A salad bar is perfect for those nights when you don’t have time to cook. It’s quick & easy to set up and is a healthier alternative to take out. Check out our list of salad bar toppings to help you plan the perfect build your own Salad Bar Supper.
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My family loves salads! My daughters even prefer to order salads at a restaurant whenever it’s offered. Strange, I know, but I’m going to encourage it as long as it lasts! The problem is, they were usually eating those restaurant salads on Saturday evenings after a busy day of running errands and crossing things off our family to-do list. Our dining out budget was slowly creeping up each month and I needed to come up with a solution that didn’t involve me spending time in the kitchen. Enter our now popular “Salad Bar Saturday”. It’s a fun and healthy alternative to eating out and my family loves it!
On Fridays, I take a few minutes to make sure we have lettuce and all the toppings we’re going to need. I then prep all the toppings and store them in containers in the refrigerator so we can just pull them out when we’re ready to eat. Chopping the veggies, draining the beans, and cooking the chicken the day before saves me so much time when everyone is hungry and ready to eat on Saturday night.
In the spring and fall I use fresh lettuce from my husband’s garden (we have 2 growing seasons where we live!) Otherwise I just buy lettuce from the inexpensive farmer’s market store or already chopped bagged lettuce if I’m short on time.
The toppings we use each week vary but we always try to have our favorites including sliced black olives, green peas, garbanzo beans, shredded cheese, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and shredded chicken. For the chicken, I either make up a batch of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in my Instant Pot or buy a rotisserie chicken (usually on clearance) at the grocery store. I buy as many toppings as possible from the dollar stores. Dollar Tree is a great place to get the croutons, bacon bits, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and Corn Nuts. The 99 Cents Only store is my go-to place for in-season fruits, shredded carrots, mushrooms, fresh bean sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and other veggies. Below is a list of just some of the toppings we’ve included in our salad bar in the past few months.
Salad Bar Toppings List
*Shredded carrots
*Sliced cucumbers
*Diced peppers
*Sliced black olives
*Sliced mushrooms
*Chopped broccoli
*Chopped cauliflower
*Fresh bean sprouts
*Sliced radishes
*Diced beets
*Diced celery
*Frozen green peas (thawed)
*Canned sweet corn (drained)
*Canned beans – garbanzo, black, or kidney (drained)
*Chopped hard-boiled eggs
*Sliced strawberries
*Blueberries
*Shredded cheese
*Shredded or diced chicken
*Sliced or diced deli ham
*Sliced or diced deli turkey
*Croutons
*Sunflower seeds
*Dried cranberries
*Raisins
*Bacon bits
*Corn nuts
*Chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
*Variety of salad dressings
The possiblities are endless when it comes to selecting your salad bar toppings. Mix and match and choose a few that are easy to prep and are inexpensive to serve. If you’re short on time, you don’t have to go overboard. Lettuce, a protein, a couple different veggie choices, and a couple other toppings are all you need for the perfect salad bar supper!
Be sure to check out our post on a fast way to cook frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts in an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. It will save you so much time and money!
Does your family like salads as much as mine does? Do you have any tricks to share to get your kids to eat more veggies? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!
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