Make your own at home salad bar and throw together a tasty salad box in minutes. Great for keeping the kids (and you) eating healthy!
A salad box is a really simple go-to lunch idea that really works well in my house. I prep the salad ingredients, then leave them in boxes in the fridge for the kids to help themselves to.
It really works well during the school holidays when I’m busy working, it just means they can help themselves to lunch easily.
Plus, I do think it encourages healthier choices as they love to load up the salad boxes and choose their toppings.
Salad Box Ingredients
Okay, when it comes to making up a salad box you can choose whatever ingredients you like in a salad – loads of healthy things, and some tasty salad toppings.
Salad Bar Ingredients – I usually add in a mix of the following salad items …
- Salad leaves – crunchy iceberg or little gem make a great salad bar option
- Vine tomatoes – sliced
- Cucumber – sliced
- Peppers – choose a mix of red and orange peppers
- Radishes – sliced
- Red onion – sliced
- Sweetcorn – from a can
- Mozzarella – grated
- Cheddar – grated
- Chicken breast – I do the baked chicken breast in foil recipe here.
- Hard boiled eggs – peeled and quartered
- Tuna fish – flaked and mixed with mayonnaise
- Pancetta – fried until super crispy, then snipped into bitesize pieces
- Black olives
- Jalapeños
Salad Bar Dressings – we usually have in the fridge…
- Mayonnaise
- Ranch dressing
- Nando’s Perinaise
- Blue cheese dressing
Salad Bar Crunchy Toppings – because sometimes you need a little crunch!
- Croutons
- Pine nuts
- Sunflower seeds
- Walnuts
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Equipment Needed To Make A Salad Box
- Food storage boxes with lids – various sizes to hold all the different salad vegetables and toppings
- Chopping board
- Sharp knife
- Grater
- Salad boxes – packed lunch boxes are great for salads – especially if making up to take out with you.
How To Make A Salad Box
Well salad bars are really easy to put together and then everyone can just make up their own salad box
Step One – wash and chop the salad vegetables
- Wash, dry and chop all of your salad vegetables then put into boxes or bowls.
Step Two – slice and dice any salad toppers
- Chop, slice, dice or grate any salad toppers
Step Three – make up the salad boxes
- Let everyone help themselves to whatever salad items they like and make up their own salad boxes.
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What To Serve With A Salad Box
Salad boxes are great served with any of the following
- Bread rolls
- Pitta breads
- Tortilla chips
- Cheesy nachos
- Oven chips
- Rice
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Salad Box - With Chicken And Bacon
A healthy, tasty build your own salad box recipe - great for summer days
Ingredients
- 2 Little Gem Lettuce - shredded
- 4 vine tomatoes - sliced
- 1/2 cucumber - sliced
- 2 peppers - sliced
- 8 radishes - sliced
- 1/2 red onion - sliced
- 300g sweetcorn - from a can
- 100g mozzarella - grated
- 100g cheddar cheese - grated
- 400g chicken - cooked and shredded
- 8 slices bacon- cooked and crispy
- 80g black olives
- 40g jalapeño
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
Instructions
- Wash, dry and chop all of your salad vegetables then put into boxes or bowls.
- Chop, slice, dice or grate any salad toppers.
- Let everyone help themselves to whatever salad items they like and make up their own salad boxes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 701Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 164mgSodium: 984mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 6gSugar: 10gProtein: 48g
Nutritional content will vary depending on the exact ingredients you use and how careful you are with measuring - this nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate - you should always calculate your own nutritional information especially if you have specific dietary requirements.
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