How To Make Mason Jar Salads

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These 5 Mix and Friction match Mason Jar Salad Recipes make healthy lunches easy – they're groovy for meal prep and this mail service will testify you what size jar is all-time!

Welcome to one of my fave e'er meal prep posts! Today nosotros'll learn how to build the ultimate mason jar salad – they are perfect as take hold of and go lunches (check out more meal prep lunch ideas here) and this mail will detail how to overlap unlike ingredients so you lot can enjoy different jars everyday!

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That's my biggest pain point when information technology comes to meal prep: I don't like to eat the same thing every day. Well, you don't accept to if you are strategic about the ingredients you're using and opt for different dressings and combos. The variety among these five mason jar salads will have you enjoying tiffin once more!

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What are the advantages of preparing a salad in a jar?

There are many benefits of making mason jar salads, including:

WEEKLY Repast PREP. Yous can easily make plenty salads to cover tiffin for a week. You can also make extra jars and employ them as side salads for dinner.
SAVE Coin. Preparing and bringing your lunch to piece of work tin relieve y'all coin compared to ownership luncheon every day.
EAT HEALTHIER. Preparing stonemason jar salads for your work lunches can make it a lot easier to resist temptation when faced with fast food options.
THE VARIETY. There are and so many combinations that you could exist enjoying a different salad every mean solar day of the week.
LESS INGREDIENTS. You don't need to buy a lot of ingredients, you just need to switch one or two ingredients in each salad to have a different taste combination each 24-hour interval.
EASY CLEAN Upwards. Mason jars are easy to clean and since glass does non stain or retain flavors or odors, they're easier to keep clean compared to plastic lunch containers.

What is the best mason jar salad size?

In the Usa and Canada, the standard Mason jar opening comes in two sizes: regular (2 and three/viii inches wide) and wide mouth (iii inches broad). The broad mouth jar is generally a better choice for salads because it'due south much easier to get ingredients in and out of the wider opening.

Mason jars come up in a variety of sizes, but the ones nearly commonly used for salad recipes are the pint (16 oz) and quart (32oz) size jars. I've used the 16 oz size bricklayer jars for the recipes pictured.

How long does a mason jar salad stay fresh?

If stored properly, well-nigh stonemason jar salad recipes can last 4 to 5 days in the fridge.

Keep in heed that some ingredients stay fresher in the refrigerator longer than others. If y'all're doing repast planning and want to prepare a diverseness of salads for an entire week, plan it so that you lot eat the salads with ingredients that stay fresh for longer later on in the week.

How to layer stonemason jar salads

To keep your salad fresh and crisp, brand sure y'all layer your ingredients properly! Here's the exact order in which y'all should be layering everything.

The dressing. This always goes on the lesser.
Grains and proteins. Grains (like quinoa), proteins (like chicken, chickpeas, edamame) or anything else large and mesomorphic goes in next. This layer helps keeps the dressing split up from all the other pinnacle layers and also helps bring extra flavour to the proteins.
Everything else except leafy greens.
Leafy greens.

5 Mix and Match Mason Jar Salad Recipes for Easy Lunches

How practise you eat salad from a mason jar?

Some people eat their salads straight from the jar. A few minutes before eating, tip the jar upside downwards (then that the dressing is now at the top) and let gravity do its thing – the dressing will slowly trickle down through the salad. Correct before you eat the salad, give the jar a few adept shakes so take off the lid and enjoy!

However, if you've packed your salad nice and tight (which helps go along the ingredients from shifting in the jar and getting soggy too early), then this might not work. If this is the case, then take hold of a basin and pour the salad into the bowl. Stir to combine the ingredients and enjoy!

How practise I prevent my salad from going soggy?

The easiest style to prevent your salad from getting soggy is to layer the more than delicate ingredients such as greens and lettuce abroad from the dressing. In fact, that is the main purpose of mason jars! When yous use regular containers for salads and endeavor to take them for lunch, y'all end up with soggy lettuce because all the ingredients are mixed together.

Mason jars are too great for salad and ensuring well-baked lettuce because you don't demand to pack an actress container for the dressing. As long equally the veggies are layered on top and the proteins/dressing are on the bottom, you won't take a trouble with soggy salad.

How to make salad last longer

If you'd like to make your jars final as long as possible, you lot've got to use the right ingredients. For example, I find that cheese and certain veggies similar tomatoes practise not hold upwards well for more than two or three days. Expect a minor change in texture for different types of ingredients if consuming after three days, or try to use toppings that hold up meliorate longer.

Here are some ingredients that last longer than others:

Lettuce
Leafy greens
Onions
Legumes (chickpeas, beans, lentils, etc)
Quinoa
Bocconcini cheese
Edamame
Broccoli
Shredded carrots

Here are the ingredients that I find don't last so long:

Tomatoes
Shredded cheese
Rice
Chicken, beefiness, shrimp
Cucumber
Fresh herbs

Ingredients that don't practise well

Besides ingredients that practice non concord upwards for a long time, at that place are just certain ingredients that you should non be including in your mason jar salads for practicality reasons. The ingredients below won't last for more than a twenty-four hours in the fridge or won't retain their texture, so pack these ingredients on the side if you'd similar or leave them out altogether.

Avocado
Tortilla strips
Bacon (turkey or pork)
Basics (they go a bit soft…if you're ok with the texture add them anyway!)
Granola

What kind of dressing for jar salads?

You tin make your own homemade dressings every bit shown beneath, but with some types of dressings, you lot may want to stick with store-bought. Ranch dressing is one type of dressing that I adopt not to make myself because I don't ever accept the ingredients on hand and don't desire to complicate my weekly meal prep.

It's upwardly to you lot to decide whether y'all desire to make your own dressings or buy them. Your salads will exist healthier with homemade dressings, but if you tin find dressings from the shop with clean ingredients or actually just want your damn ranch, and then get for it!

Y'all can e'er make bootleg dressings ahead of time as almost oil and vinegar-based dressings volition final in the fridge up to three months, bold you are not using fresh herbs.

How to mix and match ingredients

As y'all tin see below, there is a ton of overlap between all the ingredients I've used for these stonemason jars. I bought only a handful of vegetables and then used some types of veggies for some jars, and other veggies for the rest. I cooked up some chicken to apply in some jars, so opened up a can of chickpeas for other jars. Bocconcini cheese and quinoa made upwardly the protein content in another jar and I was able to repurpose those ingredients for other varieties of jars as well.

Yous tin can frequently stick to just 10 ingredients when you're grocery shopping to make your salad jars. Scroll down to see pictures of each jar I made using just 11 ingredients (not counting dressings…most dressings employ ingredients that are pantry staples and so I don't count these as fresh ingredients).

Here's what I purchased to use in 5 dissimilar mason jar salad combinations:

Chicken
Chickpeas
Quinoa
Bocconcini cheese
Shredded cheese
Cucumber
Red onion
Reddish tomatoes
Edamame
Lettuce
Spinach

You could probably fifty-fifty get away with less than that! Whorl down beneath to meet pictures of each jar I made. This is a different jar each day of the week for lunch!

Tex Mex Salad Jars

5 Mix and Match Mason Jar Salad Recipes for Easy Lunches

Ranch salad jars

5 Mix and Match Mason Jar Salad Recipes for Easy Lunches

Caprese salad jars

5 Mix and Match Mason Jar Salad Recipes for Easy Lunches

Green goddess salad jars

5 Mix and Match Mason Jar Salad Recipes for Easy Lunches

Greek salad jars

5 Mix and Match Mason Jar Salad Recipes for Easy Lunches

Tin can you freeze mason jars?

Y'all can freeze mason jars but I don't recommend that you do it for salads 🙁 Y'all just can't ensure the same level of freshness since you are eating salad. I definitely freeze other types of recipes in stonemason jars such as soups and stews, simply salads don't piece of work.

That said, you can freeze components of the salads such every bit cooked chicken, rice, quinoa, etc.

Cleaning stonemason jars

Cleaning mason jars couldn't exist easier! They can become right in the dishwasher, or cleaned past hand (having a dish wand makes this super easy). Even the lids tin go in the dishwasher.

Lids and sealing

One question I become asked is whether the lids demand to exist vacuum sealed for freshness or replaced every in one case in a while and the reply to both is NO! I accept never had a trouble with my lids wearing out and if you have layered your mason jar salads correctly, then y'all don't take to worry about annihilation going bad in nether five days.

You may sometimes lose your lids, but you can hands order replacements off Amazon or just get new jars and apply your lidless jars as drinking glasses.

Other delicious bricklayer jar recipes

I brand more than just salads in mason jars! Hither are another smashing stonemason jar recipes from my website that you lot may desire to cheque out.

Mason jar instant noodles
Zucchini noodle soup jars
Big Mac salad jars
Chicken spring curlicue jars
Shrimp sushi jars
Buffalo craven salsa dip jars

More meal prep tips

Looking to meal prep and swallow healthy on a more consequent basis? Bank check out these other resource, they are top posts on my website (including how to get the perfect chicken breast for these jars!)

Best broiled chicken breast
Repast prep for weight loss
Eating salubrious on a budget

CLICK Here FOR ALL OF MY All-time Meal PREP RECIPES.

Meal prep tools for mason jar salads

These are the stonemason jars I used in this recipe
Y'all tin get larger 32oz mason jars also!
Take hold of some glass meal prep bowls if yous would rather layer these salads in a unlike container
I like this salad dressing shaker to make homemade dressings easier
These colourful mason jar lids are so fun and perfect if you lot lose your lids
I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.

3 mason jars in a row, each containing a different salad inside.

Make ahead ingredients

▢ ane-two craven breasts (depends on how many jars you're making - 1 breast per 2 jars is standard)
▢ one loving cup quinoa (dry)

Tex Mex salad jars

▢ chicken
▢ cherry tomatoes, sliced
▢ red onion, diced
▢ grated cheddar cheese
▢ lettuce, chopped

Tex Mex dressing

▢ 1 tbsp olive oil
▢ one tbsp lime juice
▢ i clove garlic, minced
▢ one tsp chili powder
▢ 1/2 tsp cumin
▢ i/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Greek salad jars

▢ chickpeas
▢ cucumber
▢ scarlet tomatoes, sliced
▢ red onion, diced
▢ baby spinach

Greek dressing

▢ 1 tbsp olive oil
▢ 1 tbsp lemon juice
▢ 1 clove garlic, minced
▢ i tsp oregano
▢ one/two tsp each salt and pepper

Caprese salad jars

▢ quinoa
▢ cherry tomatoes, sliced
▢ bocconcini cheese
▢ red onion, diced
▢ baby spinach

Balsamic dressing

▢ 1 tbsp olive oil
▢ 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
▢ one tsp Dijon mustard
▢ 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Ranch salad jars

▢ chicken
▢ cucumber
▢ cherry tomatoes, sliced
▢ grated cheddar cheese
▢ lettuce, chopped

Ranch dressing

▢ 1-2 tbsp bottled ranch dressing

Green goddess salad jars

▢ chickpeas
▢ quinoa
▢ cucumber
▢ edamame
▢ spinach

Light-green goddess dressing

▢ 1 tbsp olive oil
▢ 1 tbsp lime juice
▢ 1 tbsp packed cilantro or parsley, finely chopped
▢ ane tbsp sour cream
▢ 1 clove garlic, minced
▢ 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper

Cook brand-ahead ingredients: Bake craven breasts with a picayune bit of olive oil, salt & pepper in a 400 F for xx min. When cooled, dice up into 1-inch pieces. Meanwhile, make quinoa in a rice cooker - combine 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups h2o and cook until all liquid is absorbed.
Mix together dressing of choice - yous tin use the homemade versions listed above or store-bought versions to save time. Each salad jar should crave but 1-2 tbsp of dressing.
Add dressing of choice to the lesser of a 16-oz mason jar. Layer in ingredients of choice in club of what is listed. For case, for the Mexican jars, add in chicken, cerise tomatoes, ruby-red onion, cheese and lettuce to the jar in that order.
Jars will keep in refrigerator up to 4 or 5 days. For easy meal prep, melt chicken and quinoa ahead of time upward to 24 hours in accelerate so all you have to do is gather.
Serve past shaking mason jar so dressing gets distributed, and so dump in a large bowl to eat. Relish!