Forget Meal Prepping With Mason Jars. Here's A Much Better Alternative

If you were on Pinterest at any point in the 2010s, you likely saw a meal-prepping hack that made you want to go out and buy a bunch of mason jars. According to the internet, you could save time and money by packing a week's worth of salads into these vessels, that are normally used for canning foods. Many creators swore that the lettuce would stay crisp and fresh the entire time, so long as you put it in last. (If you rinse your lettuce, make sure you dry it thoroughly before storing as this will also help it stay fresh.) The whole mason jar thing was a fairly ingenious idea, but it's a decade later and probably time for an upgrade.

Instead of meal-prepping in mason jars, in the 2020s we do as the kitchen professionals do and use deli containers instead. Start with a set like this one from AOZITA, which comes with 24 pieces in three different sizes — you're bound to find uses for them beyond your lunches for the week. Most deli containers are leak-proof, so they're ideal for storing soups and sauces (or even that leftover half bottle of wine), and they're freezer-safe. Pretty much any time you need an airtight receptacle for something that needs to be frozen — cut up chicken breasts for next week's dinners or a carton of ice cream that sprang a leak on the drive home — you'll have the perfect go-to.

Need more reasons to make the switch? How about the fact that deli containers are much lighter than glass mason jars, so you won't feel like you're carrying a brick around in your lunch bag? Deli containers are also stackable, whereas mason jars typically need to be stored side-by-side. Opting for stackable items is smart if you want to save much-needed kitchen space.

There's also the mouth of the deli containers to consider. The narrowest point on these tubs is actually at the bottom, while they widen ever-so-slightly at the top. This means most people can fit their entire hand in all the way inside. In contrast, most mason jars' narrowest point is at the top, which can make digging around for the last bites of salad a real pain, especially if you have bigger hands.

Deli containers are also pretty inexpensive, typically a fraction of the price you would pay for the same amount of mason jars. These plastic tubs are also fairly unbreakable compared with jars, so if you drop one and it busts open, you'll only have to clean up whatever was inside, rather than dealing with shattered glass all over the kitchen floor.