Sesame Stir Fry Noodle Jars
Sesame Stir Fry Noodle Jars- packed full of fresh veggies and comforting noodles, these jars are great to prep for healthy lunches! (vegan + gluten-free)
Lunch has always been a challenge for me when it comes to meal planning. Dinner is usually my top priority and then I just tend to fill in the gaps for breakfast and lunch with quick and easy options like smoothies and frozen burritos.
Actually my coworkers used to make fun of me for always bringing an apple and something frozen (usually Amy’s) to work. What can I say? Lunch has never been my strong suit.
But I’m trying to change that this year. I mean, we’ll eat leftovers for lunch several days a week because I’m not about to waste food, but on the days we don’t have them I’m forcing myself to make more of an effort to have something fresh and healthy on hand. Which is where these noodle jars come in.
They take less than 30 minutes to prep and are loaded with fresh veggies like bell pepper, carrots, mushrooms and edamame to help you meet your daily quota.
I discovered the recipe in a special issue of Clean Eating Magazine and thought it was a brilliant idea. The first time I tried them, I used the vermicelli noodles which is kind of like angel hair made from rice. However, I found that they didn’t hold up very well in the jars so I recommend using a thicker pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine.
The dressing is made from a simple combo of lime juice, garlic, tamari and sesame oil. I personally prefer more lime and less sesame oil so I adjusted to my taste. I would recommend that you do the same, depending on your preferences.
Sesame Stir Fry Noodle Jars
Yield: 4 jars
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces spaghetti or similar size noodle (use GF if needed)*
- 1 red bell pepper, cored and sliced
- 1 cup chopped carrot (about 3 carrots)
- 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
- 1 cup frozen and thawed edamame
- juice of 1 lime**
- 3 garlic cloves, minced (or 2 teaspoons garlic powder)
- 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook noodles as directed. Drain and rinse with cold water then set aside.
Lightly grease a skillet and warm over medium heat. Add the bell pepper, carrots and mushrooms then cook until just tender, for about 3 minutes. If you want to layer the vegetables as they are in the picture, cook each vegetable separately.
In one of the jars, combine the lime juice, garlic cloves, rice wine vinegar, tamari, sesame oil, and salt & pepper. Seal with the lid and shake well.
In the remaining 2 jars, layer 1/4th of the edamame and pour 1/4th of the dressing on top. Top with 1/4th noodles and 1/4th vegetables then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sesame seeds. Add the leftover edamame, noodles and vegetables to jar with remaining dressing and sprinkle with rest of sesame seeds. Seal all of the jars with their lids then refrigerate until ready to serve. Noodles can be eaten cold or you can microwave them for 1 minute prior to serving.
*The original recipe called for brown rice vermicelli noodles which tend to fall apart easily. I recommend using noodles that are at least as thick as spaghetti (or thicker).
**If you are sensitive to sour flavor, try starting with less lime juice, like a few teaspoons.
Barely adapted from Clean Eating Magazine
Did you try this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out by leaving a comment below or sharing a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #makingthymeforhealth. I love hearing your feedback! 
I hear you about lunch…normally I just do peanut butter banana toast and call it done! haha I just made a sesame veggie stir fry last night for the first time in ages and need to do it more often. These jars are the perfect thing to keep it going and they’re so pretty to look at too!
I’ve been eating the same leftovers for lunch every day this week, so I feel ya! Amy’s frozen meals are always a go-to for me, too. This looks so much more exciting than that haha.
These are genius!! I usually just end up with leftover for lunch everyday, but these are just ADORABLE! Much more exciting than my boring leftovers lol :)
Wow…fast and delicious…I will try it this weekend.
Thanks for sharing!!!
I’m terrible about lunch … my solution? I just make more of dinner so that we always have leftovers lol Because I’m lazy and don’t want to ever think about it :) haha BUT! I am loving the sound of these noodle jars!! They sound fantastic!
I’m the same way with my meals… dinner is my main thing, and then I keep breakfast & lunch pretty simple. And smoothies are almost always one of my daytime meals! These noodle jars look like a great idea for having something prepped ahead of time for lunch.
Salads in a jar are so fun! I love that the dressing goes in the bottom so the salad doesn’t get soggy!
The flavor of the dressing on these is so good, I cannot wait to make them again. Did you use rice noodles? If so, how did you avoid a big noodle clump? Or should I just use another type of pasta to avoid that issue?
I’m so glad you like them! I did use rice noodles at first but they turned mushy which is why I suggested spaghetti noodles. I think any kind of gluten-free pasta is going to do that but if you use a thicker noodle (such as spaghetti) and rinse it with cold water after cooking that should help!