Make healthy, protein-packed, super tasty Peanut Crunch Salad in a Jar as part of your meal prep and you'll have grab-and-go lunches all ready for the entire week! Also great for dinner with some vegan chick'n or baked tofu.
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"You know that moment where you say “For the love of all that is holy I CANNOT eat another salad!” Welp… this is the salad that says “You could not be more wrong!” This is delicious and filling…and full of ‘good for you’ stuff. 2 thumbs up. Highly recommend!!!" - Michelle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ More reviews →
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Well, it looks like I'm jumping on the salad in a jar wagon. I will be honest and say that I was a little skeptical of make-ahead salads. Could a jar of salad really stay fresh after a few days in the fridge?
And the answer is yes...This one keeps perfectly for nearly a week and you're going to love it!
Mel x
Ingredients
In our naturally vegan mason jar salads, we're using sturdy veggies that keep well, added in the correct order to retain optimum crunch factor.
Here's what's going in:
How to Make Salad in a Jar
These salad jars are really easy to make. Here's how:
- Cook some quinoa and chop some veggies while it cools.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together (if you happen to have some of my Peanut Sauce leftover in the fridge you can use that instead of this dressing).
- Layer everything up, put the lid on and store until needed.
- Serve! Unlike a lot of mason jar salad recipes, you won't be able to shake the jars to mix everything up. The dressing is thick and the jars will probably be packed quite tightly. So just tip it all out into a bowl then toss it together before enjoying.
Get your meal prep done and have them lined up looking pretty in the fridge. I just love knowing that lunch is ready and waiting!
It's really important to use the listed ingredients and layer them up in the specified order if you want the salad to keep well for 5 days in the fridge. The ingredients have been chosen intentionally for their sturdiness and layering them up as listed ensures that anything that could potentially get soggy is kept away from the dressing.
To Serve
Simply tip the salad out into a bowl, give it a little toss, then enjoy! And whilst these salads are great for lunch, they are also really good for dinner topped with some baked tofu or a vegan chicken breast.
Recipe FAQs
As long as you follow my instructions and use the same ingredients in the same order, each vegan mason jar salad should keep well for up to 5 days in the fridge.
500mls (17oz) is perfect.
Recipe
Peanut Crunch Salad in a Jar
Author:Ingredients
For the quinoa
- 1 cup (180 grams) quinoa , or 2 cups (370 grams) already cooked quinoa
- 1¾ cup (420 ml) water
- pinch salt
Dressing
- 5 tablespoons natural peanut butter , unsweetened. (See recipe notes for nut-free option)
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce , or coconut aminos
- 4 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar , or apple cider/white wine vinegar
- 1 -2 tablespoons maple syrup , add to taste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Salad
- 4 green onions , cut into thin rounds, (known as spring onions in the UK).
- 1 medium carrot , cut into matchsticks or grated
- 1 cup (150 grams) frozen edamame beans , no need to defrost, or use canned chickpeas instead
- 1½ cups (160 grams) red or purple cabbage , chopped- measured after chopping
- 1½ cups (160 grams) green cabbage , chopped - measured after chopping (white cabbage in the UK). The round, firm kind with tightly packed, pale-green leaves that you would use to make coleslaw.
- ½ cup (73 grams) roasted peanuts , salted or unsalted
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cook the quinoa. Add the quinoa, water and a pinch of salt to a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil, then turn the heat down to the lowest setting, cover tightly with a lid and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand with the lid on (NO PEEKING), for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork before using.
- Make the dressing. Add all of the dressing ingredients to a small bowl and whisk them together really well. Divide the dressing evenly between 4 x 17oz (500ml) jars.
- Layer it all up. To the dressing add the green onions, then quinoa, carrots, edamame, cabbage and end with the peanuts. Make sure an even amount goes into each jar then put the lids on the jars and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- To serve tip out into a bowl, making sure to scrape out the dressing in the bottom of the jar, and toss everything together well before eating.
NOTES
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Amber says
Seriously, delicious! Thank you!
Gina says
This has become my favorite salad. The dressing gets real thick on the bottom and knowing I want to take this places where I won't have a spatula I changed it up a bit. I used one less T. peanut butter and increased the lemon juice by 1 T. (and only 1 T. of maple syrup.) It's still amazing, I don't miss the extra peanut butter and it pours out now! Love it!
Stacey says
Yes as usual, this was amazing! I prepped this before my foot surgery so I didn't have an excuse to make unhealthy choices. They are a perfect meal to keep you satiated. I didn't realize how much I loved Quinoa and peanut sauce! Thank you Melanie for making clean eating easy and delicious 💗
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you enjoyed the recipe Stacey. I hope you're recovering well!
Susan says
Excellent!!! I’ll be making these again. I love the combination of ingredients and flavors.
Michelle Littlefield says
You know that moment where you say “For the love of all that is holy I CANNOT eat another salad!” Welp… this the salad that says “You could not be more wrong!” This is delicious and filling…and full of ‘good for you’ stuff. 2 thumbs up-Highly recommend!!
Melanie McDonald says
Love that Michelle! So pleased you're enjoying it!
Petra says
This is fun, easy, & delicious! My daughter & I had a great time making & eating them! Now a lunch staple!
Heather says
This looks so delicious, and great tips on salad freshness when prepping ahead! Also love the Miyoko's product placement in your fridge :)
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Heather. I always have some Miyoko's cheese in my fridge. It's not always so tidily arranged though!
Caroline says
I've made this twice now and really like the recipe! I used the apple cider vinegar second time and like that better. Added 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger. It's such a beautiful presentation!
David says
I've really fallen in love with the idea of grab and go salads in a jar and your presentation of it is absolutely delightful. Some of the ingredients are hard to find for me like edamame beans but I'm gonna give this a shot. Thanks for sharing!
Melanie McDonald says
I hope you get to give it a try soon! The edamame bean are great in it, but chickpeas work really well too.
Azu says
I recently jump into the make-ahead-salads bandwagon, they are so practical! This recipe looks amazing, it’s definitely going into my to-do list. Thanks!
Melanie McDonald says
Yep, so practical and convenient. I hope you get to try them soon!
Kim says
This is the first recipe of yours I have tried and I have already made it over and over. I try to limit sugar, so I just left the syrup out and also added mixed greens in addition to the cabbage and it was so delicious.
Melanie McDonald says
I'm really pleased you enjoyed it Kim!
Sally says
Made these last weekend for packed lunches and they are so good. Super easy and tasty. Thank you.
David says
My wife wasn't sure about this-- she's not a cabbage fan. But we were both gushing about these salads. Now we're looking for more like it. Wow!!!!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's awesome David! I'm so pleased you both enjoyed them. There will definitely be more salads like this to come as it's been really popular on the blog. Watch this space!
CruznV says
Just found your Blog...?. I work all Nightshifts so prefer lighter meals & love salad especially Make ahead meals & Mason jar salads... This one is delicious... looking forward to trying more of your recipes...??❤️
Melanie McDonald says
Thank you! I'm really pleased you are enjoying it!
Sue Williams says
OMG, how much do I need these!!! Especially lasting up to 5 days :) Questions (don't I always LOL) Can I use pickled red and white cabbage instead of raw? Just hate chopping them from whole and it will take forever to use the whole cabbage, but a jar will last a few batches and keep in between. Thanks xx
A Virtual Vegan says
Hey Sue! It's really worth using raw cabbage. The texture is lovely. I'm not sure that pickled would work so well with the flavour of the dressing. You could use all one colour cabbage instead of red and white though to save you buying both. I only used 2 so they look prettier. You can often buy half a cabbage at greengrocers if you have a local one. Maybe that would work!
Sue Williams says
Thanks Mel, I do have a local grocer so I'll ask her about halving a cabbage :-) Looking forward to getting these made this weekend ready for next week xx
CruznV says
Buy precut cabbage, it’s a game changer for me???
Ginger Henderson says
Do you think I could use Almond butter in place of peanut butter?
A Virtual Vegan says
Definitely! I don't know why I didn't add that as a sub. I just went in and amended the recipe notes. Tahini or sunflower seed butter would work too.