Spice up Your Instant Noodles With These Extra Ingredients

With the cost of the living crisis impacting many Aussies, it probably feels like we’ve reverted to our student days of living paycheque to paycheque and surviving on 2-minute noodles. If that’s you, we get it and we want to help with some quick and easy ways to hack those noodles and turn them into a (more) delicious meal.

Easy ways to upgrade your instant noodles

The popular Aussie subreddit r/AussieCasual has come to the rescue here with some ideas on how to spice up your Mi Goreng noods. Look, paying for a bunch of extras to add to your cheap noodles may seem like it defeats the point, but there are still ways to take your noodles to the next level while being cost-effective.

Here are some of the top suggestions from the Reddit thread.

u/aarghmematey utilises the classic supermarket roast chicken for their recipe:

“Recently I’ve been buying a 5 pack, a Coles chicken which I divide into 5 portions, pack of frozen veggies and eggs and I have the noodles with veggies in them, fried egg and chicken on top. Under $4 a portion and it’s better than some noodle soups I’ve paid >$15 for.”

Chicken nugget noodles are something we didn’t need know we needed in our lives, thanks to u/TurnipLeather5104:

“Boil noodles, drain 90-95% of water, mix in sachets. Whilst cooking noodles: Cook chicken nuggets and an egg in frying pan. Heat up ‘1 serve’ sachet of frozen veggies in microwave. Stir in microwaved veggies with noodles. Put in bowl. Chuck chicken nuggets (3 or 4) and fried egg on top. Enjoy”

Nothing beats a noodle broth, according to u/reverson:

So while noodles are cooking on the stove, add packet mixture into a bowl with an egg or two and some minced garlic – mix that all together. Take some boiling water from noodles and add to the bowl to “cook” the eggs and create a broth. Add the cooked noodles to your broth and chow down.

Ok, but this satay noodle hack might be the best yet:

“Boil and pour out most of the water. Add seasonings and a blob of crunchy peanut butter. Now you have satay flavour.” – u/filtered_phatty

If you’re partial to a toasted sandwich then you’ll want to try SmartPipe4341’s suggestion of a noodle sandwich:

“Make a noodle sandwich with Tip Top white bread, amazing for hangovers.”

Also never underestimate the power of a simple slice of cheese:

“It sounds crazy but after u cook it put a piece of that plastic cheese on top and stir it in …. Chef kiss” – u/kuzmic187

If you’re partial to a can of tuna at work then u/furburger184 says you should consider adding some noodles to the mix:

“Cook the noodles with boiled water from a kettle without the flavourings. Drain most of the water and add all the flavouring. Add 1 tin of chili tuna including the actual chili. Perfection!”

There you have a number of super simple and effective ways to spice up your instant noodles. If you’re seeking some other cheap and easy meals, we’ve got a list of TikTok recipes that cost under $10.