Name: Salad in a Jar Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 2 cups fresh spinach; 10 cherry tomatoes; ¼ cup garbanzo beans; ¼ cup edamame (cooked); 1 hard boiled egg (diced); ¼ cup black olives; ½ cup button mushrooms (diced)

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My salad in a jar recipe is my go-to for busy days when lunch would otherwise get skipped. It’s gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian, packed with spinach, cherry tomatoes, garbanzo beans, edamame and a hard-boiled egg, and it takes just 5 minutes to put together.

Make a few on Sunday and you’ll have grab-and-go lunches ready for the week!

The salad in a jar in both a bowl and a jar.

With school back into full swing, my days are getting even busier. With the busyness often comes neglect. The neglect of me! It always happens around lunch time.

You know how the day starts…get the kids up, get them breakfast, pack their lunches, get the kids off to school, start chores, run some errands and then…whoops it’s lunch time and I don’t have lunch! Often times it’s after lunch and I realize I’ve missed lunch!

Another idea I came up with is an easy egg salad recipe for another easy lunch option.

This year as the kids go back to school, I am making an effort to be better prepared for myself and not neglect lunch time. I have had great luck with salad in a jar before. I prep the salad jars on Sunday evening and store in the fridge for the entire week. I do not store mine with dressing. I add salad dressing the day of.

How to Layer a Salad in a Jar

The secret to a salad in a jar that stays crisp is the order you add things. Start with the sturdiest, wettest ingredients on the bottom and finish with the greens on top, so the spinach stays dry until you eat it:
Bottom: garbanzo beans and edamame
Next: cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and black olives
Middle: the diced hard-boiled egg
Top: the spinach, packed in loosely

I keep the dressing out of the jar and add it the day I eat it. If you’d rather keep everything in one jar, put the dressing on the very bottom, under the beans.

Gluten-Free Dressings and Toppings

The salad itself is naturally gluten-free, but dressings and toppings are where gluten sneaks in. Check labels for malt vinegar, soy sauce and wheat-based thickeners, and look for dressings labeled gluten-free. Regular croutons are made with wheat, so use gluten-free croutons or add crunch with sunflower seeds or roasted chickpeas instead.

More Mason Jar Salad Ideas

These salads in a jar are so easy to mix up with different variations:

Greek: cucumber, red onion, olives, quinoa and feta
Southwest: black beans, corn, bell peppers, rice and salsa
Chicken: add a scoop of my [gluten-free chicken salad] on top of the greens
The viral “Jennifer Aniston salad”: quinoa, chickpeas, cucumber, feta, red onion, fresh herbs and pistachios

The feta versions aren’t dairy-free, so leave the cheese out if you need them to be.

Tips for a Crisp Salad in a Jar

Here are some useful tips to make your salad the best it can be!

Use a quart-size, wide-mouth jar so it’s easy to fill and empty.
Dry everything well after washing.
Add avocado or other soft toppings the day you eat it.
Tip it into a bowl to eat, or eat it straight from the jar on the go.

Salad in a jar is easy and convenient. You can eat the salad from the jar or dump into a bowl! The jars are great to take along with you as you run errands! That way you know you’ll have safe and tasty food to eat while you are out.