By: Annie18 CommentsUpdated: 6/22/26

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This butternut squash salad layers roasted, caramelized squash with hearty barley, protein packed chickpeas and a honey dijon vinaigrette that gets better with every day as it sits in the fridge.

overhead view of Chickpea, Barley and Butternut Squash Jar Salads shaken out into a bowl

I've made a lot of jar salads over the years, it's one of the meal prep formats I come back to again and again because it genuinely solves the soggy salad problem that makes most people give up on prepped lunches. This chickpea, barley and butternut squash salad is one of my favorites. The flavors are earthy, sweet and tangy all at once. It holds up beautifully for four full days in the fridge and every time I make it I find myself actually looking forward to lunch. That is the bar I hold every meal prep recipe to, and this one clears it easily.

Reasons you’ll ♡ this Salad

Vegetarian and can be made vegan
Work perfectly for meal prep and taste great even on day 4
They are a complete meal with healthy grains, veggies and protein

Recipe video

Wondering how this salad recipe comes together? Watch this 1 minute video to see how easy it is to prepare! You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel.

Don't forget to pin this recipe to save it for later!

Stack of four glass jars filled with chickpea barley and butternut squash salad

Let's talk ingredients

Butternut squash - 1 small butternut squash or ½ of a large squash, cubed
Barley- for a nice, chewy base to this salad. Swap for quinoa if you are gluten-free
Chickpeas- 1 can of cooked chickpeas or around 2 cups of homemade chickpeas. Here's my favorite Instant Pot Chickpeas recipe!
Vinaigrette - olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey (or maple syrup), dijon mustard
The goodies - crumbled feta cheese, chopped pecans, dried cranberries to give this salad some extra pizzaz

ingredients for a butternut squash salad

Meal prep tips

Multitask the cook time: Start the barley first since it takes the longest. While it simmers, prep and roast the butternut squash. Shake together the vinaigrette while the squash is in the oven.
Cool before jarring: This is a common error either meal prep Warm ingredients create steam inside a sealed jar, which softens the barley and makes the whole thing soggy.
On the pecans: This is the only ingredient you might want to hold back on if prepping for the entire week. They will loose their crunch within 24 hours in the jar. If you want to crunch, store them separately.
Container alternatives: no need to purchase jars if you do not have them. Any airtight 2 cup container works as long as you keep the dressing at the bottom and don't mix until serving.

an overhead shot of butternut squash salad

Substitutions

Vegan: Swap the honey for maple syrup and leave out the feta.

Gluten free: Instead of barley use quinoa

Butternut squash: works well with sweet potatoes

Protein: instead of chickpeas you can use cooked, chopped chicken breasts.

More jar salad recipes

Kale Chicken Pasta Salad
Thai Chickpea Jar Salad
Strawberry Spinach Jar Salad
Southwestern Sweet Potato Lentil Jar Salad
Healthy Homemade Instant Noodles (not a jar salad but a fantastic jar meal prep recipe for cold weather!)

Annie

Hi, I'm Annie. With a Bachelor of Science degree, a minor in nutrition and nearly 20 year of both classical training, and self-taught experience, I've spent my career proving that home cooking can be practical, delicious and inspiring. What started in 2013 as one food blog has grown into a full-time business. Today, my husband Clayton and I run five food websites that connect with millions of home cooks every month.

When I'm not in the kitchen or behind the camera, I'm using fueling my love of travel, or chasing down new ideas that keep food fun and fresh.

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