Ramen Egg Rice Bowl

This Ramen Egg Rice Bowl features jasmine rice topped with a ramen egg, roasted sweet potatoes and spinach, and a spicy, savory sauce.

There’s something about a rice bowl that always makes me happy, and this Ramen Egg Rice Bowl makes me verrrry happy. I love a ramen egg in a traditional ramen noodle soup, of course, but I think I might love it even more served on rice and sprinkled with some furikake. That’s a meal in and of itself, but when you add roasted sweet potatoes, spinach, and a spicy umami-bomb of a sauce, you’ve got a delicious vegetarian dish that you will crave year-round. 

Because ramen eggs take a while to marinate, it’s best to tackle this rice bowl recipe in steps. Make the ramen eggs the night before you want to serve the meal. And, while you’re doing that, you may as well cook the rice. Then, it’s just a matter of roasting some veg and making the sauce before you’re ready to assemble and serve. 

What are ramen eggs?

Let’s back up. Confused about what a ramen egg really is? Ramen eggs are traditionally served in Japanese ramen noodle soup. The eggs themselves are soft-boiled, so that the whites are cooked through, but the yolks are partly runny with a custard-y texture. The soft-boiled eggs are then marinated. Recipes vary for the marinade, but generally it includes soy sauce and mirin, and sometimes sake, sugar, and dashi broth. Many ramen noodle shops have their own proprietary recipe.

How do you make ramen eggs? 

My recipe for ramen eggs comes from my friend and fellow food blogger, Jennifer Farley. Her Savory Simple blog is fantastic, if you haven’t seen it yet, and I’m using her technique for ramen eggs. For a peek at her original recipe, go here. 

To make ramen eggs, bring water just to a boil in a medium-large saucepan. You need enough water to submerge your eggs by at least 1 inch. Carefully add 4 refrigerator-cold eggs to the pot. Let eggs boil for 7 minutes exactly, adjusting the temperature as necessary to make sure that the eggs don’t crack against each other.

Meanwhile, prepare the marinade. Combine ¼ c. soy sauce, ¼ c. mirin, and ¾ c. water in a ziploc baggie. I find it easiest to put the baggie into a glass while you are filling it, so that it doesn’t tip over and spill everywhere. Prepare a large bowl of cold water with ice. After 7 minutes of cooking your eggs, transfer them to the ice bath and let cool for 3 minutes. (Try not to wait longer than this, as eggs are easier to peel if you peel them quickly after boiling.)

Peel carefully, as these eggs are softer than traditional hard-boiled eggs. After peeling, transfer eggs to the baggie with the marinade, seal, and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 24 hours. After 24 hours, remove from the marinade. They will keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container for another 2 days. 

How do you make this Ramen Egg Rice Bowl recipe?

Make your ramen eggs as described above. Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel a large sweet potato and cut into ¾ inch cubes. Toss sweet potato with 1 T. olive oil, ¼ t. salt, and ¼ t. pepper and spread out on sheet pan.

Bake for 20 minutes, stir cubes with a plastic spatula, and move to one side of the pan. Meanwhile, toss 6 oz. of baby spinach with ½ T. olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of pepper. After you move the sweet potatoes to one side of the pan, mound the spinach on the other side. If this doesn’t fit easily in one pan, feel free to use two. It’s fine to have the spinach in a mound—roasting it will wilt all of it and create some crispy bits around the edges—but the sweet potatoes should still be in a single layer.

Continue baking until sweet potatoes are tender and lightly browned, and spinach is wilted (about 5-10 more minutes).

While the sweet potatoes are baking, make the rice. Bring 1.5 cups of water to boil in a small saucepan with a lid. Stir in 1 cup of rice and ½ t. salt. When rice comes back to a boil, turn down the heat to low, and cover with lid. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until water evaporates, and rice is tender.

Now, make the sauce for the rice bowl. Whisk together 1.5 tablespoons sesame oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1.5 teaspoons maple syrup, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, and ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper in a small bowl. To serve, spoon rice into your bowl and top with sweet potatoes, spinach, and a ramen egg, sliced in half. Drizzle with sauce and sprinkle with furikake, if desired. 

Can I make this ramen egg dish in advance?

Yes, as noted above, it’s actually best to make this dish in advance, or at least the ramen egg component. Ramen eggs take at least 4 hours to marinate, and they’re even better after 24 hours. So definitely make those in advance and keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve. You can serve them cold, or you can warm them up by placing in a bowl of hot tap water for 5-10 minutes. 

As for the rest of the ingredients, you can also prepare them in advance. Make the rice and roast the sweet potatoes and spinach. The sauce can be made in advance as well and stored in the refrigerator. When you are ready to serve, plate the rice, sweet potatoes, and spinach, and reheat in the microwave until just warm. Slice the ramen egg (warmed up or not) and add to the plate. Then drizzle with the sauce and furikake, if desired. 

How long do ramen eggs last?

As noted above, you should discard the ramen egg marinade after 24 hours. After that, you can put the ramen eggs in a container in the refrigerator and keep them for another 2 days. See instructions above for how to reheat them. 

What is a grain bowl?

The term grain bowl is just the name for a bowl with a bed of some kind of grain (rice, barley, quinoa, farro, etc.) topped with a protein, vegetables, some kind of dressing or sauce, and sometimes a garnish (try my favorite Quick Pickled Shallots!). You can use any proteins and veggies that your family loves to eat, and tie it all together with a yummy dressing.

And, grain bowls are perfect for leftovers, since you need just a little bit of each ingredient. I also love that these are easy meals for picky eaters: keep the sauce on the side, and let them build their own with the components they like. 

If you enjoyed my recipe for this Ramen Egg Rice Bowl, you might want to check out my other grain bowl recipes:

Or, if you are looking for other great vegetarian recipes, don’t miss: