Mason Jar Spiralized Waldorf Salad
Even when the weather is chilly, munching on a crunchy, full of flavor, healthy salad reminds you of warmer days, spring gardens, fresh vegetables, farmers markets and all things alive and beautiful.
Every salad has a chance to overcome being boring and turn into amazing, it's just all in the combination of your choices. Many times though life gets in the way of being creative. Time is of the essence and often just some lettuce, tomato and cucumbers might be all you enjoy in your salad for lack of time.
But for me, it's not only what's in it, but how you pack it up to take on the run with you that gets my creativity flowing and my desire to eat these creations!
Mason jars salads are that chance to break from the typical boring salad and get busy building a salad everyone will drool over in the lunchroom!
My motto is make it once enjoy it many times! I want the biggest bang for my buck when I'm taking time to make a salad. I want several meals from it so I don't have to get in the kitchen every day to have a healthy lunch. I've got 3 kiddies and a hungry hubby who rely on me for a healthy dinner and breakfasts so lunch is kind of the last thing to get done on my To Do list if you know what I mean.
This is my take on a Waldorf Salad.
Many Waldorf Salads include dried fruit like raisins and maybe some grapes as well as a mayonnaise dressing. When I looked over some nutritional information on other typical Waldorf salads I was surprised that mine was not lower in sugar or fat, but then I realized something. The serving size for every typical Waldorf salad I googled was the smallest serving ever! About ½ cup was what I discovered. Who in their right mind would ever be full on eating a ½ cup of salad for lunch?
This salad is a filling and appropriate sized salad for a lunch meal. Sure you could make this as a side salad and serve it all in one bowl if you like. Just decrease all the nutritional information by half and you have half a serving of what you see here to serve aside a meal.
I served this salad as one large salad and tossed it all together to serve on New Year's Day with my Crock Pot BBQ baby Back Ribs. Everyone loved the tangy dressing and thought it was the best side with the ribs, cool and refreshing.
Other Salads you might enjoy:
- Mason Jar Tuscan Bean Salad
- Mason Jar Zucchini Pasta Salad
- Mason Jar Quinoa Spinach salad
- Mason Jar Broccoli Salad
Brenda's Notes:
- The nutritional information is calculated using Cabot Greek yogurt, 2%.
- The sugar grams you see are from the natural sugars within the yogurt and from the apple in the recipe.
- To decrease carbs and sugar content you could eliminate the apple and then it would simply be a cucumber salad not a Waldorf salad.
- You could also cut the nutrition information in half by serving this as a side salad with a main dish and it would be 8 servings instead of 4.
- I would recommend Red Delicious apples to be used. The first time I made this I used Macintosh and they were a bit too soft in my opinion.
Mason Jar Spiralized Waldorf Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups spiralized apples
- 1 lemon
- 4 cups spiralized cucumber
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 head Boston lettuce chopped or 4 cups
- ½ cup pecans or walnuts
Yogurt Dressing
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt 2%
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon liquid stevia
Instructions
- Once apples have been spiralized squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the apples and set aside.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together, taste and adjust seasonings and sweetener as needed.
- Evenly pour dressing into the bottom of 4 Mason jars.
- Next add ¼ cup celery to each jar followed by ½ cup apples, 1 cup cucumber and 1 cup lettuce.
- Top each jar with 2 tablespoons pecans or walnuts.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- When ready to enjoy, shake the jar vigorously and pour onto a plate or bowl.
Notes
Nutrition
Dana Zharov
Hi! Recipe looks great! How far ahead can you make the salad without the apples turning? Thanks!
Brenda
I'd say 2 days
kellie @ The Suburban Soapbox
This is a beautiful salad, I love when they're stored in mason jars. So easy to make ahead to enjoy whenever hunger strikes!
Nutmeg Nanny
I LOVE mason jar salads. They stay so fresh.
Heather | girlichef
I love Waldorf Salad, and the spiralizing makes it so much fun!
Laura O |Petite Allergy Treats
I absolutely agree with you on making it once. I love how you've lighten this up and spiralled the apples-- not only smart but also fun to make.
Renee - Kudos Kitchen
What a lovely salad with such a lovely presentation!
Susan
So yummy looking! Where is the chicken? I need the protein so would I add it after the veggies? Been wanting to try mason jar salads
Brenda
If you want to add any cooked protein I would add it on top of the celery or after the cucumber.
The Food Hunter
Very cool!
Kirsten/Comfortably Domestic
Half a cupof salad per serving? That's crazy talk. I love a good Waldorf salad, but mayo and I are not friends. Your yogurt dressing sounds delicious!
Kate @ Diethood
That is soooo perfect!! I am always looking for different salad ideas and I truly love this one!
Cookin Canuck
This is such a fun idea for lunches on the go! This would also be a great way to pack a picnic lunch for the park once the weather warms up.
Erin@TexanerinBaking
What a great on-the-go meal! Now you just have to get me to like veggies. 😉
Martha@A Family Feast
Oh - What a clever idea! Love the portability using the major jar - and I love the spiralized veggies too! Great idea!
foodwanderings
I love everything about this salad. I wish I had it for lunch today. I meant to make Waldorf salad in awhile now so thanks for this fantastic recipe.
claire @the realistic nutritionist
THIS IS AMAZING!!!! I love the salad in a jar!