Mason jar salads are healthy, portable salads, picnic ready and packed with nourishment! This vegetarian Mason Jar Salad will keep you fueled and energized all day! Seasonal vegetables, roasted chickpeas, and a homemade sesame yogurt dressing make for a perfectly balanced lunch at home or on the go.
Thanks to siggi’s dairy for partnering with Cotter Crunch on this picnic ready mason jar salad! You’re gonna love the yogurt dressing to go with it. Just sayin.. Grab a jar and let’s eat the rainbow!
This Texas girl has never been so excited for summer y’all! Sheesh, it’s only a month away! But let me explain this dorky excitement. You see, we are so used to Texas summers. Meaning, you sweat like a sauna and shower 3x a day. If you’re outside, it’s only to swim in an ice-cold pool or go tubing down a chilly river. Hey, those are all fun and dandy, but what I’m really looking forward to this summer, this UTAH Summer, is going on picnics. And I mean picnics in normal temperatures. Normal as in like, say 80F. Not 110F. Yes, call me corny and crazy but I’ve always wanted to pack a cutesy picnic lunch for my husband (and myself) and escape for a lunch in the great outdoors! You’re thinking Sound of Music now, aren’t you? Haha, me too!
Anyway, I guess you could say these superfoods Summer picnic mason jar salads with tangy yogurt dressing are my other excuse to make that picnic happen. Gosh darn it, how can you resist frolicking in hills when you’ve got mason jar salads as cute (and tasty) as this?!
Alright alright, corniness aside, let’s dive deep into my picnic basket! Nutrition wise of course.
These salads are just layered with Summer superfood vibes and all “dressed” up in creamy yogurt dressing!
Layer by layers….
A creamy sesame yogurt dressing made with siggi’s yogurt! This lower sugar yogurt makes the perfect salad dressing when combined with the right ingredients. You can make it sweet (and tangy) by using siggi’s whole-milk strawberry & rhubarb flavor.
Or keep it lively and refreshing with plain siggi’s yogurt and a splash of lemon lime juice. Combine with olive oil, a wee but of honey, and red wine vinegar, and you got yourself a homemade salad dressing you want to eat by the bucket full. But don’t. It’s way better for you when combined with a picnic salad. I’ll get to that part in a minute.
Okay so now that you have the base of jar (yogurt dressing), it’s time to layer it up.
Each one of these superfood ingredients/vegetables/fruit work with each other to make a power salad! Power as in fuel, nourishment, and taste!
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Icelandic Skyr Yogurt
- High in protein, lower in sugar compared to leading Greek yogurts, rich in calcium, great source of naturally occurring probiotics!
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Brussels
- Brussel sprouts are loaded with fiber, Vitamin C, and Vitamin k! Just one-cup provide your daily requirement for vitamin C and vitamin K for the day. The body needs vitamin K to adequately utilize the calcium (from the yogurt), which builds bones. Plus did you know they have 4 grams of protein? YUP! LOVE THEM!
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Oranges and Spinach/kale – SYNERGY combo
- Since Oranges are high in Vitamin C, they can help you absorb that rich plant based Iron coming from the Spinach/Kale. See –> SYNERGY!
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Plant Based Protein choices –
- Chickpeas are another great source of plant based iron that are rich in amino acids. They have 15 grams of protein per serving and grams of fiber! You can roast them like I did in the roasted chickpea salad or you soak overnight prior to cooking them, which helps to make them more digestible.
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Broccoli sprouts or Alfalfa –
- These sprouts are magical! They contain the same (or greater) amount of power nutrients as regular green vegetables, yet are low in calories. So EAT UP!
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Herbs
- Did you know Cilantro/Coriander can help with digestive stress? Research also has show that Coriander can help reduce anxiety and improve sleep. Ha, no wonder I like it! (source)
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Quinoa
- Quinoa is a Gluten Free grain high in plant based protein, amino acids, and B vitamins!
Oh so nourishing ya’ll!
Print
Picnic Ready Mason Jar Salad with Sesame Yogurt Dressing {Vegetarian}
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
Picnic ready vegetarian Mason Jar salad packed full of seasonal vegetables and tossed in natural sweetened sesame yogurt dressing! Healthy, portable, protein packed ya’ll!
Ingredients
Sesame Yogurt Dressing:
- 4.4 ounce container of yogurt (siggi’s strawberry & rhubarb whole-milk yogurt). Or See notes for siggi’s plain yogurt option
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 1 to 2 bsp Lemon juice (if using plain yogurt, feel free to add a tbsp. more lemon juice)
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 to 2 tbsp Honey (If using plain yogurt you can adjust sweetness a bit more.)
- 1–2 tbsp regular or toasted sesame seeds
- Salt/Pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- (You will have extra dressing for future salad recipes)
Mason Jar Salads – These are ingredients for two large jars:
- 2 –4 tbsp Sesame Yogurt Dressing (divided)
- 1 cup mixed greens (salad)
- 1 cup chopped Brussel sprouts (1 1/2 c whole)
- 1 cup cooked quinoa (divided)
- 2 – 4 orange slices cut 1 inch thick
- 1 cup microgreen Sprouts
- 1 summer squash (1/2 in each jar, spiralized or cut julienne)
- 1/3 cup roasted chickpeas (You can use plain cooked or canned (drained) as well)
- Cilantro to garnish.
- Lemon or lime wedge for garnishing
- Salt/pepper to taste
Instructions
- For the sesame yogurt dressing, whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. You will have extra for future uses. Store in an air tight container until ready to use.
- For the mason jar salads, the ingredient listed are for two large mason jars. Simple layer half the amount into each jar. Starting with the yogurt dressing on the bottom, then quinoa, greens, orange, chickpeas, brussel sprouts, squash noodles, and herbs and sprouts on top. The edible flowers are just fun to add. Salt and pepper the salad half way through layering if desired.
- Then all you have to do is shake it a little, then pour the contents into bowl or plate for eating on the go!
Notes
If you are using siggi’s plain yogurt for the dressing, you can use 4-5 ounces of a container. Adjust lemon juice and olive oil to desired amount to make thicker or thinner..
Estimated Nutrition shown includes serving with 2 tbsp dressing
- Category: main, salads
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 273
- Sugar: 9.3 g
- Sodium: 35.7 mg
- Fat: 4.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.6 g
- Fiber: 9.8 g
- Protein: 13.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: mason jar salads, gluten free, portable recipes, protein packed recipes, vegetarian
Are you ready to eat the rainbow? Or go on a picnic? Haha, yes, of course you are!
Favorite yogurt based salad dressing? My mom makes an awesome papaya yogurt dressing!
Mason jar salads.. you know if you love them! Tell me what you fill yours with. I gotta try the mason jar instant noodle cups next. So trendy!
