Tomato-based broth is an unusual but notable instant-noodle subcategory, bridging Western pasta-sauce traditions with Asian noodle formats. The two most prominent examples are Nissin Chili Tomato (Cup Noodles Chili Tomato is a staple of the Japanese range, launched in 1982) and Master Kong Tomato & Egg (番茄雞蛋) — a Chinese variant built around the classic Chinese home-cooking dish of tomato, egg, and wheat noodles.
Italian-style tomato flavour products are far less common but do appear — Nissin's various European Cup Noodles collaborations, Samyang's Tomato Buldak experiment, and Mi Sedaap's Tomato Spicy line all draw on familiar pasta-sauce profiles. Mama's Tomato-flavoured Thai range leans toward a lighter, brighter tomato profile than Italian-inspired variants.
Tomato broth is one of the few instant-noodle categories where the flavour signature often outweighs the noodle itself — consumers typically choose these for the sauce rather than for the noodle texture, and the products tend to be positioned as comfort-food adaptations rather than traditional ramen.