Meal Prep DIY Mason Jar Instant Cup Noodles

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Okay, okay–clearly I’ve been on a bit of a ramen kick lately. For my boyfriend’s lunches this week, I went with the same theme I’d been riding on all weekend, this time in the form of something that would keep well in the fridge for a longer period of time. As an added bonus, this week’s meal prep was the quickest ever assembled, clocking in at about an hour (only because I make snack bags of sliced vegetables alongside whatever else I’m cooking). So: simple, fast, and easily made at midnight if you’ve, say… spent the whole day bingeing anime and forgotten that tomorrow is Monday.

There are a bazillion ways to make this, as it’s really more of a formula for putting stuff in a jar than an actual recipe. I’ll put what I used in the ingredients, as well as other options that you might have in your own kitchen, so this will be formatted a little differently from my usual posts. You can use any combination and it will still turn out great! And because this recipe is so subjective, the ingredient amounts are entirely up to you as long as you keep the potency of your spices and flavors in mind. I’ve just put my suggestions below!

As a quick side note, the noodles pictured above are actually udon noodles that I had in the fridge. After getting some feedback from Alex yesterday, I would recommend using thinner noodles. The udon noodles were apparently just too thick to easily eat out of the mason jar. Whoops!

This recipe makes 1 individual jar. Repeat for as many servings as you’d like to prep–I personally made 4 when I assembled this.

Pictured Ingredients:

  • ½ tbsp white miso paste
  • 2 tsp gochujang
  • ½ tsp chicken bullion
  • ¼ tsp chili oil
  • ¼ tsp soy sauce
  • 1 cup cooked udon noodles
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced snow peas
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
  • ¼ cup halved baby bok choy leaves
  • ½ cup leftover shredded chicken

Suggested “Stock” Ingredients:

  • chicken, beef, pork, or vegetable bullion
  • miso paste
  • curry paste (dissolved in a small amount of coconut milk)
  • dashi powder
  • powdered chicken, beef, pork, or vegetable stock

Suggested Flavoring Ingredients:

  • gochujang, sriracha, or hot sauce
  • chili oil
  • fish sauce
  • soy sauce
  • salt
  • sesame oil
  • hoisin sauce
  • white pepper + garlic powder
  • minced ginger + minced garlic
  • lime zest + lime juice

Suggested Vegetable Ingredients:

Note: Make sure any larger vegetables are thinly sliced so that they’re easy to eat out of a mason jar and mix well with the noodles and stock when shaken. 

  • snow peas
  • bell peppers
  • corn
  • mushrooms
  • carrots
  • baby bok choy
  • bean sprouts
  • green peas (out of pod)
  • spinach, cilantro, or other greens
  • kimchi

Suggested Noodle Ingredients:

  • instant ramen (without flavor packet)
  • dried ramen, somen, or soba noodles
  • dried rice noodles
  • fresh or frozen ramen, yakisoba, or tofu noodles
  • dried angel hair pasta
  • dried linguine

Suggested Meat/Protein Ingredients:

Note: Do not use raw meat in your ramen jars. The added water will neither be hot enough nor remain hot long enough to cook anything. Always put cooked meat in your meal prep!

  • leftover meats (beef from last night’s dinner, pork from takeout, etc.)
  • shredded rotisserie chicken ($5 for a whole bird from the grocer!)
  • peeled shrimp
  • soft-boiled egg
  • firm tofu

Directions:

  1. Cook and prepare any meat or protein as needed. Boil and peel your eggs, make a quick teriyaki stir fry, or pull out last night’s Chinese takeout from the fridge. 
  2. Cook your noodles according to package directions. For fresh noodles, place in boiling water and cook for 2 minutes.
  3. Drain noodles and rise with cold water to stop cooking. Toss in ½ tsp sesame oil, vegetable oil, or olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking together. 
  4. Assemble jars with desired combination of ingredients from bottom to top: stock base, flavoring, noodles, vegetables, meat/protein.
  5. Store in refrigerator. 
  6. To serve, fill packed jar to the brim with boiling or near-boiling water. Let sit for 2-3 minutes to dissolve stock and flavoring. Shake well to combine ingredients and enjoy!

This recipe keeps for up to 5 days in the fridge, and requires no microwave to reheat! Let each jar sit at room temperature for a few minutes before adding hot water to prevent glass breaking and ensure that all stock and flavoring ingredients are soft enough to dissolve/mix. 

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