After the long hot summer of 2018, we are finding the sudden arrival of winter quite nice! It’s the season of woolly hats, big coats, Bonfire Night, snow, Christmas and, best of all, comforting food! As it starts to get colder outside, why not treat yourself by bringing some tasty mason jar meals to work a couple of times a week? They’re different, you can make them the night before, they’re easy to travel with and they can be easily heated back up for a warming winter meal! What’s not to like?
Now we know that most mason jar meals you see are healthy salads pushed by food bloggers , but we think work lunches need to be a bit more exciting, which is why we’ve picked out some indulgent hearty meals and sweet treats to brighten up your day.
Shepherd’s Pie
Is there a more comforting winter meal than the classic British Shepherd’s Pie? Meat, veg, potato and gravy, all layered into culinary perfection… With this mason jar meal, Shepherd’s Pie is no longer just a meal to eat at home, it can also make a great work lunch! This recipe from Super Healthy Kids is technically not a Shepherd’s Pie, as it uses a combination of ground turkey and beef for the meat, whilst Shepherd’s Pie should always use lamb. It is however a lot healthier – great for those watching their weight but still wanting a hearty meal.
Ingredients: onion, carrot, garlic, mushrooms, vegetable oil, ground turkey, plain flour, dried thyme, dried rosemary, peas, tomato puree, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, potatoes, milk, sour cream and salt.
Lasagna
Lasagna looks like it was made to be turned into a mason jar meal, as it has lovely layers for you to build up the sides to look attractive and appetising. It’s a guilty pleasure lunch that will keep you powering through until the end of the workday. Find the full recipe at Brit.
Ingredients: olive oil, onion, ground beef, garlic, tomato puree, dried oregano, dried thyme, salt, pepper, chopped tomatoes, butter, plain flour, milk, cheddar cheese, mozzarella, lasagna sheets, courgette and fresh thyme.
Chicken Pie
Who knew that you could make a quick and easy pie in a jar? When you think about, all you really need is some pre-rolled pastry, chopped chicken and the vegetables of your choice. Just line your jar with pastry and pour in your filling, put a pastry lid on top to seal it in and then bake in the oven. Voila! This recipe from Betsy Life can easily be frozen, so you can batch make your pies to keep you in tasty lunches for weeks!
Ingredients: ready made pastry, butter, onion, garlic, chopped vegetables, plain flour, salt, pepper, chicken stock, milk and cooked chicken.
Blueberry Pancakes
Pancakes you can make in 1 minute?! If you’ve got sweet tooth, this is the perfect addition to your lunchtime.To make a t work, you will need to prepare the batter mix at home and bring in a small container, along with your jar and blueberries. All you need to do is fill the bottom of you jar with blueberries, pour in the batter mix until it fills around half of the jar. Heat in the microwave at full power for between 60 and 90 seconds and you will see the pancakes rise to the top of jar. Take it out of the microwave and tuck in! This recipe from Boy And The Rabbit is great as you can easily substitute the dairy products used for vegan alternatives to achieve the same result.
Ingredients: plain flour, baking powder, sugar, margarine (or butter), milk (or nut milk) and blueberries.
Banana Bread
This is another ideal snack to batch bake at home and bring into your place of work to share (or to eat all yourself)… This recipe is from Citron Limette, who admit that they did overfill their jars when baking the bread pictured above – so make sure that you leave enough room at the top of the jar to be able to put your lids back on to transport them!
Ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs, mashed bananas, apple sauce, greek yogurt, plain flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon and walnuts.
No Bake Cheesecake
Finally, we have the ultimate of indulgent mason jar meals – cheesecake. It’s creamy, fruity, sweet and you don’t need to bake it; what’s not to love? Find the recipe at The Home Journalist.
Ingredients: crushed biscuits, butter, cinnamon, sugar, cream cheese, condensed milk, lemon juice, vanilla extract, strawberries and milk chocolate chips.
Need some mason jars?
We’ve got plenty of high quality glass jars that are ideal for your mason jar meals, all at fantastic prices. With no minimum order, you can buy 1 jar or 1,000 jars if you so wish! Our range of budget jars come in sizes from 150ml to 720ml and are great for those on a budget, but still looking for high quality. In contrast we also have our range of Le Parfaits jars, which are a lot more pricy, but look extremely high end and come complete with their distinctive orange rubber seals and clasped metal hinged lids.
All of our products are priced in tiers according to the amount that you are buying, with the price per unit decreasing the more units you order. This means that you’re always getting our best value! The prices stated below are for 1 unit.
- 150ml (E) Glass Jar & Lid – Just 25p each!
- 370ml (E) Glass Jar & Lid – Just 63p each!
- 720ml (E) Glass Jar & Lid – Just 59p each!
- 500ml Le Parfait Glass Jar – Just £5 each!