These Thai-Inspired Quinoa Salad Jars with Peanut Miso Dressing are the work lunch you’ve been waiting for. Ditch the boring sandwich and try these crunchy, flavor-packed salads!
As most salads are, this one is customizable. There are a lot of ingredients in here so do not feel obligated to include something you feel lukewarm about. I was obsessed with squeezing in as many colors as possible and it turned out beautiful.
How to Build a Mason Jar Salad
I recommend chopping everything while your quinoa is cooking, then creating an assembly line so you can divide up the ingredients evenly between jars. It goes fast and this way you don’t have to worry about forgetting anything.
Here is the salad-in-a-jar routine: dressing goes on the bottom followed by any hard ingredients. Greens and more delicate items (like the quinoa, herbs and green onions) goes at the top so it doesn’t get soggy before serving. Jars make awesome food storage containers!
You can make more than four if you want, but for food safety purposes I wouldn’t recommend storing these for longer than 3-4 days before eating.
Thai-Inspired Quinoa Salad Jars
Serves 4
Ingredients
Salad:
- 3 kale leaves
- ½ cup quinoa (cooked)
- 1 cup shelled edamame
- ¼ cup peanuts (unsalted)
- 1 small carrot, shredded
- ½ cup thinly sliced purple cabbage
- ½ red bell pepper, diced
- 2 Tbsp green onions, sliced thin
- 2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
Dressing:
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 3 Tbsp miso
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- ¼ cup hot water (note: you might not need all of it)
Instructions
- Cook quinoa per package directions.
- Meanwhile, prep your vegetables and set them up in an assembly line (in order listed).
- To make dressing, add all ingredients except water to a large mason jar and whisk or stir with a fork until well combined. Slowly stream in hot water while mixing until it reaches the consistency to your liking.
- Line up four 16-oz, wide-mouth mason jars and add about ¼ cup of dressing to each. Then, layer the rest of the ingredients, evenly distributing between jars. Don’t be afraid to really pack it in!
- Screw lids on tightly and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
