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8 Energizing Recipes Using Instant Coffee 

June 24, 2020 by Talia Koren Leave a Comment

If you’ve been anywhere near Instagram lately, you’ve probably seen dalgona coffee.

The Korean whipped coffee took the internet by storm earlier this year, its photogenic layers flooding my feed around April. It looks like this:

dalgona coffee instant coffee recipe

There are a plethora of recipes out there, but the one from My Korean Kitchen is spot on, and shares a little history, like how it’s named after a Korean caramelized sugar candy.

After trying it for myself I was able to confirm it’s both delicious and dangerously caffeinated. However, I was left with a jar of instant coffee taking up valuable space in my tiny cupboards, and no clue how to use it up.

After a little research and some tasty experiments, I found a few creative ways to use it up. Whether you love coffee-flavored dishes, or, like me, find yourself struggling to use up a jar of instant coffee, you’ll get a kick out of these eight energizing instant coffee recipes.

What's In This Post

  • If you’ don’t have instant coffee yet, here’s what we recommend
  • Coffee Coffee Cake – Epicurious
  • 6-ingredient Espresso Brownies – Pinch of Yum
  • No-churn Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream
  • Candied Espresso Walnuts – Epicurious
  • Homemade Coffee Rub Recipe – Hey Girl Hey
  • Coffee Barbecue Sauce – Taste of Home
  • Next Level Chili Con Carne – BBC Good Food
  • Red-Eye Gravy with Coffee Biscuits – Taste of The South

If you’ don’t have instant coffee yet, here’s what we recommend

By far, the best brand of instant coffee you can buy is definitely Nescafe according to the internet. The people have spoken and this is the most reliable instant coffee out there.

nescafe instant coffee

And now, for the recipes!

Coffee Coffee Cake – Epicurious

instant coffee coffee coffee cake

While coffee cake is traditionally meant to be enjoyed with coffee, some bakers have started putting coffee right in the cake for a new take on a classic. The results? This cake tastes like coffee smells.

You’ll need a cake pan for this recipe! Here’s our recommendation.

6-ingredient Espresso Brownies – Pinch of Yum

instant coffee espresso brownies

Coffee and chocolate are a classic pairing, and for good reason: The bitterness in coffee perfectly complements sweet, rich chocolate. The coffee in these brownies amplifies their chocolatey-ness without overpowering it. 

You’ll need a 9×13 baking dish to make this! Here’s our recommendation.

No-churn Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream

instant coffee ice cream

Vietnamese coffee—strong brewed coffee served on ice, usually with sweetened condensed milk—is perfectly suited for turning into ice cream. Andrea Nguyen’s recipe is a tribute to an ice cream parlor she visited in Ho Chi Minh City, and bonus, it doesn’t require an ice cream maker.

We recommend a handheld mixer like this to make this no-churn ice cream!

Candied Espresso Walnuts – Epicurious

These candied nuts make the perfect hostess gift or after-dinner snack. The slight bitterness from the coffee is counteracted by the crunchy, sugary coating. This recipe can easily be adapted to use other nuts—or even seeds—if walnuts aren’t your cup of tea (or coffee?) 

Here’s our favorite sheet pan – you’ll need one for this recipe!

Homemade Coffee Rub Recipe – Hey Girl Hey

instant coffee rub

If you’re looking for something more on the savory side, you’re in luck. This coffee rub mixes instant coffee with a handful of dried herbs and spices for an aromatic blend you can use on anything from brisket to chicken to tofu.

Here are our favorite mixing bowls – you’ll need one for this recipe!

Coffee Barbecue Sauce – Taste of Home

instant coffee bbq sauce

Instant coffee lends itself well to barbecue sauce, too. This sweet and tangy sauce gets a little kick from both brewed coffee and instant coffee granules. It’s perfect for pulled pork (or jackfruit if you’re looking for a plant-based option!)

We recommend a saucepan like this to make the sauce!

Next Level Chili Con Carne – BBC Good Food

Adding a little chocolate to chili is a trick I’ve known about for a while, but coffee in chili? This was new to me, but actually makes a lot of sense. The coffee helps tenderize the meat and adds an even deeper flavor to this go-to meal.

Here are our favorite casserole dish– you’ll need one for this recipe!

Red-Eye Gravy with Coffee Biscuits – Taste of The South

Finally, a Southern recipe that uses coffee in not one, but two of its components: the gravy and the biscuits. While the gravy calls for brewed black coffee, from what I hear using reconstituted instant coffee is perfectly acceptable.

You’ll need a cast iron pan for this recipe! Here’s our recommendation. 

 

If you’re looking for even more instant coffee recipes, Workweek Lunch has a few that use—or can be adapted to use—instant coffee, like these Mocha Banana Muffins and this Banana Coffee “Mocha” Smoothie! 

If you like the sound of those, find more details about WWL membership, and gain access to the full WWL recipe collection, here.

Filed Under: Blog, Meal Prep Tips, Recipe Roundups Tagged With: coffee, easy, recipe roundup

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Workweek Lunch | Talia Koren
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👉🏼Not a member yet? Head over to my bio link to get these + hundreds more fun recipes you’ll actually look forward to!
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Happy prepping!
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👍🏼It’s normal to be extra hungry some days and not as hungry other days! So many factors affect hunger levels: sleep, stress, activity, hormones etc. Roll with it. Hunger is normal. Eating enough to honor your hunger is normal.
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Lately I’ve been eating breakfast later - around 10am, and not having a snack between breakfast and lunch. But sometimes I still eat earlier and do the snack thing. Some days I don’t feel like eating something sweet after dinner. Some days I want to eat something sweet after lunch AND dinner. I don’t overthink it!
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Hope you find this reminder helpful 🙌🏼🙌🏼 this weekend I’m prepping a bunch of new meals - follow along on stories!!
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Recipes pictured: soyrizo breakfast burrito (in the WWL Program), mixed berry muffins (found a recipe online - don’t remember the name of the blog), homemade hummus, sweet potato mash bowls and white bean mushroom and spinach pasta (coming to the WWL Program soon).
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👩🏻‍🍳From this week on we’re bringing you a new free recipe every Friday to enjoy as meal prep or random meals throughout the week.
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🍜Yes, I do use the packaged noodles but don’t use the packet and opt to make my own broth from scratch instead. You can use any noodles you like!
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👇🏼What are your favorite ramen toppings? Share below!!
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😍Btw, this salad kit is officially my favorite! The tangy vinaigrette totally makes it. I drizzled it on top of my stir fry for extra zing. The crunchy quinoa flakes and sunflower seeds add such a great texture too, whether you're eating this as a salad or a stir fry.
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❓Would you try this? Let me know in the comments!
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What are you looking forward to trying first?👇🏼👇🏼
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✨Every week we curate a meal plan featuring 5 recipes that are all different, but easy to make. The plan changes each week to avoid that dreaded cooking rut!
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💯Every meal has a vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, dairy free and gluten free version! We provide tons of swap ideas to accommodate allergies and preferences too.
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🙌🏼The results we get for our members have nothing to do with weight loss or management and EVERYTHING to do with saving time, saving money and eating a variety of foods to avoid that dreaded food boredom.

🔗If you’re interested in joining, head over to my bio link and hop on a free trial! You can cancel anytime if it’s not for you.
When I shared the sushi takeout dinner I had with When I shared the sushi takeout dinner I had with my partner over the weekend, my DMs exploded. 🍣
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“That sushi is so expensive!”
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“We can get that same amount of sushi for $20!”
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“Wow so much for such a small amount of sushi!”
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“That’s outrageous! Why is takeout so expensive there?”
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“You got ripped off!”
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...yikes!
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The way my partner and I eat is 100% intentional.
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We love saving on groceries thanks to meal prep. We also love splurging on GOOD sushi from our favorite place (Momiji) even though cheaper options are available. And we plan/budget for all of it!
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Money and spending is deeply personal and we all have different priorities.
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When you look at/read this post, what is your initial reaction?
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Recipes pictured are listed in the comments!
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🥞Favorite sweet breakfasts in WWL
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Keep swiping for real life motivation from the amazing folks in this community!!
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Recipes here: banh mi bowls, sheet pan sausage meal prep, chicken piccata and muffins. Recipes are in the WWL Program for members only! Learn more about our weekly meal plan membership in my bio link - get started with a free trial if you’re on the fence!! You can cancel anytime if it’s not for you.
Figuring out the best portion size for meal prep i Figuring out the best portion size for meal prep is a process! But it’s something only you can decide for yourself through experimentation.
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And even when you know generally how much you like to eat in one sitting, you’ll still get it wrong sometimes and make too much/too little food. That’s ok!!
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The containers in the top row of this photo are the “standard” sizes of meal prep containers you’ll find online or in grocery stores. You can find links in story highlights!
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Just note that even though a container holds 3 cups of food doesn’t mean there’s actually 3 cups of food in there! I never fill mine to the very top. That’s just a practicality thing.
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Also 3 cups of a salad is different than 3 cups of chili. It’s not just about the container size, but the balance of what’s IN them too. And I don’t mean balance as in “healthy” vs not... I mean balance of macronutrients like protein, carbs, fat, veg etc.
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For our recipes: most of our members say the portion sizes are on the bigger side, but that only means they get more servings out of it! We never tell anyone how much to eat.
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Sometimes I prep too much and don’t finish meals. Sometimes it’s too little and I eat more after the meal. My best advice: go into meal prep knowing your body needs different amounts of food every day. At least you’re prepared because you DO need to eat every day!
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I hope this helps clear up some questions around portion size, which is often sooo connected to dieting and restriction.  But it’s really up to YOU to determine.
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