Be the envy of the office with this Take-to-Work Mason Jar Ramen!
Let’s face it, work lunches can get a little boring. Sure, you may bring awesome leftovers from time-to-time, but your general go-to fare may need a bit of a makeover. Why not mix things up and bring your own mason jar ramen?! With the weather getting cooler and office colds running rampant, this is sure to be a season favorite; and it’s SO much better than nuking a frozen meal!
The key to this soul satisfying dish is the rich broth made up of chicken base, miso, tahini, toasted sesame oil, and sambal oelek. Nearly every general grocery store carries Better than Bouillon, I highly recommend picking up a jar – it has a far superior taste to those dried bouillon cubes. Another ingredient that you can find in just about every grocery store (check the Asian/international food aisle) is sambal oelek. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a popular Southeast Asian chile sauce. It adds some really nice heat without the tang you get from something like Sriracha.
One of the great things about this take-to-work mason jar ramen, is that it’s totally customizable (WIN)! Tweak ingredients to fit your tastes or just mix things up to keep the idea fresh all season long! Here are some suggestions:
- Use a beef or vegetable base instead of chicken.
- You can add dried rice vermicelli noodles instead of ramen. Simply add hot water when you’re ready to eat and allow to sit for 5 minutes (they soften in hot water more easily than ramen noodles).
- Add tofu or leftover slices of chicken, steak, or pork.
- Add fresh spinach, sliced mushrooms, dried seaweed, frozen corn, frozen peas or other veggies that soften easily in hot water.
- You can add quartered bok choy or other firmer veggies like asparagus, but make sure you par boil them (boil until they start to soften, then remove before they’re fully cooked).
- If you like the idea of adding a ramen egg, but don’t want to spend the time marinating it in a soy sauce mixture, then skip it! Just cook and peel the egg before adding it to your mason jar.
* Don’t forget your chopsticks and spoon! Oh and a knife to cut the ramen egg 🙂
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 package instant ramen, such as Top Ramen (flavor packet removed)
- 3 teaspoons shiro miso
- 3 teaspoons chicken base, such as Better Than Bouillon
- 1 teaspoon tahini
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon sambal oelek
- ¼ cup bean sprouts
- ¼ cup bamboo shoots
- ¼ cup scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced
- 1-34 ounce glass jar (mine came from Ikea)
- To make the shoyu egg, aka "soy sauce egg", aka "ramen egg", bring a pot of water to a boil. Gently add the egg and cook for exactly 6 minutes and 50 seconds. While the egg is cooking, prepare a bowl of ice water. Once the egg is done cooking, immediately transfer the egg to the ice bath, and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile pour the soy sauce into a 2 cup glass measuring cup (or other high-sided, narrow bowl) and add a ¼ cup of water. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Peel the egg (while in the ice water - it will peel more easily). Add the egg to the soy sauce mixture. Make sure the egg is completely submerged (you can use a smaller cup or plate set on top). Allow to marinate for 2 to 6 hours. (You can save the soy sauce mixture to make several more batches of shoyu eggs, if you like).
- Par boil the ramen - cook the noodles for 1 minutes less than the package directions suggest (generally that's 2 minutes). Immediately drain in a colander and run cold water over top to halt the cooking process. Allow to drain completely.
- In a glass jar, add the miso, chicken base, sesame paste, sesame oil, and sambal oelek. Then add the bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, ramen noodles, and top with the shoyu egg. Place the scallions in a zip top bag (this will keep them crispy), then place the baggy in the jar and close the lid. Refrigerated until ready to eat.
- Once lunchtime rolls around, boil some hot water. While the water is boiling, remove the shoyu egg and the baggy of scallions. Pour the hot water over the noodles and stir well to fully incorporate the flavors and ingredients. Slice the egg in half, add to the jar of ramen, and top with the scallions. Enjoy!
What a great idea! Such a good way to get that ramen fix without a sad styrofoam meal. 🙂
This SO cool! Looks so yummy! Before I worked from home, I was always craving warm lunches that didn’t result from my just microwaving leftovers. This is super!
What a brilliant idea! No one would ever complain about their lunch boxes if they all look like this one! The flavors sound amazing, with the miso, tahini, and sambal oelek. Packed with flavors. YUM!
I don’t always pack lunch for my husband, but I’m sure he’ll love this ramen! Pinned to try it!
What a cool idea, Kathleen!
This would definitely make me the envy of my work colleagues. I love the idea of the little bag of scallions, the fact that it all hangs out in a jar, and that all you have to do at lunchtime is add water.
Love it! 🙂
Love it, this is such a great idea! I’m planning on taking my first Ramen soup jar to work this week.
Is it lunchtime yet? this looks so warm and satisfying. I would be one happy girl enjoying this at my desk!
While I eat my lunch from home, I am still guilty of having boring lunches on occasions! And I do pack Boy’s lunch every day, so I am always looking for great, convenient, but delicious lunch ideas! This jar ramen is totally to the lunch rescue! That rich broth sounds and looks absolutely delicious, Kathleen! Can’t wait to make this, girlfriend! Pinned! Cheers!
YES~~~ I made Mark and his co workers Pho to Go and now they are all begging me for the recipe HA! SO I am actually making it as we speak!!!! But this ramen is next on my list! Can you believe how good it would be with some cooked pork belly? <—— # vegetarian cravings 🙂
BTB is fantastic, those other brands’ cubes are like little rocks, never dissolve and all salt. This is just genius Kathleen, so smart! I love this idea and the tahini add sounds lovely.
I am one of those wives who packs a lunch for her husband and always looking for new ideas. Thank you! He is going to love this and I will too because I’m going to try it too 🙂
I love this!! (Plus I love Ramen)
These little jars are soooo cute, Kathleen!! I love this idea because lunch can TOTALLY get boring at times<—– case in point today. Planning on lunch and not sure what to have. Usually I have sardines or something like that, but getting tired of that and this fits the bill perfectly. Love that it's customizable. Lots of sriracha for me, please! Confession – I am horrible at using chopsticks, so I'm that fool who uses a fork or spoon. I know, I know. Have to get over that, right ? Have a wonderful weekend, girl!
Wow, I absolutely like the idea of take to work mason jar ramen. Love how beautifully you have combined all the deliciousness in one jar. I always carve noodles during lunch and this one make a great meal for sure. Thanks for the tasty recipe Kathleen! Have a great week ahead
I love the coziness of ramen such a good way to warm up. Slurping your noodles beats crunching on a salad on these cooler days. Your broth sounds so good and easy to throw together too. Sharing!
This is genius, Kathleen! We’ll be trying this for work lunches pronto.
Girlfriend, you are an absolute genius! Heck with the salads! I want ramen in a jar to take to work and be the star of my floor! I have the kind of job where most of the time if I don’t bring lunch I don’t have time to eat, so thanks a million for the new idea!!! 🙂 Pinned!
This sounds brilliant and delicious….for home or office! Thanks
Thanks, Lyn!