No More Cup Noodles

What could possibly be easier than pouring hot water into a ready-made cup of instant noodles? How about making your own from scratch, using chicken broth and some simple grated vegetables? Many instant noodle brands come pre-loaded with a ton of salt and fat and not much else. Here, we put one of the most common cup noodles to the test.

Mr. Noodles – Noodles In A Cup, Oriental Flavor

Homemade Healthy Noodles

This table sums it up:

	Mr. Noodles Oriental Flavor (2 cups (64 g per cup))	Homemade Healthy Noodles (whole wheat soba, fat-free chicken broth, poached egg, carrot and cucumber)
Serving Size:	Whole servings from two cups (128 g)	One bundle (~100 g dry weight)
Calories:	580 kcal	456 kcal
Protein:	12 g	20 g
Fat:	24 g	6 g
Carbohydrate:	76 g	84 g
Fiber:	0 g	3 g
Trans Fat:	0 g	0 g
Sodium:	1800 mg (76% of daily limit for an adult)	1010 mg (42% of daily limit for an adult)
Iron:	12% Daily Value	10% Daily Value
Calcium:	4% Daily Value	4% Daily Value
Preparation time:	8 minutes (5 min to boil water water + 3 min soaking)	11 minutes (5 min to boil stock + 6 min cooking soba noodles and egg)
Price per serving:	$ 2.38	$2.83

 How Did the Two Stack Up?

Our version has way less fat, lower sodium, and more fiber than the instant noodles in a cup. Note that the canned chicken broth still has quite a bit of sodium in it, contributing almost half of the entire sodium load; using homemade chicken broth can drop the sodium level even further. Grating vegetables onto the bowl of noodles just before serving adds crunch and beneficial antioxidants without a lot of extra work, while a poached egg packs in some extra protein and iron.

The Bottom Line

Rather than springing for highly packaged, processed foods, use them as ideas to create your healthier “DIY” versions. By keeping the ingredients simple, you can make sure meal preparation will be just as easy. The biggest benefit, of course, is that you are in control of what goes into the dish – and ultimately your body.

Our “Instant” Noodle Soup Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 100 g whole wheat soba
• 200 ml fat-free chicken broth
• 1/2 carrot
• 1/4 cucumber1 large egg

Steps:

Pour chicken broth into saucepan on the stove and turn on the heat. Grate the vegetables and break the egg into a small dish.

Once the broth begins to boil, turn down the heat to low and pour the egg in gently. Let egg poach in the simmering broth for 3 minutes. Remove egg with a slotted spoon, and turn the heat back up. Once the broth is boiling, add in the soba noodles (depending on the brand, the noodles will cook in 3 to 5 minutes). Pour the hot noodles and soup into a serving bowl, and top with the poached egg and grated vegetables.