Ever meal prepped noodles?! This Slow Cooker Peanut Chicken Noodles Meal Prep is an easy meal prep option and a great way to add some variety to your normal lunch routine! Best served with broccoli and pad thai rice noodles!
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My quest for a successful meal prep that doesn’t use quinoa or rice is complete! And I’m very happy with it. We both love this one a lot, and I hope you do too. Mixed up my normal stove/Instant Pot routine and gave that old slow cooker a little love. Enjoy this Slow Cooker Peanut Chicken Meal Prep!
First, I want to answer a common question I get when I share meal prep photos:
Where are those meal prep containers from?
These eye-pleasing containers pictured above are from Amazon. They’re 2 Compartment Glass Meal Prep Containers made by Prep Naturals. I also own the 3 Compartment version as well. For info on all my favorite containers, please check out my post with all my container recommendations!
I love this style of container for a few reasons:
- I always prefer glass containers over plastic
- They’re clear so you can easily see what’s inside
- Items can be stored separately and then mixed when eating
- Snaplock lids! (I hand wash these)
How do you make this slow cooker peanut chicken meal prep?
Pull out your slow cooker! Since we’re only cooking just over a pound of chicken and one head of broccoli, any size of slow cooker will work. I use a Crock-Pot Oval Manual 8 quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link!), but smaller sized slow cookers would work for this recipe too.
In a mason jar or bowl, mix up all the sauce ingredients, including the coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, and garlic. Add the raw chicken and all this sauce to the slow cooker. Set it to LOW for 3-4 hours or HIGH for 1-2 hours, or until the chicken is fully cooked through. The chicken should be very easy to pull apart and shred with two forks in the peanut sauce.
Once the chicken is shredded, add all the broccoli florets and mix them in. Put the lid back on and leave the slow cooker on LOW for 15-20 minutes until the broccoli is heated through and fork tender. Meanwhile, cook the noodles on the stovetop according to package directions, then rinse with cold water. Portion everything out into your meal prep containers, and voila! Lunch meal prep done.
What can I use instead of broccoli?
If you don’t like broccoli, here are some options that can be cooked in the exact same way. Feel free to combine or mix and match your favorites.
- sugar snap peas
- bell peppers
- mushrooms
- carrots
Do the noodles get soggy or stick together?
For this recipe, I used Annie Chun’s Pad Thai Rice Noodles (affiliate link!). They did not get soggy or stuck together in any of my tests. They reheated perfectly in the same dish with the peanut chicken and broccoli. The best part is they only take 4-5 minutes to cook on the stovetop.
Be sure to give the noodles a rinse in cold water as soon as they are done cooking. This reduces the chance they’ll stick together or overcook.
Can you make this recipe in an instant pot?
It’s funny how you share Instant Pot recipes, people want to know if it works in a slow cooker. If you publish slow cooker recipes, people want to know if it can be made in the Instant Pot! I’m not mad, it’s just funny and shows that you can never please everyone all at the same time.
Confession: I’ve never actually used the Slow Cook button on my Instant Pot. I’ve heard through the Facebook grapevine that it’s not super reliable and doesn’t really act like a slow cooker. So, I kept my slow cooker and I use it for slow cooking instead of my Instant Pot.
If you want to make this recipe in the Instant Pot, I would suggest pressure cooking instead of slow cooking. I haven’t tested this myself (remember, I tested this in the slow cooker several times and never tried it in my Instant Pot!), but I DO think it would work. I’ve successfully used coconut milk as the liquid in the Instant Pot before, and I see no reason it wouldn’t work here too.
I would do 8 minutes on High Pressure (Manual) (more or less depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts), then Natural Pressure Release for at least 5 minutes. Open the lid and shred the chicken as the original recipe states. Add the broccoli, mix it in, and then put the lid back on and leave the Instant Pot on the “Keep Warm” function for 15-20 minutes until the broccoli is heated through and fork tender to your liking.
Cook the noodles on the stove as in the original recipe. If you try this in your Instant Pot, I would love to hear how it works for you!
How long does this Slow Cooker Peanut Chicken last in the fridge?
You should enjoy this Slow Cooker Peanut Chicken within 4 days of cooking! So if you make it on Sunday, eat one a day for lunch everyday until Thursday! I have not tested freezing these noodles so I can’t give a definitive answer on that.
Here are a few options for what to eat on Friday, since this recipe only makes 4 portions:
- leftovers of Wednesday or Thursday’s dinner
- a salad made of leftover veggies and random fridge things
- a freezer meal you prepped a couple weeks ago
More classic meal prep lunches from Project Meal Plan:
- Chicken & Hummus Plate Lunch Meal Prep
- Low Carb Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps Meal Prep
- Meal Prep Chicken Quinoa “Fried Rice” Bowls
Slow Cooker Peanut Chicken Noodles Meal Prep
This Slow Cooker Peanut Chicken Noodles Meal Prep is an easy meal prep option and a great way to add some variety to your normal lunch routine! Served with broccoli and pad thai rice noodles!
- Total Time4 hours 25 minutes
- Yield4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup canned coconut milk
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1–1.25 pounds fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 large)
- 1 medium head of broccoli, cut into florets
- 1 (8-ounce) box rice noodles (I used Annie Chun’s Pad Thai Rice Noodles (affiliate link!))
- Optional garnishes: lime juice, chopped cilantro or crushed peanuts
Instructions
- Make the sauce: Add sauce ingredients (coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, and garlic) to a mason jar and shake until well mixed.
- Cook the chicken: Add the chicken breasts and sauce to the slow cooker and set to LOW for 3-4 hours or HIGH for 1-2 hours, or until the chicken is fully cooked through. The chicken should be easy to pull apart and shred with two forks in the peanut sauce. Shred all the chicken and then add the broccoli florets. Stir to mix, then put the lid back on the slow cooker and cook on LOW for another 15-20 minutes, or until the broccoli is cooked through and fork tender.
- Make the noodles: After adding the broccoli to the slow cooker, prepare the pad thai rice noodles on the stovetop according to package directions, following the minimum cook time listed. Rinse with cold water.
- Portion and store: Portion the cooked noodles and peanut chicken broccoli mixture into airtight containers, garnish, store in the refrigerator and enjoy within 4 days!
Equipment
Crock-Pot Oval Manual 8 quart Slow Cooker
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2 Compartment Glass Meal Prep Containers
Buy Now →(affiliate link!)
Notes
Recipe adapted from Dinner Then Dessert. Nutrition information estimated with My Fitness Pal.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
- Category: Meal Prep
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 590
- Sugar: 10g
- Fat: 23g
- Carbohydrates: 63g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 36g
Hope this Slow Cooker Peanut Chicken Noodles Meal Prep was helpful for your Meal Prep Sunday this week! I’d love to see your meal prep creation – tag me @projectmealplan or use the hashtag #projectmealplan! Enjoy!
I tried making the sauce and chicken in the instant pot and got a burn notice. It’s possible I didn’t use the correct product for coconut milk- I’ve always been timid to cook with coconut milk for fear of using the wrong thing. But I pivoted and cooked it on the stove and it did the trick! Would definitely make again.
Lack of flavor. Needed salt/pepper/siracha or something to that effect.