When I first bought the Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook
by Beth Hensperger I was immediately drawn to the Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce recipe. One of my favorite cuisines is Thai, especially dishes with peanut sauce. I love peanut sauce! The only problem is my husband and kids do not.
Knowing the rest of my family would not eat this I needed to come up with a different plan if I wanted to make this recipe. The recipe makes around 8 servings and that is a lot of food to have leftover if I am the only one eating it.
Before I get to my plan let me talk about the finish recipe. It was delicious! The pork was super tender but not falling apart and the sauce was incredibly tasty with a little kick from the crushed red pepper. I loved it and will be making it again. Next time I might double the amount of sauce but overall it was really good.
Let’s move on to my plan for using up the Thai Pork leftovers.
I decided, after it was cooked, to portion the recipe out into individual freezer meals that I would bring for lunches during the week. Genius – at least I thought so. Now in the middle of the day I can sit back and enjoy a delicious Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce freezer meal homemade by me. You can see the picture of the freezer meals below in the freezer cooking instructions.
To make this recipe even easier I decide to put it together into a slow cooker freezer kit. This way I can put it together when I had time then dump it in the slow cooker when I was ready to make it. My friend sent me a link to Mama and Baby Love who wrote a post about freezer cooking with slow cooker recipes.
Wow! Seriously, mom’s are freakin amazing people! Her post was very inspiring and after reading it I knew I had to try this technique out. I will describe exactly the steps I took to put this freezer kit together below.
I hope you find the techniques in this recipe helpful so you can fit this delicious Thai recipe into your menu plan.
- 2 lb pork tenderloin
- ⅓ cup prepared teriyaki sauce (use a high quality brand)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup dry roasted peanuts
- ½ cup green onions, thinly sliced
- **please note the original recipe called for 2 large red bell peppers (sliced) but I totally forgot to purchase them. Next time I will use them.
- Place all ingredients (except peanut butter, peanuts, and green onions) into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours. ** Mine was done at around 6 ½ - 7 hours. Pork should be tender but not falling apart (unless that is the consistency you like) The original recipe called for a cooking time of 8-9 hours on low but that would have been way to long for my slow cooker - the pork would have been completely dried out. Know your slow cooker and keep an eye on it around 6½ hours.
- Remove pork from slow cooker and chop into bite size chunks. Add the peanut butter to the sauce. Stir until it dissolves into the sauce.
- Return the pork to the slow cooker and toss with the sauce. Serve over brown jasmine rice. Sprinkle with peanuts and green onions.
For this recipe I used the Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker
. Again, the original recipe can be found in Beth Hensperger cookbook Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook
. Again, the original recipe can be found in Beth Hensperger cookbook Slow Cooker Freezer Kit
Place tenderloin, teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, and garlic into a gallon size freezer bag. Label and store in freezer until ready to use. Peanut butter, peanuts, and green onions should only be used on cooking day.
Cooking Day Instructions
Let slow cooker freezer kit thaw 24 hours in the refrigerator. It might still be a little frozen but that is fine. Dump the whole kit into the slow cooker and follow the rest of the directions.
Individual Freezer Meal Instructions
This recipe will actually make 8 single serving portions. You only see 6 here because two got gobbled up by me before I put these together 😉
Portion out 1 serving of rice and the Thai Pork recipe into 7 freezer containers. Label and freeze.
Reheat in the microwave for 4-5 minutes, stirring half way, until heated through. Of course, this can also be heated up on the stove top.
I absolutely loved having slow cooker freezer kits, as well as these individual freezer meals, available. Look for more recipe adaptions like this to come.
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This sounds amazing! However, I have a question. In Step 1 you say add all ingrediants. Yet in step 2 you say add the peanut butter. I’m assuming you leave out at least the peanut butter and peanuts from step 1. Would you please clarify? Thanks.
Hey there! Thanks so much for catching that, I am making the change now.
The freezer meals are a great idea. However I have always found that rice or noodles don’t have the same consistency as when they are fresh. Any ideas?
Hi Jennifer! I hardly ever freeze pasta because of consistency issues. I have some ways around it but for most part I just cook fresh. Rice on the other hand, in my opinion, freezes perfectly. I find the consistency to be exactly the same if not better than when it is freshly cooked. Now freezing rice in a soup may lend itself to mushiness but other than that it should be fine. Hope this helps.
WE all loved it for dinner with the red peppers 7 family members agreeing is unheard of in this family! Kudus!
Hi Tammy,
I know it’s been awhile since you posted this recipe but I’ve just made this recently and had to tell you the reaction. As we were eating it tonight my son (17) said. “I’m not leaving this house until I get the recipe for this.” So it’s a big hit here. Thanks for another great easy recipe.
Awww thanks so much for this comment. I love hearing reactions like this! Have a great night.
About freezing noodles… I do it all the time and no one ever knows. After much practice, the easiest and best way is simply shocking because it’s just so much easier than you could ever imagine.
First off, what doesn’t work: noodles that have been sitting out long enough to start drying on the ends or overcooked noodles. Naturally I’m talking plain noodles and not a dish you’ve mixed the noodles in already.
Wait until noodles are fully cooled. That part is important because you don’t want more moisture in the bag. Place noodles in a freezer bag with as much air removed as possible. When ready to use, remove bag and place frozen noodles in a strainer. Boil a pot of water and slowly pour over noodles. Carefully toss noodles to make sure it’s reheated all the way through. Done.
Yes, one pot of water will both thaw and reheat your noodles in a flash. I started doing this back when my kids were little (they’re grown now) because my husband was in the first Gulf War and I worked full time. It was like being a single working mom, except you have no one to help you because you have no family there either. Anyway, back to the subject, whenever I made noodles I’d double the batch and freeze half. That would save me time on another day. I still do it after all these years.
All that said, I would still say to try it first as a test run before you use it with a real dish. You never know, you still may not like it.
At what point do you add the red pepper?
Anyone know the answer to this?
Can’t wait to make this today. At which step would you add the red bell peppers?
Can you halve the recipe? We are only two people in our house so this is a big recipe for two.
Thanks
Donna
I have the same question – did you try halving this, Donna? Two other questions: Has anyone tried this with chicken, and could this be done in, say, a dutch oven instead of a slow cooker?
Has anyone tried this with chicken instead of pork? How did it turn out?
Hi!
I just came across this recipe, which looks delicious. I was wondering if you ever tried replacing the peanut butter with PB2 or similar product? If so, how much PB2 did you use and dis you add it reconstituted or as a powder?
Thanks!