These Mix and Match Mason Jar Salad Recipes make healthy lunches easy – they're great for meal prep and will keep your salad fresh for days!
Mason Jar Salad Recipes
Welcome to one of my fave ever meal prep posts! Today we'll learn how to build the ultimate mason jar salad – they are perfect as grab and go lunches (check out more meal prep lunch ideas here) and this post will detail how to overlap different ingredients so you can enjoy something different every day!
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One of my biggest pain points when it comes to meal prep is that I don’t like to eat the same thing every day. You don’t have to deal with meal prep fatigue if you’re strategic about the ingredients you use and opt for different dressings and combos. The variety among these five mason jar salads will have you enjoying lunch again!
What's the point of mason jar salads?
There are tons of benefits when it comes to making your salads in a mason jar:
- Weekly meal prep – you can easily make enough salads to cover lunch for a week. You can also make extra jars and use them as side salads for dinner.
- Save money – preparing and bringing your lunch to work can save you money compared to buying lunch every day.
- Eat healthier – preparing mason jar salads for your work lunches can make it a lot easier to resist temptation when faced with fast food options.
- Lots of variety – there are so many combinations to try that you can enjoy a different salad every day of the week.
- Less ingredients – you don’t need to purchase a lot of ingredients, you just need to switch one or two ingredients in each salad to have a different taste combination each day.
- Easy clean up – mason jars are easy to clean and since glass does not stain or retain flavours or odours, they’re easier to keep clean compared to plastic lunch containers.
How to make a mason jar salad
- Assemble your ingredients.
- Spoon in the dressing on the bottom.
- Add in the grains and/or protein.
- Layer in everything else.
- Finish it off with the leafy greens.
- Seal and store in the fridge!
Frequently Asked Questions
In the US and Canada, the standard mason jar opening comes in two sizes: regular (2 and 3/8 inches wide) and wide mouth (3 inches wide). The wide mouth jar is generally a better choice for salads because it’s much easier to get ingredients in and out of the wider opening. Mason jars come in a variety of sizes, but the ones most commonly used for salad recipes are the pint (16 oz) and quart (32oz) size jars. I've used the 16 oz size mason jars for the recipes pictured.
If stored properly, most mason jar salad recipes can last 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that some ingredients stay fresher in the refrigerator longer than others. If you’re doing meal planning and want to prepare a variety of salads for an entire week, plan it so that you consume the salads with ingredients that stay fresh for longer later in the week.
Some people eat their salads straight from the jar. A few minutes before eating, tip the jar upside down (so that the dressing is now at the top) and let gravity do its thing – the dressing will slowly trickle down through the salad. Right before you eat the salad, give the jar a few good shakes and then take off the lid and enjoy!
However, if you’ve packed your salad nice and tight (which helps keep the ingredients from shifting in the jar and getting soggy too early), then this might not work. If this is the case, then grab a bowl and pour the salad into the bowl then stir to combine your ingredients.
The easiest way to prevent your salad from getting soggy is to layer the more delicate ingredients such as greens and lettuce away from the dressing. In fact, that is the main purpose of mason jars! When you use regular containers for salads and try to take them for lunch, you end up with soggy lettuce because all the ingredients are mixed together.
Mason jars are also great for salad and ensuring crisp lettuce because you don't need to pack an extra container for the dressing. As long as the veggies are layered on top and the proteins/dressing are on the bottom, you won't have a problem with soggy salad.
How to make salad last longer
If you'd like to make your jars last as long as possible, you've got to use the right ingredients. For instance, I find that cheese and certain veggies like tomatoes do not hold up well for more than 2 to 3 days. Expect a minor change in texture for different types of ingredients if consuming after 3 days or try to use toppings that hold up better 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, beef, shrimp
- Cucumber
- Fresh herbs
Ingredients that don't do well
Besides ingredients that do not hold up for a long time, there are just certain ingredients that you should not be including in your mason jar salads for practicality reasons. The ingredients below won't last for more than a day in the fridge or won't retain their texture, so pack these ingredients on the side if you'd like or leave them out altogether.
- Avocado
- Tortilla strips
- Bacon (turkey or pork)
- Nuts (they get a bit soft…if you're okay with the texture, add them anyway!)
- Granola
What kind of dressing to use
You can make your own homemade dressings as shown below, but with some types of dressings, you may want to stick with store-bought. Ranch dressing is one type of dressing that I prefer not to make myself because I don't always have the ingredients on hand and don't want to complicate my weekly meal prep.
It's up to you to decide whether you want to make your own dressings or buy them. Your salads will be healthier with homemade dressings, but if you can find dressings from the store with clean ingredients or really just want your damn ranch, then go for it!
You can always make homemade dressings ahead of time as most oil and vinegar-based dressings will last in the fridge up to 3 months, assuming you are not using fresh herbs.
How to mix and match ingredients
As you can see below, there is a ton of overlap between all the ingredients I've used for these mason jar salads. 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 use in some jars then opened up a can of chickpeas for other jars. Bocconcini cheese and quinoa made up the protein content in another jar and I was able to repurpose those ingredients for other varieties of jars as well.
You can often 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 use ingredients that are pantry staples so I don't count these as fresh ingredients).
Here's what I purchased to use in five different mason jar salad combinations:
- Chicken
- Chickpeas
- Quinoa
- Bocconcini cheese
- Shredded cheese
- Cucumber
- Red onion
- Cherry tomatoes
- Edamame
- Lettuce
- Spinach
You could probably even get away with less than that! Scroll down below to see pictures of each jar I made.
Tex Mex Salad Jars
Ranch Salad Jars
Caprese Salad Jars
Green Goddess Salad Jars
Greek Salad Jars
Can you freeze mason jars?
You can freeze mason jars but I don't recommend that you do it for salads 🙁 You just can't ensure the same level of freshness since you are eating salad. I definitely freeze other types of recipes in mason jars such as soups and stews, but salads don't work.
That said, you can freeze components of the salads such as cooked chicken, rice, quinoa, etc.
Cleaning mason jars
Cleaning mason jars couldn't be easier! They can go right in the dishwasher or you can clean them by hand (having a dish wand makes this super easy). Even the lids can go in the dishwasher.
Lids and sealing
One question I get asked a lot is whether the lids need to be vacuum sealed for freshness or replaced every once in a while and the answer to both is NO! I have never had a problem with my lids wearing out and if you have layered your mason jar salads correctly, then you don't have to worry about anything going bad in under 5 days.
You may sometimes lose your lids, but you can easily order replacements off Amazon or just get new jars and use your lidless jars as drinking glasses.
More mason jar recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- These are the mason jars I used in this recipe.
- You can get larger 32oz mason jars too!
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you would rather layer these salads in a different container.
- I like this salad dressing shaker to make homemade dressings easier.
- These colourful mason jar lids are so fun and perfect if you lose your lids.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
5 Mix & Match Mason Jar Salad Recipes {Healthy Lunches}
Ingredients
Make ahead ingredients
- 1-2 chicken breasts (depends on how many jars you're making – 1 breast per two jars is standard)
- 1 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
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
Greek salad jars
- chickpeas
- cucumber
- cherry tomatoes, sliced
- red onion, diced
- baby spinach
Greek dressing
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 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
- 1 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
Green goddess dressing
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp packed cilantro or parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp sour cream
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
Instructions
- Cook make-ahead ingredients: Bake chicken breasts with a little bit of olive oil, salt & pepper in a 400 F for 20 min. When cooled, dice up into 1-inch pieces. Meanwhile, make quinoa in a rice cooker – combine 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups water and cook until all liquid is absorbed.
- Mix together dressing of choice – you can use the homemade versions listed above or store-bought versions to save time. Each salad jar should require only 1-2 tbsp of dressing.
- Add dressing of choice to the bottom of a 16-oz mason jar. Layer in ingredients of choice in order of what is listed. For instance, for the Mexican jars, add in chicken, cherry tomatoes, red onion, cheese and lettuce to the jar in that order.
- Jars will keep in fridge up to 4 or 5 days. For easy meal prep, cook chicken and quinoa ahead of time up to 24 hours in advance so all you have to do is assemble.
- Serve by shaking mason jar so dressing gets distributed, then dump in a large bowl to eat. Enjoy!
Sunny says
I use pint and a half jars. Nice wide mouths, no curves and just enough food for a half hour lunch.
Rachel O'Neill says
Thank you so much for posting this! I love all the recipes and my daughter thinks they’re good too. She takes them to school for lunch.
Gweneth says
just a quick question, your recipe says use a 8-oz jar … seems like it should be bigger?
Taylor Stinson says
My apologies – they are 16oz jars. I did link to the correct jars in the tools section of this post 🙂
Lewis says
Pampered chef has a jar especially designed for jar salads. There is a place on the top of the jar where you can put your salad dressing.
Kenneth Gurvin says
Can I use glass jars other than Mason Jars. I save my glass spaghetti sauce, pickle, and sour kraut jars.
Would they work?
Thank you Ken
Taylor Stinson says
Yes for sure Ken! As long as they are washed and clean they will work!
Cynthia Berry says
I found this bold looking up salad jar recipes. I am looking for healthy alternatives for lunch to help with my fitness/weight loss goals. You did good with this post! It’s easy to follow, love it!
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you so much Cynthia 🙂
Megan says
Hi! I happened upon this blog when I was preparing for one of my salad in a jar parties. We had about 10 people and made the salads as a community and used your ideas. Thanks so much for posting them! We had so much fun!
Taylor Stinson says
That makes me so happy to hear Megan, that’s awesome!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the ideas 🙂