Our Cilantro Lime Chicken Mason Jar Salad. Listen closely – it’s your future self thanking you for making a delicious salad for lunch tomorrow. Self high five. This mason jar recipe is one of a series of our mason jar salads on our website and in our latest cookbook.  We love food prep and making mason jar salads allows us to make a bunch of jars of mason jar salads to keep in the refrigerator to enjoy for lunches during the week. This one is perfect and explains how exactly you should layer your salad in a jar to keep it fresh.

We like to put the dressing in the bottom of the jar, and then some of the bulkier ingredients which won’t be damaged from sitting in the dressing. For this recipe, that would be the tomatoes and chicken. The lettuce (or other greens) should stay on top, as far away from the dressing as possible until it’s time to eat! This will ensure that they still taste as fresh as they did when you made the salad.

And for more information about our cookbook, take a look at this link,

NOURISHED: 10 Ingredients to Happy Healthy Eating cookbook

disordered eating

And to tempt you even more to make this Cilantro Lime Chicken Mason Jar Salad recipe, here is a great photo!

Cilantro Lime Chicken Mason Jar Salad

Cilantro Lime Chicken Mason Jar Salad

Listen - it's your future self thanking you for making a delicious salad for lunch tomorrow. Self high five.
Course: Main Dish, Salad
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: Easy, Fiber, Lean protein, Make ahead, Mason jar, Meal prep, No cooking, Quick, Salad, Whole grain
Condition: Dairy Free, Nut Free
Servings: 5 servings

Ingredients

Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing

  • 2 lime juiced
  • 7 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp agave nectar
  • 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
  • pinch garlic powder
  • pinch salt optional
  • pinch cumin

Salad

  • 1 cup tomato cherry
  • 1 cup bell pepper orange, diced
  • 1 1/2 cup pearled barley
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1/2 cup onion red
  • 1 cup corn
  • 2 cups chicken cooked, chopped
  • 1 1/2 heads lettuce romaine

Instructions

Salad Dressing

  • Wash and dry a wide mouth mason jar. Combine all ingredients for the salad dressing in a small bowl. Pour the dressing into the empty mason jar.

Salad

  • Layer the ingredients for the salad in the mason jar on top of the salad dressing. The salad should be placed in order that they are listed in the ingredients, starting with tomatoes and ending with the lettuce.
  • Place the tomatoes on top of the salad dressing, and then layer the salad in the following order: chicken, orange pepper, black beans, red onion, farro or barley, yellow corn, and then lettuce.
  • Screw on the lid and refrigerate, or eat right away! When ready to eat, shake the jar and pour out onto a plate. Enjoy!

Notes

  1. Adjust the amount of each ingredient based on size of the mason jar. 
  2. When preparing this salad, it is important to layer the ingredients correctly. Always place moist or wet ingredients on the bottom. This ensures your salad doesn't get soggy. Your hearty vegetables or protein should go next, then layer away and top with the lettuce!
  3. If you have anything you want to stay crunchy, put it on the top of the salad or place it in a separate baggie. 

Nutrition

Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 28g | Sodium: 443mg | Potassium: 943mg | Fiber: 13g

Please note:

Nutrition info is an estimate and may contain errors.

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An award winning recipe developer, Dietitian Kaitlin’s mission is to empower others to reach their health goals by encouraging them to get back into the kitchen. Co-author of Nourished: 10 Ingredients to Happy, Healthy Eating and Cooking with Diabetes.