Today I have a fun and easy make ahead lunch recipe for you - rainbow rice salad jars! These beautiful salad jars can be made in advance for grab and go lunches all week long.
This delicious rice salad recipe has a really simple, child-friendly dressing, so kids will love eating them too! They're easy to make in bulk for a showstopping healthy party food idea, or when summer arrives, you could pack some up to take some along on a family picnic.
Why not get the kids get involved and let them choose which fruit and vegetables to pack in their own jar - personal experience tells me they'll be much more likely to eat it that way!
Jar salads are great for making in bulk for lunches - they're really simple to put together but you do need to get the ingredients into the jar in the right order to avoid ending up with a soggy salad - there's nothing worse than that when you're looking forward to a lovely healthy lunch!
The best order for a jar salad like this one is this: First start with the dressing, at the very bottom of the jar. Next, add rice, top with layers of crunchy vegetables, then add any fruits (grapes, blueberries and chopped mango are particularly yummy in salads!) and always end with your leafy vegetables on the very top.
Rainbow Rice Salad Jars
Ingredients:
- 100g uncooked white rice
- ½ red pepper
- 1 medium carrot
- small (200g) tin sweetcorn
- handful green grapes
- large handful fresh spinach leaves
For the dressing:
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp honey
- salt & pepper
Method:
Cook the rice in boiling water according to packet instructions. Place cooked rice in a sieve under cold running water to cool, then drain well and place to one side until ready to assemble the jars.
Prepare the rainbow vegetables; de-seed and finely chop the pepper, peel and grate the carrot, drain the sweetcorn, slice the grapes, wash, pat dry and roughly chop the spinach leaves.
Place the dressing ingredients into a small jar with a lid, season to taste with the salt and pepper.
Place the lid firmly on the jar and shake until completely combined.
Divide the dressing between 4 clean jars. Add the rice on top, filling each jar around a ⅓ of the way up.
Layer the chopped pepper, grated carrot, sweetcorn and grapes on top of the rice in each jar.
Finish with a good handful of chopped spinach, then seal each jar with a lid.
Store in the fridge until ready to serve.
When ready to eat, tip the jar upside down, give it a good shake to distribute the dressing then eat straight from the jar or tip into a bowl to serve.
Enjoy!
Note: The assembled rice salad jars can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Love this recipe idea? You might enjoy these healthy rainbow recipes too:
For even more fun rainbow food ideas and recipes like these, check out the rainbow food ideas section here on the Eats Amazing blog or follow my Rainbow Food Pinterest board for gorgeous rainbow ideas from all over the web!
Grace
Rainbow Rice Salad Jars
Ingredients
- 100 g uncooked white rice
- ½ red pepper
- 1 medium carrot
- small 200g tin sweetcorn
- handful green grapes
- large handful fresh spinach leaves
For the dressing:
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp honey
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Cook the rice in boiling water according to packet instructions. Place cooked rice in a sieve under cold running water to cool, then drain well and place to one side until ready to assemble the jars.
- Prepare the rainbow vegetables; de-seed and finely chop the pepper, peel and grate the carrot, drain the sweetcorn, slice the grapes, wash, pat dry and roughly chop the spinach leaves.
- Place the dressing ingredients into a small jar with a lid, season to taste with the salt and pepper then shake until completely combined.
- Divide the dressing between 4 clean jars. Add the rice on top, filling each jar around a ⅓ of the way up.
- Layer the chopped pepper, grated carrot, sweetcorn and grapes on top of the rice in each jar.
- Finish with a good handful of chopped spinach, then seal each jar with a lid.
- Store in the fridge until ready to serve.
- When ready to eat, tip the jar upside down, give it a good shake to distribute the dressing then eat straight from the jar or tip into a bowl to serve.
Notes
Love this recipe idea? Why not save it to Pinterest so you can easily find it again!
Anna @ Once Upon A Food Blog says
These are so pretty and a brilliant idea