A classic grilled chicken club is one of my favorite sandwiches. I’ve taken some of the key ingredients and transformed them into a salad: marinated grilled chicken, fresh romaine, tomatoes, red onion, crispy bacon, and a creamy homemade honey mustard dressing. Layered inside of a large mason jar, this salad is easy to transport to the office (or the beach!) and stays fresh all week long. Whether you eat it now or later in the week, chicken club mason jar salads make for an easy and delicious lunch.

What’s in this chicken club mason jar salad?

The main components of this delicious, simple, and flavorful salad are:

marinated grilled chicken
crispy cooked bacon
romaine lettuce
cherry tomatoes
red onion
homemade honey mustard dressing
avocado

If you like hard boiled eggs, a cut up hard boiled egg would be an excellent addition to this salad, too. It would take on a cobb salad feel .

What will I need to make this recipe?

chicken breasts
garlic powder
onion powder
paprika
coriander
ground mustard
kosher salt
center cut bacon
- Center cut bacon is made from pork, but it’s just a bit leaner than traditional bacon, which makes it really macro-friendly.
red onion
cherry tomatoes
scallions
romaine hearts
avocado
plain non-fat Greek yogurt
apple cider vinegar
Dijon mustard
honey

Note: the ingredients here also include the ingredients for the homemade honey mustard dressing. If you would rather use store-bought dressing, you can omit the last four ingredients from the list above. However, I promise this homemade dressing is made in just minutes, and it tastes delicious! I love that it uses all real ingredients (only four of them, too) and things you can find in your own kitchen. No hard to pronounce ingredients or weird preservatives, either!

Using mason jars for salads

This salad is stored in 32 oz wide-mouth mason jars, but that is optional. You can also store them in glass meal prep containers if you prefer that. I enjoy using mason jars to store my salads because it allows me to layer the ingredients in order from dense and wet, up to the lightest ingredients, which preserves the freshness of all of the components. I promise, the salads stay fresh all week when stored this way. Many times I get the question “but do they really stay fresh?” The answer is: yes! The salads stay fresh when using this method. Note, I do not add the dressing to these mason jars, I keep it to the side and add it right before serving. I also do not eat the salads from the mason jars directly, because I find it hard to reach the ingredients all the way at the bottom. Instead, I dump the salad into a bowl right before eating and then add my dressing. You can eat them right out of the mason jar, though, if you are able to reach all of the ingredients. This salad is huge, and the mason jars are packed to the brim!

How to make chicken club mason jar salads

Seasoning and cooking the chicken

The first step to making this recipe is to create the spice rub for the chicken. To make the spice rub, simply combine the spices in a small bowl, and rub them all over the chicken. For this recipe, I use 1 1/2 pounds of chicken breast cut into four portions; I did not use thin-sliced chicken breast here. I find that when you cook the thicker variety and chop it up for a salad, it results in a moister texture and better flavor overall. Once you coat the chicken in the spices, grill the chicken on a sprayed grill pan over medium-high heat. You can also use an outdoor grill, of course. For the indoor grill, cooking times will vary based on the thickness of your chicken, but my chicken took a solid half hour to cook through over medium-high heat. I determine when my chicken is thoroughly cooked by using this meat thermometer. I highly recommend investing in one of these! Once the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and set it aside to cool before chopping. We do not want to add hot chicken to the mason jars, because they will start to steam in the jar and overcook.

Cooking the bacon

While the chicken is cooking, it’s the perfect time to cook the bacon. I use a sheet pan lined with foil, and then topped with a wire rack. I find this results in really crispy delicious bacon, and makes for super easy clean up. Cook the bacon at 400F for 25-30 minutes or until cooked to your liking.

Making the honey mustard dressing

This dressing is so easy to make, all you need to do is combine the ingredients in a small bowl. That’s it! Each salad will get two heaping tablespoons of dressing.

Assembling the salads

Now that all of the components are ready, it’s time to assemble the salads. As mentioned before, the key to mason jar salads is layering the heavier, denser ingredients at the bottom, and working your way up, leaving the lettuce at the top. This is key for optimal freshness. For this salad, start with the cooked, chopped chicken breast, followed by the crispy cooked bacon, red onion, scallions, cherry tomatoes, and lastly, the greens. Leave the dressing to the side (as well as the avocado, if you are using that).

There you have it, the final product: