Going into our search for the best Nissin Cup Noodles, we had to ask ourselves: What should the best instant ramen noodles taste like? We’re reasonable people. We aren’t looking for restaurant-quality ramen in a styrofoam cup. But the best cup noodles still need to meet some of our expectations: They should have a fragrant, savory, slurpable broth. Firm noodles that don’t dissolve into mush after five minutes. And, ideally, a good amount of quality veggies mixed into the soup.
We all have a core memory that involves Nissin Cup Noodles. Mine’s a little sad: In the first grade, I dropped my pizza on the ground at lunch. As a six-year-old with no independent wealth to her name, I wasn’t able to buy myself another slice of pizza. My first grade teacher—shout out to Ms. Owen—saw me crying at a picnic table and bought me a pizza slice and, lo and behold, a beautiful, steaming, fragrant Chicken Flavor Cup Noodles. Teachers deserve the world, you guys. And you, reader, deserve to only ever buy the best cup noodles.
Here’s the deal: I wanted to curate a list of the top ten Nissin Cup Noodle flavors. Once I commit to something, there’s no turning back. Now, I’ll be frank, those trailing at the bottom of the list? They’re not exactly stellar. But I’m not holding back on my negative opinions here. If you’re short on time, feel free to jump straight to the bottom for the champions among the best Nissin Cup Noodles. Otherwise, please proceed to my unfiltered thoughts.
- Nissin Cup Noodles Stir Fry Teriyaki Chicken
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Let’s not get it twisted. This Nissin cup of noodles is bad. It’s just not as bad as the other Nissin flavors that didn’t make it into the top ten. Sadly, many of Nissin’s stir-fry flavors are marred by a single, overwhelming characteristic: an excessive, cloying sweetness. Even if they call it “teriyaki chicken,” the initial taste is dominated by an artificial sweetness so strong, you’ll probably scrunch up your face with one spoonful. While you might detect a hint of teriyaki sauce if you search for it in this flavor, what the recipe truly lacks is balance. It’s not going to win any awards for best instant ramen, but all in all, I have to give credit where credit is due: It’s still the best of the worst.
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- Nissin Cup Noodle Original Flavor
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Nissin’s Original flavor shouldn’t be confused with their chicken or beef flavors, which are the most popular sellers in the U.S. Their OG flavor includes pork, shrimp “crumbles,” and egg in a soy sauce broth. And look, this one divided the team. Some found it too bland, others thought it at least had some merit for its shoyu broth and fluffy egg bits. It’s got a lot going on at once, so I see it as a kitchen sink ramen that may taste good one bite, and just okay another. (It also just sort of looks like dirty dishwater—sorry!)
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- Nissin Cup Noodles with Shrimp
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Do shrimp add anything to this Nissin ramen? No, not really. But they don’t take away anything, either, and at this point the bar is still in the ground. Unless you have a shellfish allergy, this is a perfectly acceptable cup of noodles. It delivers the familiar taste of salty shoyu broth with a subtle shrimp undertone, and we’re honestly just grateful it doesn’t taste like the bottom of the ocean.
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- Nissin Hot & Spicy Fire Wok Molten Chili Chicken Flavor
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I’m going to get into real, helpful superlatives now. If you like spicy ramen, this is the best Nissin cup noodles for you. It has a strong kick. You may be initially put off by the fragrant artificial sweetener emanating from the broth, but it tastes much less sweet than it smells. The back-to-basics savory chicken flavor underlies the heat and mild sweetness here. It might not be the best spicy instant ramen or the best cup noodles on the market, but it’s definitely palatable!
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- Nissin Cup Noodles Stir Fry Hot Garlic Chicken Flavor
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Nissin’s Hot Garlic Chicken delivers what it advertises: spicy and garlicky noodles. If you’re looking for any depth of flavor beyond that, this is not the best Nissin Cup Noodles for you. Still, there’s no reason for the garlic gals not to flock to this. And unlike other stir-fry Nissin flavors, the cloying sweetness is not present here. These actually make a pretty decent base for your own doctored ramen, if you feel like getting a little creative.
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- Nissin Cup Noodle Seafood
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Nissin’s Seafood cup includes calamari, imitation crab, scrambled eggs, and cabbage, all steeped in a creamy, almost buttery broth that the Sporked team really enjoyed. The seafood bits have a texture that’s akin to fish cakes and, fair warning, no discernable physical traits of sea creatures. You have to be open to a bit of mystery, because on looks alone, you can’t really tell what’s on your spoon at any given time. But overall, the uniquely rich broth makes it stand out from the rest of the seafood-inspired Nissin Cup Noodles.
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- Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Bowl
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Nissin’s Top Ramen Chicken Bowl comes in a bowl, not a cup, and includes an extra sweet sauce packet to mix in with the traditional chicken flavor. Fellow control freaks, the Top Ramen bowl is the best Nissin instant ramen for you. You get to decide how sweet and salty you want your broth to be. The bowl also comes packed with more veggies than the traditional styrofoam cups—huge plus! It looks and tastes like a heartier meal than the others on this list. Maybe that’s just the bowl tricking my psyche, but Nissin clearly put effort into all of the elements, and it shows!
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- Nissin Cup Noodles Stir Fry Korean Spicy Beef Rice with Noodles
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The Korean Spicy Beef Rice with Noodles is the yummiest Nissin stir fry flavor, hands down. I felt like I was at a Korean restaurant digging into a $25 entree, because this tastes exactly like a bulgogi beef bowl. You’d think noodles and rice would be too much starch in one bowl, but they go surprisingly well together—the soft rice really soaks up the savory-sweet bulgogi flavor, and the noodles add a nice al dente texture. They don’t skimp on the carrots and green onion in this one, either. I’m not sure if this spicy beef rice bowl counts as instant ramen, but it’s definitely one of the best cup noodles I’ve tried to date. It felt like Nissin really took a creative risk here, and it totally paid off.
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- Nissin Cup Noodles Chicken Flavor
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Call me biased if you want, but a classic is a classic for a reason. In case you haven’t had chicken-flavored cup noodles in a while, let me remind you what makes it one of the best cup noodles around. It has a savory, salty, garlicky chicken broth enhanced by plenty of green onions and pepper. The thin noodles somehow cook to a perfect firm texture that’s oddly satisfying to bite. When you go back to these basic flavors, there’s no weird aftertaste, no cloying sweetness. Just addictive, yummy, yummy sodium, and some vegetables mixed in you can easily ignore if you want to. That’s your choice.
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- Nissin Cup Noodles Beef Flavor
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Yep, that’s right. Even after all my former criticism, we’ve got two 10/10s on this list of the best Nissin Cup Noodles. It’s almost like one very indecisive Sporked writer couldn’t pick a winner between beef and chicken flavored ramen. It’s almost like she had to sing eenie-meenie-miny-moe and stick with the one she landed on. In all seriousness, Nissin’s beef cup noodle is one of the best cup noodles out there. While I briefly panicked over choosing a winner, I can’t deny that the taste of the dried beef itself surpasses the dried chicken in texture and savory flavor. Like the chicken version, the broth here is so savory and rich, there’s no chance you won’t finish the whole cup.
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Stir Fry Teriyaki Chicken
Original
Shrimp
Molten Chili Chicken
Stir Fry Hot Garlic Chicken
Noodle Seafood
Top Ramen Chicken Bowl
Stir Fry Korean Spicy Beef
Chicken
Beef
Other Nissin Cup Noodle flavors we tried: Nissin Asian Noodles Sweet Chili Flavor Stir Fry, Nissin Cup Noodles Teriyaki Beef Flavor Stir Fry
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!