Beneficial Bento's Best Lunch Salads

lots of great lunch ideas all in one place!

 

I have made a lot of salad bento over the years, and I've come up with a lot of  healthy salad recipes that have become staples in our house, so I've compiled a list of my 11 most-loved salad bento creations (in no particular order).

But first, no post about salads would be complete without my best secrets for salad packing success - How to Make a Salad Bar and How to Make Salad Stay Fresh All Week. I've been making my own salad bar and salad bowl nearly every week, ever since I first came up with the idea in 2012. It is the very best way to ensure having fresh vegetables ready to eat at a moment's notice, and we all could eat more vegetables - am I right?

Here's a fun chef salad I made using turkey bacon, which I cooked quickly in the microwave. You can read about how I did it here - Bacon Chef Salad Bento.

what a fun way to serve an old favorite for lunch!

 

I love the fresh salads for sale at Trader Joe's, and every time I go there I usually pick up a salad for my lunch. But the problem is, I live 40 minutes away from the nearest Trader Joe's, so I don't get to treat myself to one of their delicious salads very often. I attempted to re-create one of my favorites ( and improved on it just a little) int this post - Recipe forTrader Joe's Harvest  Salad with Grilled Chicken

TJ-Harvest-Salad1

 

I love salads that contain beans - you can have a very filling and delicious meal, but still keep the calories low. I hit on a great combination with this one: Tuscan Chicken Salad Bento.

low calorie, but very filling!

 

A taco salad is always a great idea for a lunch, and here's one of our family's favorite salad dressing recipes too - Recipe for Tomatillo Dressing.

Tomatillo Ranch dressing is the best!

 

A great combo for a salad that my husband and I both love is Steak and Blue Cheese Salad:

I LOVE this for lunch!

 

Here is a salad that I created just for me, and I think it turned out pretty cute 🙂 It was so easy to make using mini cookie cutters! You can find out how I made the cute touches for my salad here - Daisy and Ladybug Salad.

such a cute way to dress up a basic sandwich + salad lunch!

 

Sometimes I want something different than a lettuce salad. I created this recipe for my husband and I to eat for lunch, and we both loved it: Walnut Chicken Salad with Cranberries.

This post was made to showcase how to make purple carrot flowers, but it also contains one of my all-time favorite combos for a salad - chicken, pecans, goat cheese, apple, and apple cider dressing. Oh man, it is SO good!

DSCN2029

 

Here is a fun way to show someone you love that you care about their health - pack a Healthy Bento for Your Valentine! There are links in this post so you can learn how to make heart-shaped strawberries and tomatoes, too 🙂

Valentine salad

 

Here is a chef salad that I made for my hero husband in a Goodbyn Hero bento box - he loved it, and I loved how big that bento box is!

Chef Salad in Goodbyn Hero

 

This salad is a delicious combination of creamy goat cheese, juicy tomatoes, and a tangy dressing, made from v-8 vegetable juice! Find the recipe here: Italian Tomato Vinaigrette.

Garden Harvest Salad

 

Well, those are my top 11 favorites, but they're by no means the only salad bento I have made. You can browse through all the bento I have made on my Bento page. You can also find more of my  salad recipes and lots more on my Recipes page.

I also added this to What I Ate WednesdayFull Plate Thursday, and Thrifty Thursday.

13 Comments

  1. I love salads too but need to work out a better system for making them ahead of time! Chicken salad is one of my favorites! My boys love it too so it's always fun to make and send in lunches. Thanks for sharing so many great ideas!

  2. Your bento are so cute! I am loving salads lately.

    I'm not sure I could eat them they're so sweet. I'd be so impressed if my food looked like this. 🙂

    1. Thank you, Kay! I think it's more fun to eat my lunch when it looks colorful and cute 🙂

  3. A great collection of Bento's! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday and have a great week.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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