RV Recipes: Make-Ahead Mason Jar Salads

Why a mason jar and not any old container?

With a mason jar, you layer the ingredients vertically in a way that keeps the salad fresher longer. A mason jar salad can actually last up to five days, which is pretty impressive considering how quickly lettuce can wilt.

The key to making a great mason jar salad is all about layering. You need to put the ingredients into the jar in the right order for the salad to stay fresh.

Layers, starting at the bottom:

• -Dressing
• -Hearty veggies or veggies that won’t soak up the dressing
• -Soft veggies and grains
• -Lettuce
• -Protein sits at the top

Recipe

• -Italian dressing
• -Ham
• -Salami
• -Cheese
• -Carrots
• -Green peppers
• -Corn
• -Lettuce

Prep ingredients before putting anything into a jar. That means cut everything up. Put the dressing at the bottom. After the dressing, it’s the carrots, then green peppers and corn, then the lettuce. The last thing to go in is the protein, which is ham and salami.

Now, here’s an extra trick. Drop a silicone cupcake liner in the jar and put the proteins in there just to keep the lettuce a little drier. Some people reuse single-serve applesauce containers and put those in the jars to hold the proteins, too. Screw on the top and you have a mason jar salad.

You might wonder, how do you eat it? Take paper plates and just dump them onto the plate. You can shake the jar and eat it out of the jar too.

On your next RV trip, give these mason jar salads a try.

You might also enjoy these camping recipes and these RV cooking hacks.