List of instant foods facts for kids

A cup of roasted beef and ramen instant noodles

Instant foods are super handy meals or snacks that need very little work to get ready. Usually, you just add water or milk, and sometimes you heat them up. Think of them as "convenience foods" because they save you a lot of time! Some people say an "instant" food takes less than five minutes to prepare, and "ultra-instant" foods take less than one minute. Many instant foods are made by removing water (this is called dehydrating or freeze-drying) or by making them very thick (condensed).

Types of Instant Foods

Instant mashed potatoes

Quaker Instant Oatmeal

Instant rice – pictured is a microwaveable brown rice

There are many different kinds of instant foods you might find in your kitchen or at the store:

• Instant Baby Food: In the 1980s, companies like Gerber and Heinz made dehydrated baby food flakes. It was a new idea, but it didn't become very popular.
• Bird's Custard: This is a popular powdered custard mix that you can quickly make.
• Camping food: Special lightweight meals designed for outdoor adventures.
• Condensed soup: Soups that are very thick and need water added to them.
• Powdered eggs: Eggs that have been dried into a powder. You add water to make them like fresh eggs.
• Instant gravy: Bisto is a well-known brand of powdered instant gravy that has been made in Great Britain since 1908.
• Instant mashed potatoes: You just add hot water to these potato flakes to make mashed potatoes. Smash is a famous brand in the United Kingdom.
• Instant noodles: These are super popular! They come in cups or packets and are ready in minutes with hot water.
  • Cup noodles are instant noodles sold in a cup.
• Instant oatmeal: Like Quaker Instant Oatmeal, these oats cook very quickly.
• Instant pudding: A dessert mix that sets quickly without needing to be cooked.
• Instant porridge: Similar to oatmeal, like the instant variety of Cream of Wheat.
• Instant rice: Rice that cooks much faster than regular rice, like Minute Rice.
• Instant curry: Curry sauces that are quick to prepare, such as those from S&B Foods.
• Instant soup: Soups that are ready in moments, like Cup-a-Soup.
• Instant sauce mixes: Powders that turn into sauces when you add liquid.
• Instant tofu powder: This powder was first made in Japan around 1966 to help make tofu faster. Later, in 1973, a brand called Hausu Hontôfu was sold to people for home use.

• Instant foods
• 

  Mixed Bird's Custard

• 

  A prepared chicken and vegetable cup-a-soup

• 

  An opened cup of an instant noodle brand that is packaged with dehydrated fried tofu

• 

  A box of U.S.-made powdered eggs, prepared using whole dried eggs

Instant Drinks

A cup of hot Milo

Various reconstituted instant teas

Many drinks are also available in instant forms:

• Awake: This was an early artificial orange juice drink made by General Foods Corporation in 1964. It was a bit like Tang.
• Instant breakfast: A powdered drink mix that provides nutrients for a quick breakfast.
• Chocolate drinks:
  • Hot chocolate: Many brands, like Swiss Miss, offer instant hot chocolate mixes.
  • Milo: A popular chocolate and malt drink that can be made hot or cold.
  • Nesquik: Another well-known chocolate drink mix.
  • Ovaltine: A malt-flavored chocolate drink mix.
• Instant coffee: Coffee that dissolves quickly in hot water.
• Drink mixes: Powders you mix with water to make a flavored drink.
• Freeze-dried fruit juices: Fruit juices that have been freeze-dried into a powder.
• Powdered milk: Milk that has been dried into a powder. When you add water, it becomes liquid milk again. To be called "instant," it should mix completely in water within 15 seconds!
  • Coconut milk powder: Dried coconut milk.
• Tang: A popular fruit-flavored drink mix. It was created by a food scientist named William A. Mitchell in 1957 and first sold in 1959.
• Instant tea: Tea that dissolves quickly in water.
  • Instant milk tea: A powdered mix for milk tea.

• Instant beverages
• 

  A cup of Starbucks Instant coffee

• 

  Ovaltine in the can

• 

  Powdered milk

• 

  Prepared Tang

Special Rations

Contents of a Meal, Ready-to-Eat package

Some instant foods are made for special situations, like for military troops:

• Field rations: These are pre-packaged meals that military troops carry and can easily prepare and eat, even on a battlefield.
  • Humanitarian daily ration: Meals designed for people in need during emergencies.
  • Individual Meal Pack: A type of field ration used by some armies.
  • Meal, Ready-to-Eat: Often called MREs, these are complete meals for soldiers that don't need cooking.

See also