I like to work smarter not harder in the kitchen and I am always trying to figure out where I can cut corners and save time. Not wanting to get out all the ingredients to make fresh salads every day I started batch prepping them years ago. Over time I have changed and modified that process. Now I am making them even easier! Yes, you can batch prep salads and have them last for days in the fridge. We made a video to show you exactly how it works in our kitchen.
You don’t have to use the exact same ingredients that I use. Choose your favorite greens and raw vegetables to create your favorite salad base. As I share with you in the video, be sure your greens are dry – if there is too much moisture, that makes them get soggy. If you start with the freshest ingredients you can, the salads will last longer.
This is what I use for my base salad mix. If I want to add more moist ingredients like cut celery, bell peppers, cucumbers, sprouts and fresh fruit those get added the day I eat the salad. I just haven’t had great luck adding them when I batch prep the salads. Experiment and see what ingredients work best for you.
Edited 9/03/21 I am now using organic pre-washed arugula in place of the romaine lettuce. I buy 3 bags of arugula and divide it among the salads with all the other ingredients and I am now making 14 salads instead of 12 with these same ingredients. The salads are a little bit smaller but still just as satisfying when we add our starch and fruit to them.
These salads will last a week no problem in our fridge. We have even eaten them 10 days later and they were fine.
This is how they fit in our refrigerator.
This is what it looks like 7 days later.
The romaine lettuce will oxidize a little on the edges after a few days.
We will take the batch prepped salads, chop them in our Holland Wood Bowl with a mezzaluna knife and top them with delicious ingredients and they become the most delightful salad meal! See my Chopped Salad blog posts. I alsopost about my salads all the time on the Nutmeg Notebook Instagram and Facebook pages.
I have been eating a salad a day as one of my main meals since adopting a whole food plant based lifestyle in 2013. It is one of the healthy habits that I learned from Dr. Joel Fuhrman. It helped me lose weight and it has helped me maintain my weight loss for 6 years!
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We are also Holland Bowl Mill Affiliates. The 15 inch Holland Bowl Mill Cherry fruit bowl has a permanent home on our kitchen island. It’s beautiful and useful. The heart shaped bowl makes me happy – I love everything heart shaped! We use our 15 inch Beechwood & cherry bowl (his and her’s) to chop our salads everyday. Eating a salad for one meal every day helped me lose weight and become a size 4. I still eat a salad for one meal a day but now it’s a Big Beautiful Chopped salad and it helps me stay a size 4! See the Chopped Salad Blog Post to find out how you can incorporate a chopped salad into your daily food plan and how you can get a free mezzaluna knife with your Holland Bowl salad bowl order when you use our Holland Bowl affiliate link as well as free engraving and free shipping.
How do you wash your romaine lettuce? I have used a salad spinner and I have laid the washed leaves out on a towel but can never get them to dry properly! I can rarely find already washed romaine that hasn’t already started to “rust”…. Help Please!
I just wash them – lay them out on a towel and then roll them up in a dry towel pressing down on them as I roll to get most of the moisture off. Let them sit on the counter to finish drying.
What salad dressing do you use? How many beans do you add?
Hi Fran,
We have a delicious Creamy Balsamic Dressing recipe you might enjoy trying. Add as many beans as you wish – there is no set amount.
http://nutmegnotebook.com/plant-strong-recipes/creamy-balsamic-dressing/
Thank you so much for your videos! Both you and Tom are so helpful and my husband and I are enjoying Being WFPB now for 2 years. Love the recipes and enjoy all your helpful suggestions! Keep on knowing that you are changing lives and helping us to be healthier in our 70’s.
Thank you so much for your kind comments!
Hi, I just saw your comment…I use my salad spinner and spin the lettuce 2-3 times and moving it around in between to ge the max water out of the lettuce. It seems to help since I have increased the amount of spins.
I can’t find a lunch bag big enough for these salad containers. What do you use?
We use the e-bag Crew Cooler II https://www.ebags.com/accessories/cooler-bags/crew-cooler/117760D260.html?productid=117760-D260&country=US¤cy=USD&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4cOEBhDMARIsAA3XDRidRkUa237zcANtZ3JGoJiBXXZjoiRcNwezZwragnS2nXGaUHqEcUsaAqa8EALw_wcB
Love this quick and easy way to make the salads! Also, in my experience if you tear rather than cut the romaine it doesn’t oxidize as quickly.
I don’t use plastics, for the environment, so I don’t think this would work for me. Any ideas?
If you don’t use plastics – what do you use for other batch prepped items?
A little tip for the bagged veggies…. feel your bags. Even if you go for the freshest date, some will have more build up of air in the bags than others. Look for the bags with less air. Tammy do you still eat the full amount in the 9 c containers per meal? I thought you mentioned once you had to reduce because was too much now.
Thank you for sharing your tips. I can’t always eat the entire salad – sometimes I do – just depends on how hungry I am. Sometimes I save a little of my lunch salad to eat with my dinner meal.
Hi Tammy,
What do you use for a complete protein in your salads? I’ve been adding a 1/4 cup beans with 1/4 cup farro because I can’t eat much more than that with the big salad, but it doesn’t provide a whole lot of protein. Any suggestions?
Hi Mary,
When we are following a whole food plant based diet we really don’t have to worry about getting enough protein. Protein isn’t a separate food category. In fact most plant foods have protein so yes even your vegetables and fruit in your salad contain protein. As long as we are getting enough calories and eating a variety of plant foods we are getting enough protein in our diet.
Love the idea of prepping salads for the week. Are the ziplock containers you pack one salad portion or two?
Thanks so much, you are inspiring!!!
Hi Ann,
Each container is one serving for one person. Everyone’s preferences and needs are different so make the size that’s best for you. Happy Eating!
Tami
So – one portion each (2 portions in total) correct.
Thx!
No – each container is one serving for one person. But make salads the size that’s right for you.
Wonderful! Thank you. Going salad prep shopping today!