Thai chickpea mason jar salad has a tangy peanut dressing, quinoa, zucchini, carrots and cabbage and is topped with honey roasted peanuts! Ready in under 25 minutes.
Summer, please never leave.
I am squeezing every last drop out of summer with this Thai chickpea mason jar salad!
Not only are they gorgeous, but they are full of plant-powered protein to keep us full and satisfied. No zero-calorie leafy salads here!
And also? Honey roasted peanuts! Because YUM.
We love this Thai chickpea mason jar salad because
- the only thing you have to cook is the quinoa (so no oven, yay!)
- you can swap the veggies out for what you have on hand
- they are ready in under 25 minutes
- HONEY ROASTED PEANUTS <--because sometimes you need something a little 'extra' 😉
How to build a mason jar salad
Why are we making salad in a jar? Because LAYERING! That's right, it's not just because they look so pretty (let's face it though, that does help!), but it's actually for functionality.
By keeping the sturdier ingredients like chickpeas and quinoa at the bottom of the jar in the dressing, we are protecting the more delicate ingredients like zucchini noodles, which wouldn't last nearly so long if they were sitting in the dressing.
Here are my rules for layering a mason jar salad:
- Dressing- always goes on the bottom
- Sturdy ingredients- like chickpeas, chicken, quinoa go on top of the dressing. Anything that can sit in the dressing for several days without getting mushy is going to be great here
- Delicate ingredients- like leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese etc go higher up. Choose ingredients you want to keep out of the dressing to go higher up.
For this jar salad, I put the honey roasted peanuts at the top. They will lose their crunch a bit, but they at least won't be completely soggy like they would if they sat in the dressing for several days.
What size of jar do you use for this salad?
I use 1 pint mason jars
, and really smush things in there. To serve, I will dump it out into a bowl. If you want to eat out of the jar, I suggest a 1 quart mason jar, and you can give it a good shake up before serving.
How do you eat the salad?
When you're ready to serve, dump the salad out of the jar into a large bowl. The dressing pours from the bottom of the jar over all the ingredients and dresses the salad for you! As mentioned above, you can also eat right out of the jar but will need a larger 1 quart mason jar
to do so.
How long do these jar salads last?
These are good for up to 4 days in the fridge!
Can I swap the dressing?
Absolutely! Aim for about 2 tablespoons per jar. I'd suggest this Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing, this Creamy Maple Tahini Dressing, or something basic like this Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Recipe tips
- I shook up my salad dressing in a jar similar to these
, but I also recommend this salad dressing shaker - Salads are in 1 pint mason jars for these photos
- Looking for more jar salads? Try this Southwestern Sweet Potato Jar Salad, these Kale Pasta Jar Salads, and these Strawberry Spinach Quinoa Jar Salads
, but I also recommend this 
Thai Chickpea Mason Jar Salad
Ingredients
Jar Salads
- ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups chickpeas
- 1 medium sized zucchini (spiralized)
- ½ jumbo carrot (spiralized)
- 1 ½ cups cabbage (shredded)
- ¼ cup honey roasted peanuts (or regular peanuts for vegan)
Tangy Peanut Dressing
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 5 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce (tamari or coconut aminos for gluten-free)
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside to cool.
- Shake together dressing ingredients and divide up between 4 1-pint jars, roughly 2 tablespoons per jar.
- Add in the following order: chickpeas, cooled quinoa, carrot noodles, zucchini noodles, shredded cabbage, honey roasted peanuts.
- Seal and store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To serve, shake everything out into a large bowl and enjoy cold.
