This spinach mason jar salad features strawberries, grilled chicken and a citrus poppyseed dressing. Layer all of the ingredients into a mason jar for a healthy, portable lunch!
Have you hopped on the salad in a jar trend yet?!? Please say yes.
This strawberry spinach salad takes advantage of the spring’s bounty with a variety of seasonal ingredients including strawberries, roasted asparagus, grilled chicken, crunchy cucumber slices, creamy avocado, red onion, toasted almond slices and a sweet and tangy homemade citrus poppyseed dressing.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This salad is the perfect meal prep recipe – just layer all of the ingredients into a mason jar for a healthy, portable lunch!
It’s a quintessential spring salad, featuring seasonal produce like asparagus and strawberries and a citrus dressing!
It’s totally customizable – feel free to make this salad your own!
Ingredients Needed
baby spinach – the greens in this salad. Baby spinach has a mild flavor and texture that works perfectly in this salad. You can easily swap with any greens.
red onions – to add a little zest!
cucumbers – for some added crunch.
asparagus – I love fresh asparagus when it’s in season! Asparagus is a nutrient-dense food, meaning it packs a lot of nutrients and not a lot of calories. 1 cup of asparagus is only 20 calories!
avocado – a great way to add healthy fat and creaminess.
grilled or baked skinless chicken breast – I love making my apple cider vinegar chicken for this recipe, but feel free to make your favorite chicken recipe. You can also prep shredded chicken in the slow cooker or air fryer chicken in an air fryer in advance to add to this salad. Rotisserie chicken would also be a great option for a short-cut!
strawberries – the star of the show here. I love the burst of flavor and sweetness fresh strawberries bring to this recipe!
goat cheese – for a hint of creaminess and saltiness.
sliced almonds – add more healthy fats and a necessary crunch factor to the salad. You can keep this raw or toast them for extra flavor.
citrus poppyseed dressing – a super simple dressing made with fresh grapefruit juice, maple syrup, sea salt, ground pepper, dijon mustard, garlic, poppyseeds, and olive oil.
Notes and Substitutions
Switch up the greens – if you’re not a spinach fan, feel free to use your favorite leafy green instead. spring mix or arugula would be my next choice of greens for this salad.
Use different mix-ins – Feel free to switch up your mix-ins for this salad… I often do! Sometimes I change up the veggies based on what I have on hand. Feel free to get creative and make this salad your own.
Add grains – I love adding grains to my salad for some extra volume and nutrients. Toss in cooked quinoa, rice or farro to make this a heartier salad.
Swap out the nuts – Not an almond fan or have a nut allergy? Any type of nut or seed will work well in this salad. For the ultimate treat try adding candied walnuts or candied pecans.
Dairy-free – You can swap the goat cheese for a dairy-free cheese or omit to make this salad dairy-free.
Vegetarian – If you’re vegetarian feel free to skip the chicken and use another protein source like hard boiled eggs, baked tofu, tempeh or chickpeas (try these air fryer chickpeas for some added crunch!)
How to Make Spinach Mason Jar Salad
Once you have all your ingredients prepped, this salad comes together in just two steps and in under 15 minutes:
Make dressing – Make dressing by whisking together grapefruit juice, maple syrup, sea salt, pepper, dijon mustard, garlic, poppy seeds and olive oil. Alternatively, you can add all the ingredients to a mason jar, cover and shake until combined.
Prep salads – Take four wide-mouth 32 oz mason jars and layer salad ingredients. Start with 3 Tablespoons of dressing in each jar and then divide remaining salad ingredients into quarters and start layering in this order: onions, cucumbers, strawberries, asparagus, chicken, goat cheese, almonds and spinach.
Serving and Storing
To make it in advance: You can keep this spinach mason jar salad in the fridge until you’re ready to enjoy. Most salads will keep for about 5 days depending on what protein you’re using. I only prefer to go 1-3 days when I’m using something like grilled chicken.
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, haha!
This spinach mason jar salad features grilled chicken, strawberries and a citrus poppy seed dressing. Layer all of the ingredients into a mason jar for a healthy, portable lunch!
Prep ingredients by roasting your asparagus, grilling your chicken and chopping all the veggies.
Make dressing by whisking together all ingredients.
Take four wide-mouth 32 oz mason jars and layer salad ingredients. Start with 3 Tablespoons of dressing in each jar and then divide remaining salad ingredients in quarters and start layering in this order: onions, cucumbers, strawberries, asparagus, chicken, goat cheese, almonds and spinach.
When ready to serve, shake each jar and pour into a bowl.
Spinach: If you’re not a spinach fan, feel free to use your favorite leafy green instead. spring mix or arugula would be my next choice of greens for this salad.
Mix-ins: Feel free to switch up your mix-ins for this salad… I often do! Sometimes I change up the veggies based on what I have on hand. Feel free to get creative and make this salad your own.
Grains: I love adding grains to my salad for some extra volume and nutrients. Toss in cooked quinoa, rice or farro to make this a heartier salad.
Nuts: Not an almond fan or have a nut allergy? Any type of nut or seed will work well in this salad. For the ultimate treat try adding candied walnuts or candied pecans.
Goat cheese: You can swap the goat cheese for a dairy-free cheese or omit to make this salad dairy-free.
I love the “salad in a jar” idea. I think it’s practical, although the glass jar could be heavy. How about the “salad in a coconut bowl” idea?
Sarah http://www.dietofcommonsense.com
Hm, not as portable as a glass jar and I don’t find them to be too heavy, but there are a lot of different solutions to packing meals on the go out there. Find what works best for you!
This is just the recipe I needed. I’ve been in such a funk with food…..have lots of food allergies and I’m ready for Spring/Summer recipes. Thank you. PS Did you forget to add avocado to your recipe list? You mention it in your commentary but then didn’t see it listed. Would the avocado get too dark if you make these jars ahead and wait to eat? 🙂
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Hey Brittany – my husband can’t have grapefruit because of medication – do you think orange would be a good alternative ?
Hi, Karen! That should be just fine! Let me know how it turns out.
I love the “salad in a jar” idea. I think it’s practical, although the glass jar could be heavy. How about the “salad in a coconut bowl” idea?
Sarah
http://www.dietofcommonsense.com
Hm, not as portable as a glass jar and I don’t find them to be too heavy, but there are a lot of different solutions to packing meals on the go out there. Find what works best for you!
PS I’ve heard of salad in a jar but haven’t tried it before. Great email.
Thank you, Kathy! Let me know how they turn out for you.
This is just the recipe I needed. I’ve been in such a funk with food…..have lots of food allergies and I’m ready for Spring/Summer recipes. Thank you. PS Did you forget to add avocado to your recipe list? You mention it in your commentary but then didn’t see it listed. Would the avocado get too dark if you make these jars ahead and wait to eat? 🙂
I’m looking forward to making this. If fresh grapefruit is not in season can I use grapefruit juice?
Totally! I used fresh pressed grapefruit juice from the store when I last made this recipe!