Stuck in a lunch rut? I’ve been there! In fact, I’ve been there many, many times. Today I’d like to introduce you to the super easy hack that got me out of my latest one: mason jar soups! Here’s how this works: you fill a mason jar with rice noodles, frozen veggies, a few fresh veggies, and a handful of seasonings. Close up the jar and take it to work with you (or wherever it is you eat lunch). Then, a little bit before lunch time, fill the jar with hot water. Wait a bit and you’ll have a DELICOIUS soup that tastes like something you just spent a bunch of time cooking in your kitchen at home. This soup will exceed all your expectations!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Vegetable bouillon. You can use pretty much any brand or flavor of bouillon you like here. You can even use bouillon paste instead of cubes! Just make sure you’re adding enough for mixing with eight ounces of water to each jar, which may mean cutting them if you’re using larger cubes. Soy sauce. I recommend sticking with a reduced sodium soy sauce to prevent the recipe from begin overly salty. You can substitute low sodium gluten-free tamari if needed. Toasted sesame oil. This is available in the international aisle of most grocery stores. Shredded carrot. We’re shredding our carrot so that the hot water can easily soften it up. Rice vermicelli. Check the label on these noodles before you buy. You want to use a variety that’s prepared by soaking in hot water, and not boiling. Frozen shelled edamame. Frozen corn. Fresh spinach. Just like with our carrots, we’ll be shredding this. Fresh chives. Scallions would make a nice alternative. Toasted sesame seeds.
To prep your soup jars, simply divide the ingredients among your jars. Place the ingredients in layers in the order listed in the recipe. This part is important. You’ll be putting the ingredients that need the most softening or rehydrating towards the bottom, where we’ll be sure they get nice and soaked with hot water. Ingredients like sesame seeds where it doesn’t matter so much, are at the top. Close up your jars and store them in the fridge. They’ll keep for about four days. Tip: This recipe makes four jars, but it’s easily scalable! Click the number of servings in the recipe and move the slider up or down to change it. You can even cut it down to make a single serving. Ready to enjoy your mason jar soup? Great! First, warm up the jar by running it under water, starting with warm, then increasing the temperature to hot. This helps prevent it from cracking. Now, carefully add your hot water. The water should be very hot. Boil it with a kettle, or use hot nozzle from a water dispenser. Be careful when adding hot water. Even though we warmed up the jar, there’s always a chance of the jar cracking. Set it down. Never add water while you’re holding the jar in your hand. After about ten or fifteen minutes your veggies should be hot and your noodles should be soft. Give the soup a nice stir before enjoying it. You can eat it right out of the jar, our pour it into a bowl.
Variations
Swap out the corn and edamame with your favorite frozen veggies, like peas, broccoli, or cauliflower. Just about anything that’s available in small bits will work! Add diced tofu. You’ll need to make room by replacing one of the other ingredients with this. Plain tofu works, but flavored tofu is even better! You can find flavored tofu at the store, or make it yourself using a recipe like my smoked tofu or sesame ginger marinated tofu. Change the flavor by adding some spices. Try curry powder, garam masala, ground cumin, or Chinese five spice. Just use a tiny bit, starting with about a quarter teaspoon per jar. You can optionally skip the ginger and sesame oil if using these. Skip the noodles! Replace them with additional fresh or frozen veggies.
More Vegan Lunch Recipes
Check out my vegan lunch recipe round-up, or try one of these favorites: Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
