Chicken Avocado Club Mason Jar Salad

This chicken avocado club mason jar salad combines chicken, turkey bacon, blue cheese and avocado. It’s filling, loaded with flavor and perfect for meal prep. Low carb + gluten-free. 

If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m obsessed with salads that I can meal prep for the week and this chicken avocado club mason jar salad is one of my favorites! I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever even had a club sandwich (maybe once?), but the ingredients sounded fun for a salad so I’m rolling with it.

The combo of seared chicken, crispy turkey bacon, rich blue cheese and creamy avocado is pure perfection. And when tossed in a honey mustard dressing it’s SO good!

Why You’ll Love This Chicken Avocado Club Salad

• The flavor combo is so delicious and satisfying!
• It’s totally customizable so feel free to make this salad your own!
• This salad is the perfect meal prep recipe – just layer all of the ingredients into a mason jar for a healthy, portable lunch!

Ingredients Needed

• seared chicken – the star of the show! We’re seasoning the chicken with a little garlic powder, salt and pepper and searing it on the stovetop. My apple cider vinegar chicken or air fryer chicken breast would also be delicious options. You can also use a rotisserie chicken for a shortcut! If you want to make this a vegan salad, feel free to swap the chicken for crispy tofu, tempeh or chickpeas.
• red onion – for a little zest! If you aren’t a fan of red onions feel free to use green onions or yellow onions for a milder taste.
• cucumber – adds a nice hydrating crunch to this salad. Celery would also be a nice crunchy option if you don’t have a cucumber on hand.
• grape tomatoes – I decided to go with grape tomatoes for this salad, but cherry tomatoes or really any type of tomato would work.
• turkey bacon – I chose to go with turkey bacon for this salad because it’s a lighter alternative to regular bacon. That said, feel free to use pork bacon or tempeh bacon for a vegan option.
• blue cheese – adds some creaminess and a distinct flavor to this salad. Feel free to switch it out with a different cheese like feta or goat cheese if you’d like!
• romaine lettuce – I like using romaine as it adds a nice crunch to this salad and it’s usually added to chicken club sandwiches, but feel free to use any leafy green of choice. Spinach, green lettuce, or even green cabbage would all be good options for this salad.
• avocado – for some healthy fat and creaminess.
• honey mustard dressing – a simple dressing made with lemon juice, honey, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.

How to Make

Cook chicken – Start with seasoning both sides of the chicken breast with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook the chicken by either grilling, or searing on the stovetop. To sear: add 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Place the chicken breast in hot oil and cook for about 6-7 minutes on each side, or until the juices run clear. Remove from the skillet and let sit for 5 minutes to cool before you slice it for the salad.

Make dressing – While the chicken cooks, make the dressing by blending all ingredients in a blender.

Prep salads – Line up 4 32-ounce mason jars. Add 3 Tablespoons of dressing to each jar, then start layering ingredients in this order: red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, chicken, bacon, blue cheese, avocado and romaine. Avocado can be chopped and added the morning of if you’re worried about it browning. When ready to enjoy, shake jar and pour into a medium bowl.

Pro Tips

1. To save time day of, cook your chicken and turkey bacon and make your dressing ahead of time. Then all you have to do when you’re ready to prep your salad is chop your veggies and make your salads!
2. If you’re making this salad for meal prep wait to add the avocado until you’re ready to eat so it doesn’t turn brown.
3. Put the dressing in the jar first! You don’t want your dressing slowly dripping down all of your ingredients making them soggy over the day… unless you like soggy salads. So remember: dressing in first and you’re well on your way to an amazing mason jar salad!
4. I highly recommend using wide-mouth quart-size mason jars. The wide opening makes it so much easier to get your ingredients in and out of the jar. Plus the quart-size is large and perfect for meal-sized salads!
5. Leave a little room at the top of the jar so you can shake it up right before serving. It helps make sure all parts of the salad have some dressing.
6. Pour the salad out into a bowl or onto a plate for serving. You can totally eat the salad out of the jar, but they are a little deep for forks so I find pouring the salad into a dish is much easier.
7. Store your mason jar salads upright in the fridge. If they’re stored on their side or tipped over, the dressing will leak up to the top and may cause your greens to get soggy.

Serving and Storing

To make it in advance: You can keep this chicken salad in the fridge for 2-3 days until you’re ready to enjoy it.

Serving: The fun part comes when you’re ready to eat because you get to shake the jar to distribute the dressing. I don’t know why, but this is my favorite part! Once shaken, pour the salad into a big plate or bowl and enjoy. If for some reason you find yourself without a serving dish you can eat the salad straight from the jar but unless you have an extra-long fork, it’s kind of difficult. I speak from experience!

More Mason Jar Salad Recipes to Try

• Black Bean Mason Jar Salad
• Strawberry Spinach Mason Jar Salad
• Beet Power Mason Jar Salad
• Kale Sweet Potato Lentil Mason Jar Salad
• Nicoise Mason Jar Salad
• How to Make a Mason Jar Salad

More Chicken Salad Recipes to Try

• Blackened Chicken Cobb Salad
• BBQ Chicken Salad
• Poppy Seed Chicken Pasta Salad
• Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
• Blueberry Corn Chicken Salad
• Chicken Waldorf Salad

Be sure to check out more mason jar salad recipes as well as all of the salad recipes on EBF!