Salad in a jar is a convenient, healthy meal prep option! Customize with your favorite greens, protein, and veggies.
If you love big and flavorful salads you’ll love this filling salad in a jar. It’s perfect to take to work or even if you work at home! We even take this on picnics because it’s so easy to bring on the go.
Pair with your favorite protein, veggies and dressing. We love using leftovers too like our Cilantro Lime Chicken! You can also make our homemade Italian Salad Dressing.
Whenever meal prepping this salad for the week we’ll increase the amount 4x so this way we have it prepared, but you can also make just one salad.
Salad in a Jar Ingredients
- Balsamic Vinaigrette: Start with 2 tablespoons or use your preferred dressing. You can always add more.
- Cherry Tomatoes: Halved for a burst of freshness.
- Red Onion: We prefer red for flavor and color, but you can omit.
- Bell Pepper: Diced, adds color and crunch. Don’t like peppers? Add carrots, celery, radish or even turnip.
- Cooked Chicken: You can use your preferred protein like tuna, tofu, salmon, chopped ham or turkey, even boiled eggs.
- Cooked Quinoa: We love adding quinoa or chickpeas as it adds protein and fiber.
- Romaine Lettuce: Chopped, forms the base of the salad. You can also use your preferred salad or a mix.
How to Make Salad in a Jar
Add the vinaigrette to the bottom of a 24-32 oz mason jar with a wide mouth.
Layer the cherry tomatoes, red onion, bell pepper, chicken, quinoa, and finally the romaine lettuce.
Place the lid on the jar. Keep the salad refrigerated if not consuming immediately. It can be stored like this for up to 4 days.
When ready to eat, shake the jar to distribute the dressing throughout the salad or pour it into a bowl and mix gently.
Helpful Tips
- Use a combo of grilled chicken, boiled eggs, or tofu for extra protein.
- Add nuts, seeds, or croutons for extra texture.
- Using a wide mouth jar makes it easy to assemble the salad and to remove it when you’re ready to eat.
- Always put the dressing at the bottom to prevent the greens from getting soggy.
- Leave some space at the top of the jar will make shaking and mixing easier.
- If you like croutons we suggest packing them separately as they get soft and stale in the fridge.
more salad recipes to try:
Salad In A Jar
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Print Pin SaveIngredients
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette or your preferred dressing
- 6 cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/4 cup red onion diced
- 1/4 cup bell pepper diced, yellow, orange, or red
- 1/2 cup cooked chicken or preferred protein
- 1/2 cup cooked quinoa or chickpeas
- 2 cups romaine lettuce chopped
Instructions
- Start by adding the vinaigrette to the bottom of 24-32 oz mason jar with a wide mouth.
- Layer the cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, then the red onion, bell pepper, chicken, quinoa, and finish with the romaine lettuce.
- Place the lid on the jar and then keep the salad refrigerated if not consuming immediately. The salad can be stored like this for up to 4 days.
- When ready to eat, just shake the jar to distribute the dressing throughout the salad or pour it into a bowl and mix gently.
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Notes
- You can use your preferred dressing. Dressing starts at 2 tablespoons a serving, but you could use more or less as needed.
- Use ingredients that you prefer like grilled chicken, boiled eggs, or tofu. Nuts and seeds add a nice crunch, or you could use croutons.
- Using a wide mouth jar makes it easy to make the salad and then of course get it out.
- If you don’t have jars you can also use any other tall containers.
Nutrition
The nutritional information is automatically calculated and can vary based ingredients and products used. If the nutrition numbers are important for you we recommend calculating them yourself.
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