Strawberry Spinach Mason Jar Salad
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Published Mar 21, 2022, Updated Sep 27, 2023
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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.
- Switch up the dressing – I love the citrus poppyseed dressing paired with this salad but any dressing would work if you’re in a pinch. Some options: balsamic dressing, white balsamic vinaigrette or lemon vinaigrette.
- 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!
More Mason Jar Salad Recipes to Try
- Black Bean Mason Jar Salad
- Nicoise Mason Jar Salad
- 10 Mason Jar Salads to Meal Prep This Summer
- Chicken Avocado Club Salad
More Salad Recipes to Try
- Easy Mediterranean Orzo Salad
- Roasted Broccoli Quinoa Salad
- Easy Spinach Salad
- Fig Salad with Arugula and Goat Cheese
- Baby Beet and Clementine Salad
- Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Easy Quinoa Salad
Be sure to check out my full collection of salad recipes and meal prep recipes on EBF!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Strawberry Spinach Mason Jar Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb grilled or baked skinless chicken breast, chopped
- ½ cup sliced red onion
- 1 cup sliced cucumber
- 8 large strawberries, chopped
- 1 cup roasted asparagus, chopped
- 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
- 10 oz baby spinach
- ¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted
Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing
- ½ cup fresh grapefruit juice
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- 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.
Notes
- Chicken: I recommend grilling apple cider vinegar chicken or making my air fryer chicken breast.
- 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.
- Dressing: I love the citrus poppyseed dressing paired with this salad but any dressing would work if you’re in a pinch. Some options: balsamic dressing, white balsamic vinaigrette or lemon vinaigrette.
- 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.
- 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!)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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.
Hi Brittany,
I saw this recipe and thought it sounded delicious and I thought, Yay, something without mustard! But… then I got to the dressing ingredients. I wish I liked mustard but I cannot stand the flavor. My friends have tried to sneak it in casseroles or dressings to see if I notice and I always do. Unfortunately, it seems to be in almost all of your 30 protein packed lunches. I know it’s my issue and it’s a healthy ingredient most people like. I’m hoping you can recommend some sort of replacement. 🤞
Hi Stacey – You can typically omit the mustard in salad dressings (as long as it isn’t the main ingredient), I will say it might alter the flavor a bit, but not drastically.
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!
I love your receipes very healthy and low calories. Continue to send me the emails of your healthy food.
Hi, Tumelo! Thank you so much! As long as you’re signed up for the newsletters, we won’t take you off 🙂
I’ve never done salads in a jar before but this looks delicious. Just wondering though, if you’re making several to have ready for the week, how does the avocado hold up? Is it squished in between everything else enough that it doesn’t get brown?
Hey Kelli! The avocado will stay good 1-2 days. If you’re planning to make the salads more advance, I’d make them without the avocado and add it on top the morning of or when you’re serving it. That said, I’m picky about my avocado and hate brown spots. 🙂
This is go to for me. I’m vegetarian, so I usually will toss in some marinated tofu or beans of some type. Getting ready to do the strawberry one RIGHT NOW. Thanks for the great ideas! Iooks like I’ve been missing out on the “shake” part I just pour it out and the dressing is on top just like if I made it fresh.
Omg these look delicious! I don’t know why I’ve never thought to put a salad in a mason jar! It’s so cute! And portable!
Thanks Erin. It’s a fabulous way to meal prep and take salads with you to work! 🙂