Salad Dippers

I’m convinced this is the BEST way to serve vegetables or salad at a party, make them individually!      

No need to sit down to enjoy your salad, portable salad is the ultimate!

I love that I could prepare them early and keep them super crisp (I share my tip on that too) The best parts is that you can even be walking around and enjoy a salad. Who wants to always sit at party, it’s more fun to walk around but still enjoy your veggies. 

These are just perfect for those times!

Call these the walking salad 🙂

You can add any type of vegetables you’d like just like you’d put on a vegetable charcuterie, vegetables platters or simply your favorite produce.

I used 4 oz glass jars to put these in, they are canning jars, they are thick and sturdy and won’t tip over easily.

I filled them with all the things you’d find in a typical salad, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, celery, tomato. I even snuck some zucchini in there (really the possibilities are endless, you can add all your favorites and I’m sure everyone will love it)

I sliced the grape tomato to hang on the edge of the jar.

These got RAVE reviews.

You only need to put a small amount of dressing into the bottom of the jars.

These will help take the edge off at a party when you know everyone has arrived, but it’s not quite time for the main course.

Now…how to keep them crisp:

Can salads be made the day before?

Yes, prepare all the vegetables and keep them covered until you want to mix the salad together, or serve individual salads like I did here.

How do you serve salad at a party?

Individual jars of salad dippers is the best solution for serving salad at a party.

How do you make ahead of salad?

Wash and cut all your vegetables and cover them in the fridge, or divide the walking salads up into jars and cover them so all the vegetables stay fresh.

How do you eat salad in a Mason jar?

These small salad dippers or walking salads are easy to eat out of the jars, if you do make the salad for larger mason jars it’s best to put the dressing at the bottom of the jar so nothing gets soggy, or keep it in a small container outside the container. You can then shake the dressing into the salad with the lid on the jar, or pour the salad into a bowl to eat it easier.

How do I keep these individual salads fresh and make sure they don’t dry out and wilt?

I placed all the filled jars into a plastic container and covered it with a (new) shower cap. I just splashed a little bit of water into the cap, turned it out and secured the elastic around the plastic container.

The moisture will keep the veggies extra crisp (think how often veggies are spritzed in the grocery store) they need moisture

I tried it out with the dressing in the bottom of the jars and added it later….trust me, the veggies didn’t get soft and you’ll want to add the dressing to all the jars first (way easier).

I made a batch of this Buttermilk Ranch Dressing (click here for recipe) and it was the best choice. Some even went home with the dressing in a jar it was that good. I hadn’t posted the recipe yet, but I had a jar full and sent it along. Making the dressing from scratch for something like this definitely puts it over the top, the fresh herbs and flavors are perfect.  You can certainly use your favorite dressing, but if you have the extra 10 minutes, make it…you won’t regret it!

I’ve made these salads for many parties and everyone LOVES them!

Print Recipe

Salad Dippers

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Diane Schmidt - createdbydiane.com

Ingredients

• 8 smaller leaves of romaine
• 1 small cucumber
• 1 zucchini
• 16 carrot chips
• 8 grape tomatoes
• 3/4-1 cup dressing

Instructions

• In 4 oz canning jars
• Add dressing to jar first 1-1/2 tablespoons
• place the vegetables standing up
• slice the tomato so it will hang off the edge
• add any vegetable of your choice!
• Cover with plastic shower cap with a small splash of water in it and wrap over jars in a plastic container in the fridge until ready to serve.