Mason Jar Lunches: 50 Pretty, Portable Packed Lunches (Including) Delicious Soups, Salads, Pastas & More

By Jessica Harlan and Kelley Klein

Make your lunchtime easier and more delicious with these recipes for amazing meals in a jar.

Discover the coolest way to pack a healthy, on-the-go meal! With tasty recipes and full-color photos, Mason Jar Lunches will show you how to combine fresh produce and whole foods into fun meals packed in adorable jars, including:

• lasagna in a jar

• poke sushi bowl

• buffalo chicken salad

• layered yogurt parfait

• farro and roasted vegetable bowl

• ramen with egg and broccoli

• miso udon soup

• charcuterie stack

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Nov 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781612437729

Jessica Harlan

Jessica Goldbogen Harlan is a professional chef, food writer, and recipe developer. Her previous cookbooks includeRamen to the Rescue, Tortillas to the Rescue, Homemade Condiments, Crazy for Breakfast Sandwiches, and Quinoa Cuisine (co-written with Kelley Sparwasser). A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, Jessica has written for a number of magazines and websites. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Book preview

Introduction

Mason jars are fairly ubiquitous these days. Fancy restaurants serve cocktails in them, Pinterest is teeming with craft projects that transform them into everything from light fixtures to glitter-encrusted vases, and product designers are taking inspiration from their iconic shape.

Originally created in 1858 by John Landis Mason as a way for homemakers to preserve the bounty of their gardens safely and reliably, mason jars have been rediscovered by today’s home cooks. They’ve found that these jars are just as handy for fresh foods as they are for canning jams or pickles.

Indeed, these glass jars, with their two-part metal lids, are ideal vessels for creating, storing, transporting, and even serving self-contained meals. Whether prepping a feast for a concert in the park, toting a lunch to the office, or packing a lunch box for school, mason jars can do it all.

One of the biggest producers of glass canning jars, Ball Canning, has been around since 1880. Ball® Brand Fresh Preserving Products are now made by Newell Brands, and the company is capitalizing on the resurgence in popularity of these jars with an expanded range of sizes, shapes, and even accessories. Ball® jars range in size from 4-ounce jars, which can hold an afternoon snack, to half-gallon vessels ideal for brewing a batch of sun tea. Many companies are even making accessories for the jars: plastic lids, sipper tops, neoprene sleeves that insulate the contents, and infusers to make tea or cold-brew coffee.

In this book, America’s favorite container will be put to good use as a stylish and functional container for your lunches and other meals. With a small collection of these jars, you’ll be able to pack and transport delicious preparations both hot and cold, from salads to soups to all-in-one bowls.

Why Mason Jars?

There are plenty of reasons why mason jars make the perfect lunch container—here are the top ten:

1. They’re inexpensive. A set of two pint-sized (16-ounce) mason jars can be purchased for under $10.

2. They’re readily available. You can find canning jars at supermarkets, kitchenware stores, discount stores, or online. You can even find vintage jars at flea markets and antique stores.

3. They’re easy to clean. Glass does not stain or retain flavors or odors, and it’s dishwasher safe!

4. They’re safe. People who are worried about storing food in plastic can rest easy with mason jars. Glass is an inert substance, so it will not leach chemicals into food, even when heated.

5. They’re environmentally friendly. Unless it breaks, a glass jar can be used for ages without deteriorating. And when you’re finished with it, it can be recycled easily. In fact, glass can be recycled an infinite number of times without losing its quality.

6. They’re practical. Glass mason jars can be refrigerated, frozen, or microwaved, although they can crack if subjected to sudden changes in temperature.

7. They’re portable. A pint-sized jar, which is the right size for most of the recipes in this book, is only about 5 inches tall and 3½ inches wide. It’s easy enough to pack into a purse or a backpack. If you’re worried about it breaking, wrap it in a tea towel, which can double as a place mat at your desk.

8. They’re versatile. Mason jars are perfect for containing any sort of food, from cook-in-the-jar oatmeal to salad to dessert. And extra jars can be used for many more purposes than packing lunch. In my house, I use mason jars as drinking glasses, toothbrush holders, mini planters, pencil holders, and more.

9. They’re great for storage. Glass jars are good for storing foods in the refrigerator or pantry, particularly since they’re airtight and watertight. They’ll hold the layers of a salad or composed meal intact, and because they’re clear, you can easily see what’s inside. You can even use a dry-erase marker to label them on the side or the lid.

10. They’re trendy. Thanks to their versatility coupled with their retro design, mason jars are quickly becoming iconic. So pat yourself on the back—you are right on the cutting edge!

Your Mason Jar Kitchen

Creating an inventory of tools for making mason jar lunches is easy and inexpensive—you might already have many of these items in your kitchen! Here is a list of the tools I used to create these recipes:

Mason jars: The recipes in this book use either pint jars (16 ounces/2 cups) or half-pint jars (8 ounces/1 cup). I recommend having a set of four each of these sizes. Choose the wide-mouth jar shapes, which are easiest for filling, emptying meals into a bowl, and cleaning. Mini 4-ounce jars are also handy for shaking small amounts of dressings.

Lids: Mason jars come with metal two-part lids: A flat disk with a rubbery edge is the lid, and a threaded ring screws onto a molded thread on the top edge of jar, sealing the lid into place. If they rust