These Spiralized Zucchini Chicken Noodle Soup Jars are a perfect low-carb meal prep idea you can take for lunch on-the-go. Just add boiling water, microwave and enjoy!
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Ingredients in Zucchini noodle soup jars
I am constantly surprising myself at the ways in which I can pack a lunch in a mason jar. Take these Spiralized Zucchini Chicken Noodle Soup Jars for example.
It's much more than a Pinterest fad, trust me. There's some utility to the jars, and hopefully once you watch the video and see how to do it yourself you'll see what I mean. Everything is layered in just the right way that they are super easy to pack away and you've got the most delicious grab and go lunch for the work week.
Here's what you need to make them:
- chicken breasts
- garlic
- onions
- celery
- carrots
- red pepper
- spices
- chicken bouillon cubes
- spiralized zucchini noodles
How to make zucchini noodle soup jars
These jars are so easy to prep ahead for the week! Here's how to make them:
- Saute chicken, garlic, onions, celery and carrots for 6-7 minutes until tender. Add red pepper and seasonings, cooking another couple minutes then remove from heat.
Divide chicken and veggie mixture among 4 large mason jars. Add one bouillon cube to each and top with zucchini noodles. Store in the fridge up to four days. - When ready to serve, pour boiling water overtop, completely covering zucchini noodles. Microwave for 1-2 minutes on high and remove, mixing well. Pour into a large, deep bowl, then serve and enjoy!
Ingredient substitutions
This recipe is super versatile! Here are some suggestions if you need to make some changes to this recipe.
Chicken – You can use any type of chicken or meat in this recipe. Or, you can use chickpeas, tofu or lentils to make this recipe vegetarian but still add some protein.
Zucchini noodles – You can use any type of vegetable “noodles” in this recipe! I like butternut squash or sweet potato spirals in this recipe too.
Veggies – This recipe calls for celery, carrots and red pepper, but feel free to add or remove whichever veggies you'd like. I recommend keeping the celery for flavour, but you can also stir in chopped up spinach at the end.
Seasonings – If you don't have the individual seasonings on hand, you can use Italian seasoning instead.
Why use a mason jar?
You want to use a mason jar to separate your ingredients – this way the zucchini noodles will last for much longer than if you had them mixed in with the rest of the veggies. It's also easier to pour in boiling water and get the soup to cook through, and this way the jars are easy to transport to work.
You can always store in another type of container, then dump into a bowl and pour in your boiling water and microwave from there if you don't have any mason jars on hand.
How to spiralize zucchini noodles
I always buy pre-spiralized zucchini noodles from the prepared foods section of the grocery store. Often, you'll find other types of prepared and cut up vegetables like veggie trays and veggies for omelets, stir fries, etc. It's just much easier and cuts down on the amount of prep time with this recipe.
However, you can spiralize your own noodles using a spiralizer. You can get a hand held one or one that sits on the counter and you turn a crank to get the noodles. Both are easy to use and will provide you with zucchini spirals in no time!
Storing and reheating
You can store these jars up to 4 or 5 days in the fridge. Make sure to layer the zucchini noodles on top of the other ingredients so they don't spoil. When you're ready to eat them, pour boiling water overtop then microwave for 1-2 minutes.
If you have already made the soup and have leftovers, store them up to 2-3 days in a container with a lid. You can reheat in the microwave for 2 minutes or so. You may want to replace the zucchini noodles by that point as they will be softer than usual, but it all depends on your personal preference.
Can you freeze the leftovers?
You can freeze this cooked soup without the zucchini noodles, yes! You can also freeze the chicken and veggie filling to make it easier for you to meal prep these jars in the future. Just make sure you use fresh zucchini spirals.
More meal prep mason jar recipes
If you're looking for more mason jar lunch ideas, check out these other faves of mine below!
Meal prep tools for mason jar salads
- These are the 32oz mason jars I used
- These colourful mason jar lids are so fun and perfect if you lose your lids
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
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Zucchini Chicken Noodle Soup Jars
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breasts, diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 small yellow onions, diced
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 4 chicken bouillon cubes
- 4 cups spiralized zucchini noodles (I buy the ones in the pre-made produce section of the grocery store but alternatively you could spiralize 3-4 zucchini)
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add garlic, onions, celery and carrots, sauteeing for 6-7 minutes until veggies are tender. Add red pepper, thyme, parsley and oregano and cook another 2 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Divide chicken and veggie mixture among 4 large mason jars. Add bouillon cube to each and top with zucchini noodles. Store in the fridge up to four days.
- When ready to serve, pour boiling water overtop just before completely covering zucchini noodles. Microwave for 1-2 minutes on high and remove, mixing well. Pour into a large, deep bowl, then serve and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Carol L says
I don’t do microwaves: can you heat in a conventional oven?
This looks pretty awesome, as do the other ‘jar’ recipes. Thank you
Taylor Stinson says
Thanks so much Carol 🙂 I would not recommend heating in the oven because I don’t think the jars are safe for the oven. However, I do have a solution! You could prep the jars ahead of time and store in the fridge then pour in the water, then dump into a medium-sized pot and heat on the stove for 4-5 min on med-high heat. I feel like that should do it!
Belinda says
These look fantastic! What size mason jars do you use?
Jill Reese says
Such a great recipe! Will definitely give this a go for university.
Cheryl says
What items are the sugar and carbs coming from? Couldn’t figure it out with those ingredients
Thanks
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Cheryl – they are most likely natural sugars from the zucchini and the carbs also come from the veggies and perhaps the broth. Hope that helps!
Brenda says
Looks delish! Are your jars 1qt or a pint?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Brenda! I’m using the 1 qt jars here 🙂
Libby says
Can you can this to make shelf stable? Do the noodles hold?
Taylor Stinson says
I’m sorry Libby I’m not sure what you mean…these jars need to be refrigerated and my understanding of making something shelf stable means to make it safe to keep unrefrigerated, and that’s just not possible. Let me know if you mean something else though!
Cindy says
Follow a canning recipe for vegetable soup. Then, you can make them shelf stable.