Cup Noodles are a staple for any college student — they’re affordable and easy to cook just using hot water. But this iconic instant noodle meal just leveled up in a major way, as the creators of Cup Noodles from Nissin just launched the first-ever cold water Cup Noodles.
Nissin’s Cup Noodles have been popular since the brand’s launch as the first cup noodle product in 1971, but this new addition to its otherwise classic lineup is making waves.
The Cold Cup Noodles were released in Japan in July 2026 with the intent of having enough stock of the new product for two months, but the novelty of using cold water instead of hot water for the instant noodles led the Cold Cup Noodles to be sold out within a week of them hitting store shelves.
For the past five years, these Cold Cup Noodles have been in development. Nissin’s Cold Cup Noodles come at a time where summer temperatures become increasingly hotter, creating demand for cold meals.
If you’re wondering how the cold water cooks the noodles, you’re not alone. Nissin actually patented their Cold Rehydrate manufacturing process, which allows their specific noodles to rehydrate and soften to the ideal instant noodle texture using refrigerated water around 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. After five minutes of waiting, you have cold instant noodles with flavorful broths.
Don’t try using hot water with these — the technology behind the Cold Cup Noodles is completely different from its hot water counterpart. The package actually specifies to not use boiling water to cook the noodles, since the packaging looks otherwise pretty similar to the regular Cup Noodles.
The Cold Cup Noodles come in two unique flavors: Spicy Kimchi and Chicken Salt Lemon.
The Spicy Kimchi Cold Cup Noodles include pork-flavored cubes of meat, kimchi, seasoned egg, sesame seeds, and green onions.
The Chicken Salt Lemon flavor — which I’ve never even considered as a possible instant noodle flavor until now — has a strong lemon and chicken flavor for the broth. Its toppings include pieces of chicken, red bell pepper, seasoned egg, and green onions.
The Cold Cup Noodles are priced at 313 yen, which is equivalent to approximately $2 USD — definitely pricier than regular Cup Noodles, but perhaps worth it just to try something new for fun.
Several creators in Japan have posted videos of them taste-testing both flavors of the Cold Cup Noodles, such as @worldofmama_ on TikTok, who gave a thumbs-up of approval to both options, only rating them a 7/10 for their priciness.
Aside from being a fun new way to make instant noodles, the Cold Cup Noodles have been praised for their ability to provide nutrition during emergencies for disaster relief and other cases where hot water may not be as accessible.
The Cold Cup Noodles are currently only available nationwide in Japan, but with the amount of interest they’ve generated since their release, I’m hoping that they’ll start offering this new product worldwide so I can taste this new invention for myself.