If you’ve been thinking about getting started with meal prep, there’s no better time than now! For anyone who is looking to achieve health and wellness success, meal prep is one of the key factors in reaching your goals. Not only is it one of the most efficient ways to stick to your eating plan, it also will help you to reduce your monthly food budget as you’re not going to be eating out for lunch every day.
From our perspective, the easiest way to start with meal planning is with pre-making a week’s worth of salads for your lunch. We’ve all seen co-workers with mason jars or plastic containers filled with a gorgeous salad. You know what we’re talking about. Salad envy. It’s a thing.
Between aggregating websites like Pinterest to health and wellness blogs (hint, hint…) there are a million resources for you to get started with this. You’ll find the best advice for how to properly build the salad in its container, as well as great tips for different ingredient combinations. No time like the present, right? To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of our five favorite salads that get us through the week.
1. Burrito Bowl Mason Jar Salad
Strictlydelicious.com has our back with this great substitute for a burrito bowl or salad from Chipotle. Quinoa is a high-protein substitute for rice, Greek yogurt cuts down the fat and calories from regular sour cream, and sweet potatoes add some superfood power. If you’re looking to make this more vegetarian-friendly, simply substitute black beans for the chicken and you’re ready to enjoy!
This salad is packed with flavor and all kinds of good-for-you ingredients. If you don’t have a market that carries sambal oelek, just substitute it for Sriracha or your favorite Asian-style hot sauce. Asian Noodle Salad probably is one of our favorites, because the cooked soba noodles marinate in the dressing, packing all kinds of flavor when it’s time to enjoy!
3. Sprouted Spring Salad in a Jar
If you’re looking to eat clean, this recipe is a perfect option for you. Filled with plenty of superfoods including sprouts, veggies, nuts, and beans this will keep you running all afternoon. If you’re looking for a vegan option, an easy switch is to find a vegan mustard to help emulsify the dressing and you’re good to go.
4. Spinach Salad with Mozzarella, Orzo and Snap Peas
What we love about this salad is that it can basically be prepared entirely while the orzo is cooking! A great tip for adding more flavor to this already delicious salad is to cook the orzo in stock (chicken or vegetable is our best bet), to really pack a flavorful punch.
This recipe is just for one salad, but don’t let that stop you! We recommend cooking the shrimp yourself, then you can control the seasonings. Try the shrimp with a cajun seasoning blend for a little spicy kick, or a lemon pepper to keep it more traditional.
Now that you have some inspiration, tag us on Facebook with some of your KINETIC-inspired mason jar salads! Using #DoKINETIC share with us your successes (or struggles, we’ve all been there!) with meal planning and let us know how it’s helping you meet your fitness and wellness goals!
