If there’s a season of simplicity and ease, this. is. it. Rosé, bbqs, friends + fam, and sunshine. Planning and structure? Grocery shopping and cooking? Those are September things, right? Well, yes. But here’s the thing: even in the summer, we still need to eat.
And if you’re anything like us, life’s a lot better when I’m eating food that’s actually good for me. Hello, simple summer meal prep (…the magic word being simple).
My simple meal-prep answer? Bowls. Like these shrimp noodle bowls with spicy peanut dressing. They’re perfect for summer (any season, really… but I’m biased) because bowl meals are easy-breezy, go-with-the-flow meals. These shrimp noodle bowls follow our tried-and-true power bowl formula:
+ Green Base
+ Protein
+ Veggies and Fruit
+ Healthy Carb
+ Something Fancy
+ Dressing
This formula is like a little blueprint for your mind, giving you the structure to make satisfying prep-ahead meals, but also the freedom to easily change it up. Here I use cabbage (green base), shrimp (protein), red peppers and cucumber (veg/fruit), rice noodles (healthy carb), cashews and cilantro (#fancy), and a spicy peanut sauce (dressing).
But don’t like cabbage? Swap it out for another green. Vegan? Omit the shrimp and add another protein like tofu or tempeh. You do you. Because it’s summertime, baby.
To make the whole summer meal prep thing actually happen, I created a little guide for you. It includes our five favorite summer bowl combos, a printable shopping list, and a simple prep plan to make five servings for the week in just an hour (!). So you can get out of the kitchen and onto the back patio (#yeswayrosé).
Includes:
Shrimp Noodle Bowls with Spicy Peanut Dressing
Summer Taco Bowls with Cumin-Lime Dressing
Strawberry Feta Bowls with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Grilled Zucchini Bowls with Basil Yogurt Dressing
Greek Power Bowls with Greek Vinaigrette
Shrimp Noodle Bowls with Spicy Peanut Dressing
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
Description
Shrimp noodle bowls with spicy peanut dressing: a gluten-free summer favorite that’s easy to meal prep. Made with healthy brown rice noodles or zucchini noodles and topped with peanuts and cilantro.
Ingredients
Spicy Peanut Dressing
- 5 tablespoons smooth, natural, unsweetened peanut butter
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- 2 small minced garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- hot sauce to taste
- 1/4 cup warm water
Bowl
- 10 oz brown rice noodles or 5 cups zucchini noodles
- 5 large handfuls thinly sliced cabbage
- 20 cooked shrimp
- 2 cucumbers, diced
- 2 red bell peppers, diced
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
- 1 lime, cut into slices
- 10 tablespoons roasted peanuts or cashews, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Make the dressing. In a bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until well combined.
-
Cook the noodles. Cook the rice noodles according to package instructions or make the zucchini noodles.
-
Prep the remaining ingredients. Slice the cabbage, dice the cucumbers and bell peppers, remove the cilantro leaves from their stems, and coarsely chop the peanuts or cashews.
-
Pack the bowls. Divide the rice noodles between five meal prep containers. Top with equal amounts of prepped cabbage, cucumber, and bell peppers. Add four shrimp and 1-2 lime slices to each container. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Keep the spicy peanut dressing in a separate container until ready to use. When ready to eat, drizzle with sauce, a squeeze of lime, and top with 2 tablespoons of the roasted peanuts or cashews.
Notes
Meal Prep! We encourage batch cooking to get more bang for your buck in terms of time spent in the kitchen. To get more (easy!) prep-ahead summer bowl recipes, sign up to get the Prep-Ahead Summer Bowl Recipes + Printable Planner in the post above.
Keywords: shrimp noodle bowls, gluten-free noodle bowls, peanut dressing
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30-Minute Meal-Prep Recipes So You Aren't Spending Sunday in the Kitchen - Takingcareofhealth.com says
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fattanehkosary says
perfect healthy & beautiful i love it
Bethany Crowson says
What is the nutrition information for this recipe?
Ally says
Hi Bethany! We don’t post nutrition information, but you can easily copy and paste the ingredients into something like this nutrition calculator by Very Well: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076I hope that helps! x Ally