Step By Step Tutorial: How To Make A Luscious Lettuce Salad In A Jar

Meal prep for weekday lunches just got easier with this Luscious Lettuce Salad in a ball jar recipe. Customize the ingredients in this salad with your favorites – or what you have on hand.

Luscious Lettuce Salad in a Jar

As you may know, many of our recipes are ones that we find in old cookbooks passed down to us by our mom and grandmothers. Some of our favorite cookbooks are ones from local churches and Extension Homemaker groups.

Barbara adapted this recipe from one in the 1988 Shelby County Extension Cookbook (thanks Katherine Tresslar for the original recipe). Barbara also modified this recipe for individual portions.

Salad in a Ball Jar Recipe

After packing the kids’ lunches, sometimes we just don’t have the energy or time to pack our own. This recipe for a salad in a ball jar is great because you can make several of them at once and just grab and go during the week.

While our recipe includes cauliflower and chicken, you could change up the ingredients based on your personal preferences OR for what you have in the refrigerator!

However, be sure the lettuce is not touching the dressing or it will get soggy.

Want a good grilled chicken recipe? Try our Easiest Grilled Chicken Ever! Have you ever tried Wilted Lettuce? Try our Grandma’s Wilted Lettuce with Bacon Grease!

Ingredients

• Mayonnaise
• Sugar
• Vinegar
• Cooked chicken, shredded or diced
• Hard Boiled Eggs
• Cauliflower
• Shredded Lettuce (romaine lettuce or iceberg lettuce)

How to Make a Salad in a Jar

Step by Step Instructions

1. Mix sugar, mayonnaise and vinegar in the mason jar you want to store your salad.
2. Add your salad ingredients on top of the dressing starting with chicken and ending with the lettuce.
3. Seal and store in the refrigerator.
4. When ready to eat, shake sealed jar to mix.

Full recipe and ingredient list for mason jar salad can be found in the recipe card below.

Recipe FAQs

• Wide-mouth jars works best. It’s easier to stuff it full and for the salad ingredients to pour out.
• Rotisserie chicken is a great shortcut for the chicken.
• This recipe is incredibly versatile. Check out the recipe variations to get some easy ideas.

Recipe Variations

• Add cooked grains such as quinoa, bulgur, couscous, or wheat berries.
• Beans are the perfect addition to any mason jar salad. Try chickpeas, kidney beans, cannellini beans, etc.
• Veggies are the most versatile. Add broccoli, shredded carrots, bell peppers, corn, mushrooms, red onions or yellow onions, etc.
• For a bit of crunch, add walnuts or pecans. Try toasting them first.
• Cooked rice or pasta are also tasty. Add it next to the dressing layer.
• Omit this homemade dressing, and use your favorite store-bought dressing if desired.

Do mason jar salads get soggy?

They can get soggy if you don’t arrange the layers in the proper order. To prevent a soggy mason jar salad, layer the dressing on the bottom of the jar, then add the protein (meat or beans), followed by the heartier veggies such as cauliflower or broccoli. Next add the hard boiled eggs or pasta, then top with the lettuce on top.

Salad Recipes

Want some other salad recipe ideas to perhaps feed a few more people? We have you covered! These use different types of greens, like romaine and spinach, so you have a variety to choose from.

• Cauliflower Ranch Salad
• Spinach Salad with Bacon and Hard Boiled Eggs
• French Dinner Salad with Low Fat Cottage Cheese Dressing
• Waldorf Salad (With Apples And Nuts)
• The Best Tasty Taco Salad With Homemade Dressing