Mason jar salad is as simple as layering ingredients – dressing on the bottom – and giving the jar a good shake before lunch time. Plus my recipe for chipotle avocado mason jar salad!
Bringing lunch to work is hard. It’s hard to prep a lunch after a long day when you’re tired and don’t want to do any cooking, it’s hard to foresee what you will be in the mood for the next day at lunch, and for me it’s even hard to remember to grab my lunch from the fridge the next morning before bolting out the door. The fact that I work in Manhattan throws another whole difficulty element in to the mix, since the neighborhood I work in is brimming with incredible restaurants and lunch spots and I just want to try them all. But sometimes for the sake of my health as well as my wallet, it is just a lot smarter to pack a lunch. When it’s as simple as this mason jar salad, and so delicious that I actually spend the whole morning counting the hours until I get to eat it, I can actually enjoy bringing my lunch to work.
My recipe for mason jar salad is super simple. And for all those who don’t have mason jars, keep in mind: you can just as easily make this layered salad in any leftover jar, tall tupperware container, or even in one of those large containers you get when you order Chinese food soup. You should always start with dressing on the bottom of the jar or container – in my case I used my chipotle avocado lime dressing but you can use your favorite homemade or bottled dressing instead. The next step is to add your protein of choice, which will form a barrier of sorts between the dressing and the rest of the more delicate ingredients, preventing them from getting soggy. Of course grilled chicken, shrimp or steak from a barbecue the night before work perfectly. If you don’t want to take the time to cook a protein, tuna in olive oil from the can or beans such as pinto or chickpeas work great as well (and perfect for vegetarian). In my case, I chose the protein rich grain quinoa, keeping it vegetarian – farro or barley are other good protein rich grain choices.
There’s is a bit of varying information out there of whether the protein should be added directly over the dressing or if more hearty vegetables such as cucumbers or shredded carrots should be layered in first. Honestly you can layer the salad either way, as long as there is a barrier between the dressing and the more delicate ingredients. Which leads me to my next mason jar salad layer after the protein: your veggies of choice. Cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, cooked beets, corn, sautéed mushrooms, olives – basically whatever vegetables you like to top your salad with.
Ingredients for my mason jar salad are prepped!
Last but not least comes the greens (of course, this is a salad) which could be anything from arugula to baby spinach to simple loose leaf lettuce. If you want to use any fresh herbs – in my case, I thought cilantro played particularly well with my chipotle avocado lime dressing – my favorite thing to do is to chop them up and toss them with the greens before adding to the jar. And just for a bit of extra flare, you can add whatever salad toppings you like to the very top, such as croutons, nuts, or cheeses like feta or those little mozzarella balls. My topping of choice was Mexican cotija cheese, similar to a crumbled feta, which seemed to work well with the rest of my salad’s flavors.
Making this mason jar salad is as simple as layering ingredients the night before, throwing it in the fridge, grabbing it on the way out the next morning (don’t forget it in the fridge like me!) and giving it a good shake before lunch time.
- Protein of choice - ½ cup cooked meat, beans, or grains
- 1-2 cups veggies of choice
- 2-4 cups greens
- 2-4 tablespoons dressing
- Toppings as needed - cheese, nuts or croutons
- Layer salad in 16oz mason jar or tall plastic container starting with dressing on the bottom followed by protein, veggies, greens, and toppings. Seal tightly and store in fridge until ready to eat. Shake to combine before eating.
- Chipotle avocado lime dressing:
- ½ ripe avocado
- ½ to 1 chipotle in adobo, depending on spice tolerance
- Juice of 2 limes
- Splash of olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Water as needed to thin
- 1 oz cotija cheese or feta
- ½ bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ½ cup cucumber, sliced
- Thinly sliced red onion to taste
- ½ cup quinoa
- 1 cup loose leaf lettuce
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup liquid for cooking quinoa - water, chicken stock or vegetable stock
- For the dressing: Blend ingredients in avocado, chipotle, lime juice and olive oil until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add water to thin as necessary. Can be stored up to a week in the fridge.
- Cook quinoa according to package directions. Add smashed garlic cloves directly to cooking liquid for flavor. Once cooked, allow to cool completely before adding to salad.
- Layer salad: start with 2-4 tablespoons of dressing on the bottom of the jar or container, followed by cooled quinoa, cucumber tomato pepper and onions, lettuce and cilantro, and cheese. Seal lid lightly and shake up before eating!
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