Also known as 醤油ラーメン, しょうゆラーメン, Soy Sauce Ramen, Tokyo Ramen, Chuka Soba.
Clear brown chicken or pork broth seasoned with soy sauce, medium curly noodles, one slice of chashu, menma, half an egg and spring onion. The old Tokyo standard, and the lightest bowl on most ramen menus.
421kcal / 1 bowl
A standard bowl of shoyu ramen is about 421 calories, based on Japan's calorie.slism.jp reference for a 726g bowl. Roughly 300 of those calories are the noodles. The clear soy broth is only about 40 calories, which is why shoyu is the lowest calorie ramen style.
Nutrition facts
Per 1 bowl (726g)
Amount
Per 100g
Calories
421 kcal
58 kcal
Protein
20 g
3 g
Carbs
60 g
8 g
Fat
11 g
2 g
Where the calories come from
Ramen noodles (cooked)200g
298 kcal
Clear shoyu broth300g
40 kcal
Chashu, 1 slice20g
50 kcal
Menma, half egg, naruto, spring onion60g
30 kcal
The real talk
Shoyu ramen is 421 calories because the broth is nearly empty. A clear chicken and soy stock is around 40 calories for 300ml, compared with about 150 for the same amount of tonkotsu. So the whole bowl is basically 200g of cooked noodles at about 300 calories, plus one slice of chashu at 50, plus the toppings. At a neighbourhood shop this bowl costs 800 to 900 yen and it is the one to pick if you eat ramen more than once a week.
The gap between shops is bigger than the gap between styles. A back-street Tokyo chuka soba with a thin slice of chashu is 421 calories. A modern shop that finishes the bowl with a spoon of chicken oil (chi-yu) and a thick 40g slab of pork belly is closer to 600. The oil floating on top is the tell: a thick golden layer is 50 to 100 calories on its own before you touch the noodles.
The set meal is where shoyu ramen stops being light. Half fried rice on the side is about 300 calories. A plate of 6 gyoza is about 300. The 'ramen set' at a chain like Hidakaya for 900 yen is therefore around 1,000 calories, not 421. If you want a bigger meal, add a second egg (80 calories) instead of the rice.
How the portions compare
340 kcal
Small bowl
421 kcal
Standard bowl
620 kcal
Large with extra chashu
Shoyu Ramen variants, ranked by calories
Variant
Calories
Notes
Plain chuka soba
400 kcal
Old style, one thin slice of pork
Standard shoyu ramen
421 kcal
calorie.slism.jp figure
With chicken oil finish
500 kcal
Modern shops add chi-yu on top
Chashu-men
600 kcal
4 to 5 slices of pork
Ramen set with half chahan
720 kcal
Chain lunch set
How to eat it lighter
Pick shoyu over miso or tonkotsu. Same noodle volume, about 200 fewer calories per bowl.
Skip the ramen set. Ramen plus half chahan is 700 calories; ramen alone is 421.
Ask for no chicken oil, or 'abura nuki'. Some shops add it by default and it is 50 to 100 calories of pure fat.
Extra menma or spring onion is nearly free. Extra chashu is about 50 calories per slice.
Common questions
Which ramen has the fewest calories?
Shoyu and shio (salt) are the lightest at roughly 400 to 420 calories a bowl. Miso is around 620 and tonkotsu around 525, with the gap coming from broth fat.
How many calories are the noodles alone in ramen?
About 300 calories for a standard 200g cooked serving. Noodles are 70 percent of a shoyu ramen's calories, which is why kaedama refills add so much.
Is shoyu ramen good for a diet?
It is one of the better restaurant meals in Japan at 421 calories with 20g of protein. The weak point is salt, around 5g per bowl if you drink the soup.
Calorie and macro figures are estimates for a typical restaurant, ramen shop or konbini serving. Actual numbers vary by stall, recipe and portion size. Use them as a guide, not gospel.
Calorie figure based on calorie.slism.jp 醤油ラーメン 1杯 726g 421 kcal. Macros estimated from the ingredients.