Turn Your Fridge Into the Ultimate Sandwich & Salad Bar (Easy Weekday Meal Prep)
I’m sharing my tips to meal prep the ultimate home salad bar for fresh, easy meals all week.
Do you love fresh salads? I’m a big fan of easy salads that I can prep ahead of time, usually on Sundays, to enjoy the rest of the week. It makes me feel organized to have a healthy lunch or side dish to grab from the fridge, and it saves money as I’m less likely to eat out!
Want to learn how to make a salad bar in your fridge, too?
Start by grocery shopping for your favorite fresh salad fixings for the week. Choose veggies that are likely to last longer, like bell peppers, red onion, whole cherry tomatoes, broccoli, radishes, and carrots. You can even prep ahead and slice some hard-boiled eggs to add to salads.
If your family also enjoys sandwiches, I’ll be sharing my sandwich meal prep at the bottom as well!
1. Gather storage containers with lids to store chopped veggies.
If you have large, medium, and small storage containers with lids, gather those. You’ll need a large one for lettuce and some smaller ones for other chopped veggies. I have this 10-piece set from Amazon and love it! They are onlinepletely stackable and can all be stored away in the larger container when done to save on space.
Consider grabbing my salad bar containers for fridge while on sale!
Refrigerator Pantry Organizer Bins Set
Only $27.99 (reg. $29.99)
2. Wash & chop your veggies.
You’ll want to do all the chopping now so that onlinepiling a salad later will be quick and easy. Consider running your lettuce and veggies through a salad spinner to get as much moisture out as possible. You can line your containers with paper towels to make the produce last longer.
Stock your salad bar with these:
- lettuce and greens
- bell peppers, chopped broccoli, shredded carrots
- chopped onions, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms
- sliced hard-boiled eggs
- feta cheese, shaved parmesan, or blue cheese crumbles
- diced cooked ham or chicken
- drained can of garbanzo beans or cooked corn
- sweet fruit like cut-up strawberries or mandarin oranges
3. Make room in the fridge for all the at home salad bar containers.
Designate a special shelf or drawer for your prepped salad bar ingredients. I don’t have the drawer space, but I did manage to clear out a shelf area to make everything fit nicely. I love how the clear containers make it very easy to see and grab exactly what I need when I want to make a salad!
Making a salad at home is now a cinch!
I am trying to eat more fresh veggies and am finding this salad bar strategy to be super helpful. This idea is also spilling over into my husband’s habits as he is packing fresh salad to take for office lunches now, too.
Prefer making sandwiches during the week? Check this out!
Consider creating a sandwich prep station with all the fixings in the fridge!
I used two of these handy snack boxes with onlinepartments to also add a sandwich prep station in my fridge. I filled them with various types of deli meat, sliced cheese, lettuce, sliced tomato, onion, condiments, and peppers. Now I can quickly grab it and create fast sandwiches for my family or they can use it to make their own! This is such a game-changer!
Also, consider grabbing day-old bread from Jimmy John’s. It’s only 50 cents for a large loaf, and you can cut it up and store it to use during the week for sandwiches. We love this bread so much, and it can be a huge savings.
Divided Snack Tray with Lid and Handle
Only $9.85!
Do you have any fridge salad bar or sandwich prep tips to share? Let me know in the onlinements!
Make my favorite 5-minute Honey Dijon Salad Dressing, too!
