Cameron Diaz’s Go-To “Quick” Meal Includes Instant Ramen & Whatever’s In Your Fridge

When it’s been... a while since you’ve visited the grocery store and you’re scouring your pantry for anything that could create a semblance of a meal, don’t reach for that peanut butter and jelly again. Instead, mix it up by utilizing some pantry staples and a few vegetables that would probably go to waste with Cameron Diaz’s instant ramen recipe — aka the perfect “clean-out-the-fridge” meal for anyone whose next Trader Joe’s run is long overdue.

While you may typically throw your ramen into the microwave with little thought, Diaz’s tutorial, which she shared to Instagram in an IGTV on March 15, challenges that habit with an expanded — but still easy — way to prepare the noodle. Upon first glance at the post, you may feel overwhelmed; the ingredient list is fairly long, and the video itself approaches 30 minutes. But as the Avaline co-founder writes in the caption, she calls this “whatever-you-got ramen” for a reason: You can use whatever’s in your fridge or any flavor profiles you desire, so this recipe is far from a one-size-fits-all situation.

That said, Diaz still offers plenty of guidance on how to make her version if it sounds good and you happen to have the right food on hand. The actor starts by preparing her vegetables and seasonings, taking care to cut them uniformly in size. Then, she sautés those, adding in sesame oil and butter as she goes.

While those are cooking, Diaz begins to boil the noodles in chicken stock, mixing in seasoning packets of lemongrass ginger and garlic pepper, respectively, from the ramen. Into that, she cracks an egg and “scrambles” it while everything is still hot. The 48-year-old then finishes the dish by stirring in the sautéed veggies and garnishing with lime juice and chopped cilantro. The final result, she explains, is a warm, spicy ramen meal in under 30 minutes (that she clearly can’t get enough of).

This particular version is obviously one of Diaz’s favorites, but as she reiterates, the dish is really about creating something that you enjoy. “Learning how to make food that you love to eat, with fresh, delicious ingredients, is the most loving thing you can do for yourself,” she says in the video. In other words, turning this recipe into your own can actually be a self-care moment — so open your fridge, get creative, and start cooking with the kitchen essentials, ahead.

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