BLT Egg Salad Jars are fresh, delicious, and satisfying — plus they're packed with protein! Assemble for easy, grab-and-go lunches.
Time for another edition of No More Sad Desk Lunch featuring your good friend and mine, mason jars! Maybe it’s my third cup of coffee talking, but is there anything mason jars can’t do?
What they’re currently doing best is housing make-ahead BLT Egg Salad Jars, aka easy, protein-packed, grab-and-go lunches.
There’s a reason bacon and eggs are always paired together — egg salad + chopped bacon is a game changer. These portable, ready-when-you-are jarred lunches are AWESOME!
Classic Egg Salad Made Even Better
I grew up eating my Mom’s egg salad for lunch at least once a week. She’d toast two slices of white bread then schlop a big scoop of cold egg salad in the center, slice it in half, and serve it to my brothers and me for a quick and inexpensive lunch. Hot toast. Cold egg salad. Just the right amount of mayo. So satisfying.
I’m making the lunchtime classic even better by layering it in a mason jar with chopped bacon, juicy tomatoes, and lots of fresh greens and calling it BLT Egg Salad Jars. Never has the saying “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” been more true than when describing this dish. While the individual ingredients in BLT Egg Salad Jars are great on their own, they knock it out of the park once combined.
This lunch is healthy, low-carb, and full of protein and fresh vegetables. Grab a fork, shake ‘er up, and dig in, or if you’re feeling fancy, overturn the jar onto a plate. Pinkies up!
How to Make This Dish
Start by cooking bacon. You can do this anyway you want, but my favorite method is to place the bacon strips on top of a cooling rack set atop a foil lined baking sheet then place in a cold oven and preheat to 375 degrees. The bacon bakes low and slow as the oven heats up, rendering it nice and crispy in the end. Perfecto!
Once the bacon has cooled, chop into bite-sized pieces then set aside.
Meanwhile, hard boil eggs. Like the bacon, there are a few different ways to hard boil eggs.
My favorite way is to cover eggs in a saucepan with water 1″ above the tops then bring the water to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat then cover and let the eggs sit for 11 minutes before scooping into a bowl of ice water.
Once cooled, crack the shells lightly all over then peel. Voila – perfect hard boiled eggs every time!
Chop the eggs then add to a bowl with mayonnaise, yellow mustard, paprika, salt, pepper, plus a drizzle of fresh lemon juice. Don’t skip the lemon juice – it REALLY makes the egg salad. Finally, stir in chopped green onions.
Next, layer the ingredients.
Scoop 1/3 of the egg salad into the bottom of 3, 16oz mason jars then top with chopped Roma tomatoes, 1/3 of the chopped bacon, and fresh arugula or the greens of your choice. Screw the lid on then stash in the fridge.
So easy, right? I hope you love these healthy, yummy gluten-free lunches – enjoy!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon
- 6 large eggs
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- salt and pepper
- fresh lemon juice
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 3 Roma tomatoes, seeded then chopped
- 3 cups arugula or baby spinach
Directions
- Cover a sheet pan with foil then place a cooling rack on top. Lay bacon strips on top of cooling rack then place the baking sheet into a cold oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Let the bacon bake as the oven warms up, then continue baking until crispy. Chop when cool enough to handle then set aside.
- Meanwhile, fill a medium-sized bowl with ice and water then set aside. Add eggs to a medium-sized saucepan then cover with water 1" above the tops. Bring water to a boil then place a lid on top and remove pan from heat. Let sit for 11 minutes then remove the lid and scoop eggs into the bowl of ice water and let cool. Peel eggs then chop and add to a large bowl.
- To the chopped eggs add the mustard, paprika, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste then stir to combine. Add green onions then stir to combine.
- Scoop 1/3 of the egg salad into the bottom of each mason jar then top with 1/3 of the tomatoes, 1/3 of the bacon, and then fill the to the top with arugula/greens. Screw on lids then store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
This sounds very yummy and I am going to have this for lunch soon. I did wonder about baking bacon. The other day on FB your site had a recipe for oven bacon that had oven temp of 425 and didn’t include using a wire cooling rack but in this recipe the oven temp is 375 and a wire cooling rack. Just wonder which is the best way to bake bacon?
Hi Deb! Either method will work – I shared this BLT Egg Salad Jar recipe back in 2017 and so have updated my bacon baking method just a touch since then. :)
What size of jar did you use for this?
Thanks! Looks good. Another easy way to do bacon bits is to chop ahead of cooking. Preheat oven to 425. Place chopped bacon in a cast iron on the stove for a few minutes to warm up pan, then put bacon and pan in the preheated oven. Stir every 5-6 minutes and when desired crispness is attained, drain on paper towels and enjoy!
Just the first one (of three) for lunch today at work, it was so delicious! Such a simple idea that I never would have come up with on my own. Looking forward to my next two that are waiting for me in the fridge.
Yes!! So great to hear – have a delicious week! ;)
Just made this for dinner tonight and LOVED it. Thanks so much for the simple, delicious & filling recipe. I am always looking for new lunch ideas and this one is a definite winner. Your recipes are the best!
Thank you so much, Kristin! I ‘m so glad you loved the recipe! :)