Too lazy to cook? Try these new ready-made meals from Japanese convenience stores!

If you are hungry, Japanese convenience stores are beautiful places that have pretty much everything your heart could desire, from a quick on-the-go snack to a yummy summertime ice cream treat. And some of the best things they offer are ready-made meals like curry and rice, pasta or ramen. These ready-made meals can be like a gift from heaven on a busy day when you don’t have time to cook and need to take a break from frozen food.

But did you know that many convenience stores in Japan put out a new ready-made meal every Tuesday? Since you may find it hard to stake out every convenience store, we sent our reporters to try out some new meals. Click below to see the six that they recommended!

We sent reporters to three convenience stores—7-Eleven, Lawson and Family Mart—and they came back with two meals for each store that we recommend. Here’s our take on them, but don’t wait too long because these dishes are only available for a limited time!

7-Eleven

Duck soba noodles made with domestic stone-ground buckwheat
498 yen (US$4.98)

Usually, convenience store soba is nothing to write home about, but we were pretty impressed with this noodle dish! The duck is rich and tender while the soy sauce-based broth has an alluring aroma of yuzu. This meal just started being sold on Tuesdays, so look out for it at your nearest 7-Eleven store!

Avocado spaghetti with basil sauce
450 yen

This pasta dish began selling last week on December 10. We wanted to make sure we tried this out since avocados seem to be all the rage right now. The spaghetti is tossed with a basil and olive oil sauce. Bacon, tomatoes, broccoli and almonds make a surprise appearance in this somewhat mysteriously delicious meal. With so many flavors going on, our reporter says that the pasta is surprisingly alluring.

Lawson

Miso-basted vegetables lunch box
498 yen

This dish hit stores on Tuesday is a good option for those wanting a well-balanced ratio of meat to vegetables. The sweet and salty twice-cooked pork is added to thick-cut lotus root, burdock root and other visually stunning vegetables. Not only is it nutritious, but this dish is delicious! Definitely one to check out.

Pork and soy sauce ramen with shrimp broth as made by Noodle Shop Hakushin (Yummy Gifu!)
498 yen

This ramen dish was thought up in cooperation with the famous ramen restaurant Noodle Shop Hakushin in Gifu Prefecture. The already rich pork and soy sauce broth has a hint of shrimp to it that will make you want to slurp this delicious ramen down as soon as the first drop touches your taste buds. It just started appearing on Lawson shelves on Tuesday.

▼ But we completely missed the packaged seaweed that goes on top!

Family Mart

Fried pork cutlet with egg on rice
498 yen

Family Mart started selling this rich and filling dish on Tuesday this week. A crispy fried pork cutlet is placed on top a bed of fluffy eggs, which is over a bowl of rice, and our man claimed that it really is as good as it looks. The pork has an almost extravagant taste that will make you want to gobble it all up.

Baked cheese and bacon arrabiata pasta
430 yen

This spicy pasta dish has been on sale since December 10. Fans of tomato sauce will love this meal, and the caramelized onions add a delightful sweetness to the overall taste. It is a little spicy, so you might want to pick a different option if you cannot handle the heat.

Did any of these dishes make your mouth water? If you’re near a Japanese convenience store, go and try one soon and let us know what you think! And also, let us know if there are any other great convenience store meals that are only available for a limited time!

Images: RocketNews24
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