Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts (about 1 lb)
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 8 slices bacon
- 4 large eggs
- 8 cups chopped romaine
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
- 1/4 red onion, diced
- Ranch or blue cheese dressing, for serving
Instructions
- Cook the chicken. Season the chicken with paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Sear 6–7 minutes per side until 165°F; rest and dice.
- Crisp and boil. Cook the bacon until crisp; drain and crumble. Boil the eggs 10 minutes, ice-bath, peel, and quarter.
- Layer the jars. In each of 4 wide-mouth jars: dressing on the bottom (2 tbsp), then onion, tomatoes, chicken, bacon, egg, avocado, blue cheese, and romaine packed on top.
- Seal and chill. Seal tightly and refrigerate up to 4 days. The greens stay crisp because they never touch the dressing.
- Serve. Shake or dump into a bowl, toss, and eat. Add avocado the morning-of if prepping past 2 days.
💡 Jar smarts
Dressing always goes on the very bottom and greens always on top — that’s the whole secret to 4-day-crisp salads. Wide-mouth jars make dumping into a bowl easy. Toss avocado in lemon juice and add it the morning you eat for the freshest color.
Common questions
How long do the jars keep?
4 days refrigerated. Add avocado fresh the morning-of for best color on days 3–4.
Can I use a different dressing?
Ranch, blue cheese, honey mustard, or a red wine vinaigrette all work. Keep it to 2 tablespoons per jar.
How much protein is in each jar?
About 32g per jar, thanks to the chicken, bacon, eggs, and blue cheese.
Can I make it dairy-free?
Skip the blue cheese and use a dairy-free ranch. The chicken, bacon, and eggs still deliver big protein.
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