This deconstructed spring roll in a jar is an easy meal prep lunch made with pork, shrimp, rice vermicelli noodles, cabbage, and carrots. Everything is layered in a mason jar with sweet Thai chili sauce for a convenient lunch that you can make ahead and take on the go. It has all the flavors of a spring roll without the need to fill and wrap individual rolls. Make a batch for weekday lunches and customize each jar with your favorite toppings!
Growing up, my mom made me the most delicious homemade spring rolls with shrimp and pork. They were her go-to for parties, bake sales, lunch boxes, or just whenever I asked her for some. Sadly, she passed away before she could share the exact recipe, and my main role in making the spring rolls was just rolling them up. Over the years, I’ve tried to recreate the spring rolls, but I can never get them exactly like my mom’s. It is what it is; maybe it’s the nostalgia! So now, whenever I crave those spring rolls, I make a simple deconstructed version for lunch, and it always hits the spot without having to roll and deep-fry them.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- No rolling required. Enjoy the flavors of spring rolls without having to fill and wrap individual rolls.
- Great for meal prep. Assemble the ingredients in individual mason jars for convenient lunches throughout the week.
- Packed with flavor. Savory pork, sweet shrimp, tender rice vermicelli noodles, cabbage, and carrots are finished with sweet Thai chili sauce.
- Convenient to take on the go. The individual jars make it easy to portion your lunch before heading to work or school. This recipe was originally posted in 2017 when I had just started my first job and fridge space for lunch was limited. A mason jar was able to hold everything compactly. You can easily prep this deconstructed spring roll in a regular meal prep container!
Ingredients You’ll Need
pork — you can use regular ground pork, lean ground pork, or a mix of both. If I’m using regular ground pork, I usually have to drain the grease from the skillet, and I find that takes a lot of time, so I just stick with lean ground pork when possible.
oyster sauce & soy sauce — I use these to add flavor to the ground pork. I prefer low sodium soy sauce, but you can use regular soy sauce if you prefer. You can also substitute tamari for the soy sauce. For the oyster sauce, you can use regular oyster sauce (contains oyster extracts) or vegetarian oyster sauce (made with mushrooms).
garlic powder — I use garlic powder, but you can swap for a couple of cloves of fresh garlic.
carrots & cabbage — use what you have! If you only have carrots or only have cabbage, you can just use that instead. You can also use any color carrot or cabbage.
shrimp — for ease, you can get precooked bagged shrimp or just blanch your shrimp. I usually blanch them (quickly cooking for 1-2 minutes in boiling water then transfer them to ice water to stop the cooking) and I always get the peeled and deveined shrimp to save prep time.
rice vermicelli — you can use as much or as little as you prefer. I also prefer the super-thin ones, not the wide, flat version. However, if you only have the wide, flat version, then you are welcome to swap it.
sweet thai chili sauce — this ingredient is quite loosey-goosey. Add as much or as little as you prefer! I usually add 2 or so tablespoons per serving, but my husband prefers closer to 3 to 4.
How to Make This Spring Roll in a Jar Meal Prep
Cook the Pork: In a large non-stick pan, cook the pork for 3 to 4 minutes until brown, then add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and garlic powder and cook through. Once the pork is cooked through, move it to the side on top of paper towels to absorb any extra fat.
Carmy’s Tip
Quickly toss your shrimp in the skillet to get some of the pork flavor into the shrimp.
You can also save time by cooking the carrots and cabbage with the pork.
Cook the Carrots & Cabbage: In the same skillet, sauté the carrots and cabbage with tamari sauce until they’re softened to your liking.
Cook the Vermicelli: At the same time, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add your vermicelli and cook it as directed on the bag (it should take less than 5 minutes).
Layer the Jars: Start with the sweet thai chili sauce, then add your pork, shrimp, carrots, cabbage, and vermicelli. Garnish with peanuts and basil, if desired.
Recipes Tips and Notes
- To save time, a bag of shredded coleslaw mix can replace the separately prepared cabbage and carrots. Use as much or as little as you prefer!
- Overcooked noodles can become soft and sticky, especially when stored with other ingredients, so don’t overcook them. Follow the package instructions, as different brands have different cook times.
- Make assembly easier with wide-mouth jars, since they’re easier to add ingredients to than narrow-mouth mason jars. It’ll also be easier to eat out of!
- To keep the spring roll jars from getting soggy, drain the cooked ingredients thoroughly, avoid overcooking the noodles, and keep the jars refrigerated! Also, layer the noodles and vegetables on top of the cooked protein to keep the noodles from absorbing extra liquid.
Make Ahead Tips
- Storage: store the jars in the fridge for up to five days.
- Freezer: the only component of this recipe that I would freeze is the cooked ground pork. Everything else is not super freezer-friendly, and the texture will change if frozen and thawed.
Easy Deconstructed Spring Roll in a Jar (Meal Prep)
Ingredients
For the Pork
- 500 grams ground pork
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce, low sodium
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
For the Carrots and Cabbage
- 4 carrots, sliced thinly
- ¼ head cabbage, julienned
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium
For the Everything Else
- 350 grams shrimp, deveined, peeled, cooked, chopped
- 250 grams rice vermicelli, more or less
- 10 tablespoons sweet thai chili sauce, or more or less
Instructions
- In a large non-stick pan, cook the pork for 3 to 4 minutes browned, then add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and garlic powder and cook through. Once the pork is cooked through, move it to the side on paper towels to drain any excess fat.
- Optional: quickly toss your shrimp in the skillet to get some of the pork flavor into the shrimp.
- In the same skillet, sauté the carrots and cabbage with tamari sauce until they’re softened to your liking.
- At the same time, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add your vermicelli and cook it as directed on the bag (it should take less than 5 minutes).
- Start with the sweet thai chili sauce (as much or little as you prefer), then add your pork, shrimp, carrots, cabbage, and vermicelli. Garnish with peanuts and basil, if desired.
Nutrition Per Serving
More Vietnamese Recipes to Try
Here are four more of my favorite childhood Vietnamese recipes that I’m so excited to share with you! We still make these four recipes regularly in our household for my husband and daughter.
- Vietnamese Pork Chops (Com Suon Nuong)
- Vietnamese Avocado Smoothie (Sinh To Bo)
- Bun Thit Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork & Rice Noodles)
- Thit Kho (Vietnamese Caramelized Pork and Eggs)
A blast from the past! One of the photos from 2017! This post was originally published Oct 31, 2017. This post was updated on Oct 31, 2026, with new photos and tips! I hope you love the new photos!
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Rachel Frutkin says
Sounds amazing! And now you’ve got me craving a spring roll… mmm!
Abbey Sharp says
Been loving all of your mason jar meals, and this one is so creative!
GiGi Eats says
Ohhh! This is VERY inventive!! <3 Reminds me of Vietnam last XMAS because we made spring rolls, but they were totally friedddddd! haha!
Farrah says
Aww, yay for the magic school bus! :D!! I love the idea of this deconstructed spring roll! Hooray for portability!
Shannon @loveatfirstbento says
This is seriously such a good idea – bookmarked for sure! Loving that gif you have too, and all of your pictures are always stunning! And your tips for making things faster and easier? Absolutely love! I cannot get enough of your awesome blog, can’t wait to look through more of your work!
Carmy says
Thanks for your kind words Shannon :)
Lysa says
I made this last week for work and loved it.
Sarah says
I wish your momma was here to teach us both how to make her spring rolls- I’ve never been able to master them! But your version sounds so easy– it’s the roll wrapping that always evades me. I love recreating family recipes! (even if they aren’t always exactly the same as the original!)
michele says
My dad died in high school too and memories of things we did together always make me smile and miss him all in the same moment…. ❤️❤️❤️! Im loving this for a way to leave lunch that is much healthier than what my husband will make himself. The fact its full of so many great flavors and in pre-portioned amounts Is just icing on the cake!
Melissa says
Yum! What a good idea! I love all the mason jar recipes and spring rolls, too, so this is perfect! And I haven’t figured out how to wrap spring rolls, so I love not having to do that step!
Sean says
I love a good spring roll (heck, I generally even love a mediocre spring roll), and I’m liking your deconstructed take too. Your story about your mom was touching – and it made me think about my own kids, in no small part because they’re the ones who love the Magic School Bus (the old one – they’re not digging the reboot). I hope when they grow up that they’ll have fond food memories to work with and adapt like this. Cheers.
Lisa says
Hearing about how you lost your mother so young makes me so sad. We just lost my grandfather (the patriarch of our family) this week and the hurt is deep. The one thing we have are his recipes and the memories of how we enjoyed them together as a family. I love that your Mom made your spring rolls according to your tastes — considerately deferring to the flavors that you appreciated. Isn’t that just like our loved ones? I hope I’m that good. I’ve never actually made spring rolls before, so I’m very happy for this deconstructed version. Definitely less complicated and I really appreciate the meal prep aspect of this recipe.
Donna says
I love this deconstructed version, my tummy cannot handle fried foods anymore at all so I have been avoiding spring rolls for years, and I used to absolutely love them. So easy too, the perfect addition to my husbands lunch for work.
Debra says
OMG…..how easy is this? So much quicker than rolling them up….and this gives everyone a chance to customize, when you may not know exactly what they want. Love the meal prep in a jar. I would take this for lunch every day in various forms. Thanks for the helpful tips and I love your beautiful photos too.
Jennifer Bigler says
So, spring rolls are something that I have loved my entire life. However, I have not had one since going gluten free in 2011. This recipe is the perfect way for me to enjoy something I love again. YAY! I’m going to make these for easy lunches throughout the week.
Amanda says
Deconstructed spring rolls are such a fantastic idea! I always order spring rolls when we go out, and to make an entire jar/bowl of the fillings sounds like a meal I’d love! (Especially since they can be a little heavy with oil when fried in restaurants – love this lightening up version.) You always have the best ideas for meal prep that’s easy and full of flavor!
Marisa Franca says
What a great take-along meal. I haven’t used mason jars for any meals but I think that is such a great idea. I love the taste of spring rolls and this would be so convenient not have to make them in wraps. I’m sharing this recipe with my daughter — her family loves spring rolls.
Kris says
Wow! This looks like a ton of fun and a ton of flavor. Spring rolls are one of my favorite things in the world, and to build one in a mason jar is brilliant. I love the ‘short-cut’ ideas, too. You’re definitely on to something here. I will be making a large batch this Sunday for the week. Thanks for the recipe and inspiration!!