I love the idea of meal prep. It makes me feel like I’m giving myself a gift of time in the future. I’ve tried many variations of preparing lunches and dinners in advance through the years, but I never seem to stick to it consistently. I am always on a quest to find the perfect meals that can be made ahead of time in an effort to save time later when life is busy.

We are hosting a foreign exchange student from Germany this school year. She was traveling over spring break and showed me a salad in a jar she bought from a vending machine. It looked delicious, and I was intrigued that there were now healthy options available in vending machines.

The next week, a friend of mine was talking about the same type of vending machine that she used when at a hospital recently. She told me that her favorite salad was the one with the pesto flavored pasta. I took a look at it and decided to try my own version.

The ingredients were easy to identify and gather at the grocery store. It took me about 30 minutes to prepare, and the cost per jar was less than $2.50. I’ve been enjoying these jar salads all week at work, and I shared half of them with my friend who introduced this salad to me.

I found these to have all the flavors of a caprese salad but with a fun variation with the inclusion of pasta. To make them more robust, I feel like grilled chicken would be a nice addition. From my kitchen to yours, enjoy!

Pesto Pasta Salad Jars

Makes 12 salads in pint Mason jars

1.5 boxes of 16 oz. rotini noodles
2 jars of 6.7 oz. prepared basil pesto
2 10 oz. packages of grape tomatoes
2 8 oz. packages of fresh mozzarella pearls
1 9 oz. bag of spinach or lettuce
salt and pepper to taste

Boil pasta according to package directions and drain. Mix pesto with noodles. Add mixture to the bottom of each of 12 pint-sized mason jars by using a funnel or a plastic cup with the bottom cut off. Halve all grape tomatoes, add salt and pepper to taste, and add to jars as the next layer. Top tomatoes with mozzarella pearls, being sure to break them apart while dividing. Gently push down other ingredients to add spinach or lettuce as the top layer and close jars with lids.

Refrigerate and enjoy within one week.