Our 5 Favorite Salad Kits from Trader Joe’s

While people love to complain about the produce at Trader Joe’s, the salad kits are actually pretty darn amazing. We should know: We spent the last two months eating and talking about nearly every salad kit sold in America.

See, the salad kits at Trader Joe’s are just super interesting. They go above and beyond the standard set that we see in most supermarkets (read: TJ’s has options beyond Southwest- and Asian-inspired!). The Trader Joe’s team comes up with surprising ingredients and combinations that miraculously work well together. Riced cauliflower in a salad? Yes! Dried blueberries in another? Yum! Shredded broccoli in a third? TJ’s knows what it’s doing!

There was just one salad kit we didn’t love (the Yellow Curry Chopped Salad), and here are the five we loved the most.

Okay, so this salad looks and sounds decidedly basic — especially compared to everything we just said above. But. BUT! It was legit good and needed to make the list. The romaine was super fresh (something we didn’t always find) and came with crunchy, garlicky croutons, shredded Parmesan, and a peppery dressing. Pair it with anything from the freezer section and you have an instant dinner.

Technically a slaw, but tastes like a salad, this kit is just the right mix of sweet and tangy. It’s extra crunchy, thanks to shredded broccoli stalks, kale, and radicchio, and with every bite you get a fun surprise mix in — like dried blueberries or salty roasted sunflower seeds. This would be great packed for lunch with leftover protein from dinner. Note: Trader Joe’s salad kits seem to sell out fast, so find out which day your location restocks and be sure to grab a few of these.

Fun fact: This was the only salad kit (at Trader Joe’s or beyond) to score a 10 on our internally used scale of one through 10. After tossing together the components of this kit — chopped greens, crunchy veggies, pumpkin seeds, cotija cheese, tortilla chips, and an unbelievably good spicy avocado dressing — you’ll have to keep yourself from eating the entirety of the bag in one sitting. It’s the kind of lunch salad you’ll be looking forward to all morning. Add avocado, shredded rotisserie chicken, or black beans to make it a meal.

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The only one of its kind we saw, this salad instantly adds a Mediterranean vibe to whatever’s for dinner — be it pita pockets, roasted salmon, or slow cooker pork. Or, pack it on the go like Trader Joe’s suggests and toss with couscous and chopped chicken for lunch. You really can’t go wrong when there’s feta cheese and crunchy roasted chickpeas involved. The red wine vinaigrette also makes it super versatile.

This spinach salad kit — with cauliflower rice, roasted golden beets, almonds, and balsamic vinaigrette — is the least salad kit-y of all the salad kits we tried. In that it feels (and tastes!) more like something your fancy friend would have made for a dinner party. You’ll find it hard to believe that all the ingredients came from a bag.

Do you have a favorite salad kit at Trader Joe’s? Tell us about it in the comments below!