Welcome back! Okay, I thought last week’s meal prep was the last I was going to cook in my kitchen before moving, but I was wrong. Mid-week I decided to use up the last four chicken thighs in my freezer to make these Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken Meal Prep boxes to get us through the rest of the week before packing up and shipping out.
This week’s meal prep is super simple, but also my favorite type of meal prep. I love doing an easy base of rice or noodles, frozen broccoli florets for my greens, and some sort of protein. It’s such an easy and delicious formula and you can do so many variations on the rice or noodles and protein, that I never get tired of it. I love using frozen broccoli florets in meal prep boxes because they hold up well, and because they require no chopping or cooking (they’re already blanched), so they’re super convenient.
The highlight of this meal prep box is the Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken and rich Garlic Noodles. Both are extremely easy, so this week’s meal prep comes together very quickly. Everything in this meal prep holds up well in the fridge, but I wouldn’t freeze this one as the noodles will get quite dry. One more note about the chicken: the glaze will be nice and clear when you first cook it, but it may turn a bit cloudy as it refrigerates. No worries, though, the flavor wont’ be affected. :)
For more information about meal prepping, how it works, and why I do it, check out Meal Prep 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Prepping and Portioning Meals, or check out my entire Budget-Friendly Meal Prep Archive.
Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken Meal Prep
This Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken Meal Prep Includes:
Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken (1/2 batch, 4 thighs): $4.04
Garlic Noodles: $2.54
3/4 lb. Frozen Broccoli Florets: $1.27
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes: $0.05
Total Cost: $7.90
Cost Per Box: $1.98
No Leftovers this time, yay! I added a pinch of red pepper to each box just because I wanted a little heat, but that’s totally optional.
The single compartment glass meal prep containers seen in the photos are from Amazon. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Tips:
- Make sure to read the label on frozen broccoli closely! There are several types of frozen broccoli and while the terminology can depend on the brand, they’re usually along the lines of florets, cuts, or stems and pieces. Make sure to get the bag labeled “florets” or you may end up with a lot of stems. While stems are great for casseroles, soups, and recipes where the broccoli will be puréed, they’re not quite as appetizing just for eating plain.
- Spoon all of the sauce from the Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken into your boxes so you have a little extra flavor to share with the broccoli. :)
- This box reheats in the microwave without any special considerations (but it’s always a good idea to stir often while reheating). You also shouldn’t have any issues with extra juices or things getting soggy or limp this week. That’s why I love this type of box!
- If you want to use fresh broccoli, I suggest steaming the florets until they just begin to turn tender and are bright green before adding them to the box. That will soften them just enough so that they will cook at an even rate with everything else when you reheat your meal.
- For frozen florets, you don’t need to even thaw them before adding them to the box (unless you’re going to eat one portion the same day). The florets will thaw in the fridge overnight.
And that’s all I’ve got for you this week! I may nor may not have a meal prep next week depending on when the movers deliver our belongings, but my fingers are crossed! :)
So good!! I am about to run out of my freezer leftovers and I’m very tempted to make it again. Two recommendations…get cheaper broccoli cuts and mix it into the pasta once it’s done. Helps cool it down to stop cooking and coat the broccoli in the sauce. If you’re looking to make it a bit healthier, halve the butter in the noodles and switch to a whole wheat or added protein pasta. I barely notice the difference in taste!
I have made these several times over the last few months to take to work. The ginger soy-glazed chicken is my favourite part of this Meal Prep although the frozen broccoli is one of my favourite tips.
I am confused, where is the recipe?
You can find it here: Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken
This has become a staple in our meal rotation. SO yummy!
Why are there nutrition facts and calories included at the bottom of some of these recipes then I notice that 80% of the other recipes on this site don’t have nutrition facts at all??
Wow, I thought this site was supposed to help with meal prep. I’m just gonna find a site or app that already added all the calories up bc #wasteoftime
Hey there Brandon, welcome to Budget Bytes! We only recently brought on a Registered Dietician to our team. She’s working hard behind the scenes to update the entire recipe database, over 1500+ recipes, with nutritional information. She’s working her way from the newest recipes back and it takes some time to update them all. It’s not a one click approach when you want them to be accurate. To read more about our approach to nutritional information check out our disclaimer here.
Hey Kelly,
I appreciate you responding to this question but we’re currently 1 year from this date and this recipe still hasn’t been updated with the nutritional information. Even if this was the oldest recipe you had on the books and your nutritionist would only have to be averaging 6 meals per working day to have got back to here by now.
Any chance of getting this updated?
Hi – I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. The nutrition information is on each individual recipe page. Since this is not a recipe post, simply an article about combining recipes to make pre-packed meals, there is no nutrition information on this article. You’ll need to click on each recipe listed in this article to see the nutrition information for that particular recipe.
Food for thought Brandon. Your email is terribly rude. You can ask without being so insulting. Everything in life is a work in progress.
Food for thought Brandon. Your email is terribly rude. You can ask without being so insulting. Everything in life is a work in progress.
that’s a little harsh
Can you start posting nutritional info please? I notice lots of people have asked for it.
Thanks for the request! We do get that request a lot, but unfortunately we don’t have a reliable source for the nutrition information. The calculators and databases that most bloggers and websites use to calculate the info can be extremely inaccurate, and for something that can so severely impact the health of people with health conditions, we just don’t feel comfortable publishing unreliable numbers. We prefer to leave it up to the reader to use the database or calculator they trust. I’m sorry and I wish accuracy were easier than shipping the food off to a lab for analysis!
Oh. My gosh. This is one of the tastiest meals I have ever made. It was super straight forward and easy to make and I loved it the entire week. This will, no doubt, be more frequent in my meal prep schedule. i substituted chicken thighs for strips of chicken breast and despite being a dark meat preferer, I looooooved this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this delicious meal.
The recipes in this meal prep are now some of my favorites off this website. Oh my gosh, this was so good! I have had it every day this week at work and can’t wait to make it again. It’s delicious and so easy! Thank you for sharing these recipes. My friends and I love your website.
Hi there, making this tonight but wanted to know if you know the nutritional info on the chicken and marinade…..thank you
Hi! Thank you for the recipe, I tried a little of both tonight and they were super tasty! I just cooked these, and will be eating them all week starting tomorrow.
My question is how long do you need microwave them to cook the broccoli? And will I need to add any water to steam the broccoli?
You don’t have to do anything special to reheat (no adding water). Frozen broccoli is already blanched in boiling water before freezing, so it’s not the same as raw broccoli. The reheat time in the microwave will depend on the strength of your microwave, the size of your dish, and other factors. I usually suggest starting with one minute, then adding more time, in 30 second intervals, until the food is heated to your liking. :)
Can these meals be frozen? Looks delicious!!
This one will probably just freeze so-so. Since the sauces aren’t super liquidy, they may dry out a touch when frozen.