Rainbow Veggie Mason Jar Salad

Reasons to Love a Mason Jar Salad

• Great for meal prep. Some weeks call for meal prepping, and that's where a mason jar salad comes in. I'll prep a bunch of salad jars and stash them in the fridge, so they're ready to grab and go during the week. Mason jar salads are easy to transport and they stay fresh for longer.
• Endless combinations. Change up the vegetables, greens, mix-ins, and dressing depending on what you have in the fridge. It's super easy to customize a mason jar salad. I make this recipe with a rainbow of red peppers, cabbage, leafy greens, carrots, and more, but there are endless ways to make it your own.
• Quick. Once you've prepped all your veggies, this mason jar salad recipe comes together in 10 minutes. Scale the ingredients up or down depending on how many jars you're making!

Salad Ingredients

I've talked about the importance of eating a rainbow of vegetables, and this salad celebrates that philosophy. It ticks nearly all the “color boxes”! I've included notes below, and you'll find the printable ingredients with amounts in the recipe card after the post.

• Red – I use diced red bell peppers for the “red”. You could also use tomatoes, radishes, red onions, or radicchio.
• Orange – Chopped carrots, or other orange veggies like orange bell peppers, cooked sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and pumpkin.
• Yellow – Chickpeas are the protein and “yellow” component in this salad (a stretch, maybe, but still!). You could use yellow bell peppers, cooked summer squash, or sweet corn.
• Green – There are so many possibilities for green! I use diced cucumbers and baby spinach. Other good choices are arugula, lettuce (any kind), massaged kale, shredded green cabbage, zucchini, Brussels sprouts, avocado, etc.
• Blue/Purple – I use purple/red cabbage. You could swap in pickled onions, beets, or eggplant.

What Dressing Should I Use?

I use a simple, zesty tahini dressing with lemon, garlic, and red pepper flakes (feel free to skip the chili if you're sensitive to heat). Just like the salad ingredients, however, you can swap out the dressing in this mason jar salad recipe with any store-bought or homemade, non-vegan, or vegan salad dressing you'd like. I also love my maple tahini dressing and this chili lime tahini sauce, or, try any of these ideas:

• Green goddess salad dressing
• Italian dressing
• Vegan Caesar dressing
• Shallot dressing

How to Make a Mason Jar Salad

There's actually a method for building a salad in a jar. The goal is to layer the ingredients in such a way that it keeps your salad fresh all week long. And, when you dump the contents into a bowl, it's layered perfectly, with the greens on the bottom and dressing on top! Here's how to layer your mason jar salad:

• Dressing first. Start by mixing the salad dressing ingredients in a bowl, then divide the dressing between your mason jars.
• Protein. Next, you'll want to layer the protein as a buffer between the dressing and the rest of the salad ingredients. This also lets the protein marinate in the dressing, for more flavor. In this case, I use chickpeas. This layer could also be another protein like tempeh, tofu, lentils, cooked shredded chicken, or grains, like quinoa, farro, and bulghur wheat.
• Toppings. Now, add your sturdy rainbow veggies, like bell peppers, carrots, cucumber, and cabbage.
• Greens. Lastly, any greens, like spinach or lettuce, go on top. Always layer the leafy ingredients last! This ensures that the greens are away from the dressing and prevents them from getting crushed or soggy.

Easy Variations

You can make countless variations of a mason jar salad. Try my Buffalo tofu mason jar salad or quinoa and chickpea mason jar salad. Or, turn any of these classic salads into a jar salad, simply by layering them following the structure above:

• Kale Caesar salad
• Vegan Cobb salad
• Grilled vegetable salad
• Green goddess salad
• Orzo pasta salad
• Thai peanut salad

Tips for Success

• Use the right jar. The best size mason jar for salads is the quart size. This will make one large, meal-sized salad per portion. If you want a side salad size, you could do an 8oz jar. You'll find mason jars in stores like Walmart, and online. I recommend getting the wide-mouth jars so you can pack them more easily.
• Layer correctly. Layering your jar salad ingredients in the right order is key. It avoids a soggy salad, and ensures that the ingredients come out of the jar with the greens first, then the veggies, and dressing last.
• Don't overfill. You don't want to force the ingredients into your jar. Drop them in and layer lightly. Otherwise, it risks crushing the veggies and making the salad mushy.

What to Serve With a Jar Salad

This rainbow veggie mason jar salad is a great light meal in one, or I'll take along a thermos of soup, like this red pepper soup or Tuscan kale white bean soup for a heartier lunch. It's also easy to bulk up this salad with extra add-ons and protein. If it doesn't fit in the jar, I'll take along leftover Italian dressing chicken or grilled tofu to slice up and add to the salad after I've dumped it into a bowl. These applesauce blender muffins are also great for taking on the go.

How to Store

Once you've assembled your mason jar salads, seal the jars with their lids and keep them refrigerated until you're ready to serve. They'll last at least 4-5 days in the fridge. You can assemble these salads on a Sunday afternoon and they'll stay fresh in their jars all week long.

More Easy Salad Recipes

• 15-Minute Buffalo Tempeh Salad Bowls
• Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad
• Farro Salad Recipe
• Pear and Arugula Salad
• Jennifer Aniston Salad