Tropical mason jar salad – this compact recipe consists of building your very own healthy salad in a jar to bring on the go.
I’ve been seeing the latest buzz which is packing salads into a mason jar for quite some time now. I must admit that I too have jumped onto the bandwagon and absolutely love the idea of a vertical salad. I initially thought the idea was strange and meaningless but after trying this at home and on my travels I’m now convinced that mason jar salads are an excellent idea.
In case you’re wondering what on earth is a mason jar salad, no worries I will provide a brief explanation shortly.
Due to how compact and handy mason jar salads are I truly think they are here to stay and not just another health fad.
What is a mason jar salad?
Essentially a mason jar salad is simply a traditional salad crammed into a glass jar with the lid screwed on. The general rule of thumb is to add your choice of dressing at the bottom the jar and then create layers.
A good general rule of thumb is……
Starting with the heavy, least absorbent ingredients towards the lower half of the jar and the lighter leafy ingredients at the very top.
The reason why the lighter ingredients i.e spinach, kale, lettuce and so fourth are added at the top of this tropical mason jar is to prevent them from soaking up the dressing and to retain their crisp texture until it’s time to serve. Of course keeping the jar upright helps especially if you are carrying this to work or out and about.
Can I eat straight from the mason jar?
Yes, you can also eat the salad directly from the jar using a fork, just make sure to shake everything before consumption. There really is no need to remove the content once it is stored in the jar.
How to prepare a tropical mason jar
This tropical mason jar recipe is very simple to prepare and incredibly tasty too.
The ingredients – I used a ginger lime dressing to form the base and added layers of pineapple, bell peppers, cucumbers, red kidney beans and lettuce.
Adding veggies/fruit – The fun doesn’t stop there because you can add more fruit or veg if you wish.
Closing the lid – The jar should be tightly packed to ensure a suffice amount of salad is packed away.
Recipe tips
- Why not make the tropical mason jar recipe in bulk to save time
- Mason jars can be stored in the refrigerator for several days.
Tropical mason jar salad
Vegan, dairy free, gluten free
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Category: Salad
Ingredients
- 2 mason jars
- 1 1/4 cup of fresh pineapple, chopped into chunks
- 1 cup of mixed bell peppers, sliced
- 1 cup of cucumber, halved
- 1 cup of red kidney beans, cooked/drained from a can
- a handful of chopped lettuce
- ———————————————————————-
- For the ginger lime dressing
- For the dressing
- 1 tsp of dried thyme
- 1tsp of ginger, minced
- The juice of one lime
- ¼ tsp of garlic granules or one small garlic clove, crushed
- ⅛ tsp of sesame seed oil
- 2tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp of coconut palm sugar
- ⅛ tsp of coconut aminos
Instructions
- Start by blitzing the ingredients for the ginger lime dressing in a blender.
- Pour an equal quantity into both mason jar.
- Proceed to form tights layers starting with the pineapple, then bell peppers, cucumbers, kidney beans and finally top with lettuce.
- Screw the lid on and serve by either shaking the jar and eating directly from it or pouring everything into a bowl.
Notes
Can be stored in a refrigerator for several days
Yum! I love the idea of adding pineapple to salads! And that ginger in the dressing sounds delish! Perfect for work.
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Thanks Lucy, I wanted to add some anti inflammatory properties to the salad.
What a great way to transport a salad and keep it all fresh. I always have a mason jar laying around, they are so handy. The ginger lime dressing sounds wonderful.
Thanks Dahn. I’m slowly trying to win people over with these mason jar salads.
I love anything served in a mason jar — and this is so pretty, too. That ginger lime dressing sounds so good 🙂
Thank you so much Sue.
Looks super easy and a fun salad to pack for work!
Definitely, why not try it for yourself?
I love mason jar salads. They are so easy to take to work or picnics 😀
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Me too, very compact indeed!
Jar salads are the most convenient things ever! I love the summer fruits and veggies you’ve used in this recipe.
Thank you so much Evi