I like eating salads for lunch many days. They’re healthy and help me to get some veggie servings in. I can make a good salad from scratch with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, cheese, dressing, and toppings such as pepitas, walnuts, bacon bits, or hard-boiled eggs. For something different, though, I like to buy various salad kits from the grocery store. They’re fast and easy. All I have to do is open the main bag, dump it in a serving bowl, and then open and dump the smaller bags of toppings and dressing and mix it all together.
Besides the convenience factor, I like how bagged salad kits give me the opportunity to eat a greater variety of veggies without having to buy larger quantities of all of those veggies. The potential for food waste is greatly reduced when I’m not having to buy and quickly use an entire head of lettuce or a whole bag of radishes or carrots.
Even though I might be paying a little extra for the convenience of all those prepared veggies and salad components, I also see all the money I’m not tossing in my compost bin when I can’t eat my way through a mountain of fresh ingredients all purchased a la carte. To flip the script a little more, these deluxe grocery store salad kits are often as good as what you might get at a restaurant, but for a lot less money than what a restaurant would charge.
I mostly buy salad kits from Aldi, which is where I do the majority of my grocery shopping. They have a great sunflower chopped salad kit, and the dressing in their bagged Caesar salad kit is beyond compare. Aldi also sells a good Asian chopped salad kit and a southwest chopped salad kit (I use the southwest salad to make easy 4-ingredient shrimp tacos).
I’ve also tried some bagged salad kits from Trader Joe’s, which is a distant cousin to Aldi. In the most recent edition of the Fearless Flyer, which is an advertising publication that Trader Joe’s puts out several times a year, they promoted a Mediterranean style salad kit with romaine lettuce, shredded broccoli stalks, crispy flatbread strips, feta cheese, and more all in a vinaigrette dressing.
I’m always up for trying different TJ’s products, especially the ones that they see fit to draw attention to in their advertisements. So I picked up a bag of this salad mix during an early summer vacation Trader Joe’s run.
Trader Joe’s Organic Mediterranean Style Salad Kit cost $3.99 for a 12.95-ounce bag at the time of publication. The package states this contains romaine lettuce, shredded broccoli stalks, radicchio, celery, seasoned flatbread strips, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, roasted chickpeas, and a red wine vinaigrette.
The lettuce and veggies are all packaged in the larger bag, and nestled among the lettuce is another bag that contains a small bag of dressing and small bags of the cheese and some of the crispier toppings. To serve, simply pour it all into a large bowl and toss to mix. Any salad that doesn’t get eaten right away will need to be refrigerated. The kit I bought had a best-by date of about five days out from the purchase date.
If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains milk, soy, and wheat.
Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
One bag contains about 3.5 one-cup servings. One serving has 110 calories, 7 grams of total fat (9% DV), 1.5 grams of saturated fat (8% DV), 290 mg of sodium (13% DV), 9 grams of total carbohydrates (3% DV), 2 grams of dietary fiber (7% DV), 3 grams of total sugars, 2 grams of added sugars (4% DV), and 2 grams of protein.
Mixed up and ready to serve.
This is a good salad mix. It seems pretty light and healthy, and you can eat a lot of it without sabotaging healthy eating plans. The lettuce is crisp and thinly sliced so you aren’t trying to bite into large pieces of lettuce, and I like the long strips of broccoli stalks that add some unique texture. The flatbread strips add a little crunch similar to croutons, while the sun dried tomatoes add some chewiness. This was a little light on the advertised roasted chickpeas, but if you really wanted more of those, you could buy a bag on their own and add extra to this salad. As far as the dressing goes, it’s a classic vinaigrette that works well with this mix.
For a more complete and filling meal, you might want to add some more feta cheese or add some grilled chicken for a protein boost. For a light meal or served as a side dish with some other type of protein, this is just fine as is.
The Verdict:
Trader Joe’s Organic Mediterranean Style Salad Kit features romaine lettuce, shredded broccoli stalks, radicchio, celery, seasoned flatbread strips, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, roasted chickpeas, and a red wine vinaigrette dressing. This is a complete kit, so all you have to do is open the various bags, dump everything into a large bowl, and mix to serve. It’s a good salad whether you need a light lunch or a side dish for part of a bigger meal.
