Chicken Hoisin Noodles
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5 balanced lunches sorted for about £6 – these chicken hoisin noodles are the meal prep I make on repeat. I’m very proud of the sneaky ramen hack using 28p spaghetti, so you get that chewy, takeaway-style bite without the takeaway price. If you’re a fan of my Sweetcorn Pasta Salad with Chorizo in my 5 lunches for £5 series, you can switch up the vibes with this noodle meal prep!
Recipe Summary: Chicken Hoisin Noodles
- ✅ Recipe Name: Chicken Hoisin Noodles
- 🕦 Ready in: 20 mins
- 🤝 Serves: 5
- 🍴 Calories: 465 kcal
- 🧑🍳 Main ingredients: hoisin noodles, spaghetti, cucumber
- ✨ Summary: These chicken hoisin noodles are my budget meal-prep hero: 5 high-protein lunches for £6, ready in 20 minutes. Eat them hot or cold!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Super cheap: Each serving costs around £1.25 thanks to the budget spaghetti hack and chicken mince being so reasonable. The magic in the ramen hack is a teaspoon or two of bicarbonate of soda in the pasta water, which gives plain spaghetti that springy, chewy ramen texture.
- High protein: Using mince instead of sliced breast means the protein spreads evenly through every forkful, so you never get that one sad container with all the noodles and no chicken. You’re looking at roughly 28g of protein a serving, which is exactly why it earns its spot in my budget meal prep rotation.
- It works hot or cold: The whole thing is built to split across 5 containers and grab on the way out the door. Microwave it at your desk or eat it straight from the fridge, both are fab!
- It’s a shop-bought sauce, glowed up: We start with a jar of hoisin, then lift it with soy sauce, a splash of rice vinegar for brightness, and an optional clove of garlic. Shortcuts like these reduce our budget & also save us time in the kitchen!
Table of Contents
Ingredients For Chicken Hoisin Noodles
A handful of cheap staples is all you need for these hoisin noodles:
- Chicken mince (5% fat): The budget protein hero. One container stretches across all five portions; it’s lean but not dry and makes this meal prep 10/10, just like with my Rainbow Noodles.
- Spaghetti: Yep, spaghetti. With the bicarb trick it mimics chewy ramen for a fraction of the cost.
- Hoisin sauce: Sweet, sticky and savoury all at once. It’s the backbone of the whole dish.
- Bicarbonate of soda: The secret weapon. A couple of teaspoons in the cooking water transforms the texture of the noodles.
See the recipe card for full information on all ingredients and quantities.
Variations/ Adaptations
- Pack in more veg: Toss through extra greens or some sautéed mushrooms to bulk things out without bumping the cost much.
- Switch the protein: Turkey mince, pork mince or crumbled tofu all work brilliantly if that’s what’s in the fridge.
- Turn up the heat: A pinch of chilli flakes, a drizzle of sriracha or some fresh chilli takes these hoisin noodles with chicken up a notch.
How to make chicken hoisin noodles
Step 1: Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high, add the chicken mince, season with salt and pepper and brown for 5 minutes.
Step 2: Add 5 tbsp hoisin sauce and fry for a further 4 minutes until the mince is coated and the sauce has darkened and thickened.
Step 3: Drop the thinly sliced spring onions into an ice bath for 5 minutes to curl.
Step 4: Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water with 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, setting the timer to 1 minute less than the packet time.
Step 5: Drain and rinse the spaghetti, return it to the pan with the remaining hoisin, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic and black pepper, and toss to combine.
Step 6: Divide the hoisin chicken, then noodles, then cucumber across 5 containers and top with curled spring onions.
Tips for the best result
- Slice the spring onions very thinly. The finer the strips, the better they curl in the ice bath and the prettier they look on top.
- Set the timer to packet time minus one minute. Then drain and rinse — this stops the cooking and keeps the noodles from going claggy.
- The garlic is optional. Add it if you love that fresh hit and skip it if you don’t.
- Scale the spaghetti to your appetite. Just know the £6 pricing accounts for the whole packet.
- Lift the jar sauce. Hoisin on its own can taste flat, so the soy sauce and rice vinegar are the moves that give these chicken hoisin noodles their deep, glossy, takeaway flavour.
Serving Suggestions
These chicken hoisin noodles are a full meal on their own, but if you’re feeding a crowd or want to bulk things out, it’s fab to serve with a few extras. Some sticky baked chicken drumsticks for a proper protein hit, or, to stick with the sticky soy vibe, try my crispy soy wings when I want something to pick at.
For some more greens, my din tai fung cucumber recipe and airfryer green beans would be delicious.
Leftover Storage and Reheat Instructions
Refrigerator: Store in sealed containers for up to 4 days. They actually taste even better on day two once the flavours settle.
Freezer: I don’t recommend it. The spaghetti and cucumber turn soft and grainy once defrosted, so these are best kept in the fridge.
Reheat: Microwave for around 2 minutes until piping hot, or eat cold straight from the fridge. Both are delicious.
Chicken Hoisin Noodles FAQs
Absolutely. This recipe is designed for meal prep, so it’s lovely cold from the fridge or warmed through, whatever suits your day.
You don’t need anything fancy. Cheap spaghetti cooked with a little bicarbonate of soda gives you that chewy ramen texture, which is why these hoisin noodles don’t rely on hard-to-find fresh egg or lo mein noodles.
Using 5% chicken mince spread across five portions keeps the protein at roughly 28g a serving and means it’s distributed evenly, so every container is properly filling.
I wouldn’t. The texture of the spaghetti and the fresh cucumber really suffers after freezing, so these hoisin noodles are best kept in the fridge and eaten within four days.
Jar hoisin on its own can taste flat, so lift it with soy sauce, a splash of rice vinegar and a good crack of black pepper. That little upgrade is what gives these chicken hoisin noodles their deep, glossy, takeaway flavour.
Explore More Budget Meal Prep Noodle Recipes
If you tried this Chicken Hoisin Noodles, it would mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Chicken Hoisin Noodles
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken mince 5% fat
- 300 g spaghetti
- 200 g hoisin sauce
- 1 cucumber thinly sliced into strips
- Handful of spring onions thinly sliced into strips
- Optional clove of garlic, minced
Cupboard Essentials
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda/baking powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Optional chilli flakes
Method
- Preheat a frying pan over a medium-high heat, then add olive oil and the chicken mince. Season with salt and pepper and leave to brown for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add 5 tbsp of hoisin sauce and continue frying for a further 4 minutes, or until the mince has browned and the sauce has darkened and thickened.
- Meanwhile, add the spaghetti to salted boiling water. Add 2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda and stir. Set your timer to the spaghetti packet time minus 1 minute.
- Add the thinly sliced spring onions to an ice bath. Allow 5 minutes for them to curl up nicely.
- When your spaghetti timer goes off, drain and rinse in a colander. Add back into your pan and add the remaining hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, optional garlic and a big crack of black pepper. Stir until well combined.
- Divide the hoisin chicken into 5 meal prep containers, then the noodles, then cucumber.
- When it's time to eat, enjoy hot or cold and top with spring onions and optional chilli flakes.
Notes
• Set the timer to packet time minus one minute. Then drain and rinse, this stops the cooking and keeps the noodles from going claggy.
• The garlic is optional. Add it if you love that fresh hit and skip it if you don't.
Nutrition
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