Perfect For Online Parties! 7 Japanese Convenience Store Snacks Under 300 yen
- Written by: Naho Jishikyu
One of the few positives of 2020 was the explosion of ‘online parties!’ From showing each other our homes, cooking, or favorite snacks, online parties allowed us to get closer with people we usually only saw outside. While the future looks bright, ongoing lockdowns and quarantines mean we’ll still need to rely on these virtual catchups to stay in touch for the time being.
To help show off your life in Japan, we’ve found some awesome (and cheap) Japanese convenience store snacks sure to spice up your online parties! Easy to prepare, great on camera, and surprisingly healthy, these 7 tasty treats are all available at 7-ELEVEN for under 300 yen! (excluding tax).
We’ll also provide pairing recommendations for under 500 yen, so you can have yourself a mini Japanese snack festival! So before your virtual gathering commences, grab your loose change and hit up the neighborhood 7-ELEVEN!
3 Vegetable Snacks - Looking Good While Tasting Great!
Combining aesthetics with healthiness, our first snacks are these wonderful colorful vegetable mixes. Crunchy and guilt-free, these frozen delights can be warmed up ready to eat with just a short microwave, drastically reducing your time in the kitchen.
We bought the ‘Miso Mayonnaise Veggie Sticks’ (240 yen), the ‘Microwavable Grilled Vegetables’ (198 yen), and the ‘Sauce for Cabbage with Anchovies’ (108 yen). (All prices are excluding tax).
Above are the ‘Microwavable Grilled Vegetables.’ Italian-grown eggplant, zucchini, red/yellow bell peppers, and red onions are all cut into bite-sized pieces, grilled to perfection, and frozen for convenience. They’ll go down a treat in salads, pasta, and curry!
To prepare, simply transfer the contents to a bowl and microwave it for 3 minutes and 50 seconds at 500W. We decided to add dressing and serve it up as a salad.
The dressing we selected was the ‘Sauce for Cabbage with Anchovies: Garlic.’ While intended, as its name suggests, for dressing finely-cut strips of cabbage, we think it goes perfectly well with just about any vegetable!
Each packet comes with two containers of sauce. Point the opening towards your food and press the two sides together to squeeze out the contents.
In addition to the grilled vegetables, we also wanted to try some fresh! Above are the ‘Miso Mayonnaise Veggie Sticks,’ which offer a healthy selection of raw daikon, carrot, cabbage, and cucumber cut into handy sticks.
The accompanying miso mayonnaise dip also goes great with the grilled vegetables, so feel free to mix and match! The veggie sticks likewise pair well with the sauce for cabbage with anchovies, so you can enjoy both kinds of vegetables with an exciting range of flavors.
Featured Products:
Miso Mayonnaise Veggie Sticks
-Available: Hokkaido, Tohoku, Greater Tokyo Area (excluding parts of Saitama), Ishikawa, Fukui
Microwavable Grilled Vegetables
-Available: Nationwide (excluding Okinawa)
Sauce for Cabbage with Anchovies
-Available: Nationwide
*May be unavailable at some stores.
2 Side Dishes - No Plate, No Fuss!
For most of us, a bowl of vegetables just isn’t enough! That’s why we also recommend picking up some frozen side dishes from the ‘okazumami’ series. While each offering looked equally appetizing, we couldn’t resist the ‘Shrimp and Vegetable Al Ajillo.’ (288 yen + tax).
Succulent broccoli, fluffy potatoes, and juicy shrimp fritters are fried in extra virgin olive oil with garlic and chilli and frozen. It takes just 2 minutes and 50 seconds on a 500W microwave before you can get stuck into this mouthwatering delight.
Another popular side-dish in Japan, the ‘Cheese Dak-galbi’ (278 yen + tax) was naturally our next selection. Inside the microwaveable frozen package lies tender chicken thoroughly soaked in tare sauce with sauteed onion topped off with cheese.
Ready to eat after 3 and a half minutes in a 500W microwave, the melted cheese bursts with flavor, perfectly balancing the spicy with the sweet. Similar to the shrimp and vegetables dish above, you don’t need to prepare a plate for this, making it ideal for those lacking the time to prepare. Both are even better with some bread, especially a baguette!
Featured Products:
Shrimp and Vegetable Al Ajillo
-Available: Nationwide (excluding Okinawa)
Cheese Dak-galbi
-Available: Nationwide
*May be unavailable at some stores.
2 Light Meals to Pair with Sake!
It wouldn’t be a Japanese-style ‘nomikai’ party without sake! We scoured the shelfs of 7-ELEVEN to find two light meals suitable for pairing with Japanese sake or its stronger cousin ‘shochu.’ What we came home with was the ‘Grilled Squid with Seven Spices’ (230 yen) and ‘Okra and Yam Mix’ (188 yen). (All prices are exclusive of tax).
First up, the grilled squid caught our eye with its dynamic triangular-shaped packet. Cut into bite-sized pieces and marinated in tare soy sauce, the squid are sprinkled with a helping of divine Japanese ‘seven spice’ before being lightly grilled.
From the top the bag easily rips open into two equal parts, allowing those with empty stomachs to chow down immediately. You can also alter the flavor with the accompanying mayonnaise.
Our second choice, the ‘Okra and Yam Mix,’ can be found in 7-ELEVEN’s frozen section. Boasting the finest yams from Hokkaido’s Tokachi River mixed with the satisfying bite of okra, this humble combo packs surprising oomph!
After dethawing either naturally or with water, you can dig right in! Add an extra kick with some soy sauce or tsuyu sauce, along with a sprinkling of bonito flakes if you have them on hand.
Featured Products:
Grilled Squid with Seven Spices (with mayonnaise)
-Available: Tohoku, Kanto, Yamanashi, Shizuoka
Okra and Yam Mix
-Available: Nationwide (excluding Okinawa)
*May be unavailable at some stores.
Can you believe that all of these mouthwatering, exquisitely-spiced light meals and snacks are under 300 yen!? Not only will you have an ample hoard for your online party, but you’ll be doing it all on the cheap! Who can say no to that? Level up your next virtual meetup with our selection of 7-ELEVEN snacks and meals!
*All prices exclude tax
*Items may differ in presentation, price, and release date depending upon the region
*Items may be unavailable at some stores or regions.
Naho has been working as an editor and writer for over 17 years. After editing various materials such as manga, novels, and magazines, she became a freelancer. She is skilled in reporting and writing about food, sightseeing, and drama reviews while also providing web strategy consulting for food and beverage companies. As a result, she is always up-to-date on new products and trends in Japanese cuisine and conveys them in an understandable manner to people of all ages and nationalities through LIVE JAPAN.
- Category
*Prices and options mentioned are subject to change.
*Unless stated otherwise, all prices include tax.
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