How To Make Cup Noodles Better

Bored of ordinary instant ramen? Turn loving cup of noodles into a complete meal using luxurious toppings. Learn how to add eggs, vegetables, and protein for a quick and portable repast in less than 10 minutes. This recipe doesn't crave a stove — the microwave does all the cooking.

A fancy, upgraded cup of ramen with sliced cabbage, ham, and carrots plus basil, sesame seeds, and egg

When we lived in a motel for three weeks, instant cup of noodles ("noodle cups" equally I call them) were a boon to our hotel-room diet. To avoid getting scurvy, I transformed instant ramen into a consummate meal. I cooked eggs in the elf-sized microwave, which was installed in a higher place a tiny granite countertop smaller than my suitcase. Later on microwaving, I plodded downstairs to the motel lobby with my steaming noodle cups to fill them at the h2o cooler, which dispensed hot water.

My cooking method ~~couldn't~~ doesn't require a stove. Having a hot repast fix in 10 minutes gave Alex and me time to relax subsequently work while adjusting to being away from home for and then long. Little did I know, six months subsequently, nosotros would buy a case of instant loving cup of noodles from Costco because of the pandemic.

At present that I'm dorsum to eating and loving instant noodle cups, I'1000 sharing my recipe to inspire you lot to upgrade your instant cup of noodles. Whether you're stuck in a hotel room, newly moved into a dorm room, camping, or cocky-isolating, y'all can find means to spruce up your instant noodles and transform it into a luxurious total repast.

What kind of instant noodle cups tin can y'all utilise for this recipe?

If you want to microwave the eggs, purchase instant noodles that come in disposable paper cups. If the loving cup is not fabricated from paper, it needs to be labeled as prophylactic for microwaves. Stay away from styrofoam cups without a microwave-rubber characterization. In that location is a chance that chemicals in plastic, styrofoam, and styrene can leach into your food, according to Harvard Health Publishing.

I bought instant ramen from Trader Joe's that came in a newspaper cup. Costco and other grocery stores typically sell instant ramen that comes in a paper cup every bit well.

If you cannot find instant ramen in a microwave-safe cup, you lot tin can still make the instant ramen recipe with the post-obit workaround:

You lot can skip the eggs and add together cooked toppings. No microwave necessary.
Microwave the eggs on a dissever paper plate and add together them to the noodle cup.

RELATED: Simple Creamy Pasta With Brown Oyster Mushrooms (and Zucchini Noodles)

What kinds of vegetables tin yous add?

The key to making noodle cups healthier is to add together vegetables. You can add any vegetables that you can dream of.

At home, I have more leeway to clean and slice raw vegetables so my options are fancier. When we lived in the hotel room, I chose frozen vegetables, canned vegetables, and raw vegetables that were cleaned and sliced, similar shredded carrots and cabbage slaw without the dressing.

Hither are my favorite vegetables to add to noodle cups:

Cabbage: Thinly sliced cabbage acts like noodles and so it increases the volume, tricking my brain into thinking I'm eating more noodles. I like that cabbage is sturdy so it doesn't go wilted quickly in my luggage.
Carrot: Carrot is harder to observe shredded. Wait at the refrigerated department of the grocery store. Yous can also pack matchstick ("julienned") carrots in a plastic container for your trip.
Onion: Thinly sliced onion is a neat flavor enhancer. It's challenging to cut onion thinly without a chef'due south knife and chopping board. I pack sliced onions before leaving abode or skip it in favor of green onions.
Lettuce: You tin can add raw lettuce earlier serving the noodles. Or y'all can add lettuce and cook information technology in the microwave with the other vegetables if you like wilted lettuce. You can purchase chopped lettuce that comes in prewashed salad numberless. Y'all also can tear rinsed lettuce with your hands if you tin can't find it shredded.
Spring greens: I similar boxed salad of spring mix because there's a diverseness of greens, they're already done, and they're the perfect size of a bowl of ramen.
Spinach: I utilise frozen spinach because it's ready to consume. I add frozen spinach into my loving cup of noodles afterward my noodles are ready. The hot water defrosts them. You can also defrost them in the microwave or sit them on the countertop for an hour.
You can also utilise fresh babe spinach leaves, which wilt quickly in the humid h2o.
Corn: I add frozen sweetness corn or canned corn kernels that are ready to eat. Frozen works well if you lot don't have a can opener and cannot notice corn in cans with easy-open lids and pull tabs.
Bean sprouts: You tin eat these edible bean sprouts raw later on washing them. Tiptop your ramen with the bean sprouts before serving.
Alfalfa: I like to add raw alfalfa to my noodle cups earlier calculation the humid h2o to the noodles. It wilts the puffy alfalfa, which makes them easier to eat.

TIP: The key to adding vegetables is to avert overloading the loving cup. Pick 1-ii vegetables and add a scattering of each to your noodles. This gives you lot room for garnishes.

What kinds of protein tin you add together?

Adding poly peptide is a great way to transform instant ramen into a filling and satiating repast. I love adding eggs to my noodles — scrambled eggs, soft-boiled eggs, poached eggs, and fried eggs. When I'1000 on the road or really lazy, I settle for microwaved eggs, which is what the recipe beneath walks you through.

Don't feel pressured to add eggs to your instant cup of noodles. It's optional.

Microwave-cooked eggs tin can be a bit dry and rubbery. Don't go me wrong. They're delicious if you've been hand washing your underwear in the sink with hotel bar soap for the last 2 weeks. But they're far from luxurious French-style scrambled eggs made in a double banality.

If you're concerned about food safety, skip the eggs and pick one of these alternative protein options beneath:

Vegan options: Sliced tofu (flavored tofu is best, like this baked tofu, non cake tofu because it's too bland), peanut butter and other kinds of nut butters, vegan sausages
Vegetarian options: Eggs, tofu, cheese
Seafood options: False crab meat, smoked salmon
Meat options: Ham, cooked pork belly, cooked bacon, leftover steak strips (from the deli department or from leftover burrito bowls)

In lite of nutrient safety, I try to only add together cooked meat options.

Anna in bliss taking a bite of a noodles — Me in my happy place — with a steaming loving cup of instant ramen. Heaven.

Garnishes

If you're traveling in a remote location without access to a grocery shop or you're physically distancing without the opportunity to shop for food, yous can notwithstanding make noodle cups flavory using garnishes and sauces. Garnishes are ofttimes my only choice when I make instant noodles while camping ground because I don't have access to a fridge.

Here are my favorite garnishes:

Green onions: I chop green onions and store them in a plastic container or baggie if I'm planning ahead. In our hotel room, we had a pair of pair of scissors for cut Alex's hair. I cleaned and used the scissors to trim green onions as a topping.
Cilantro: I observe that chopped cilantro doesn't travel well. So I pack them washed and bundled in newspaper towels. I pare the tender leaves off the stem and apply as much as I like. You lot can use scissors to cutting them and release their aroma if yous don't have a knife with you.
Basil: I use whatever I can find around the apartment and sometimes that includes a basil plant. A couple of leaves cut into thin strips adds an unexpected twist.
Seaweed: I like to add a sheet or two of seasoned seaweed. It adds a salty and crispy texture that delivers the noodles to a new level of fanciness.
Sesame seeds: Toasted sesame seeds offer a cute touch. They don't need refrigeration, which makes it great for travel.
Garlic butter mushrooms: This fragrant aromatic topping that will add together a burst of season to your noodles. Sauté alee of time and pack in a sealable container if you're bringing it on my trip.

TIP: Travel with a pair of pair of scissors. They're handy and y'all tin utilise them for slicing vegetables and garnishes in a pinch.

Sauces and seasonings

When I order takeout nutrient, I often find sauce packets with my meal. I save them in the fridge and bring them on trips to flavour my nutrient. We found common salt, pepper, ketchup, soy sauce, hot sauce, and other condiments in the motel lobby and at fast-food/quick-service restaurants.

Here are my favorite sauces for luxurious instant ramen:

Salt & pepper
Soy sauce
Toasted sesame oil
Sriracha
Chili oil
Garlic pulverization
Onion pulverization
Curry paste

RELATED: Bank check out these sauce and garnish ideas from this Like shooting fish in a barrel Ramen Noodle Soup recipe

Safety tip

Don't concur the noodle cup when you are pouring humid water into it. Yous may accidentally spill the boiling water and scald your paw.

If you're at the water libation and don't have plenty room to sit the noodle cup at the dispenser, yous tin can fill a cup with boiling water and pour the water from the loving cup into the noodle bowl.

Upgraded cup of noodles with eggs and vegetables

Pivot

Print Recipe Pivot Recipe Rate Recipe

Bored of ordinary instant ramen? Turn cup of noodles into a consummate meal by calculation eggs, vegetables, and protein for a quick and portable meal in less than 10 minutes. This recipe doesn't require a stove — the microwave does all the cooking.

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Full Time: seven minutes

Course: Chief Form

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: 10 ingredients or less, five-infinitesimal recipe, carbs, comfort, no-melt, noodles, soup

Servings: i person

Calories: 767 kcal

Cost: $3

Pocketknife
Chopping Board
Microwave
Kettle
chopsticks

Protein

▢ 1 slice (30 k) ham
▢ 2 large (two large) Eggs

Noodles

▢ 1 cup (1 cup) noodles

Garnishes

▢ 3 leaves (three leaves) Basil
▢ one pinch (1 compression) sesame seeds

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Gather the ingredients.

Pin
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Chop and slice the protein (meat, tofu, etc.) and vegetables (cabbage, carrot, lettuce, etc.) that you desire to add together to your noodles.
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Open the hat halfway on the loving cup of noodles. Remove the seasoning packet from the loving cup. Crack the eggs into your cup of noodles. Discard the shells. Zap the cup with the raw eggs and noodles in the microwave for 1 minute on high. Keep an eye on your microwave to brand sure the eggs don't explode. Remove the loving cup and bank check on the eggs. If the egg whites are translucent and oasis't turned white yet, zap the cup of noodles for 1 minute on loftier.
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Add the sliced vegetables that do good from cooking into the noodle loving cup. I like to cook cabbage, onions, and carrots. Don't add garnishes unless you lot want them cooked.
▢

Add as much of the seasoning equally yous like to your loving cup of noodles. Zap the cup of noodles in the microwave for one minute. Feel free to cook the cup of noodles for longer if you lot want the eggs and vegetables to be fully cooked.

While waiting for the microwave to end cooking, boil h2o for the side by side step.

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Once the cup of noodles is out of the microwave, add humid water upwards to the line specified in the cup.
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Replace the lid over the cup. Put a plate or other flat object over the mouth of the loving cup to seal in the heat. Prepare a timer for the corporeality of "cook" fourth dimension recommended in the instructions. I similar to reduce the suggested time by 2 minutes to ensure my noodles don't end up soggy.
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While you're waiting for the humid water to do its magic, gather your garnishes. I cut a few leaves of basil. You lot can chop cilantro, greenish onions, and other herbs.

Pivot
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Once the timer goes off, the noodles are ready to eat. Tiptop the noodles with the remaining garnishes, sauces, and flavorings you want to serve with the noodles. Enjoy your fancy loving cup of noodles!

This recipe is flexible with its cooking time. I like my noodles to exist al dente then I undercook them after adding the humid h2o by i to 2 minutes. This means whatever the bundle recommends, I serve the noodles earlier that amount of time is up. I like my vegetables to be cooked, not raw, so I zap them in the microwave for longer.

Experience gratis to vary your cook time in the microwave and with the boiling water to adjust your sense of taste buds.

Tin can this be fabricated in advance?

Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend it. The noodles will get soggy, which volition taste disappointing (unless you savor sloppy noodles that disintegrate). The noodles don't freeze well.

Luckily, the noodles but take 5 minutes or less to set then there's non much benefit to making them in advance. The way to prepare these noodles in advance is to melt the mix-ins, prepare the garnishes, and get together the sauces in advance.

What to eat with upgraded instant ramen

Grilled Cheese Sandwich with a Hotel Room Atomic number 26

This elementary grilled cheese sandwich is a great alternative to eating out everyday when you're away from home. Employ your creativity to deploy the ingredients around your hotel or dorm room to whip up this sandwich. Serve it with a leafy salad dressed with garlic lemon vinaigrette for a consummate meal.

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5-Minute Bootleg Vegan Miso Soup With Silken Tofu and Seaweed

Y'all'll honey this belly-warming miso soup during cold wintery nights. Information technology but takes five minutes and yous can add any garnishes to tailor it to your tastebuds. Add a nuance of sesame oil for extra indulgent miso soup.

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v-minute spicy garlic cucumber salad

This refreshing garlic cucumber salad is an platonic side dish to residue a heavy primary class thanks to its crisp texture and addictive spicy sauce. You lot'll dearest it with the original Chinese sauce or the variation sauce if y'all tin't source the exotic ingredients.

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