This salad honestly came together out of necessity.
I had a few simple ingredients on hand - quinoa, chickpeas, eggs, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, greens, and dressing - so I layered everything into a mason jar and hoped for the best.
And it ended up becoming one of my favorite lunches ever.
I’m pretty sure I’ve made some version of this salad for close to 10 years now. I can’t even count how many weeks I’ve had it for lunch, and somehow, it never gets old.
Get the Protein Power Mason Jar Salad recipe here.
Mason Jar Salad Tip
Now let’s talk about one of the biggest mason jar salad questions:
How do you layer them so they actually stay fresh?
This is the part that makes mason jar salads work. The right layers keep the dressing away from the lettuce until you’re ready to eat.
Here’s the simple order:
Step 1: Dressing goes on the bottom. Use about 2–3 tablespoons of dressing per salad. Vinaigrettes work great because they pour out easily, but creamy dressings can work too.
Step 2: Add hearty vegetables next. This is your “barrier” layer. Think tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli, or any veggie that can hold up in dressing.
Step 3: Add beans, grains, protein, and cheese. This is where ingredients like chickpeas, black beans, quinoa, pasta, chicken, eggs, turkey, feta, or mozzarella can go.
Step 4: Finish with greens, nuts, or seeds. Lettuce and greens always go at the top so they stay away from the dressing and keep fresh.
That’s it.
When you’re ready to eat, give the jar a good shake, pour it into a bowl, and lunch is ready.
And truly, this is why mason jar salads are such a game changer. You’re not making a salad from scratch every day. You’re just opening the fridge and grabbing a lunch that’s already done.
A few quick shopping tips.
For meal-size salads, I like using 32-ounce wide-mouth mason jars. You can find them at Target, Walmart, most grocery stores, or order them online from Amazon.
I also recommend grabbing plastic mason jar lids. The metal lids work, but over time they can rust. I usually order the plastic lids from Amazon because I don’t always see them in stores. Grab lids here.
And if you want a smaller salad, you can use 16-ounce jars, but for a filling lunch, the 32-ounce jars are my favorite.
P.S. The Protein Power Mason Jar Salad is one of the recipes inside the challenge, along with 9 more fresh, filling mason jar salads and homemade dressing recipes. Grab the full challenge for only $10 here.
xo Tammy Overhoff
Owner, Reset & Flourish & Organize Yourself Skinny.
🔥 Est. 2011 | Over 7000 students!
💕 In love with my big blended family!
🍫 Equally loves smoothies, mason jar salads, and chocolate.
📣 Cheer mom, volleyball mom, dog mom.
☕️ Needs a lot of coffee and a little RHONJ daily to stay sane.
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