Salads prepared by the batch are a great idea for a healthy lunch. Healthier food options are important! Especially for meals eaten when you don’t have a lot of time for preparation and clean up. Preparing your food in advance can give you an advantage, whether you have decided to eat healthier, are looking to save money, or just don’t have time every morning to prepare your lunch. It’s possible to have satisfying, appealing, crispy salad made exactly like you want it every day!

If you are unfamiliar with meal prep, it is part menu planning and part assembly line. It just means preparing meals to be eaten in the future. By taking time to plan, select and cook your food ahead of time it is more likely that you will make food choices with more thought and you won’t have to make choices at the last minute that are not in line with your budget or nutritional goals.

Setting an intention to prepare meals you will enjoy is a satisfying way to show up for yourself. Batch prepping food has been a huge help to my food budget and it’s also helped my family and me be able to eat well, besides saving money. Preparing lunches in a batch also saves time. Preparation will take less than an hour and for the rest of the week your mornings or evenings will be free. Lunch is the perfect meal to try preparing healthy meals. 

It may take some trial and error, but you will find that once you have the hang of the preparation process for salads they will keep for several days. Always use proper food safety precautions to prevent food-borne illness, especially if you are using eggs, meat or fish. That said, even if your plans change, the last salad will last a couple of extra days and, if stored properly will be just as fresh and delicious as the first one. Many times, I’ve enjoyed a salad a work that was stored all week, over a weekend. Because it was stored properly it was perfectly fine a week later.

Because I’ve been doing batch meal prep for years, I can easily eyeball ingredients now and split ingredients that I have on hand evenly. It varies from week to week, depending on my family’s schedules, but I usually end up making five to seven. But you will be amazed at how easily it can be scaled up–or scaled down–so you can make them for your whole family to grab and go. After you try this once or twice you will be able to modify or change the ingredients to suit your needs.  

As far as containers, use whatever will hold your meal and fit in the refrigerator. I have shallow plastic containers that I can use for other meals, but we also have a large number of deeper bowls, too. As far as storage it’s a trade off: the deeper bowls have a smaller footprint, but the shallower ones take up less vertical space. They don’t have to all match, either and tall canning jars are also an option.

To enjoy them at work, you can either take one each day and store it in an insulated lunch bag. If you have access (and room) in a refrigerator in your workplace, you can take all of them with you to work and take the container from that day’s salad home.

I made five salads, as you will see by the photos.

Easy Batch of Salads

Ingredients

To make ahead:  

5 reusable containers + utensils 

10 cups of romaine, torn or salad mix

½ cup of raw carrots, pre-sliced or washed and sliced

½ cup of uncooked mushrooms

1 serving of protein (tuna, eggs, beans, steak, chicken, etc.)

1 to 2 handfuls of savory items such as olives and artichoke hearts

Paper towels, trimmed to fit the container, if needed

For adding in just before eating:

5 serving of protein stored safely (tuna, eggs, beans, steak, chicken, etc.)

5 servings of salad dressing (optional) 

Preparation

1. Make sure that all of your ingredients are rinsed and dried. The less moisture, the longer the ingredients will remain fresh. 

2. For each container, add the sturdiest ingredients first, especially the taller your container is. I used carrots, but if you are using hard, raw vegetables such as cauliflower or broccoli, put those on the bottom. 

3. Add the next layer of ingredients, and continue adding them in order of crispiness. Here, I put the mushrooms and the savory items over the carrots. In this category I would add things like bell peppers, squash and beans.

4. Add the salad greens. 

5. Loosely put a piece of paper towel on top of each prepared salad. 

6. Put the lids on the containers, being sure each is completely closed. 

7. Keep each container refrigerated until as closely as possible to the time you will eat it.  

8. When you are ready to eat them, for the protein: 

• Eggs Hard boil one or two eggs and properly store until ready to use, then peel and slice each one and add it right before eating.

• Meat/Chicken/Fileted fish: Slice and freeze cooked meat, then thaw it the evening before, to be added right before eating. Or, if you have access to a microwave you could defrost it that way as well.  

• Beans, after being drained well, can usually be added at the time of preparation. 

• Fish in a pouch or can: Store properly and add right before eating.

• Plant-based proteins such as tofu or tempeh can be added at meal time.

9. Top with salad dressing and toss gently right before eating.

Use your taste buds and nutritional needs as a guide. Healthy meal prep ideas can be done for any meal–not just lunch. Having a delicious and satisfying meal made with purpose and intention is one of the most loving acts of self-care you can do for yourself. 

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