These Thai Chicken Soba Noodle Salad Jars are a delicious summer meal prep idea and a fun twist on a cold noodle salad.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Chicken breast – use freshly cooked chicken breasts or any leftover chicken for this recipe.
- Soba noodles – Korean buckwheat noodles and whole wheat vermicelli would be the next best thing but ramen noodles would also work.
- Broccoli slaw – kale slaw, cabbage slaw or anything along the lines of julienned cabbage and veggies would be delicious here.
- Red pepper – use any colour bell pepper such as yellow, orange or green.
- Green onions – swap out for some chives or leave these out altogether.
- Peanuts – use another crunchy nut or leave these out altogether.
- Cilantro – if you’re not a fan, skip the cilantro.
Satay sauce
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- Coconut milk – use full-fat coconut milk from the can for the best results. If you’re in a pinch, the low-fat variety will work but the sauce won’t be as creamy.
- Peanut butter – any nut or seed butter will work.
- Soy sauce – coconut aminos and tamari are great substitutions for soy sauce.
- Rice vinegar – use white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar in place of rice vinegar.
- Sesame oil – use a neutral cooking oil like olive oil or canola oil instead.
- Dried ginger – use fresh ginger or ginger powder as an alternative.
How to make this recipe
- Cook the soba noodles.
- Make the satay sauce.
- Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Assemble your jars.
- Store in the fridge for later or shake and serve.
Layering your salad jars
If you want your salad jars to last for days, make sure you’re layering them properly so everything stays nice and fresh. No one wants soggy veggies or noodles!
This is the order you should layer your ingredients in:
- Satay sauce
- Cooked chicken
- Veggies including the broccoli slaw and red pepper
- Soba noodles
- Any garnishes including green onions, peanuts and cilantro
Pop the lid on your mason jars and you’re good to go!
Frequently Asked Questions
Soba is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. It’s typically served as part of a noodle soup, like with this recipe, but it can also be served cold on its own with dipping sauce.
Soba noodles have an earthy and nutty flavour that is slightly chewy. They’re super delicious, especially when they’re served with this homemade satay sauce and crispy veggies.
Since they’re made of buckwheat, soba noodles are a lot healthier than your traditional noodles. They have fewer calories than ramen and traditional pasta and have higher protein and fibre content. They also don’t usually contain as much oil and salt as ramen does.
Storing and reheating
Once prepared, these chicken noodle salad jars will last for 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator. They’re perfect for your weekly meal prep! The key to keeping the salad fresh is the layer of your ingredients – see above for how to layer your salad jars.
Once you're ready to enjoy your salad, shake up the mason jar to envelop all the ingredients with the dressing and enjoy! If possible, it's best to pour the mason jar contents into a bowl before eating.
Freezing the leftover chicken
Whether you're using leftover chicken or cooking chicken fresh for this recipe, you can freeze any leftovers for a future meal or to add to fresh salad jars! To freeze, transfer the chicken to a freezer bag or airtight container. The chicken will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Once you're ready to use the chicken, move it to the fridge the night before to allow it to thaw. From there, microwave the chicken if you prefer to eat it warm or put it directly in the jar.
More salad jar recipes
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad Jars
- Meal Prep Low Carb Big Mac Salad Jars
- The Best Veggie Mason Jar Salad
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- These are the mason jars I recommend.
- This is the brand of tamari I like, and I love this low-sodium soy sauce.
- And of course I get all my free-range chicken breasts from Butcher Box!
Thai Chicken Soba Noodle Salad Jars
Ingredients
- 2 cups leftover chicken (can be rotisserie)
- 1/2 (363 g) package soba noodles
- 2 cups broccoli slaw
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 1/2 cup roasted salted peanut halves
- Fresh chopped cilantro or basil (optional, to serve)
Satay Sauce
- 1/2 can full fat coconut milk (about 3/4 cup)
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp dried ginger
Instructions
- Cook soba noodles according to package directions (usually 2 min in boiling water) and whisk together the ingredients for the satay sauce. Add sauce to bottom of a 950mL mason jar, followed by leftover chicken.
- If you need to cook the chicken fresh instead of using leftover chicken, saute four medium-sized chicken cutlets (or cut two medium-sized chicken breasts in half) in a skillet with a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes per side, then cut up into bite-sized pieces. Otherwise, continue on with the following steps below.
- After you add chicken, add broccoli slaw, red pepper and soba noodles. Top each jar with green onions and peanuts. Shake jars before serving to distribute sauce, then pour into a large, deep bowl and enjoy! Bonus: if you'd like, garnish with fresh herbs like cilantro or basil.
sylvia says
Another great recipe!
I would like to suggest using ‘Wide Mouth’ One Quart Mason jars for this recipe. In US mason jars are referred to as Wide mouth jars or Small mouth. Popular Mason Jar brands in US are Ball or Kerr mason jars. They come in different ounce sizes. Wide Mouth, One Quart 16 Oz, or Half Quart 8 Oz. jars are best for meals in a mason jars.