How To Prepare Nissin Cup Noodles

Bored of ordinary instant ramen? Turn cup of noodles into a complete repast using luxurious toppings. Acquire how to add eggs, vegetables, and protein for a quick and portable meal in less than ten minutes. This recipe doesn't require 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 nosotros lived in a motel for iii weeks, instant cup of noodles ("noodle cups" as I call them) were a boon to our hotel-room diet. To avert getting scurvy, I transformed instant ramen into a complete meal. I cooked eggs in the elf-sized microwave, which was installed above a tiny granite countertop smaller than my suitcase. After microwaving, I plodded downstairs to the motel lobby with my steaming noodle cups to fill them at the water libation, which dispensed hot water.

My cooking method ~~couldn't~~ doesn't require a stove. Having a hot meal ready in x minutes gave Alex and me fourth dimension to relax subsequently piece of work while adjusting to being away from home for so long. Lilliputian did I know, half dozen months later, we would buy a case of instant cup of noodles from Costco considering of the pandemic.

Now that I'm back to eating and loving instant noodle cups, I'k sharing my recipe to inspire you to upgrade your instant cup of noodles. Whether you're stuck in a hotel room, newly moved into a dorm room, camping, or self-isolating, you can discover ways to spruce upwardly your instant noodles and transform it into a luxurious full meal.

What kind of instant noodle cups tin you use for this recipe?

If y'all want to microwave the eggs, buy instant noodles that come in disposable paper cups. If the cup is not made from newspaper, information technology needs to be labeled as safe for microwaves. Stay away from styrofoam cups without a microwave-safety characterization. At that place is a run a risk 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 as well.

If you cannot find instant ramen in a microwave-safe cup, you can even so make the instant ramen recipe with the following workaround:

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

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

What kinds of vegetables can you add together?

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

At dwelling, I have more than elbowroom to clean and piece raw vegetables so my options are fancier. When nosotros lived in the hotel room, I chose frozen vegetables, canned vegetables, and raw vegetables that were cleaned and sliced, like shredded carrots and cabbage slaw without the dressing.

Here are my favorite vegetables to add together to noodle cups:

Cabbage: Thinly sliced cabbage acts similar noodles so it increases the book, tricking my brain into thinking I'thou eating more noodles. I like that cabbage is sturdy so information technology doesn't get wilted chop-chop in my baggage.
Carrot: Carrot is harder to find shredded. Look at the refrigerated section of the grocery store. You tin can also pack matchstick ("julienned") carrots in a plastic container for your trip.
Onion: Thinly sliced onion is a great season enhancer. It's challenging to cutting onion thinly without a chef's knife and chopping board. I pack sliced onions earlier leaving home or skip it in favor of light-green onions.
Lettuce: Y'all can add raw lettuce before serving the noodles. Or you can add together lettuce and cook it in the microwave with the other vegetables if you similar wilted lettuce. You can buy chopped lettuce that comes in prewashed salad bags. You also tin tear rinsed lettuce with your hands if you can't discover it shredded.
Bound greens: I like boxed salad of spring mix because in that location's a variety of greens, they're already washed, and they're the perfect size of a basin of ramen.
Spinach: I use frozen spinach considering it'due south prepare to eat. I add together frozen spinach into my loving cup of noodles subsequently my noodles are prepare. The hot water defrosts them. You tin also defrost them in the microwave or sit them on the countertop for an hr.
You tin can also use fresh baby spinach leaves, which wilt quickly in the boiling h2o.
Corn: I add frozen sweet corn or canned corn kernels that are ready to eat. Frozen works well if you don't take a can opener and cannot observe corn in cans with like shooting fish in a barrel-open lids and pull tabs.
Bean sprouts: You can eat these edible bean sprouts raw later washing them. Top your ramen with the bean sprouts before serving.
Alfalfa: I like to add raw alfalfa to my noodle cups before calculation the humid water to the noodles. It wilts the puffy alfalfa, which makes them easier to eat.

TIP: The key to adding vegetables is to avoid overloading the cup. Pick 1-two vegetables and add a handful of each to your noodles. This gives you room for garnishes.

What kinds of protein can y'all add?

Adding protein is a great fashion to transform instant ramen into a filling and satiating meal. I dearest adding eggs to my noodles — scrambled eggs, soft-boiled eggs, poached eggs, and fried eggs. When I'm on the route or actually lazy, I settle for microwaved eggs, which is what the recipe below walks you lot through.

Don't experience pressured to add eggs to your instant cup of noodles. It'due south optional.

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

If you're concerned about nutrient prophylactic, skip the eggs and pick one of these alternative protein options below:

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

In low-cal of food safety, I attempt to only add cooked meat options.

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

Garnishes

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

Hither are my favorite garnishes:

Greenish 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'south hair. I cleaned and used the scissors to trim green onions as a topping.
Cilantro: I find that chopped cilantro doesn't travel well. And so I pack them washed and arranged in paper towels. I peel the tender leaves off the stem and utilise as much as I similar. You can use scissors to cut them and release their aroma if y'all don't have a knife with you.
Basil: I use whatever I can find effectually 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 sail or two of seasoned seaweed. Information technology adds a salty and crispy texture that delivers the noodles to a new level of fanciness.
Sesame seeds: Toasted sesame seeds offer a beautiful impact. 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 flavour to your noodles. Sauté alee of fourth dimension and pack in a sealable container if you're bringing information technology on my trip.

TIP: Travel with a pair of pair of scissors. They're handy and you tin use them for slicing vegetables and garnishes in a compression.

Sauces and seasonings

When I gild takeout nutrient, I often find sauce packets with my meal. I salvage them in the fridge and bring them on trips to flavor my food. We constitute salt, pepper, ketchup, soy sauce, hot sauce, and other condiments in the motel anteroom 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 powder
Onion powder
Curry paste

RELATED: Bank check out these sauce and garnish ideas from this Piece of cake Ramen Noodle Soup recipe

Prophylactic tip

Don't hold the noodle loving cup when y'all are pouring boiling h2o into it. You may accidentally spill the boiling water and scald your hand.

If y'all're at the h2o cooler and don't have plenty room to sit the noodle cup at the dispenser, y'all tin can fill up a cup with humid water and pour the water from the cup into the noodle bowl.

Upgraded loving cup of noodles with eggs and vegetables

Pivot

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Bored of ordinary instant ramen? Turn cup of noodles into a complete meal by adding 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 Fourth dimension: v minutes

Total Time: 7 minutes

Course: Main Grade

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: 10 ingredients or less, 5-minute recipe, carbs, comfort, no-cook, noodles, soup

Servings: 1 person

Calories: 767 kcal

Cost: $3

Knife
Chopping Board
Microwave
Kettle
chopsticks

Protein

▢ 1 piece (xxx chiliad) ham
▢ 2 big (2 large) Eggs

Noodles

▢ 1 cup (1 loving cup) noodles

Garnishes

▢ 3 leaves (3 leaves) Basil
▢ 1 pinch (1 pinch) sesame seeds

▢
Gather the ingredients.

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

Add as much of the seasoning equally you like to your cup of noodles. Zap the cup of noodles in the microwave for 1 minute. Experience free to melt the cup of noodles for longer if you want the eggs and vegetables to exist fully cooked.

While waiting for the microwave to finish cooking, boil h2o for the adjacent step.

Pin
▢
Once the cup of noodles is out of the microwave, add humid water upwards to the line specified in the cup.
▢
Replace the lid over the cup. Put a plate or other flat object over the mouth of the cup to seal in the heat. Set a timer for the amount of "cook" time recommended in the instructions. I similar to reduce the suggested time past two minutes to ensure my noodles don't end up soggy.
▢
While you're waiting for the boiling water to do its magic, assemble your garnishes. I cut a few leaves of basil. You can chop cilantro, light-green onions, and other herbs.

Pin
▢
Once the timer goes off, the noodles are ready to swallow. Summit the noodles with the remaining garnishes, sauces, and flavorings y'all want to serve with the noodles. Savor your fancy loving cup of noodles!

This recipe is flexible with its cooking time. I like my noodles to exist al dente so I undercook them later on adding the boiling water past one to two minutes. This ways whatever the package recommends, I serve the noodles before that amount of fourth dimension is upwardly. I like my vegetables to exist cooked, not raw, and then I zap them in the microwave for longer.

Feel free to vary your cook fourth dimension in the microwave and with the boiling h2o to suit your taste buds.

Can this be made in accelerate?

Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend information technology. The noodles will become soggy, which will taste disappointing (unless y'all enjoy sloppy noodles that disintegrate). The noodles don't freeze well.

Luckily, the noodles only take 5 minutes or less to gear up and then there'southward not much benefit to making them in advance. The manner to prepare these noodles in advance is to cook the mix-ins, gear up the garnishes, and assemble the sauces in advance.

What to eat with upgraded instant ramen

Grilled Cheese Sandwich with a Hotel Room Iron

This simple grilled cheese sandwich is a bully alternative to eating out everyday when you're away from home. Use your inventiveness to deploy the ingredients effectually your hotel or dorm room to whip upward this sandwich. Serve it with a leafy salad dressed with garlic lemon vinaigrette for a consummate meal.

Get the Recipe

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

You'll beloved this belly-warming miso soup during common cold wintery nights. It only takes 5 minutes and you lot can add any garnishes to tailor it to your tastebuds. Add together a dash of sesame oil for extra indulgent miso soup.

Become the Recipe

5-minute spicy garlic cucumber salad

This refreshing garlic cucumber salad is an ideal side dish to residual a heavy main course thanks to its well-baked texture and addictive spicy sauce. You'll love information technology with the original Chinese sauce or the variation sauce if you tin can't source the exotic ingredients.

Get the Recipe

Like recipes you lot will love

Garlic Cucumber Noodle Salad

This is a cold noodle dish, ideal for a hot summer's day. The cucumber and carrot add a refreshing touch. What really makes these noodles stand out though is the chili sauce: nosotros love LGM (Lao Gan Ma)! Enjoy it for a snack or as a side dish.

Get the Recipe

Ramen stir fry with shrimp, eggs, and vegetables

This technique to make ramen stir fry is hands customizable to employ your favorite vegetables and proteins. The key to a succulent noodle stir fry is to avoid overcooking the noodles before calculation them to the stir fry. Serve with garnishes and chili sauce (if yous like it spicy).

Become the Recipe

Garlic Tomato plant Cream Pasta Sauce with Shrimp

The tangy flavors in this tomato-cream pasta dish are mouthwatering. This particular version is quite sharp, due to my restraint in non adding whatever carbohydrate to atmosphere the tomato plant's sourness. If you prefer something milder, add a touch of carbohydrate to mellow it out.

Get the Recipe

READ NEXT: 5-Infinitesimal Spicy Rice Noodle Rolls couldn't be easier