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A ramen soup for lunch is definitely comforting! Unfortunately, ramen is not really a complete meal. If you have just ramen soup for lunch, you may run out of energy in the afternoon.

A balanced meal should include starchy foods, protein and vegetables. Instant noodle soups only provide starches, and even the vegetable-flavoured ones don’t have enough veggies to meet your needs.

Another problem with these soups is their sodium content. The amount of salt in a bag of soup seasoning is more than half your daily sodium allowance!

The best solution is to make your own ramen soup. Here’s an easy and delicious recipe that will give you a good dose of protein and veggies!

Ingredients

Depending on the size of your thermos, these quantities may give you more than one serving of soup. You can even prep larger quantities than suggested here. Increasing quantities will give you two soups for the week!

• 50 g chow mein noodles OR 50 g ramen noodles
• For protein, choose:
  – 125 ml (½ cup) cooked chicken (did you eat meat the night before? Use the leftovers for your soup the next day!)
  OR
  – 125 ml (½ cup) firm or semi-firm tofu, diced
  OR
  – 125 ml (½ cup) edamame (in the frozen vegetable section of your grocery store)
• 250 ml (1 cup) finely chopped vegetables. Choose your favourite vegetables from this list: snow peas, enoki mushrooms, fresh or dried shiitake, grated carrot, green onion, cilantro, bean sprouts, bok choy, nappa cabbage, celery, peppers
• 500 ml (2 cups) of your favourite broth (chicken, beef, vegetable)

Preparation

THE NIGHT BEFORE:

1. Place all the ingredients except the broth in a bowl and refrigerate overnight.

IN THE MORNING, BEFORE SCHOOL:

1. Pour the broth into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Place your prepared ingredients in a thermos, to about three-quarters full.
3. Top up the thermos with hot broth (be careful, it is hot!!!).
4. Seal firmly. Your soup will be ready just in time for lunch!