‘Just Add Boiling Water’ Noodle Soup in a Jar

Here is a great way to eat healthy and affordable lunches, that don’t require time preparing them in the morning, just grab that jar out of the fridge and take it with you. You can quickly prepare these a week in advance, making 5 days worth in one prep. Or prep a bunch of lunches for a picnic, hiking trip or day watching kids sport, and take a thermos of boiling hot water with you.

The vermicelli noodles will soften and become ‘cooked’ simply by being steeped in boiling hot water, though please note, the julienned vegetables will retain some texture or crunch (that’s how I like it!) You could use crushed garlic, sliced shallots or spring onions, corn, peas or sugar snap peas, if you don’t need a low FODMAP version.

If you want to make your own broth (or stock) for the extra nutrition and flavour, and you have somewhere to heat it up at work (or uni, or home), you can check out my ‘Add Hot Broth’ Noodle Soup in a Jar recipe.

‘Just Add Boiling Water’ Noodle Soup in a Jar

MAKES

5 serves (1 litre jars)

REQUIRED

  • 5 large jars of 1000mls capacity – use good quality jars, i.e. preserving jars are able to handle changes in temperature quite well, I use no. 31 Fowlers Vacola jars with their no. 4 green Snap On lids

INGREDIENTS (PER JAR)

Soup Flavourings

  • 1 to 2 tbsp tamari
  • 1/2 tsp fish sauce
  • 1/2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1/4 tsp Garlic Infused olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp Roast Onion infused olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp fresh finely grated ginger (1 small knob of ginger in total)
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp lemongrass, very finely grated using a kitchen rasp (1 to 2 large lemongrass stalks)
  • 2 to 4 pieces of sliced chilli (1 to 2 chillies)

Optional

  • 1 to 2 tsp miso paste, Low FODMAP Yellow Curry paste, or Asian soup paste (like tom yum paste), but these may not be low in FODMAPs
  • 1/2 tsp Hot sauce or Sweet Chilli Sauce
  • 1 tbsp. peanut butter or satay sauce
  • 1/2 tsp Lime juice (or wedge of lime, as per below)
  • 1/2 tsp finely grated fresh tumeric & 5 grinds of black pepper

Fresh ingredients (heavier/ moister)

  • about 2 tbsp finely julienned carrot (1 large carrot)
  • about 3 tbsp. finely julienned zucchini (1 medium to large zucchini)
  • about 2 tbsps finely julienned capsicum (1 red capsicum)
  • Uncooked vermicelli noodles (I use a pack which has 5 individual sections in a 250gm pack)

Fresh ingredients (lighter/ drier)

  • 1/2 cup baby spinach or chopped greens (2 1/2 cups baby spinach or chopped greens)
  • 1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped (1/2 bunch fresh coriander)
  • Small wedge of lime (1 lime)

Protein (separate container)

  • 1/2 cup of protein (such as, about 2 to 3 cups of cooked roasted chicken meat, or 3 to 4 cooked Asian Beef meatballs per lunch)

METHOD

  1. Finely grate the ginger, lemongrass and turmeric (if using). Add all the soup flavourings into the bottom of each jar.
  2. Finely grate, julienne or finely dice the vegetables. Divide the vegetables between 5 large jars (I make 5 small piles of each vegetable, so I know they are kind of evenly divided before adding to the jar). Add the fresh ingredients which are heavier & wetter into the jars (on top of the soup flavourings). Then add the uncooked noodles, and the lighter/ dryer ingredients on top.
  3. Seal each jar, store in the fridge. Also store your protein in a separate container, in the fridge or freezer.

TO SERVE

To serve, remove lime wedge. Heat your protein, add to jar. Pour about 2 cups (500mls) of boiling water carefully into the jar of noodles, vegetables, flavourings and meat. Carefully stir to combine. Cover loosely with lid. Allow to steep for 5 to 10 minutes, until noodles are soft and translucent. Squeeze the juice from lime wedge in & eat!

NOTES

  • I use a pack of vermicelli noodles which has individual sections (5 in a 250gm pack) because cutting vermicelli noodles to fit is really hard! You could also try noodles that require pre-cooking, and will heat up with the stock/ boiling water
  • You could also try Bormioli Rocco Fido Jars, with flip top lids.
  • If you pour boiling water over the noodles and steep for 5 minutes, without the noodles starting to turn translucent, you may need to heat the jar of soup (in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes) to expedite the process. Don’t heat jars with metal clasps in the microwave though!
  • You can use whatever seasonal vegetables and herbs you have, including finely shredded cabbage, sliced beans, bean sprouts, Asian greens etc.
  • I keep my protein in a separate container, and keep only two days in the fridge, preferring to have the rest frozen for food safety.
  • Please BE VERY CAREFUL with the changes in temperature and using glass jars! The Fowlers Vacola preserving jars have always been very sturdy, even with pouring hot stock into a cold jar, but I still place the jars on a sink whilst pouring and steeping.