Never Eat A Soggy Salad Again With This Storage Trick

The unappetizing texture of a limp salad can ruin a lunch break. Luckily, there's one clever storage trick that means you'll never have to eat a soggy salad at your desk again — place your dressing in your container first before piling in your vegetables and toss it moments before serving.

While the customary way to make an inviting salad is to prep your leafy greens, veggies and protein of choice before drizzling your flavorful dressing, this method only works if you're going to eat your salad immediately. This is because tender ingredients, like butter lettuce and arugula, will guzzle up a vinaigrette as soon as they're exposed to it and become mushy and sodden over time, which is a headache if you want to meal-prep a bunch of salads in advance.

Turning this technique on its head, however, and placing your dressing in your bowl or container before you add in your greens will prevent the salad leaves from soaking up the vinaigrette until you're ready to mix everything together. Simply pour your dressing into your lidded container, or a mason jar, and layer on hardier vegetables first, such as shredded cabbage and carrot, followed by cooked pasta, beans or grains, leafy greens and finally protein, such as chunks of chicken or hard boiled eggs. Once you're ready to eat, give your salad a good shake to incorporate the dressing at the very bottom and enjoy your crispy slaw or veggie medley while its texture is at its best.

Shrewd vegetable placement is essential to preventing a sad soggy salad too; you don't want to throw everything in without careful consideration. Placing bulkier and tougher ingredients — such as chunks of apple, bell peppers, or rigatoni — over the dressing before covering them with a top layer of leaves will create a barrier between your vinaigrette and delicate greens, like watercress and curly endive. This prevents them from coming into contact with any liquid that could prematurely saturate them, which explains why making layered salads in Mason jars is such an effective and popular technique.  All you have to do is stack your veggies and protein over your dressing before giving your jar a good shake to combine each element thoroughly when it's time for lunch.

Prepping a large salad for a crowd? A great tip is to crisscross your salad servers over the dressing in your serving bowl before layering your greens on top, covering them in plastic wrap and refrigerating. Your veggies will be safely balanced on top of the servers until you're ready to combine your greens with your vinaigrette. Alternatively, another basic trick that prevents a soggy salad is to place a small plate over your dressing while it's at the bottom of your dish before covering it with your lettuce, grains and pasta.