Chicken, Apple and Pecan Salad in a Jar
Easy, portable salads that can be made ahead for the week – they stay fresh so you never have a soggy salad again!
I kind of have a thing for mason jars. No wait, I’m obsessed with them, really. I just have a use for them for anything and everything – from drinks, to storage, to decorative purposes, and now salads.
Now if you haven’t been making mason jar salads, you are definitely missing out.
Mason jar salads can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge so you can plan out your week’s lunch as needed. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s amazingly fresh and best of all, your coworkers will be giving you some dirty-jealous looks.
It’s obviously a win-win all around.
- 2 cups chopped kale leaves
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 2 Granny Smith apples, chopped
- ½ cup pecans, chopped
- 1 cup grapes
For the chicken salad
- 2 boneless, skinless thin-sliced chicken breasts
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, optional
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more, to taste
Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, to taste. Add to skillet and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Let cool before dicing into bite-size pieces.
In a medium bowl, combine chicken, Greek yogurt, red onion, celery, mayonnaise, almonds and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
To assemble, divide chicken mixture, kale, cranberries, apples, pecans and grapes into four wide-mouth canning jars with tight-fitting lids.*
Pint-sized jars are great for individual salads but quart-sized jars can also be used for larger quantities.
These jars will keep for 3 to 5 days.