3 Healthy Jar Lunches to Get You Inspired

Rachel Morrow RACHEL MORROW

Are you in need of some serious lunch inspiration? A healthy lunch can be much more than some leafy greens and a tin of tuna! We've put together some of our favorites from Food Matters HQ and the secrets to putting these together ahead of time to avoid soggy spinach!

With a little bit of preparation, it's easy to make healthier choices!

JAR 1: LAKSA IN A JAR

Ingredients

  • 1 cup roasted pumpkin
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 cup organic chickpeas
  • 4 tbsps laksa curry paste (additive & preservative free)
  • 1 tin of coconut milk (400 mL)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth or stock
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • handful of spinach
  • 1 packet organic kelp or rice noodles

What to do

  1. In a large saucepan on medium heat, place coconut milk, laksa paste and vegetable broth. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. Add in roasted pumpkin, onion, bell pepper and chickpeas and simmer for another 5 minutes.
  3. Season with fish sauce and lime juice.
  4. To serve: Layer your jar with Laksa, noodles, spinach and garnish with coriander leaves.

JAR 2: ITALIAN ZOODLES

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup tomato pasta sauce (we used an organic basil & garlic sauce)
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 handful spinach
  • 6-8 black olives
  • 6-8 cherry tomatoes

What to do

  1. Prepare your zoodles using a spiralizer . If you don't have one, a vegetable peeler works well to create thicker zoodles .
  2. Layer your lunch by starting with the sauce on the bottom of your jar, followed by your zoodles and topped with olives, tomatoes & spinach.
  3. Just before eating, add a small amount of boiling water and mix well.

JAR 3: SOBA NOODLE & ROASTED PUMPKIN SALAD

Ingredients

  • Soba noodles (we used quinoa soba noodles)
  • 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin
  • 1/4 small cabbage, shredded
  • 1 small carrot
  • 3 small radishes, sliced thinly
  • small handful spinach
  • 1/2 lime

DRESSING

  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • a thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely grated
  • 1 tbsp tamari
  • 1 tsp raw honey

What to do

  1. Prepare your salad vegetables.
  2. Soak noodles in boiling water as per instructions on the packet.
  3. In the bottom of your add your dressing ingredients, continue to layer the ingredients starting with the noodles, pumpkin, cabbage, carrot, radishes and spinach.
  4. Before enjoying, gently shake to coat your salad with the dressing and finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

NOTE: Use organic ingredients where possible.

Rachel Morrow

BY RACHEL MORROW

Alongside being a qualified nutritionist and our social media guru, Rachel is Food Matters’ Recipe Developer. She’s forever dreaming up and developing new recipes for the community to enjoy.