With the temps outdoors dropping, I’m not within the temper to meal-prep chilled choices like salads or sandwiches for lunch. So once I noticed mason jar soup trending on TikTok, it appeared like the right option to make my noon meal a little bit cozier—and simpler, too.

The hack guarantees a tasty and portable soup with out having to spend hours laboring over a range to get it. It’s additionally a very handy option to load up on the protein and fiber that I have to energy me via my workday. All you need to do, in keeping with the movies, is collect your components, put them in a glass jar, pour boiling water in it, and wait 5 minutes for every part to cook dinner. However, after digging into the clips, I had a great deal of questions: Is it too messy for work? Does it really style good? After which, perhaps most significantly, is it filling sufficient to really preserve me glad till dinner?

When folks round me began pulling out their Uggs, I knew it was the right time to check out this fashionable soup. I gathered the components listed within the TikTok recipe: hen bouillon seasoning, soy sauce, chili crisp (for added warmth), rice noodles, a protein—in my case, a boiled egg—and veggies (for me, carrots and frozen edamame). The prep got here simple; assembling the meal in my jar took beneath 10 minutes.

I used my workplace’s espresso machine to pour scorching water into my glass container. That is the place my experiment turned south: TikTok does not inform you that the liquid simply isn’t sufficient to cook dinner heartier greens and starches totally. I ended up with actually arduous carrots and overly al-dente noodles.

It wasn’t a full shitshow, although. The broth was savory and scrumptious, so I knew if I might resolve the feel points, it actually could possibly be a stable hack. Earlier than writing the development off, I made a decision to speak with a culinary professional on learn how to repair it.

First, the add-ins you select matter in case you don’t need to be left with crunchy bites, Brandon Lewis, EdD, professor of culinary sustainability at Johson and Wales College in Windfall, Rhode Island, tells SELF. Strive tossing in quick-cook rice noodles ($5, Amazon) or 60-second pasta ($2, Walmart), microwavable rice packets, or spiralized root greens like butternut squash that soften shortly, he says.