Upon feeling like I needed to do a cleanse this spring, I came across the idea of salad in a jar. I guess it wasn’t really new to me. I’d seen it before but didn’t really get it. I thought people were just putting them in jars because glass was healthier than plastic. So not the case. I mean glass is healthier than plastic but there’s so much more to it.
So the idea is that you can layer whatever you want in your salad and you can do a bunch of them in advance. I see varying ideas on how long they will last in terms of freshness but somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 days seems pretty standard, if done right. Being able to prepare 5 days of lunches or additions to a dinner meal for the family even is huge in terms of saving time! Plus it’s healthy and really easy to do, even if you were just going to do one or two.
Here are some basic tips…
- A pint size jar is great for a small salad, a quart size jar is a large salad, especially if you don’t put in a lot of additional toppings that take up room. The first ones I made were half lettuce in terms of the space used in the jar…that’s a lot of greens when they are compacted in there, like you are supposed to do. So quart size jar with half lettuce is good for a family of 4 to go with dinner I would say and if you vary up the ingredients and add larger items into the jar and less lettuce, it’s a nice big salad for a meal for one or maybe two.
- Dressing always goes in first so you don’t get everything soggy.
- Some things should not be put in the jar in advance according to most so do your research on this. Things like meat or hard boiled eggs and some say they are okay…some say tomatoes and avocados but others say these are okay. I would say cherry tomatoes are fine, otherwise no…too wet. Avocados get mushy and discolored so I’d prefer those be fresh as well. Play with this and be sure to read tips from others.
- Some say to add wet items like cucumbers or tomatoes right after the dressing and then add in moisture-resistant veggies like carrots, garbanzo beans, radishes, etc. Others say add the moisture-resistant veggies right after the dressing…later in the week, these will end up a little pickled if you are using a vinegar style dressing. You might enjoy that!
Here are a few links to a variety of recipes and other resources for you to play around with…
The Ultimate Jar Salad Tutorial and Recipe Round Up
A Month’s Worth of Salad in a Jar Recipes
25 Salads in a Jar that Make Brown Bagging Fun
5 Affordable Mason Jar Salads Under 500 Calories
18 Mason Jar Salads that Make Perfect Healthy Lunches
kimberly says
May 3, 2015 at 4:51 pmHi! I’ve seen this all over and thought, why do I need that/ I don’t have a job! But now that you talk about it I see that I would eat them more if they were already to grab. Good plan. I’ll check it out. did you buy new jars? and in what size, pint? I don’t have a family of four and Bill is unlikely to enthusiastically join me in this one, so I’d probably go with the pint. Hmmm. let me know.
Michele Bergh says
May 3, 2015 at 5:50 pmI used quart and I had some in my canning supply but used fresh covers. I think you can use parchment paper or something else instead of a lid if you don’t have new ones…and then just screw the ring part over the parchment paper. Mine stayed good for a week and next time I will do pint size or quart size but very little lettuce and more yummy stuff. If you do it in a quart jar and use half lettuce, it’s like a salad for 3 or 4 with dinner. It’s huge!