Thai Chicken Satay Noodle Salads: Healthy + Delicious Meal Prep for the Week

If you're like me, you're busy - even more busy now that summer is here, we're back to the office after COVID, and you're meal prepping on Sundays for the week. Well, here's one you're going to love, it's healthy, it's full of freshness, and you don't have to feel guilty for how delicious it is! If you love Thai chicken satay, that light, tangy peanut sauce on chicken skewers, we're going to develop those flavors into a noodle salad with lots of veggies for crunchiness, crushed dry roasted peanuts for added crunchiness, and Ramen noodles for some carbs to keep us going! This is a MEAL for lunch, or dinner, and comes in just under 500 calories (I used MyFitnessPal to develop my recipe, and let them do the calculations for us).

Now, I won't lie - this was a lot of work today. Took an hour to make, and 15 minutes of hand-washing dishes to clean up! I'll show pictures of my overflowing sinks later! Mind you, this didn't all have to be done simultaneously, you could have sliced and diced veggies ahead of time, put them in a container - especially if you were making salads or crudites ahead of time for something else. You could grill the chicken a day ahead when you're grilling something else. It just takes a little planning, and I didn't do that today when I created this! But I had fun, and it is soooooooooo good.

I made this for myself for a week's worth of lunches, but this could easily feed 4 to 5 people for dinner, and leave them full for a bit!

Thai Chicken Satay Noodle Salads

Ingredients for the sauce/dressing

• 3/4 C     Peanut sauce 
• (I used store-bought, but you could easily make this yourself with peanut butter, light soy, and extra fish sauce)
• 2-1/2 t   pureed ginger
• 1 t         pureed lemongrass (optional)
• 1 t         Sriracha, optional (add more if you'd like)
• 3 t         Rice vinegar
• 4 t         Fish sauce (or substitute light soy sauce, perhaps half as much)
• 2 T        Lime juice (absent from photos)

Veggies I selected this time

• Ramen noodles, 3 servings
• 1 t        Better than Bouillon, Chicken
• 3 C      Water for cooking noodles
• 4 C      Romaine lettuce, chopped, rinsed, spun dry
• 3/4       Red bell pepper
• 3          Green onions, cut on a bias, the white parts, and two inches of the green parts
• 1 C      Shredded red cabbage
• 3/4 C   Shredded carrots, squeezed in a paper towel to remove moisture
• 3/4 C   Thinly sliced radishes
• 1 C      Thinly sliced snap peas, cut on a bias
• 1 C      Cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 C   Edamame (optional)
• 2 lbs    Chicken breasts or chicken tenders
• 1 C      Dry roasted peanuts, chopped, split into two 1/2 C portions

HOW TO:

1. Boil 3 C water with 1 t Better than Bouillon, Chicken flavor or other chicken base. 
2. Whisk together the following then split in two half portions:
• 3/4 C    peanut sauce
• 1-1/2 t   pureed ginger
• 1 t         pureed lemon grass
• 1 T        lime juice
• 1-1/2 t   rice vinegar
• 2 t         fish sauce (or 1 t light soy)

• 

  Dressing/sauce
  

  
  
  

3. Pour half the dressing onto the chicken to marinate for at least one hour

4. To the second half of the dressing, add and whisk:

• 1 t          pureed ginger
• 1 T        lime juice
• 1 t          rice vinegar
• 2 t          Fish sauce (or 1 t light soy)

5. Scoop out half of the the liquid; one half get set aside, one half goes into a mixing bowl.

6. Start chopping, slicing vegetables if not already done

All the veggies prepped

7. When the water is boiling, add the Ramen noodles, and cook no more than 4-5 minutes, when just done

8. Drain noodles, and add to the mixing bowl and sauce, and toss with tongs

9. When noodles have cooled, add 1/2 C cilantro, 1/2 C chopped peanuts and sliced vegetables

Cooked noodles tossed with sauce, crushed peanuts, and cilantro

I had to use my InstaPot liner to toss everything together, was the only thing big enough!

10. Grill, bake or pan sear chicken until cooked on both sides, basting with the marinade as it cooks, and making sure the marinade cooks fully.

I chose to grill for added flavor!

11. When chicken is done (time will vary depending on how you cook it), chop up!

12. Start assembling each dish, starting with chopped romaine...

Meal prep is an every week thing in my house!

13. Layer on noodles and vegetables, then chicken! I poured the rest of the dressing into a glass jar I can take with me for lunch, put in the fridge, etc.

Nutritional info! Low fat, high protein, high carbs, but good carbs!