Meal-prepping and “what I eat in a day” videos seem to be all the rave on social these days. One popular technique for prepping a healthy meal is by using mason jars. The glass jars, once used for canning and preserving food, are perfect for saving time and money without sacrificing nutrition. They hold crafted drinks, they’re used in farmhouse decor and they’re a great way to store portable, pre-made meals.
Our OhioHealth dietitians and wellness coaches came together to share a few ways to use mason jars in your meal prep routine. They call it “mason jar magic” and we call it delicious! Check out these recipes for your next meal prep:
Overnight Oats Recipe
This breakfast will fill you up because it utilizes protein from greek yogurt and fiber from oats – two ingredients that can keep hunger at bay.
If you’re nervous about using greek yogurt because you feel it’s too sour, we promise you won’t notice it. All of the other ingredients bring plenty of sweetness to your oats.
The “magic” in this recipe is how the oats actually “cook” overnight while they’re sitting in the milk you use. Just remember to use plain oats, not quick oats or steel-cut oats, since those won’t turn out as yummy.
The next morning, you can take your oats out of the fridge and mix in any toppers you’d like – from nuts and seeds to fruit and spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. These oats don’t have to be the same every day. Get creative!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup almond milk (or your milk of choice!)
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ½ tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients into a Mason jar.
- Shake jar well to mix all ingredients.
- Let sit overnight in fridge.
- In the morning, stir, add more milk if desired.
- Top with your favorite fruit, nuts, nut butter, or seeds.
Download and print this recipe.
Mason Jar Salad and Salad Dressing Recipe
When you bring home a salad from a restaurant, you know the next day it can be a big, sloppy mess. We solved this problem with our mason jar salads! The “magic” here is in the layering. When you layer your dressing in first, then add the remaining ingredients in order from dense and/or fibrous to lighter and softer, your salad will stay fresh in the fridge all week.
This salad is also designed to keep you full thanks to protein coming from your chicken (or other meat you choose) and fiber from your vegetables.
Just don’t forget to grab your jar on the way out the door in the morning! Then at lunchtime, you can dump it into a bowl or onto a plate and that dressing that was sitting on the bottom of the jar will end up on the top of your beautiful salad. A recipe for perfect.
Salad Ingredients
- ½ cup cooked quinoa
- ½ cup halved grape tomatoes
- 2 cups spinach (or greens mix)
- ¼ cup roasted chicken
- 1 tablespoon walnuts
- ¼ cup garbanzo beans
- ¼ cup diced or spiralized zucchini
Salad Instructions
- Pour dressing (recipe below) into bottom of a quart sized (32 ounce) Mason jar.
- Begin layering ingredients, starting with chicken, garbanzo beans, quinoa, zucchini, nuts, tomatoes and ending with the spinach.
- Seal with lid and store in refrigerator up to 2 days.
- When ready to eat, shake to allow dressing to coat ingredients.
Dressing Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon wine vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoon very finely minced shallot
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Black pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Dressing Instructions
- Combine vinegar, shallot, mustard, salt and pepper to taste in a bowl or jar.
- Whisk until mixture is milky in appearance.
- Slowly drizzle oil into mixture.
Download and print this recipe.
The great thing about these recipes is you can customize them! You’re not stuck having the same meal all week long. So, have fun and be creative with your mason jar recipes. Happy prepping!
Looking for more recipes? We have plenty!
