Food Recipes This Is the Easiest-Ever Way to Make a Mason Jar Salad Mason jar salads are the portable, practical, and healthy solution to your sad desk lunch problem. By Betty Gold Betty Gold Betty Gold is the former senior digital food editor at Real Simple. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines and Grace Elkus Grace Elkus Grace Elkus is a food writer and editor with over a decade of experience in culinary media. Highlights: * Associate food editor at Real Simple, where she developed recipes, wrote food stories, and assisted with styling * Deputy food director at Kitchn, where she and her team were responsible for 100 recipes a month * Currently the content lead for JOKR Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Updated on August 6, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Getty Images Here at Real Simple, we're all about meal prep. Spending a little time in the kitchen on Sunday saves you endless hours of culinary elbow grease during the already-exhausting work week. With lunches, dinners, and snacks already made, you have more time with your family (or your Netflix account) when you really need it. Exhibit A: mason jar salads. Salads make an excellent weekday lunch. With the right combination of grains, protein, and leafy greens, they fill you up without weighing you down, and give you the energy you need to power through the afternoon. Packing the salad, however, is where it gets tricky. Dress the salad too early, and it becomes soggy by the time lunch rolls around—and storing the dressing in an extra container makes for clunky transportation (and the possibility of leakage). 9 Genius Tricks for Freezing Food That'll Make Meal Prep a Snap Meal prep fans, try packing your salad vertically in a wide-mouth mason jar—we guarantee it'll revolutionize your routine. The dressing goes at the bottom of the jar and the greens sit at the top, ensuring they don't touch until you're ready to dig in (eliminating the possibility of soggy greens). Crunchy veggies, such as carrots, cucumbers, and bell pepper, are added to the jar on top of the vinaigrette, which allows them to marinate and soak in extra flavor. Next, pile on beans, grains, and protein; followed by greens and toppings of your choice. Ready to enjoy it? Pour the salad into a bowl, and then mix until the components are well distributed. You'll find the salad tastes fresh and full of flavor, and all the ingredients retain their crispness and texture. This layering technique also means you can make multiple salads ahead of time—so you can prepare jars on the weekend to save time during the week. Use the guide below as an outline to transform your favorite salad into a mason jar lunch. 6 Genius Ways You Can Use Your Instant Pot for Meal Prep RealSimple.com Illustration by Sarah Ferone By Betty Gold By Grace Elkus Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit