It’s no secret that I love a good salad kit. So much so that I wrote a whole post on this topic already. But I guess I just wasn’t done with the topic of bagged salad yet. 😂
I needed to know ALL of the best store-bought salad kits out there, because it’s pretty much the only thing I can find time to make myself for lunch these days, and let me tell you–there are a LOT of varieties to choose from–how’s a girl to know what’s the best of the best?! I turned you to all to submit your favorites on Instagram stories. And as always–you had the intel! Here is my list of your most popular suggestions below.
I think my new goal for the remainder of the year is to work my way through as many of these as possible. If you’re always on the hunt for a delicious quick lunch, I hope you like this post too!
Reader favorite store-bought salad kits, by brand/retailer:
Taylor Farms:
This brand is available at most grocery stores (to my knowledge) and everything I’ve tried from them is very good–(I’ve tried most of these!) These were your Taylor Farms favorites:
- Taylor Farms Dill Pickle Salad Kit
- Taylor Farms Mediterranean crunch
- Taylor Farms Avocado Ranch (Apparently the Costco one is the best?!)
- Taylor Farms Everything Chopped
Trader Joe’s:
Obviously a leader in the salad kit category–sadly I rarely get to TJ’s anymore because life is too busy with June, so I haven’t tried a lot of these. I think I just need to MAKE time to get there because they sound too delicious to miss out on!
- TJ’s Arugula salad kit with lemon basil dressing
- TJ’s Miso Crunch
- TJ’s Southwest
- TJ’s Mediterranean kit
- TJ’s Cruciferous Crunch (this is also delicious sautéed with some chicken sausage!)
- TJ’s Sweet Kale
- TJ’s Dill Chopped Kit
- TJ’s Harvest Apple
- TJ’s BBQ & Black Pepper Toscano Chopped Salad
- TJ’s Vegan Ranch Crunch (Loved even by non vegans!)
- TJ’s Pasadena salad kit
Target:
I have been eating a lot of Target salads lately because I often resort to going to the City Target in my neighborhood. (Which is the worst, and never has anything in stock, but at least they always have salad. 😂)
- Good & Gather (Target brand) Mexican Caesar
- Good & Gather (Target brand) Nashville Hot
- Good & Gather (Target brand) Asian-Style (rumored to taste just like Panera’s!)
- Good & Gather (Target brand) Dill-Icious chopped!
Fresh Express:
Another popular brand you can find at most stores!
- Fresh Express Thai cashew salad
- Fresh Express Greek Caesar
- Fresh Express Black Pepper Caesar
Other honorable mentions:
- Whole Foods Avocado Ranch
- Whole Foods Sweet Kale chop (lot’s of submissions for this one!)
- HEB Cracked Pepper Caesar
- HEB Sweet Thai
- Costco’s Caesar (I can attest–it’s the seasoning packet that makes it!)
- Dole Endless Summer Salad
- Josie’s Organic Mediterranean crunch.
Ways to church them up:
While these are good on their own, they are SIGNIFICANTLY more exciting when you church them up a bit. Add your own protein, add-ins, go wild. Here are some of my favorite ideas (and yours, too!)
- Air fry chicken strips to top–many love TJ’s brand, Costco’s Real Good Chx or CauliPower brand (which is breaded with cauliflower so a bit healthier supposedly)
- Air fry frozen falafel and then top any med salad or TJ’s arugula salad
- Keep some popular add-ins on hand, like sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, croutons, shredded/crumbly cheese, frozen edamame, chickpeas, and fresh scallions
- Sautee/chop veggie burger (love TJ’s Thai or Southwest veggie burger!) to get crispy and then crumble on top!
- Sauce up some rotisserie chicken to mix in, or some sautéed ground chicken, turkey, or beef make it a whole meal.
- Wrap salad up in a wrap (with or without your favorite protein) or stuff into a pita!
Want more ideas on turning bagged salad into a dreamy lunch? Check out this post!
