We all know we should eat a healthy rainbow of foods and summer always feels like the perfect time for crisp salads, juicy fruit, and other fresh ingredients enjoyed on picnics, by the pool, or even at your desk at work.

If you’re like me, then you start out with good intentions and a fridge full of fresh ingredients, but you get busy and grab quick meals here and there… and so your fruits and veggies meet a sad, soggy end. Let’s face it, there are times where it feels really hard to eat healthy, but even if you have an on-the-go lifestyle, it’s possible to enjoy fast and fresh meals with some of my tips – keep reading!

For me, I’ve always felt like it takes a lot of time to prepare healthy meals, but luckily I have learned that it doesn’t have to! With a little planning and prep work, Mason jar salads are a great way to eat well if you have an out-and-about lifestyle, need quick, healthy meals at work, or just love having easy, hearty meals ready to eat!

Remember those lunch trays that kept all your different foods from touching as a kid… ::wistful sigh:: oh memories! Well, you can still have a little bit of that magic back with our MJL Divider Cup for Regular and Wide Mouth Mason Jars and our new 2-in-1 Lid to Connect Two Regular Mouth Mason Jars. These cool accessories help you make a plethora of delicious Mason jar salads without all your ingredients getting soggy from whatever dressing, side, or dip you want to include in your meal!

Option One: Divider Cups

If you are a fan of creating delicious Mason jar salad masterpieces, then our Divider Cup for Regular and Wide Mouth Mason Jars are the way to go. If you haven’t seen these before, then let me introduce you to my salad’s BFF.

Mason Jar Lifestyles Divider Cups are made of FDA approved, food grade silicone rubber, so they’re made of a safe, environmentally-friendly, and non-plastic (BPA-free) material that doesn’t leach chemicals. They create a leak-proof seal with the stainless steel lid that’s included, so you never have spills. Also, all our silicone is dishwasher, microwave, and freezer safe to make life a little easier.

I also love to use my MJL Divider Cups to store ranch for carrots, salsa for taco salad, granola for my Greek yogurt, or really any type of sauce or yogurt that I would want to mix with a meal. The Divider Cup makes your creation super handy, with everything stored in one leak proof jar ready to grab-and-go!

Option Two: 2-in-1 Lid to Connect Two Regular Mouth Mason Jars

If you’re a regular mouth Mason jar fan, then our new 2-in-1 Lid to Connect Two Regular Mouth Mason Jars are a great way to keep liquid dressings, dips, and sides separated from any snack or salad you have created. This is a new product for us and I’m so excited to share them with you.

The 2-in-1 lids perfectly connect two regular mouth Mason jars. They’re made of BPA free plastic and include two silicone rings to make them leak proof – hurray! You can also upgrade to silicone lid liners if you don’t want your food to come into contact with any plastic.

The 2-in-1 lid keeps your two jars securely connected together so they won’t clink together in your bag when you’re on the go. I like to use the 2-in-1 lid specifically when I am using an oil based dressing, as it does a great job of ensuring the oil doesn’t leak out, and it makes it easy to shake up the dressing before adding it to my salad!

So I decided to challenge myself – could I make healthy, delicious Mason jar meals for all 3 meals of the day?! The answer was – YES! Check out all the juicy details below.

Option 3: Grab a Gift Set!

We have put together two gift sets, Salad and Snacks Starter Set for Mason Jars and Healthy Lunch Starter Set for Mason Jars, which can be great ways to kick start your Mason jar salad habit!

Salad and Snacks Starter Set for Mason Jars

This set includes the above mentioned items, divider cups and 2-in-1 connector, plus our popular Pour and Store lids! Here are all the details.

This set includes:

• One REGULAR and one WIDE mouth Mason Jar Divider Cup for Salads, Dips, and Snacks (you pick the color – both wide and regular mouth will be the same color) with stainless steel storage lids
• One REGULAR and one WIDE mouth Pour and Store lid for Mason Jars
• One 2-in-1 Lid to Connect Two Regular Mouth Mason Jars with silicone sealing rings

Jars are not included in this set.

Healthy Lunch Starter Set for Mason Jars

This set includes different items from what we’ve talked about so far in this blog post but they’re the perfect editions if you’re taking your salads on-the-go with you!

This gift set includes:

• Mason Jars Pack & Go Lunch Bag Kit which holds 4 quart jars!
• Our Travel Bamboo Utensil Set With Cotton Roll-Up Carrying Case
• Either Wide or Regular Mouth Leak Proof Plastic Storage Lids for Mason Jars (you pick!)

Jars are not included in this set.

Some Basics for Making a Traditional Mason Jar Salad:

With Mason jar salads you have to keep in mind that you are starting from the bottom up to the top of the jar.

Most recipes suggest that the first layer of a Mason jar salad be the dressing, but luckily with the Divider Cup or 2-in-1 lid, there is no need to start with dressing on the bottom. Now you can add even more veggies, grains, protein, greens, or whatever other ingredients your heart (and stomach) desires!

The bottom layer would then be your veggies, both hard and soft. The next layer is usually protein or dairy, on top of those would be the grains and toppings. And of course, to top the entire salad off, your choice of greens.

What is great about Mason jar salads is that they can also make it very easy to meal prep. After putting the elements of your salad together, it should be able to keep fresh for up to 5 days. Meaning every Sunday you could prep breakfast, lunch, and dinner for your entire week! Utilizing our Divider Cup or 2-in-1 lid really helps to make these salads last. None of the food within the jar runs the risk of getting soggy, because the dressing or side is never saturating the ingredients!

As you can tell, these Mason jar salads are an easy way to ensure you are eating a meal that fulfills all of the food groups and is as nutritionally dense as possible! This layering tip can be used when you create any kind of Mason jar salad, so keep reading to see how you can create a Mason jar salad for every meal!

Mason Jar Breakfast Salad: Mason Jar Fruit Salad

What I love about fruit salads is that you can mix and match so many different fruits, depending on what you’re in the mood for that day. I love to use the Divider Cup so that I can add some yogurt, and voila! Complete breakfast!

Recently I made a fruit salad with these delicious fruits:

• Layer 1: Cantaloupe
• Layer 2: Raspberries
• Layer 3: Blueberries
• Layer 4: Strawberries
• Side: Vanilla Low Fat Yogurt

You can save this recipe by downloading the PDF HERE

Mason Jar Lunch Salad: Southwest Chicken Mason Jar Salad

This is a delicious and simple recipe that I was able to make in about 10 minutes (because I am also a fan of meal-prepping different proteins for myself to have throughout the week), and the best part is that it was only 9 simple ingredients! It’s super easy to make this meal vegetarian or vegan as well, just skip the meat, add tofu, or add another plant based meat alternative!

Image courtesy of: Volz, M. (2018, April 23). Southwest Chicken Salad with Chipotle Greek Yogurt Dressing. Ambitious Kitchen.

• Layer 1: Tomatoes
• Layer 2: Cucumber
• Layer 3: Corn
• Layer 4: Black Beans
• Layer 5: Grilled Chicken
• Layer 6: Avocado
• Layer 7: Lettuce
• Dressing: Balsamic Vinaigrette (or any dressing of your choosing!)

*I personally am not a huge fan of spice, but I am sure anyone who loves a little kick to their salads would enjoy adding some jalapeno!*

You can save this recipe by downloading the PDF HERE

Mason Jar Dinner Salad: Vegan Mason Jar Taco Salad

Sometimes when I work late or get home late I don’t want to prepare a nutritious meal for myself, so the way that I meal prep, even for dinners, is with Mason jar salads!

I was able to create an entirely vegan Mason jar salad that I think you will enjoy! You can also make this meal meat friendly by adding your meat of choice instead of the plant-based meat that I used.

• Layer 1: Black Beans
• Layer 2: Trader Joes’ Beef-less Ground Beef
• Layer 3: Corn
• Layer 4: Lettuce
• Layer 5: Tomatoes
• Side/Sauce to add: Salsa

You can save this recipe by downloading the PDF HERE

Who thought it could be so great to eat a Mason jar salad for every meal? After I made and enjoyed all of these recipes, I am a believer! Meal prepping can be something that you may feel takes up a lot of time and Tupperware, but with Mason jar salads, food prep can be very simple-you only need to use a jar or two for each meal! Our Divider Cups and 2-in-1 lids especially help to make this process easier, not only because you have the ability to add more ingredients to your salads, but also because you don’t have to carry around large amounts of containers to create a full meal.

Hey there, Mason jar fans! Mary here! I just wanted to add a little to this excellent article by Taylor!

A few years ago I discovered this recipe by Gimme Some Oven and fell in LOVE with it! I’ve made a few tweaks over the years to personalize it to our tastes which I’m happy to be sharing with you! If you don’t want to add the dried buttermilk into the ranch mix, then feel free to refer back to the original recipe for pointers on adding it later. I personally like to have everything in one jar – it’s just easier for me.

The amounts in my recipe are to make enough mix to fill a wide mouth pint jar. I like the wide mouth because it’s easier to fill and spoon mix out of. I also recommend using an airtight lid like our MJL stainless steel or plastic storage lids to keep your mixture fresh and tasty. I tend to keep it in my pantry for several months and have never had an issue with it going bad. If you feel like you won’t go through a pint in 6-12 months, then cut the recipe down.

Ingredients:

• • • 1 c buttermilk powder – I use NOW Food, Buttermilk Powder
    • 6 TBSP dried parsley
    • 6 tsp dried dill
    • 3 tsp granulated garlic or 6 tsp garlic powder (I prefer granules)
    • 6 tsp onion powder
    • 6 tsp dried onion flakes
    • 3 tsp ground black pepper
    • 3 tsp dried chives
    • 6 tsp salt of choice

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients together
• Store in wide mouth pint jar with airtight MJL stainless steel or plastic storage lid
• Mix ranch seasoning with milk of choice and sour cream or mayonnaise to desired amount and consistency
• Make any adjustments to your taste
• Store dried mix with MJL airtight lid in pantry for 6-12 months
• Enjoy!

Save the recipe by downloading the PDF HERE

Feeling inspired and want even more recipe ideas?! I can’t blame you! We just started carrying two NEW books full of amazing ideas that will make you excited to pack your next Mason jar meal!

If you want more salad ideas, then you’ll want to check out “Mason Jar Salads and More: 50 Layered Lunches to Grab and Go“. This book has lots of ideas for fruit, veggie, and protein based salads that will be you satisfied!

If you’re looking for more general lunch ideas, then “Mason Jar Lunches: 50 Pretty, Portable Packed Lunches” is just the book for you! Whether it’s lasagna or a burrito in a jar, homemade ramen to go, or buffalo chicken salad – this book has something for everyone.

Feel free to pop over to our social media pages or comment below with your favorite recipes!