How To Make A Mason Jar Salad
Mason jar salads are just what the name says - salads made in the mason jar.
Putting salads in a mason jar makes them a convenient and portable way to get your daily veggies, and they’re also an easy but healthy meal prep idea. This is the perfect thing if you’re looking for healthy lunches to take with you to work!
You basically put all your salad ingredients in a mason jar, and it’s ready to eat! You can take it with you when you go to work or eat the salad at home. The best thing is that you can make any salad you want this way - if you have a favorite salad, this will be a fun new way to make it!
In this post, I’ll share practical tips on how to make a mason jar salad with no soggy veggies.
How To Make A Mason Jar Salad
What You Will Need
You need just a few things to make mason jar salads, which makes them the perfect quick and healthy lunch!
You’ll need a mason jar or a canning jar, a lid, and any salad ingredients you want!
Directions
Now let’s see how to layer our salads! Of course, this is just a suggestion, and you don’t have to follow this exact way for every salad. The only thing I recommend you always do is put the dressing on the bottom and the leafy greens on top. The rest could be different.
Also, if it’s a salad that doesn’t have anything that could potentially get soggy, you can even mix it in a bowl before putting it in the jar.
Step 1: Add the salad dressing
First things first, you want to add your dressing to the bottom of the jar. Why? Because that way your salad won’t get soggy before you eat it.
You can use any dressing you like: a basic one with olive oil, vinegar and seasonings, or a fancier one with blended up herbs, a honey mustard dressing, a peanut-based dressing, or similar. Homemade dressings are always better and healthier than store-bought ones, so it would be a great idea to make your own.
What makes mason jar salads amazing is that you can mix your dressing by pouring the ingredients, closing the lid, and shaking the jar until it’s all mixed together.
Step 2: Non-soggy veggies
Now it’s time to add veggies that don’t get soggy when they’re covered with the dressings. Those can be cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, red onion, carrots, and so on.
Add one or more of those veggies.
Step 3: More non-soggy ingredients
Next, you should add ingredients that are also fine to be close to the dressing, they won’t get soggy or change their texture, but they’re not a a “salad veggie” like cucumbers or tomatoes, so they shouldn’t be covered in the dressing.
For example, beans, chickpeas, corn, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. You can add one or more of those as well.
Step 4: Add dairy and protein
Now it’s time to add your choice of cheese and/or protein. You can add feta cheese, shredded cheese, boiled eggs, grilled chicken, grilled salmon, grilled tofu - anything you like.
Step 5: Add the grains and carbs
Now it’s time to add a filling ingredient, like rice, quinoa, couscous, pasta, etc.
Step 6: Leafy veggies
Finally, on the top of the jar, you’ll add your leafy veggies, that get soggy when submerged in the dressing. That’s why those veggies are on the top of the jar and the dressing is at the bottom of the jar - the dressing won’t touch those leafy veggies, so they won’t get soggy!
The leafy veggies can be any salad base you like: spinach, kale, iceberg, lettuce, arugula, a mix of leafy greens, etc.
Mason Jar Salad Recipes
Now let’s see some amazing mason jar salad recipes!
Quinoa, Pear, and Spinach Salad in a jar
This healthy salad is vegan, delicious, and super quick to make!
Chicken Cobb Salad Mason Jar
If you love cobb salad, you’ll love this mason jar version!
Rainbow Mason Jar Salad
This rainbow salad is not only pretty to look at, but SO healthy and delicious as well!
Black Bean Mason Jar Salad
Beans are full of fiber and protein, so this black bean salad is something you should definitely try out!
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
This vegan mason jar recipe is also super delicious and worth a try!
Caprese Mason Jar
Caprese is a classic everyone loves. So, why not make it in a mason jar salad form?
Next I’ll share some of my salad recipe that you can easily make in a mason jar with the directions I outlined above!
Fall Harvest Salad
Ingredients
2 cups Leafy greens, spinach, raw - 14 calories
½ cup Asparagus spears, chopped - 13.5 calories
2 Carrots, whole, medium - 50 calories
½ cup Green beans - 19.5 calories
1 Tbsp Sesame seeds (Tbsp) - 18 calories
6 oz Chicken breast, boneless, skinless, raw - 190 calories
1 Tbsp Creamy dressing (e.g. ranch), regular (more than 50 calories per 2 tbsp) - 74 calories
1 Salt, dash - 0 calories
1 Pepper, dash - 0 calories
Instructions
Slice chicken and carrots into strips. Cut off hard ends of asparagus.
Spray a pan with an oil spray. Cook chicken, asparagus, green beans, and carrots ~15 minutes on low heat, until chicken has cooked through.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Top with dressing and seasonings. Mix all together.
No chicken? Use beans, tofu, or fish. No dairy? Use a dairy free dressing.
Greek Style Chopped Salad
Ingredients
½ Cucumber, small - 16 calories
½ Bell pepper, red - 18.5 calories
½ cup Tomatoes, grape - 16 calories
¼ Onion, red - 13.75 calories
⅓ cup Cheese, crumbled, feta - 133 calories
½ oz Olives, sliced - 25 calories
1 Tbsp Olive oil (Tbsp) - 119 calories
0.3 Tbsp Red wine vinegar (Tbsp) - 0.9 calories
1 Salt, dash - 0 calories
1 Pepper, dash - 0 calories
1 Basil, dash - 0 calories
Instructions
Chop vegetables & mix together in a bowl with olives.
Add in cheese, oil, vinegar, and seasonings. Mix.
No dairy? Use avocado or more oil.
Lentil & Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
½ cup Quinoa, cooked - 111 calories
¼ cup Beans & legumes, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), cooked - 67 calories
½ cup Lentils, cooked - 115 calories
2 cups Leafy greens, spinach, raw - 14 calories
½ cup Tomatoes, grape - 16 calories
1 Salt, dash - 0 calories
1 Pepper, dash - 0 calories
1 Basil, dash - 0 calories
1 Oregano, dash - 0 calories
1 Tbsp Vinaigrette, regular (more than 50 calories per 2 tbsp) - 75 calories
Instructions
Cook quinoa and lentils as instructed on packages.
Drain and rinse chickpeas.
Combine quinoa, chickpeas, lentils, spinach, and tomatoes (halved).
Mix with dressing and seasonings.
Mixed Berry Salad
Ingredients
½ cup Blueberries, fresh - 35 calories
½ cup Strawberries, fresh - 25 calories
⅓ cup Cheese, crumbled, feta - 133 calories
4 cups Leafy greens, lettuce, raw - 20 calories
2 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp) - 35 calories
3 Tbsp Pecans (Tbsp) - 141 calories
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
Top with dressing.
No nuts? Use seeds. No dairy? Use a dairy-free cheese or use an oil-based vinaigrette instead of a light dressing. Using one type of berry (vs. 2) is also fine if that’s cheaper.
Note: I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings.
Avocado, Bacon, and Chicken Salad
Ingredients
2 cups Mixed greens - 20 calories
2 Uncured bacon, slice - 88 calories
½ Avocado, small - 116.5 calories
6 oz Chicken breast, boneless, skinless, raw - 190 calories
1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar - 14 calories
1 Salt, dash - 0 calories
1 Pepper, dash - 0 calories
Instructions
Cut bacon into small pieces with kitchen shears. Cube chicken and avocado.
Fry bacon and cook chicken on stove top by cooking on lowest heat for ~10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
No bacon? Use turkey or soy bacon. No chicken? Use tofu or fish.
Basic Nicoise Salad
Ingredients
¼ Onion, red - 13.75 calories
1 Tuna, canned (1 can) - 120 calories
½ oz Olives, whole - 25 calories
1 Egg, large - 72 calories
1½ cups Green beans, frozen - 52.5 calories
1 Everything bagel seasoning, dash - 0 calories
2 Tbsp Red wine vinegar (Tbsp) - 6 calories
Instructions
Hard boil egg. Slice once cooled into fourths.
Spray a pan with an oil spray. Stir fry green beans ~5 minutes on medium heat.
Put green beans in the refrigerator to cool for at least 15 minutes. Or you can use fresh green beans – use as they are, no need to stir fry.
Dice onion.
Combine all ingredients. Top with seasoning and vinegar.
Chicken & Feta Lettuce-Less Salad
Ingredients
1 cup Tomatoes, grape - 32 calories
1 Cucumber, small - 32 calories
¼ Onion, red - 13.75 calories
6 oz Chicken breast, boneless, skinless, raw - 190 calories
¼ cup Cheese, crumbled, feta - 99.75 calories
1 Oregano, dash - 0 calories
1 Salt, dash - 0 calories
2 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp) - 35 calories
Instructions
Halve tomatoes, dice onion, and chop cucumber.
Cube raw chicken.
Spray a pan with an oil spray. Cook chicken for ~10 minutes, until cooked through.
Combine ingredients.
No chicken? Use tofu, tuna, or beans. No dairy? Use a regular, oil-based vinaigrette, not a light vinaigrette.
Note: I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings.
Chopped Chicken with Israeli Salad and Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
6 oz Chicken breast, boneless, skinless, raw - 190 calories
1 Cucumber, small - 32 calories
1 Tomato, medium - 22 calories
4 Tbsp Tzatziki sauce - 160 calories
1 Basil, dash - 0 calories
1 Oregano, dash - 0 calories
1 Salt, dash - 0 calories
1 Pepper, dash - 0 calories
Instructions
Cube chicken.
Spray pan with an oil spray. Cook chicken for ~10 minutes on medium heat, until cooked through.
Chop tomato and cucumber; mix with seasonings.
Combine all ingredients.
No chicken? Use tofu, beans, or fish.
Chopped Salad
Ingredients
2 cups Leafy greens, spinach, raw - 14 calories
1 Cucumber, small - 32 calories
1 Tomato, medium - 22 calories
2 Egg, large - 144 calories
1 Uncured bacon, slice - 44 calories
½ Avocado, small - 116.5 calories
2 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp) - 35 calories
1 Salt, dash - 0 calories
1 Basil, dash - 0 calories
Instructions
Hard boil eggs, and then chop into small pieces once cooled
Fry bacon on stove top by cooking on low heat & turning every few minutes. Alternatively, you can cook bacon in the microwave or in the oven (~20 minutes at 400 degrees) if you prefer.
Chop tomato, cucumber, and avocado into small pieces.
Mix all ingredients together.
No pork? Use soy or turkey bacon.
Note: I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings.
How To Eat a Mason Jar Salad
There are two ways you can eat a mason jar salad.
The first is straight from the jar!
A few minutes before you want to eat it, flip it around so the top is now at the bottom and vice versa. That way the dressing is now on top and it will start going down and mixing with the salad. Shake up the jar a bit so the dressing mixes with the ingredients even more, and then, just grab a fork a dig in!
However, if you packed the jar tightly, it might be difficult to eat it that way.
In that case, just grab a bowl, open your jar, and empty it out in the bowl.