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The Samyang Tangle Chunky Tomato Pasta is Samyang’s take on a Western pasta in instant noodle form, and the nutrition panel is the first thing that caught my eye. This has 15 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber.
Produced in South Korea.
What’s in the Package
Inside the bag you’ll find a round nest of flat wheat noodles and three separate packets labeled by step. Flake (Step 1) is a small pink packet of dehydrated vegetables. Sauce (Step 2) is a red wet sauce packet. Powder (Step 3) is a red seasoning powder.
How to Cook Samyang Tangle Chunky Tomato Pasta
- Boil 1 ⅓ cups of water.
- Add the noodles and the dried flakes, then cook for 4 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Take it off the heat. Most of the water should be absorbed, so don’t drain it.
- Add the liquid sauce packet and the powder packet, then stir until the noodles are coated evenly.
How Does It Taste
The first thing that hit me when I opened the bag was tomato. Straight, immediate tomato. It was more like a Western-style tomato pasta more than anything Asian, which lines up with how it’s marketed.
This tastes like Asian Chef Boyardee. That’s not a knock. It’s sweet, saucy, and tomato-forward, with real chunks of tomato and onion in the sauce that matched what the bag promised. There’s a familiarity to it that made it easy to like.
On its own it runs a little bland and needs more salt. That was the only consistent note we kept coming back to. James thought Cajun seasoning would fit right in.
The noodles are flat and wide, closer to fettuccine than your typical instant noodle, and they hold onto the sauce well. There’s no heat here at all. James put it at a zero on the spice scale.
How Does It Compare
The Tangle Chunky Tomato Pasta sits next to the Samyang Tangle Garlic Oil Pasta as the sweeter, saucier half of the Tangle line, while the Garlic Oil version stays savory and oil-based. The Samyang Buldak Tomato Pasta is the spicy Buldak remix of this same idea, so if you want a similar tomato profile with real heat, reach for that one. If you want tomato pasta in noodle form without any spice, this is the one.
How to Level Up Samyang Tangle Chunky Tomato Pasta
James and I both said this would be good with browned beef, Italian sausage, or Italian meatballs stirred through. A few Vietnamese beef meatballs work too if you already have them in the freezer.
A handful of powdered parmesan is what James suggested and it fits the Chef Boyardee energy perfectly.
If you want to add heat, James suggested a shake of Tabasco or a squeeze of sriracha. A pinch of Cajun seasoning also works and adds the salt this bowl needs anyway.
Final Verdict
This one surprised me. Going in I wasn’t sure about a Korean-brand instant tomato pasta, but the sweet, saucy, Chef Boyardee-adjacent flavor won me over. It’s a little bland out of the bag and needs a shake of salt or a topping of some kind to hit, but the protein and fiber numbers are nice to have on an instant noodle. I’d grab this again.
Tasting Notes
- Spice Level: 0/5
- Broth Viscosity: N/A (dry sauced pasta)
- Noodle Thickness: 3/5
- Noodle Type: Flat Wheat (fettuccine-style)
- Topping Suggestions: Browned Beef, Italian Sausage, Meatballs, Shelf-Stable Parmesan, Tabasco, Sriracha, Cajun Seasoning
How do I rate my ramen? Check out the Ramen Rating Guide.
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More to Try
- More from Samyang: Samyang Tangle Garlic Oil Pasta, Samyang Mep Garlic & Clam Flavor
- Topping pairing: Fried Garlic
- Recipe to try: Sapporo Beef Ramen with Corned Beef and Jalapenos
