Lunch on the go - your jar salad step by step

Taking your own food into work is the best way of staying on track and hitting your health goals. You are in control of what to pack and ensure that it contains lots of protein, fibre and nutrients to fill you up and keep you going until the next meal without making you feel sleepy or needing to reach for a sugary snack or caffeine to keep you going.

Packing your food into a jar is a great way of taking in your packed lunch. It looks pretty - but it also ensures that the salad ingredients don’t go soggy.

Here’s a few pointers to ensure that your jar remains pretty, filling and, most importantly, not soggy.

STEP 1: Add the dressing first - this means that the rest of your salad doesn’t go soggy. You could take your dressing in separately, but that just means yet another jar.

STEP 2: Add the crispiest salad ingredients next. Cucumber, tomatoes, peppers or radish all work well. Think of the ingredients that don’t go soft in some vinegary dressing or stand up well to some pickling.

STEP 3: Add some protein. This could be chickpeas, beans, lentils, chicken, cheese or fish. This ensures that your blood sugars remain stable and your salad leaves you satisfied.

STEP 4: Don’t forget some complex carbohydrates. These also help you to stay full - sweet potatoes, root vegetables, lentils, beans all work well.

STEP 5: Add the leafy greens or salad leaves to the top - this means they are furthest from the dressing and don’t go all limp.

STEP 6: You could add some extras such as nuts, seeds, pickled onions or sauerkraut

To eat you can either pour into a bowl - the leafy greens end up at the bottom and the dressing on top so perfect combination. Or else give everything a shake and a stir in the jar and enjoy.

We like to make 2 days worth of jars in advance to save time in our busy schedules.

If you have been inspired by jar salads and would like to make your own to take into work then sign up to our Resource Library below where we have an ebook packed with 10 jar salads to inspire you.