Name: Mason Jar Quinoa Spinach Salad with Arugula Pesto
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 cup diced carrots; 1 cup diced celery; 1 cup sliced mushrooms; 2 ounces Asiago cheese; 1 cup cooked quinoa; 2 cups fresh baby spinach; 1 cup fresh arugula; 1/2 cup fresh parsley; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic; 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Jump to Recipe

Mason Jar Quinoa Spinach Salad is a hearty, but meatless salad that won’t leave you hungry!

Mason jar salads are all the craze right now. If you haven’t made one yet, this recipe is a good way to get started. Two weeks ago I also shared a yummy mason jar zucchini pasta salad as a nice change of pace from traditional lettuce. Making a salad in a mason jar saves room in your fridge and it’s easy to travel with as you don’t need separate container for the dressing. Nothing gets soggy so it’s a perfectly fresh salad very time! This one is meatless, but you can easily sub the cheese or even the quinoa for chicken or another from of protein. Although meatless it still provides plenty of protein and fiber.

Quinoa is the star in this salad, combined with fresh spinach and tossed together with a delicious arugula pesto dressing makes for a unordinary salad to say the least. Quinoa cooks up in 12-15 minutes and doesn’t even need to be drained. It’s full of protein and it’s naturally gluten free. If you’re concerned about the amount of carbs in this salad you can always reduce the quinoa to 1/4 cup instead of a half in each mason jar. The carbs from these healthy vegetables and the quinoa are slow releasing kind of carbs. Meaning they will not be digested quickly in your body and therefore won’t cause you a spike in your blood sugar leaving you hunger in an hour. You will feel nothing but satisfied with this salad.

Notes on substitutions:

If you don’t like Asiago cheese just choose another hard type cheese, maybe cheddar or Romano cheese.
If you don’t like arugula just use more parsley.
1/2 cup of dry quinoa equals 1 cup cooked. Bring 1 cup of water and quinoa to a boil and simmer for 12-15 minutes covered until all water is absorbed.