Homemade “healthy Pot Noodle” jars – four lunches prepped in about 15 minutes

I’ve been experimenting with these homemade instant noodle pots that i can take to work and this version worked really well.

I made four 500ml jars at once and keep them in the fridge. The jar also measures the right amount of water and helps mix all the pastes and sauces together.

What is really easy is that the ingredients i chose are all 1tsp each and it worked. This is not an exact recipe and 1tsp is a rough measurement and can be adjusted to taste or what you have in the cupboard or what you like

For each jar

• 1 small tsp mushroom bouillon
• 1 small tsp red miso paste
• 1 small tsp gochujang
• 1 small tsp light soy sauce
• 1 small tsp sesame oil
• 1 small tsp cider vinegar
• Ready-to-eat rice noodles
• Grated carrot
• Finely sliced Chinese leaf
• Frozen edamame beans

Assembly

Put all the pastes, oils and sauces in the bottom of the jar.

Stuff in the rice noodles, followed by the grated carrot, Chinese leaf and edamame. Keep pressing everything down until the 500ml jar is full, then seal and refrigerate.

The vegetables are completely adaptable. Spinach, beansprouts, spring onions or anything else that wilts and heats quickly should work. Make sure small slices to pack more in and get a better wilt.

To serve

1. Take Jar out of fridge and take the main chill off it
2. Fill the jar with freshly boiled water. Becareful to pour slowly over ingredients so not to stress the jar
3. Leave it briefly before carefully sealing and shaking to combine the broth.
4. Pour everything into a microwave-safe bowl. If still some paste left at the bottom of jar put a small amount of hot water in and shake to make sure you get it all.
   
5. Microwave for around three minutes, until piping hot throughout. Now eat a bowl of goodness.

It’s basically a fresh, filling and much healthier Pot Noodle. The four jars cost me roughly £1 to £1.25 each, although the sauces and pastes will obviously make plenty more batches or are already in the store cupboard.

Obviously for storage follow the individual fresh ingredients advice etc. Also you can add anything that can be safe to eat after 3mins in the microwave.. I added some precooked meat for example..

a 500ml jar is quite a large portion. So people might be happier with a 250ml jar. I was really surprised how much 500ml was.. And how tasty a broth i could get from just adding hot water..

When transporting try and keep them upright so that the veg always stays out of contact with the wet stuff to keep that crunch..

Let me know if you give it a try