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Incredible Cucumber Chickpea Salad Jar paired with a flavorful lemon vinaigrette! This easy-to-prep vegetarian lunch is filled with fresh veggies, chickpeas, quinoa, and herbs for a nutritious, protein-packed meal that’s easy to grab and go.
This Chickpea cucumber and quinoa Salad Jar is the perfect solution for an easy, tasty, make-ahead lunch. Simply layer the dressing and then all of the fresh ingredients in a glass jar. The dressing always goes at the bottom, followed by heartier ingredients, and more fragile ingredients that might get soggy at the top. This meal prep salad-in-a-jar method will keep your salad fresher for longer, and it’s so convenient to grab for lunch as you head out the door.
Why you should make this recipe
- Filled with nutrients: Having a healthy ready-to-go meal for lunch is a great alternative to going through the drive through and grabbing something that might be high in fat and calories.
- Versatile: There are many ways to change up this salad in a jar concept, and you can easily customize the ingredients with your favs. Use different veggies or dressing, add lettuce, swap the chickpeas for chopped grilled chicken. The options are endless!
- Saves money: Purchasing lunch out every day can get expensive! Bringing your lunch to work is not only healthier but way more budget-friendly.
- Great for making ahead of time: This salad jar recipe makes 4 salads, in only 20 minutes, to enjoy throughout the week. You could even meal prep extra and enjoy them as sides for dinner.
Looking to try other salad-in-a-jar recipes? Try our Italian Kale Salad Jar or this amazing Italian Pasta Salad Jar next!
Ingredients needed
This chickpea salad jar recipe is filled with plant-based protein from quinoa and chickpeas, crisp veggies, and a simple, light Italian dressing. It’s also vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free! Here’s everything you’ll need:
- For the dressing: The homemade Italian vinaigrette is made with extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, honey, garlic powder, oregano, paprika and salt & pepper.
- Chickpeas: Two cans of chickpeas add plant-based protein and plenty of fiber.
- Veggies: A mix of red onion, cherry tomatoes, and English cucumber adds freshness, nutrients, and crunch!
- Quinoa: Four cups of cooked quinoa gives this salad a wonderful, nutty flavor and even more plant-based protein.
- Herbs: Use fresh cilantro or parsley for color and extra flavor.
How to make this recipe
Preparing a salad jar is so easy! However, you must layer the ingredients in a way that they don’t get soggy. The dressing goes in first, followed by the chickpeas, and sturdy, crunchy veggies like cucumbers and onions, then soft veggies, greens (if using), and grains, herbs, and nuts or seeds (if using) at the top. Here’s the simple process:
- Prep: Prepare all ingredients so they are easily separated into 4 servings. To make the mason jar salads, set up four 32-ounce mason jars.
- Make the dressing: In a bowl, add the dressing ingredients: olive oil, lemon juice, honey, oregano, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix to combine. Divide the dressing into the 4 mason jars.
- Assemble the jar salads: Next, into each jar (in this order), add red onions, chickpeas, cucumbers, cooked quinoa, cilantro (or parsley), and lastly tomatoes.
- Store: Cover the jars and place them in the fridge until ready to serve for up to 5 days.
- Serve: To enjoy, invert the jars into a medium-sized bowl and empty them into the bowl. Toss the salad together, adjust the salt if needed, and enjoy.
Expert tips
- Size of the jar: You can use either larger weck jars or mason jars. We recommend using a wide-mouth, 29-ounce to 32-ounce (or similar size) jar.
- Order of ingredients: The most important thing to remember when making salad jars is to make them with sturdier ingredients closer to the dressing, and to keep softer ingredients (that are more likely to wilt or become mushy) from touching the dressing. This will help prevent the salad from becoming soggy. For example, the tomatoes and herbs should be closer to the top of the jar, while the chickpeas and cucumber will hold up just fine in the dressing.
- English cucumber: We recommend the longer, more narrow English cucumber rather than a regular cucumber. English cucumbers are sweeter and contain very few seeds. They are much more likely to stay fresher longer and less likely to become soggy.
- Lemon juice: For the best, brightest flavor use fresh lemon juice for making the dressing.
- Dressing: We like to make our salad dressing because it is usually healthier, cheaper, and more flavorful, but feel free to use any store-bought dressing that you like.
- Vegan option: Use maple syrup instead of honey to make this meal-prep chickpea salad vegan-friendly.
Frequently asked questions
Salads jars are a convenient way to have a fresh, healthy salad prepped and ready for lunch or dinner! They are also great because they’re easy to grab, totally portable and can be customized.
Salads stored in mason jars last for about 5 days in the fridge. Make sure the lid is tightly sealed before storing them in the refrigerator.
We like to use a wide-mouth jar, so it’s easy to layer in all of the ingredients. These jar salads also work best with larger weck jars or mason jars. In all of the photos, here, we’ve used 32-ounce mason jars. You can also use other types of storage containers, you’ll just want to make sure and store the dressing separately.
Storing and serving
Store this salad in four wide-mouth 29-ounce weck jars, 32-ounce mason jars, or meal prep containers for up to 5 days. If using a storage container other than a jar for storage, we recommend storing the dressing separately and adding it right before serving. To serve, pour the salad out from the jar into a bowl to enjoy, or stir it together in your meal prep container.
More salad recipes
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
- Easy Chickpea Feta Salad
- Green Bean and Tomato Salad
- Cucumber Onion Salad
- Greek Orzo Pasta Salad
- Summer Corn Salad
- Asian Cucumber Salad
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Cucumber Chickpea Salad Jar
Equipment
- 4 mason jars, 32 oz each
Ingredients
Dressing ingredients:
- 2 lemons, juiced, or about ¼ cup
- 2 tbsp honey, or maple syrup for a vegan option
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp oregano
- ¼ tsp paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil
Ingredients for the salad:
- 2 (15-ounce) cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 4 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- 1 large English cucumber, diced
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, or parsley if you don’t like cilantro
Instructions
- Prepare all the above ingredients so they are easily separated into 4 servings.
- To make the mason jar salads, set up 4 mason jars
- First, you will need to make the dressing. In a bowl, add the dressing ingredients: olive oil, lemon juice, honey, oregano, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix to combine.
- Divide the dressing into the 4 mason jars. Next, into each jar, add red onions, chickpeas, cucumbers, cooked quinoa, cilantro (or parsley), and lastly tomatoes.
- Cover the jars and place them in the fridge until ready to serve for up to 5 days.
- To serve, invert the jars into a medium-sized bowl and empty them into the bowl. Toss the salad together, adjust the salt if needed, and enjoy.
Notes
- feel free to add some crumbled feta and kalamata olives as well.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
