healthy mason jar taco salad

Lunch has always been the hardest meal of the day for me. I rarely have the time to prepare something hearty and filling so I usually end up either eating something quick and easy, but less healthy, or sometimes nothing at all!! This happened the other day and I was completely starving all afternoon. I needed to find a solution to my lunchtime problem fast. Enter the mason jar salad! I'd read about them and seen them all over Pinterest in the past, but had never tried to make them. I thought they might just be the solution I was looking for.

Mason jar salads are a simple way to store a quick and healthy lunch! Just decide what kind of salad you'd like and put in the ingredients in the reverse order that you would put them on your plate. So dressings and wetter fruits and veggies on the bottom, then your meats, and finish off with your greens. The purpose of this is to protect your greens from getting damp and wilted, and the meat and veggies can get nice and marinated in your dressing or sauce! Then when you're ready to eat, you just dump it all on your plate! Mason jar salads will keep fresh in the fridge for up to five days too, so you can make a whole bunch for a week full of lunches and they'll stay fresh.

I put my plan to the test this week by making these healthy taco salads. It was so easy to do and only took me about 30 minutes to make four of them! We usually have left overs for lunch a couple times a week so these salads are great for the days when we don't. I ate my first salad today and it was so yummy. Check out the recipe below!

HEALTHY MASON JAR TACO SALAD

Makes four

1 tbsp olive oil, divided

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 large onion, chopped

2 tsps garlic, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

salt to taste

2 large avocados

1 large lime

1 1/3 cups salsa

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

baby spinach

4 wide-mouth quart size mason jars

1. Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts until golden brown. Set aside. 

2. Add remaining 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and add red bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook until soft and slightly charred. Season veggies with ground cumin and salt. Mix well and turn off heat.

3. Scoop avocados and mash in a small bowl. Add juice from the lime and salt to taste.

4. To Assemble: Place 1/3 cup of salsa in the bottom of each jar, spreading evenly. Divide avocado/lime mixture and spread on top evenly. Divide and add veggies and then chicken. After the chicken, add the chopped tomatoes and cilantro. Then finish off with as much spinach as you can fit in the mason jar! Seal and refrigerate until ready to eat! 

Let me know if you give these or any other mason jar salads a try!