Those square blocks of instant ramen noodles have been sustaining college students for decades, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a use for them in your grown-up life too. It turns out you can take those same instant noodles and transform them into something more befitting of a sit-down dinner, even though you still get to enjoy their best benefits – the quick preparation and economical price tag! This quick and easy Chicken Ramen Stir Fry pairs ramen noodles with tender chicken, crisp broccoli, and a delicious savory sauce for a serious upgrade to instant ramen that won’t take you any more than twenty minutes to make.

You’re not using the flavor packets that come in the package here… instead you’re creating your own flavor with a quick soy based sauce that’s no trouble at all to whisk up. It’s just soy sauce, chicken stock, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic that’s thickened with a bit of cornstarch so it coats everything with sweet and salty, savory flavor. (And it tastes so much more authentic and delicious than anything you could get out of a packet.)

The glory of using instant ramen is that you don’t actually have to boil any noodles to incorporate them in a dish. Here, you’re just going to heat up a bowl of water until it’s hot enough to give off some steam and then toss in the blocks of ramen. The noodles will soften right up while you work on the rest of the dish and won’t take any more of your attention.

The rest of the dish is just a quick stir fry of cubed chicken and broccoli and once those have cooked through, you’ll add in the sauce to thicken it up a bit and toss everything together – the noodles, the chicken, the broccoli – so it’s all coated in deliciousness.

And, believe me, it’s plenty delicious. Just like if you had followed the instructions on the ramen packet, this is a dinner that you can throw together at the last minute, but this one manages to feel a bit more elevated in the quick cooking time (and incorporates some fresh veggies to boot).