The best fast food, DIY Pot Noodles!

Let’s imagine for a minute, you’re sitting at your desk, it’s time for lunch, you’re so hungry but you don’t really want to get another fast food lunch. But hey wait, you were feeling oh so on top if it that morning, because you actually brought in your own incredibly yummy DIY soup that everyone will be jealous of. Well done! This instant Thai coconut chicken pot noodle soup is honestly one of the quickest, easiest and best tasting pot noodle soups hands down!
I like a lot of flavor and that’s what makes this particular recipe so darn yummy to me. Curry! It’s layered with oodles (See what I just did there? Ha, I crack myself up) of flavor and when added to a Miso concentrate base, it creates a serious tasting harmony together. If you prefer, you are surely allowed to substitute the Miso for a chicken or vegetable base. *The recipe below allows for 1 pint, but it can be stretched to make up 2 pints easily enough.*

Not keen on the chicken meaty aspect? No problem, there’s other options for protein in place of the chicken, like grilled shrimp (YUM) and tofu or go sans protein and add more vegetables, such as spiralized or grated carrots, yellow squash or more zucchini.

For the noodles, you need to pre-cook the them according to directions, drained and cooled. I usually drain mine then place in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking, then drain again. It doesn’t matter if the noodles become sticky, once you add water to the soup, they will heat up and loosen beautifully. For this recipe, I used the noodles straight from a chicken flavored Ramen noodles packet (you can keep the spice packet to make Oriental Salad). Even though you don’t necessarily need to cook Ramen noodles, I like to partially cook them before making up my pot noodles. Other pre-cooked noodles you can use include, Soba, Udon, Egg Noodles and Rice Noodles. (If using Rice Noodles, do not pre-cook).

You can prepare your DIY pot noodles on the weekend, assembly line style, and be ready for the week ahead, keeping them stored in the refrigerator. Take them to work, pull out your prepared jar and add in freshly boiled water. Trust me, you will be popular very quickly. There are some other amazing portable pot noodle recipes out there to try, so you’ll always be able to mix it up a bit. Try these from Goop.com.

To add fresh flavor, you can add some fresh herbs, such as Cilantro and freshly chopped spring onion as I did in the following recipe. Also adding a nice squeeze of lime juice at the end will take your soup from good to fantastic.

Enjoy!

DIY Instant Thai Coconut Chicken Pot Noodles

Yield: 1 - 2 Pints

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Bored of your every day lunch? Try this DIY Instant Thai Coconut Chicken Pot Noodle Soup instead. Can make ahead for the upcoming week, it's easy and portable. The perfect take-out food.

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Ingredients

Soup Base:

• 2 Tbls Miso concentrate/paste
• 2 - 3 tsp Green (or Red) Curry Paste
• 1/4 cup Coconut Milk
• 1/2 - 1 tsp Garlic Chili Sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
• Dash of Fish Sauce, optional (be mindful that it adds a good dose of saltiness)

Filling:

• 1/2 Zucchini, sprialized or shredded
• 1/2 cup cooked Chicken, shredded (I like to use rotisserie chicken)
• 1/4 Mushrooms, I used a mix of Baby Bellas, Oyster & Shiitake, roughly chopped into bite size pieces
• 1/2 - 1 cup cooked Noodles, (I used 1 pkg (nest or cake) of partially cooked Ramen noodles, but you can also use pre-cooked Soba, Udon, Egg Noodles or Rice Noodles, uncooked).
• 1 - 2 Spring Onions, finely diced
• 1 - 2 Tbls Cilantro, chopped (more or less depending on taste)
• Juice of Lime, to taste (I use about 1/3 of a lime)

Instructions

1. First make the soup base by combining the Miso concentrate/paste, Curry Paste, Coconut Milk, Garlic Chili Sauce (to taste) and a small dash of Fish Sauce if using. Mix well and set aside until ready to use.
2. In a heat resistant jar or container with lid (I use 1 pint jars), start by layering your Miso base, top with sprialized/shredded Zucchini, shredded Chicken, Mushrooms and Noodles.
3. Cut the lime and place on top of the noodles with the lime skin side down.
4. Put the fresh Cilantro and Spring Onions into a plastic bag, pressing air out and seal. Place on top of the lime and put the lid on jar.
5. When ready to eat, remove the fresh ingredient bag and Lime, then pour freshly boiled water over remaining ingredients, put the lid back on and allow to sit to warm the ingredients through, about 3 minutes.
6. Give the soup a stir to mix well and add the Cilantro, Spring Onions and a good squeeze of Lime Juice to taste.

Notes

Can substitute Chicken or Vegetable bullion base in place of Miso concentrate/paste if preferred.Make the soup base in double or triple batches, keep stored in the refrigerator until ready to use, up to 1 week.Ingredients for base is a base guideline, test and adjust taste accordingly. Some days I add more Coconut Milk, others more Curry paste.

Stacey Doyle

Stacey is a Southern girl with a taste for travel, thriving on the discovery of the world through food. After spending many years traveling and living overseas, she’s now back home in her beloved deep south enjoying life with her three little ones and loving the adventure. She’s a food stylist and food photographer, as well as, the creative behind Little Figgy Food, where she loves to inspire others to try new flavors and foodie techniques.