Noodle Journey Episode 43: Nissin Cup Noodles Pumpkin Spice Flavor

I’m diving into what might be the strangest product I’ve ever reviewed: Nissin Cup Noodles Pumpkin Spice flavor. Yes, it’s real. This seasonal item first launched in fall 2021 and returned in 2022, showing up in stores across the US between September and November. I didn’t expect to find one this late in the season, but there it was on clearance at a local supermarket, because of course it was.

Read more: Noodle Journey Episode 43: Nissin Cup Noodles Pumpkin Spice Flavor

Despite the bizarre concept, the ingredient list isn’t quite as outlandish as you’d think. Many of the spices used here, including cinnamon, clove, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg, also appear in curry powder, pho broth, and other savory dishes. Even pumpkin itself is used in soups and stews across the world. It’s the whipped cream suggestion on the packaging that makes this lean more in a dessert direction, but the spice blend is really not such a crazy concept to me.

This contains 960mg of sodium along with 5 grams of sugar (3 grams of which are added). There’s no separate flavor packet or dried topping mix. The sauce powder is already in the cup and includes sugar, salt, powdered milk, egg, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice, onion powder, and garlic powder.

Noodles:
Same as any other Cup Noodles product. They’re cheap, soft, and not particularly exciting, but they do the job of ferrying strange pumpkin-spice slurry into your mouth.

• 5/10

Spiciness:
There’s zero heat. The closest thing to “spice” here is the cinnamon and clove content, which doesn’t count.

• 0/10

Overall:
This tastes like pumpkin pie filling dumped into a cup of noodles, with an occasional hint of onion that makes things extra confusing. There’s no real garlic presence despite it being in the ingredient list, but the onion peeks through here and there before being completely drowned out by the rest of the ingredients. Surprisingly, adding whipped cream makes it better. The added sweetness and creaminess turn the experience into something closer to a custard or dessert noodle, though it’s still a little disjointed. It’s not a train wreck, but it’s not my favorite thing either. It’s a novelty product: absolutely ridiculous, kind of fascinating, and entirely unnecessary. Without whipped cream, I give it a 4/10. With whipped cream, it earns a slight bump.

• 4/10
• 5/10 (with whipped cream)

I’ll never buy it again, but now I can say I’ve tried it. If you’re truly curious, check stores in the fall or hit up eBay because yes, people are scalping these.

Notes since filming: 

Little did I know that this would be one of the least offensive of Nissin’s gimmick noodle flavors, considering some of the stuff they’ve released since. People got all worked up about this, but honestly it’s nice and edible with some whipped cream.