Salad Meal Prep Guide (Weekly Plan!)

Here’s one of our favorite meal prep ideas: salad meal prep dinners! Prepare the greens mix, then mix and match toppings, proteins, and dressings to make different bowl meals. It also works as prep for lunch or side salads. Ditch those bag salads and make this for healthy dinners and lunches through the week!

Are you stuck in the same old dinnertime rut? Here’s one of our favorite new meal prep ideas we’ve invented to make it through the week: Salad Meal Prep Dinners! It’s a recipe that is 3 meals in 1: three different healthy dinner concepts with different protein ideas to make new healthy meals throughout the week!

We found ourselves addicted to buying those bag salads from the grocery and topping them with proteins to make meals (a little like Sweet Green). This Meal Prep Guide shows you how to make it cheaper and easier by meal prepping it all up front—it’s less of a formal recipe and more of a mix-and-match concept. It helps us get through the week as busy parents, and we hope it will be helpful for you too!

The concept: salad meal prep for multiple meals

The concept here is to recreate the packaged “bag salad” concept (which we have been too reliant on!) by making your own salad mix to eat through the week. We realized it’s much cheaper to make your own bag salad mix than buying those premade ones at the store—though they are convenient!

The concept is mix and match. Each salad has a mix of greens, protein, fresh veggies, crunchy items, and dressing. Pick a protein to add to your salad for each meal throughout the week; the greens should last for several different meals. The three different main dish salad concepts with protein ideas are (or go right to the recipe):

Mediterranean Salad
Southwest Salad
Balsamic Apple Salad

Meal prep ideas: Salad dinners — Southwest Salad meal prep with toppings

Components for salad meal prep dinners

There are several components to this salad meal prep ideas concept! Here are are a few notes about each:

Greens mix

Our custom Greens mix makes a big batch that should last through the week, using iceberg lettuce, kale and cabbage. You can cut it all at once or cut half at a time to keep it even fresher.

We have tested the storage and this mixture stays fresh for up to 5 days refrigerated! Make sure the greens are washed and very dry before storing.

Proteins

Prepare the proteins in advance and refrigerate until serving, or you can make several of the proteins right before serving. Cooked chicken and cooked tofu last up to 5 days refrigerated. Shrimp, canned beans, or canned tuna and salmon are best prepared right before serving. Pick from these proteins to add to each salad concept:

Chicken: Pan Seared Chicken (chopped or sliced), Shredded Chicken or Instant Pot Shredded Chicken, or purchased cooked chicken
Tofu: Breaded Tofu, Baked Tofu, or Pan Fried Tofu
Shrimp: Sauteed Shrimp or Old Bay Shrimp
Chickpeas or beans: Drain and rinse chickpeas or beans, then season with olive oil and salt to taste.
Canned tuna or salmon: Drain and mix with olive oil and salt to taste.

Toppings and crunchy bits

If you’d like, you can chop some of the salad toppings in advance as well and refrigerate. Vegetables tend to last 2 to 3 days chopped (or you can chop them right before serving to maximize freshness). Pickled red onions are great to make in advance and use across all the salads.

It’s also important to have crunchy elements in a salad bowl meal to maximize texture contrasts, like crunchy nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, pecans), breadcrumbs, panko, or even fried onions. The recipe below has all the instructions on the different toppings for each salad. The salad components are just ideas; several of them are used between the salads to make use of them throughout the week.

Dressings

You can make your dressings or sauces in advance, or use purchased. While we’re a big proponent of homemade salad dressing recipes, some weeks we find ourselves using purchased dressings to simplify prep. The recipe below lists dressing ideas for each concept.

Optional grains

If you like, you can add a grain or pasta to make the salad bowl meals more filling! We suggest quinoa (GF), white rice or brown rice (GF), farro, or couscous (pasta). Each of these last up to 5 days refrigerated.

Mediterranean salad meal prep ideas — Mediterranean Salad meal prep

Tips for this recipe

This recipe is more of a concept for meal prep ideas than an exact recipe. While the ingredients list looks long, it’s more of a canvas for creative exploration.

Make the greens mix, then choose your toppings base on your preferences and how many meals you’d like to make through the week. You can also make up your own ideas for toppings and proteins—use this as a starting point.

Good luck and let us know in the comments below if you try this plan and what you think!

Salad Meal Prep Guide (3 Meals in 1!)

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Here’s one of our favorite meal prep ideas: salad meal prep dinners! Prepare the greens mix, then mix and match toppings, proteins, and dressings to make different bowl meals. It also works as prep for lunch or side salads. Ditch those bag salads and try this meal prep idea for healthy meals through the week!

This recipe is more of a concept than an exact recipe. It looks long, but it’s more of a canvas for creative exploration. Make the greens mix, then choose your toppings base on your preferences and how many meals you’d like to make through the week.

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: Varies
Cook Time: Varies
Total Time: 0 hours
Yield: 10 to 12 main dish servings
Category: Salad
Method: No Cook
Cuisine: Salad
Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Greens Mix (makes 20 cups / about 10 to 12 main dish or 16 side dish servings*)

1 head iceberg lettuce (8 cups), washed, dried, and chopped
1 head red cabbage (8 cups), washed, dried, and chopped
1 bunch kale (4 cups), washed, dried, and chopped

Mediterranean Salad Toppings

1 handful sliced cherry tomatoes
½ cup canned chickpeas (drained, rinsed, and seasoned with olive oil and salt)
1 handful sliced olives
1 handful sliced English cucumber
1 handful jarred pepperoncini
1 sprinkle feta cheese crumbles
1 sprinkle Italian breadcrumbs / panko
Dressing: Purchased or homemade Italian dressing or Greek dressing
Protein of choice (see below)

Southwest Salad Toppings (or BBQ Ranch)

1 handful sliced cherry tomatoes
½ cup canned black beans (drained, rinsed, and seasoned with olive oil and salt)
1 handful canned corn (drained)
1 handful sliced red onion or pickled red onions
1 sprinkle feta cheese or queso fresco crumbles (optional)
1/2 sliced avocado (optional)
Crushed tortilla chips or pepitas
Dressing: Purchased or homemade Chipotle ranch dressing (or purchased ranch with added hot sauce), Salsa ranch dressing, Cilantro lime dressing, or Vegan cilantro sauce. For BBQ Ranch bowls, use purchased or homemade ranch dressing and BBQ sauce.
Protein of choice (see below)

Balsamic Apple Salad Toppings

1 handful chopped apple (chop right before serving)
1 sprinkle feta cheese crumbles
½ cup canned chickpeas (drained, rinsed, and seasoned with olive oil and salt)
1 handful chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds (make toasted nuts for the most flavor)
1 handful sliced red onion or pickled red onions
Dressing: Purchased or homemade Balsamic dressing or Honey mustard dressing
Protein of choice (see below)

Protein choices:

Chicken: Pan Seared Chicken (chopped or sliced), Shredded Chicken or Instant Pot Shredded Chicken, or purchased cooked chicken
Tofu: Breaded Tofu, Baked Tofu, or Pan Fried Tofu
Shrimp: Sauteed Shrimp or Old Bay Shrimp
Chickpeas or Beans: Drain and rinse chickpeas or beans, then season with olive oil and salt to taste.
Canned Tuna or Salmon: Drain and mix with olive oil and salt to taste.

Grain choices (optional):

Quinoa (GF)
White rice or brown rice (GF)
Farro
Couscous (pasta)

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Instructions

Make the Greens mix: Chop the lettuce, chop the cabbage, and chop the kale (reference the linked videos if desired). Make sure the greens are washed and thoroughly dried. Store in a sealed container; the greens mix stays fresh up to 5 days. For maximum freshness, we like to cut half the batch and then chop a second batch later in the week, but you can also cut it all at once.
Make the protein: Decide which proteins you’d like, and which you’d like to prep in advance versus prep before serving. Cooked chicken lasts 3 to 4 days refrigerated, and cooked tofu lasts 4 to 5 days refrigerated. Shrimp is best to cook the day of serving; it takes 5 to 10 minutes to prep. Canned chickpeas, beans, tuna or salmon can be mixed up in minutes the day of.
Make a grain (optional): You can add a grain to make the dish more filling, though we don’t always do this. Prep these in advance and refrigerate until serving. For the rice, you can reheat it with a splash of water on the stovetop and heat over medium low until it is warmed through (it becomes very dry when cooled). Cooked quinoa, rice, farro, or couscous last up to 5 days refrigerated.
Prep toppings (optional): If desired, chop some of the salad toppings in advance as well and refrigerate; vegetables tend to last 2 to 3 days chopped (or you can chop before serving to maximize freshness). Pickled red onions are great to make in advance and use across all the salads.
Prep dressings (optional): If desired, you can prep dressings in advance or use purchased.
Assemble the salad (day of): The day of serving, place 1 ½ to 2 cups of greens mix in a bowl. Top with the toppings and serve. Mix and match the proteins to create different meals throughout the week!

More meal planning resources

Here are a few of our favorite meal plans for fresh and healthy eating:

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