It is tricky to find egg free noodles at a grocery store. There are only a few brands like DeCecco and Garofalo, that I would feel comfortable buying. I would not have expected ramen noodles to be an option if someone had asked me about it when we first started our food allergy journey.

Surprisingly Maruchan ramen noodles are egg free and dairy free. But JUST the noodles. The seasoning packet contains lactose, which is why the package label says the ramen contains milk. The noodles by themselves do not contain milk. We throw out the seasoning packet and use our own seasoning or bouillon. We often use these noodles in our homemade chicken noodle soup.

Check Ramen Labels

Be careful to check the labels. Not all brands of ramen are safe. Many ramen brands (like Nissin Top Ramen) contain egg. Maruchan Instant Lunch (Cup of Noodles) has the seasoning mixed in with the noodles, so that version of the ramen noodles is not dairy free. I am not aware of any flavors that have a dairy free seasoning packet.

Maruchan’s website says:

“The milk or dairy based ingredient found in Maruchan Yakisoba, Bowl, Instant Lunch and bagged Ramen products is lactose used in the powdered flavoring/soup base packets. An allergen statement is required as lactose is a sugar derived from milk. Lactose is present in all our products.

Other dairy ingredients include creamer substitute which contains sodium caseinate, a milk protein. This is found in Instant Lunch Creamy Chicken flavor, Ramen Creamy Chicken flavor, Bowl Spicy Miso flavor, Bowl Tom Yum flavor, and Bowl Tonkotsu flavor.

Cheese flavoring made with milk ingredients are used in Instant Lunch Cheddar Cheese flavor, Instant Lunch Jalapeno Cheddar flavor, Instant Lunch Chicken Tortilla flavor, Yakisoba Cheddar Cheese flavor, Yakisoba Four Cheese flavor, Ramen Chicken Tortilla flavor.” 10/15/2019

Ramen is a Favorite

Ramen is loved by kids and college students alike. It is probably a favorite of many adults who might not admit to loving this less healthy but delicious and easy noodle option (me included!). It is a great option to have a quick meal or snack handy for the allergy moms who are typically spending extra time in the kitchen and at the store creating and finding safe food for their children. Yay for ramen!