method: Instant Pot, Air Fryer, Boiling Water
Ramen Noodles
- Place all the broth ingredients in a pot.
- Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cover and let it simmer on medium - medium low heat for about 15 - 20 minutes.
- Once the pork is cooked add the ramen noodles, and mushrooms, to the broth, and let it simmer for 3 - 5 minutes until the noodles are done.
- When noodles only need about a minute more, add your bok choy and blanch it quickly for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
Assembly
- Thinly slice the pork tenderloin
- Divide the ramen noodle mixture and broth into four bowls.
- Add the pork slices to each bowl as well as a half soft-boiled egg, fresh basil, and green onions.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
Want to use this recipe in a meal plan?Try PrePear, my FREE Meal Planning App that allows you to save your recipes, plan meals, shop for groceries, and cook simply in one place. Join Here!Pin to your Pork board on Pinterest:
Chelsea says
This is the best Ramen I’ve had! Seriously soooo delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Rachael says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Erin says
We love ramen and this is great. Love the pork tenderloin in there, very tender.
lauren kelly says
I need to make pork more often! My family loved this so much that there were no leftovers!
Katerina @ diethood .com says
Oh my, this sounds fantastic!! I LOVE ramen noodles!
Echo says
This ramen was so good! I’m never going back to the plain packaged kind!