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Cold Sesame Noodle Meal Prep Bowls (Vegan)

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These cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls are the perfect vegan prep ahead lunch: spiralized vegetables tossed with chickpeas and whole wheat spaghetti in a spicy almond butter sauce. 

These cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls are the perfect vegan prep ahead lunch: spiralized vegetables tossed with chickpeas and whole wheat spaghetti in a spicy almond butter sauce. #sweetpeasandsaffron #mealprep #vegan #lunch #noodles

After almost a year of losing my spiralizer during our move, I finally found it! Happy dance!

I was SO excited to unpack it and get back to spiralizing. I love spiralizing to add new textures to salads, and trick myself into lightening up some traditionally carb-laden recipes.

Now I’m not saying these cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls are low carb…however they are much lower carb then they would be with straight up pasta.

And please, no one tell him, but Kai happily munched on a zucchini noodle thinking it was pasta. He was totally tricked! Muah ha ha.




These cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls are the perfect vegan prep ahead lunch: spiralized vegetables tossed with chickpeas and whole wheat spaghetti in a spicy almond butter sauce. #sweetpeasandsaffron #mealprep #vegan #lunch #noodles

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Reasons to love these cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls

  • they are vegan. I’m hoping to add more plant-based meal prep recipes in 2018 for you guys!
  • THE SAUCE. Spicy, creamy, tangy, gingery…gah. Enough said.
  • You are eating a ton of veggies but it really doesn’t feel like it! I cut the standard 2 oz pasta serving in half and swapped with spiralized zucchini and carrots. It is still a filling and satisfying meal.
  • no microwave needed. Open, toss in sauce, eat. The end.

These cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls are the perfect vegan prep ahead lunch: spiralized vegetables tossed with chickpeas and whole wheat spaghetti in a spicy almond butter sauce. #sweetpeasandsaffron #mealprep #vegan #lunch #noodles

Now there are a few different components to these cold sesame noodles: whole wheat pasta, spiralized veggies, and sauce.

All round, it should still take you under 30 minutes to prep, since you can work on the almond butter sauce and spiralizing the veggies while the pasta cooks.

For protein, we kept it simple with canned chickpeas. You could swap for edamame or even chicken if you’d like.

These cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls are the perfect vegan prep ahead lunch: spiralized vegetables tossed with chickpeas and whole wheat spaghetti in a spicy almond butter sauce. #sweetpeasandsaffron #mealprep #vegan #lunch #noodles

Tips for perfect cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls:

Watch the video below to see exactly how I prepped my Cold Sesame Noodle Meal Prep Bowls. It’s so easy! You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel, or on Facebook.

4.88 from 8 votes
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Cold Sesame Noodles with Spiralized Vegetables
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 
These cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls are the perfect vegan prep ahead lunch: spiralized vegetables tossed with chickpeas and whole wheat spaghetti in a spicy almond butter sauce.
Course: Main Course
Servings: 4
Calories: 452 kcal
Ingredients
  • 4 oz whole wheat spaghetti uncooked
  • 1 medium-sized zucchini spiralized
  • 2 large carrots spiralized or shredded
  • 2 cups chickpeas 19 oz can, drained & rinsed
  • green onions to garnish
  • sesame seeds to garnish
Almond Butter Sauce:
  • 1/4 cup almond butter
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce I use reduced sodium
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional; omit for non-spicy version
Instructions
  1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse under cold water and set aside to cool completely.
  2. Portion out pasta, zoodles, carrot noodles and chickpeas between four 2-cup storage containers. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds.
  3. Stir or shake together all almond butter sauce ingredients, and divide amongst 2 oz storage containers.
Storage
  1. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days. This recipe is not freezer-friendly.
To Serve
  1. Enjoy cold. Drizzle with the almond butter sauce and toss up before serving.
Recipe Notes

Almond butter may be swapped with any other natural nut butter.

Nutrition Facts
Cold Sesame Noodles with Spiralized Vegetables
Amount Per Serving (1 lunch bowl)
Calories 452 Calories from Fat 135
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15g 23%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Sodium 971mg 40%
Total Carbohydrates 65g 22%
Dietary Fiber 14g 56%
Sugars 13g
Protein 19g 38%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

These cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls are the perfect vegan prep ahead lunch: spiralized vegetables tossed with chickpeas and whole wheat spaghetti in a spicy almond butter sauce. #sweetpeasandsaffron #mealprep #vegan #spiralizer
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Comments

  3. Is the nutritional information for the entire recipe worth of ingredients (4oz noodles)? Or is it for one serving with one ounce of noodles?

    Reply

  4. Good recipe. I substituted honey for maple syrup, tamari instead of soy sauce, gluten free noodles, and used 1 drop doTERRA lime essential oil, and ginger essential oil instead of grated ginger & lime juice. I’m saving this recipe. Thanks

    Reply

  8. I’m not vegan, but this recipe is FANTASTIC. I followed the recipe exactly, using real almond butter, real maple syrup. Delicious. I’ve already made it twice and have shared the recipe. I wish I could post a picture! Thanks for a great recipe.

    Reply

  9. i just made the sauce and it was real runny. I didn’t see anyone else question the amount of vinegar but I just want to make sure it is TABLESPOONS not TEASPOONS. Maybe my almond butter was old. I’m going to give it another try but can you confirm the ratios are written correctly before I put it together a second time? THANK YOU FOR CHECKING!

    Reply

    • Hi Katie, yes it is tablespoons 🙂 It should be liquidy enough to use as a dressing, but still slightly thickened…watch the video in the post for a good visual. Perhaps your almond butter was on the liquidy side? Let me know how it turns out if you try again!

      Reply

  10. This is amazing! I made it today but used a cucumber in place of zucchini and added chicken. SO SO good and the dressing is on point. YUM! Thank you for this great recipe! 🙂

    Reply

  11. I found the sauce too salty so cut the soy sauce in half and it was delicious! I made rice paper rolls with bean sprouts, cucumber, red pepper, Thai basil, mint and mango. The sauce was perfect for them!!!

    Reply

    • Hi Jane! Did you use reduced sodium soy sauce? I find regular soy sauce way too salty and exclusively use the reduced sodium stuff these days. I mentioned it in the recipe card. Glad you enjoyed!

      Reply

  12. Can anything be substituted for the spiralized zucchini? We are not back g fans of the flavor/texture of it

    Reply

    • Hi Heather! I would swap the zucchini noodles for shredded cabbage, broccoli slaw, or any other hardy vegetable mix. I think this dressing would work great with a number of veggies!

      Reply

  13. So I just made this. Didn’t have almond butter so I used used peanut butter and omitted maple syrup. My dressing was probably thicker because of that but so delicious

    Reply

    • Hi Rosemary! Apologies for my late reply; I’ve just returned from holidays. I would just leave the sesame oil out, although there are natural oils in the almond butter as well. I’m not sure what you could swap the almond butter for. Hope you enjoy!

      Reply

    • Hi Rhiannon, apologies for my late reply, I’ve just returned from holidays! These are the Snapware 2 cup storage containers. They can be challenging to find on Amazon sometimes but they are in stock on the Snapware website!

      Reply

  17. Though I am positive this dish would’ve been amazing as written, I did make some substitutions/additions based on ingredients I had available. I substituted edamame for the chickpeas and hefty squirt of sriracha in place of the red pepper flakes in the dressing. I also added thinly sliced orange and red bell pepper and some shredded green cabbage. It was absolutely delicious! I doubled the recipe and made a week’s worth of lunches for my husband and me. It was so satisfying! Very filling without feeling heavy, so it’s the perfect quick lunch for two people who spend the entirety of their work days on their feet. As a vegan, I always love coming across a vegan based recipe with mass appeal and adaptability. Get it, girl! 🙂

    Reply

  18. So delicious!! I subsituted chicken for chickpeas and peanut butter for the almond butter. So yummy! And awesome dish for summer when you don’t want something hot. Great recipe!

    Reply

  21. I love this so much! The first time I made it I followed the recipe exactly and it was so good that my fiancé and I both couldnt help but to eat it for both lunch and supper on that very day. The second time I made it I decided to play around a little and subbed out the almond butter for tahini to give it even more of a sesame kick, and used a tsp of ground fresh chili paste instead of the half tsp of flakes, to pump up the heat, and it was sooooo lovely. Tonight, I really just wanted a side salad to go with my meal, so I only made the spiralized zucchini and carrot, topped with the green onions. For the dressing I did the tahini and chili paste thing again, however this time I integrated the ingredients together using my immersion blender. And holy moly! It was so smooth and almost whipped in texture and it just made it seem so decadent. I’m addicted.

    Reply

    • I’m so happy you’ve enjoyed them, Erin! I definitely have to try them with tahini. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a nice review <3

      Reply

  23. I love using silicone baking cups (round or otherwise shaped) for my sauce cups. They are so easy to clean and you can squeeze them to get all the sauce out. I can’t wait to try this recipe, it looks amazing!

    Reply

  24. Thanks for the Vegetarian option. I use these reusable glass 2 oz containers with lids instead of plastic. I try to avoid using plastic whenever I can. Green Sprouts Reusable Baby Food Glass Containers Freezer Cubes 2 ounce
    They are available on Amazon.

    Reply

  25. Oh yes! This is my new favourite lunch! Just made it for dinner and got so excited to eat it that I forgot the chickpeas! I added some avocado and it was so delicious. Thanks for sharing. This is now in my rotation ?? I will remember the chickpeas next time.

    Reply

  26. This was simple to make and tasted amazing!! I subbed GF pasta for the whole wheat and liquid aminos for the soy sauce to make this gluten free but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I do like a bit more spice, so will probably either increase the pepper flakes or add a touch of sriracha next time I make this.

    Reply

  27. Oh my goodness… I want to eat this sauce on everything! Made this for meal prep for the first part of the week for my fiance & I (chickpeas in mine & chicken for him), and I am definitely adding it to the list of things to make again!

    Reply

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