Grab Your Mason Jars, Let’s Prep Lunch!
Let’s make the viral TikTok Grinder Salad, which by the way, is one of the homemade salads I meal prep the most! Start by grabbing a large mason jar — you’ll assemble everything ahead of time, making lunch quick and easy.
What’s inside? It’s essentially an Italian antipasto salad. I recommend using a crisp lettuce, Italian salami and provolone cheese, and then any of your favorite antipasto ingredients. For me, that’s banana peppers, olives, pepperoncini peppers, and oregano. I’m also adding chickpeas! Give everything a quick chop, which makes it easier to assemble in a mason jar.
Dress it with a classic Italian dressing or our fresh basil and lemon vinaigrette. When you’re ready to eat, simply shake the salad (the basil dressing is already at the bottom of the jar!), then pour out into a bowl or plate. Easy!
No Soggy Salads Here!
Instead of assembling in a large bowl, you’ll pile everything into large 32-ounce mason jars. Don’t worry, the ingredients will not get soggy. The key to success is the order in which you layer the salad ingredients.
Turn Into A Chopped Grinder Sandwich
During my final round of recipe testing, I served the salad on hoagie rolls with a generous schmear of mayonnaise (essentially grinder salad sandwiches). Completely delicious! 💯 Talk about a delicious sub sandwich! If you prefer, you can throw it in a wrap! (Next time, I’m for sure adding white beans!)
You could also switch gears and, instead of chopping everything up, place the ingredients on skewers for a fun party appetizer!
Chef-Tested Tips 👩🏻🍳
- Chopping the ingredients ensures that when you pour out the salad, you get a little bit of everything in each bite.
- Always place the salad dressing on the bottom, then layer with non-absorbent ingredients and vegetables, followed by any meat or poultry, ending with lettuce.
- Use a hard provolone cheese, not thin slices of provolone. It’ll have a sharper, more pungent taste.
- If making sandwiches, do not skip the mayo! Calling this out because the salad dressing is a vinaigrette, but mayo on a sandwich = necessary.
Substitutions and Variations
- Italian cold cuts: Try ham, prosciutto, turkey, mortadella, soppressata, coppa — truly any Italian cold cut or deli meat will work!
- Cheese: Chunks of Parmesan cheese or fresh mozzarella are great.
- Add more veggies: Red onion, tomatoes, cucumbers!
- Add crushed red pepper flakes to the salad dressing or use a spicy coppa or soppressata for spice.
Excited for you to give this make-ahead grinder salad a try — makes working lunches that much tastier! Don’t forget to leave a review and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below to let us know what you think!
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Viral TikTok Grinder Salad with Italian Antipasti
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup basil vinaigrette
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ cup banana peppers roughly chopped or left whole
- ¼ cup green olives
- ¼ cup pepperoncini roughly chopped or left whole
- 15 oz canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup Italian salami cut into bite-size pieces or strips
- ¼ cup sharp provolone cheese cut into bite-size pieces or strips
- 4 oz Crisp lettuce roughly chopped
Instructions
- Make the salad dressing. If you haven't already, make a batch of our Basil Vinaigrette.
- Assemble the mason jar salad. Pour about ¼ cup of the basil vinaigrette into each mason jar. Next, add ½ tsp dried oregano. Begin assembling the ingredients, dividing them equally between each container, keeping non-absorbent veggies on the bottom: banana peppers, green olives, pepperoncini, and canned chickpeas. Next, add the Italian salami and provolone cheese. Finally, place the chopped lettuce on top. Seal tightly, then refrigerate for up to 5 days.
- Toss, then serve. When ready, dump the contents of the grinder salad into a large bowl. Use tongs to thoroughly mix, then divide between two plates and serve immediately!
Notes
- Make-ahead: Once assembled, store mason jar salads in a fridge for up to 5 days.
- Leftovers: This salad is best enjoyed fresh. Once tossed with the dressing, the lettuce will begin to wilt. You can keep leftovers for up to 2 days in a fridge, but we recommend adding fresh lettuce if you do this. Do not freeze.
How big is the jar?
Hi Robin! The jar size is listed both under equipment (in the recipe card) and in the blog post. You’ll want a 32-ounce mason jar to create 2 servings, though of course you can make larger or smaller jars. Enjoy! xo, Ari
This looks so good! What a great lunch meal prep for the week!
Yes, agree!! So quick and easy for work day lunches! xo, Ari
This looks so good but it doesn’t look like there’s a whole can of chickpeas in the recipe. Is that what you actually used?
Yes! Keep in mind this makes two large mason jars. The chickpeas are evenly divided between the two. You can use more or less as you like, though. Enjoy! xo, Ari