DIY Instant Soup Jars — Kenji blueprint recipe

Source: DIY Instant Soup Jars | J. Kenji López-Alt on Patreon. These are some good lunch Recipes.

A blueprint post — no fixed recipe, just a method for building just-add-hot-water soup jars in wide-mouth jars.

Premise: Cup Noodles, but make it fresh

• Origin: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "DIY Pot Noodles" from River Cottage Veg Everyday, ~a decade ago


• Concept: mason jar with pre-cooked noodles, aromatics, veg + concentrated soup base → just-add-hot-water lunch


• Side note: he nearly opened a SF soup-jar kiosk (now spotted a robot doing it at an airport)


• Prior art: his 2014 Serious Eats instant noodle cup recipes (kimchi-beef jerky, coconut curry shrimp, miso-sesame veg, chicken-dill)

• Since expanded beyond noodles: canned beans, tortilla strips, rice cakes, tofu, hominy, leftover rice


Jarred soup basics


• Hot water only reheats, hydrates, softens. anything needing real cooking gets cooked first

• Raw-edible veg is fine if cut small; frozen peas/corn/carrots ideal (pre-blanched)


• Wide-mouth container w/ secure lid; 1-pint mason jar is a tight small serving


• Separate small "Flavor Pack" container for fresh toppings (reusable salad-dressing inserts work)


Build order (bottom-up)


• Concentrated flavor base: bottom layer gets diluted; Better than Bouillon paste is his pick; powdered bouillon fine (esp. dashi)


• Layer flavors: miso, sesame paste, chile oil/garlic sauce, black bean sauce, hoisin/sriracha, soy/fish sauce, coconut milk, grated ginger/garlic — anything tasting good uncooked; ready-made concentrates (mentsuyu, Thai curry paste, chili jam, shrimp paste, tallow hot-pot base) do multiple jobs at once

• Season: plan ~1½ cups (350 ml) boiling water; start light on salt — miso, soy, jerky, pickles all add salt


• Protein/beans/grains/hearty veg: wettest, most seasoned zone; rotisserie chicken, ready-to-eat tofu, canned beans/hominy, citrus zest strips; cooked or jerky meats only (par-cook raw pork); fried tofu + soy-marinated boiled egg soak up seasoning; this layer shields the delicate stuff above


• Vegetables: rule of thumb — if you wouldn't eat it in a salad, it doesn't belong; grate/shred firm veg (carrot, cabbage), thin-slice snow/snap peas, raw spinach or shredded romaine fine, stir-fry-and-chill anything needing real softening; sturdy veg low, tender leaves top; frozen veg straight from freezer


• Noodles/beans/grains: frozen noodle pucks work; beans/lentils/hominy can sit in the base (mash to thicken); go easy on packing — a crammed jar means lukewarm soup


• Flavor pack: herbs, sliced scallion, fresh chile, radish, citrus wedge, pickles — kept separate so they stay fresh and crunchy; added at eating time


• Serve: remove pack, add boiling water, cover, steep ~3 min (fork-or-chopsticks-on-lid move optional), stir, finish with flavor pack + citrus


The blueprint proportions


• Base: enough to season ~1½ cups water


• Protein: ~⅓ cup cooked meat/seafood/tofu or egg


• Vegetables: ~½ cup sliced/shredded/cooked, loosely packed


• Substantial: ~½–¾ cup cooked noodles/grains/drained beans


• Flavor pack: a few tablespoons of fresh toppings + citrus


• Fridge life: 3–5 days (dried/cured meats last longer)


Four worked variations (demoed in video; full recipes via his Cookbook Club)


• Sichuan beef noodle: beef base + hot pot seasoning, orange zest, beef jerky, noodles, romaine, scallion


• Chicken + white bean: mashed white beans + chicken base, shredded chicken, lemon zest, spinach, peas + carrots, parsley


• Soba with tofu + egg: mentsuyu, fried tofu, cooked egg, snow peas, soba, scallion


• Chicken + hominy (pozole-style): chicken base, ancho chile powder, garlic, hominy, cabbage; radish/cilantro/scallion/serrano/lime finish


• Plus his older Serious Eats combos still viable (kimchi-beef, chicken-dill, sesame-miso veg, coconut-curry shrimp)