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Charred corn, tomato and peach salad for a packed lunch
youryum.com/recipes/charred-corn-tomato-and-peach-salad-for-a-packed-lunch · serves 2

A packed lunch with the dressing in the right place

The salad travels well because the dressing, herbs and toasted seeds stay in their own corners until lunch. No soggy leaves, no leaking fruit.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Gluten free
  • Dairy free
Maren Ashby in her kitchen, in a dark apron, looking away from the camera
By Maren Ashby · Writes and tests everything here
Published 23 August 2026
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Packed lunch salad with corn tomatoes peaches seeds and lemon dressing
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Prep
20 min
Cook
10 min
Total
30 min
Serves
2
Per serving
384kcal
Effort
Easy

A good packed salad is mostly a question of where things sit. Put dressing at the bottom and tender fruit on top, keep the herbs dry, and lunch can still have definition at one o'clock. Put everything in one tub at eight in the morning and you have a container of seasoned juice by noon.

This version is built for a wide lunch box: charred corn for savouriness, tomatoes and peaches in large pieces, toasted pumpkin seeds for crunch, and a lemon dressing in a screw-top jar. It is not a salad to eat straight from the fridge. Give it ten minutes on the desk first.

Ingredients

Makes 2 servings

Salad

Jar dressing

Equipment

  • Large frying pan
  • Two wide lunch containers
  • Small jar with lid

Method

  1. Toast the seeds first

    Put the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Toast for four to five minutes, shaking often, until some puff and the pan smells nutty. Tip them onto a plate immediately. A hot pan will take them from toasted to scorched while you cut a peach.

    Hands tipping toasted pumpkin seeds onto a plate beside summer salad ingredients

  2. Char the corn

    Turn the heat up high and add the corn to the same pan. Cook it in the film left by the seeds, stirring only after the underside has coloured. Seven minutes is usually enough. Cool it on the seed plate while you assemble the boxes.

  3. Shake the dressing

    Put lemon juice, zest, oil, mustard, maple syrup and salt in the jar. Close the lid and shake until the mustard has disappeared into the oil. Taste it. A packed salad needs a dressing that seems a little too sharp on its own because the tomatoes will dilute it.

  4. Pack in layers

    Divide the dressing between the bottom of two wide containers. Add the tomatoes, then the corn, then the peaches. Keep the parsley and pumpkin seeds in small separate pots or folded pieces of baking paper inside the lid.

    Do not use a narrow jar. You will have to shake the contents to eat them, which bruises the peaches before lunch.

  5. Keep it cool, not icy

    Refrigerate until you leave. If the lunch bag will be warm, use an ice pack. The fruit is safe for a few hours at ordinary room temperature, but a cold pack keeps the tomatoes firm and the dressing fresh.

  6. Toss when you eat

    Take out the herbs and seeds, then tip the salad into the lid or a bowl. Add dressing gradually and fold rather than shake. Finish with the herbs and seeds so they stay on the surface.

What's in it

Nutrition, buying and storage notes for the ingredients this recipe leans on.

Tomatoes 94.5 g water Cherry tomatoes 94.5 g water
Lunch box ingredients corn tomatoes peaches seeds parsley lemon oil and mustard
A wide box and a small jar solve most packed-salad problems.

The packing order

Hard vegetables and tomatoes can sit near dressing. Soft peaches should be kept away from the liquid until you are ready to eat. Herbs go furthest from both: even a little moisture turns parsley dark and flat by lunchtime.

The layers are not precious. They are practical. Dressing, tomatoes, corn, peaches, then dry things. The moment the box tips into a bowl the order vanishes, but it has done its job for four hours.

Why the seeds need their own pocket

Pumpkin seeds are porous and happily absorb dressing. They become chewy before the rest of the salad becomes properly seasoned, so putting them on top is not enough if the whole box is going to be shaken. A paper packet or tiny pot keeps the crunch intact.

Sunflower seeds or chopped almonds work too. Avoid walnuts here unless you like their bitterness with peach.

Nutrition

Per serving, for 2 servings. Estimated from ingredient weights — it moves with the brands and cuts you actually use.

NutrientPer serving
Calories 384 kcal
Protein 10 g
Carbohydrate 47 g
Fibre 8 g
Fat 20 g

Source: Estimated from ingredient weights, USDA FoodData Central

Questions

Can I make this the night before?
Yes. Pack everything undressed, with the seeds and herbs separate. Shake the dressing in the morning so it does not settle overnight.
Can I use nectarines?
Yes, and they are slightly easier because there is no fuzzy skin to catch dressing. Use the same weight.
What if my lunch box is small?
Use one tomato and one peach per serving, and pack the seeds in a separate folded paper packet. The important thing is that the fruit is not crushed.
Can I add cheese?
Feta is good. Keep it in a separate little pot if you want the salad to last two days, because its brine loosens the tomatoes.

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