Make one of these hearty meal-prep salads once and enjoy it for days. They are delicious and hold up well in the fridge.
Whether you work from home or go into the office, it’s nice (and often necessary) to have your lunch ready to go for the midday break. Usually we want our make-ahead lunch recipes on the healthier side. Such lunches will reboot our energy to take us through the rest of the workday so there’s no 2 p.m. crash (which is why, unfortunately, pizza doesn’t make the cut).
Salad recipes are the answer. But how can we have meal-prep salads on hand without them becoming soggy over time? It all depends on the ingredients! We’ve gathered our best meal-prep salads that can be made ahead and enjoyed throughout the week. This list has a huge variety of salads so we never get sick of making the same or similar recipes. Enjoy a chicken taco salad one week, then a hearty Vietnamese noodle and pork salad or some type of dense bean salad the next.
I recommend making all the components—cook the proteins, make the salad dressing recipes and cut the vegetables—the day before your work week starts and then store them separately. Before heading out the door in the morning, build your salad in an airtight container. Although, some of these salads, like pasta salad or a hearty vegetable and bean salad, have components that can sit together in the same container throughout the week. In fact, the flavors meld together so everything tastes even better than the day before. Use your best judgment!
DIY Salad in a Jar
From the Recipe Creator: Our farm-fresh salad is layered with gorgeous garden veggies, and we built in a homemade dressing flavored with fresh herbs. Just shake it up to eat the rainbow. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen
Nutrition Facts: 1 serving: 364 calories, 16g fat (3g saturated fat), 37mg cholesterol, 294mg sodium, 15g carbohydrate (9g sugars, 4g fiber), 17g protein.
Brussels Sprouts & Quinoa Salad
From the Recipe Creator: With Brussels sprouts for the green and cranberries for the red, this combination makes a cheery Christmastime salad. The refreshing and versatile mixture works with any kind of nut or dried fruit. —Cameron Stell, Los Angeles, California
Nutrition Facts: 2/3 cup: 286 calories, 15g fat (2g saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 206mg sodium, 34g carbohydrate (8g sugars, 4g fiber), 7g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch, 2 fat.
Bulgur Salad