REVIEW: immi Instant Ramen (plant-based, keto-friendly, & high-protein ramen)

Flavors Tried: Spicy “Beef”, Tom Yum “Shrimp”, Black Garlic “Chicken”, Roasted “Pork” Tonkotsu

Price: $39.99 for 6 packets ($6.50 per serving)

Nutrition: 310 Calories, 14g Fat, 24g Carbs (18g Fiber), 22g Protein


2023 Update: immi has improved their noodles since the initial review, so the notes here reflect the most recent formula.


I don’t eat a ton of ramen in my life. Don’t get me wrong, it is absolutely delicious, and when you get a good bowl of ramen, there is not much better.

I just don’t love consuming hot liquids very much, and I know I’m in the minority there. Yes, that applies to hot coffee, too.

Sure, hot liquid can warm the soul on a cold winter day. But otherwise, hot liquid just makes me sweaty, and that’s not something I particularly seek out (especially when it comes to coffee).

With all of that being said, I appreciate a good bowl of ramen, so when I came across immi ramen, I knew I needed to give it a try.

immi instant ramen

immi ramen is the older, more sophisticated sibling of instant ramen. It’s not only high-protein, but it’s also keto-friendly AND plant-based, meaning it’s suitable for pretty much any diet out there.

My diet isn’t plant-based or low-carb, so neither of those aspects gets me overly excited, but since each serving of this ramen has over 20 grams of protein, I was sold pretty much immediately.

immi ramen comes in a variety of flavors, and I’ve been able to try three: Spicy Beef, Black Garlic Chicken, Pork, and Tom Yum Shrimp, all of which are 100% plant-based. The ramen doesn’t contain any mix-ins (so you won’t find any pieces of fake meat in there) and come with just the dried keto ramen noodles and a packet of seasoning.

immi ramen ingredients

While this is supposed to be “instant” ramen, there really isn’t anything instant about this. If you microwave this ramen, it takes 8 minutes (side note: after 8 minutes in the microwave, the bowl is probably the hottest thing you’ll ever touch), and it will take 7-9 minutes on the stovetop.

Considering immi ramen is so high in fiber, it’s not surprising that the ramen noodles take a bit of time to fully cook. However, I’d much prefer if this took a few fewer minutes to prep.

In terms of nutrition & ingredients, each flavor is slightly different, but here are the nutrition facts you can expect to find:

When you look at the immi ramen ingredients, you’ll see that the two main ingredients are pumpkin seed protein and wheat gluten. I can’t say I’ve ever tried pumpkin seed protein before, but I have had plenty of products made from wheat gluten, so I fully expected these ramen noodles to be quite chewy.

immi Noodles Get An Upgrade…

Before I break down the specific flavors, I should talk about these keto-friendly ramen noodles.

When I first tried immi when it was released, it was very interesting, to say the least.

When you cooked the noodles themselves before adding any flavoring, they smelled incredibly Earthy. Since these are plant-based noodles, this wasn’t surprising, but it’s far from pleasant.

Luckily, the noodles had a very mild flavor. Yes, you can certainly tell that they were plant-based and keto-friendly, but the smell was much stronger than the flavor.

Credit for credit is due: immi is constantly improving their product and reformulating based on customer feedback. In 2023 they released a new formula, and it is much better.

That extremely strong Earthy smell has mostly been eleminated, and the texture of these noodles has improved a ton.

The first version of these noodles featured noodles that were very thick and chewy, which was an obvious hurdle to get over when trying these noodles for the first time.

Now, while still chewier than standard ramen noodles, immi has improved a ton. The noodles have a slight chew, but they are much closer to ramen noodles we all know and love.

OK, now on to the flavors.

Roasted “Pork” Tonkotsu immi Ramen Review

This pork ramen is one of the newer flavors immi has released, and it wasn’t part of my initial review, so I’m going to kick things off with it here.

Why? Because it was delicious.

This bowl was my introduction to the newly improved noodles, and I was not disappointed. While the noodles are still thicker and chewier than standard ramen noodles, you have to expect that with so much fiber and protein in these.

The chewiness is not at all off-putting, and I enjoyed this bowl very much.

I actually made this one on the go, which should speak to how easy it is to make this ramen. I toss the noodles into a bowl with some water (I just eyeballed the amount) and then stirred in the seasoning. Easy as that.

The broth is absolutely delicious, and while the pork flavor won’t blow you away, it is certainly identifiable. The fact that this is vegan is still very hard for me to believe given the flavor profile- it just works so well.

Black Garlic Chicken immi Ramen Review

Black garlic chicken immi ramen

Since there is obviously no real chicken broth here, I had no idea what to expect in terms of flavor.

To my surprise, the broth is actually really delicious! It tastes very much like chicken broth, and it has a nice hint of garlic in it as well. This is pretty much exactly what I’d expect from chicken-based ramen.

If you can get past the fact that the noodles themselves are slightly chewier than regular ramen, the flavor is surprisingly good, and the leftover broth is worth drinking at the end.

If I were having this ramen again, I would most definitely doctor it up with some grilled chicken and vegetables and I think it would be an incredible meal.

Tom Yum Shrimp immi Ramen Review

immi ramen shrimp

Full disclosure: I’ve never had any kind of seafood ramen before. The only seafood-related soup I’ve ever had is New England Clam Chowder, which is wildly different from ramen.

That being said… I absolutely hated this flavor.

If we’re going based on smell alone, it smelled like what I would imagine shrimp water smells like. It smells kind of like the ocean at low tide, which is pretty off-putting in a food you’re about to eat.

Since I’ve never had seafood-based broth before, I have no comparison for this in terms of taste, but it tastes exactly like what I’d imagine shrimp water tastes like. If you boiled shrimp and then used the leftover water for your broth, that’s exactly what this reminds me of.

Who knows, maybe that’s exactly what it’s supposed to taste like, and maybe that’s a really pleasant flavor for people that really like seafood.

For me, the combination of smell & taste makes this immi ramen flavor a hard pass.

Spicy Beef immi Ramen Review

immi ramen spicy beef

As a lover of spicy food, the spicy “beef” immi ramen was a huge winner for me.

As each bowl of ramen contains nearly 20g of fiber, I was not going to commit to eating three full bowls for review purposes (because 60g of fiber would absolutely destroy my stomach) but I happily finished this entire bowl.

In a blind taste test, I would never know that this was not an actual beef broth. It’s not insanely spicy, but there’s a great kick to it that I absolutely loved. The few times I’ve ordered ramen in my life, I’ve ordered a spicy flavor, so this was right up my alley.

If I had to pick a single flavor of immi ramen to try, it would be the spicy beef, and it’s not even close.

immi Ramen: Overall Thoughts

close up of immi ramen

Overall, I like this ramen for what it is. If you are plant-based AND low-carb, I can see this ramen being a huge hit for you.

For me, I’m only concerned with the protein content, so this ramen doesn’t appeal quite as much to me overall.

Yes, 20 grams of protein is great, but with just as much fiber, it’s a bit more than I’m typically after in a given day.

The noodles are slightly chewy, but not nearly as chewy as the original formula. If you tried immi when they first hit the market, it’s definitely worth revisiting to see the improvement for yourself.

In terms of flavor, the spicy beef is amazing, the black garlic chicken and pork are quite good, and the shrimp is… strange.

Unfortunately, immi ramen is pretty expensive. To order 6 packets, you’ll have to dish out $40, which makes each bowl cost over $6. Sure, it’s cheaper than ordering ramen, but it’s significantly pricier than instant ramen.

Yes, that’s the nature of healthy alternatives, but it’s a tough pill to swallow for these.

When I ordered these, immi did pass along a $5 discount, so if you’re wanting to give these a try, be sure to use this link to save some money: shop.immieats.com/Mattr5

immi instant ramen
REVIEW: immi Instant Ramen (plant-based, keto-friendly, & high-protein ramen)
Summary
immi is a solid alternative to regular ramen, but there are caveats. If you are plant-based AND low-carb, then you'll absolutely love this ramen. If you're like me and don't particular care about those things, then this ramen is less appealing overall. I did very much enjoy eating these, but for the high price tag, I'm not sure how often I'd be buying it. Worth a try if you're keto, but probably not a diet staple.
Texture
6.5
Flavor Accuracy
7.5
Nutrition
7
Overall Taste
7.5
The Good
Broth actually tastes like what you would expect
Loaded with fiber to help keep you full
Fully vegan
20+ grams of protein per serving
The Bad
Chewier than regular ramen
A slightly Earthy flavor to the noodles due to them being plant-based
Not very "instant" for instant Ramen (takes 7+ minutes to cook)
Quite expensive
7.1
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