Mason Jar Salads – WellPlated.com

Meet your new go-to lunch: meal prep Mason Jar Salads! They’re straightforward, contemporary, and flavorful; extremely transportable, customizable, and just about every little thing you need in a salad, conveniently layered right into a jar.

Why You’ll Love Meal Prep Mason Jar Salads

• The Excellent Meal Prep Lunch. They final within the fridge for days, they’re straightforward to place collectively, and so they’re tremendous satisfying. What extra are you able to ask for?!
• Colourful and Flavorful. These are salads you’ll look ahead to consuming! All these colourful elements layered into the jars makes you wish to seize a fork and dig in—plus, every layer brings totally different flavors and textures to the desk, providing you with a pleasant selection in each chunk.
• Customizable. I share some particular salad concepts for inspiration under, but additionally some mix-and-match concepts that will help you give you your personal.

Learn how to Make Mason Jar Salads

Whilst you might simply throw every little thing right into a jar and hope for the most effective, mason jar salads require a bit of little bit of technique.

Placing the dressing on the underside retains your lettuce and crunchy bits from getting soggy; plus, whenever you dump the jar right into a bowl, which means the dressing will pour over every little thing else.

Any dimension of jar will work, relying on how huge (or small) you need your salad, however I exploit a wide-mouth quart-sized jar as a result of I like a BIG salad. Pint jars are good for smaller salads. No want to purchase jars, both—jars from pasta sauce, jam, mayo, and so on., will work.

You possibly can select a couple of choices from every class (nicely, aside from the dressing—persist with one there!), however you should definitely layer every little thing within the order outlined under for excellent meal prep salads.

Layer 1: Dressing

Add about 2 tablespoons of store-bought or selfmade dressing. Listed here are some dressings that I like utilizing in my mason jar salads:

Layer 2: Sturdy Veggies and/or Legumes

These are greens that may stand as much as (or are improved by) soaking in dressing:

• English or Persian cucumbers
• Thinly sliced purple onions or shallots
• Sliced mushrooms
• Shredded or sliced carrots, radishes, or beets
• Thawed frozen peas or corn
• Broccoli or cauliflower florets
• Diced or sliced bell pepper
• Entire grape tomatoes
• Diced or sliced celery
• Shredded cabbage or Brussels sprouts
• Chickpeas, black beans, lentils, edamame, and different legumes

Layer 3: Proteins

You don’t want a protein should you’re serving your salad alongside a sandwich or leftovers, however I at all times like so as to add one thing from this class if my meal prep salad goes to be my total lunch.

Layer 4: Grains

Once more, not a should, however a good-to-have should you’re making it a meal!

Layer 5: The Accoutrements

Think about this the layer of elements price getting enthusiastic about. 

• Nuts and seeds
• Dried fruit
• Recent fruit that gained’t brown (mango, plums, citrus, blueberries)
• Solar-dried tomatoes
• Cooked crumbled bacon (Baked Bacon, Air Fryer Bacon)
• Chilly leftover roasted greens
• Tortilla or wonton strips
• Croutons

Layer 6: Greens

Pack these into the remaining house on the high, however don’t pack them in too tightly, or they gained’t be crisp and contemporary.

• Romaine
• Spinach
• Kale
• Spring combine or different bagged salad greens
• Shredded Brussels sprouts or cabbage (should you want extra uncooked taste and crispiness; to mellow the flavour and texture, add them within the second layer)

My Favourite Recipes for Mason Jar Salads

You may make virtually any salad right into a meal prep mason jar salad, however these are those I’ve on frequent repeat:

Asian Cabbage Salad. I alter up the unique recipe by including entire wheat noodles and add a bit of additional oil to the dressing to skinny it out. Should you’ve ever had Ramen Salad (a Midwestern staple!), you would completely add a few of these ramen noodles too for additional crunch.

Black Bean Corn Salad. To bulk up this recipe, I add romaine lettuce. The frozen roasted corn from Dealer Joe’s could be fan-freaking-TASTIC on this Mexican-inspired salad.

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad. That is one other the place I add romaine; actually, you are able to do this with any bean salad recipe to take it from a aspect dish to a full meal. Letting the chickpeas sit within the dressing marinates them and makes them additional delish!

Italian Chopped Salad. For a flavorful, filling salad, this Italian chopped salad recipe can’t be beat. It’s simply so good, with olives, chickpeas, mozzarella pearls, salami, and a zippy French dressing. Should you’re not a fan of the chunk of uncooked purple onion, place it instantly within the dressing to mellow it.

Extra Salads to Assemble in Mason Jars