Top 10 Best Salad Kits to Buy

If you ask me, bagged salad kits are pretty clutch. You can eat one for lunch, shake one up for a side dish, use it as a base for a full meal. If you ask Josh Scherer (of Mythical Kitchen fame), they’re potential deathtraps due to listeria risk. 

I don’t take a ton of risks in life—I don’t skydive or swim with sharks or leave the house without sunscreen. But I did take my life in my hands and taste more than 20 different salad kits in order to find the very best salad kits to buy. I didn’t do it alone, though, I was joined by my colleague Gwynedd Stuart and the salad fearmongerer himself, Josh Scherer.

What we looked for in the best salad kits: 

• Variety: If we wanted to eat lettuce and only lettuce we would have just bought a bag of lettuce. Bagged salads should be filled with all manner of vegetables and mix-ins. 
• Texture: The best salad kits are textural wonderlands with crispy crunchies and firm vegetables. 
• Freshness: No soggy brown lettuce, please! 
• Flavor: We wanted a salad to wow us with vibrant flavors—even if it was a basic caesar. 

Here are the best salad kits we tasted.

Best Salad Kits, Ranked

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Best Sports Bar Salad

Taylor Farms Smoky Ranch Chopped Kit

Albertsons

This is a sports bar salad. And I mean that as a compliment. It’s not a “healthy” salad kit. It’s sloppy and creamy and smoky and it would be absolutely delicious served alongside some wings. Here’s what really earned it a spot on this list: pretzel balls instead of croutons! So fun!

Credit: Liv Averett / Albertsons

Rating:

7/10

Sporks

Best Almost Slaw

Taylor Farms Sunflower Crunch Chopped Kit

Instacart

Taylor Farms salad kits are probably the most readily available salad kits. But they’re hit or miss. A lot of them are too slaw-like and not salad-like enough. This one walks the line. It has a sweet onion dressing that is definitely sweet but has just enough oniony flavor to keep it from being saccharine. It does, however, make the mix of cabbage, kale, lettuce, carrots, and sunflower seeds taste a bit like coleslaw (the packaging literally refers to it as coleslaw dressing). But it’s still satisfying enough that it earned a spot on this list. You can still eat it as a salad.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Kit for a Chinese Chicken Salad

Fresh Express Chopped Kit Orange Sesame

Albertsons

This bagged salad is tangy and sweet and pretty darn good. If you’re looking for a base for a Chinese chicken salad that tastes like something you’d get at the Cheesecake Factory, then this is the salad kit for you. While the lettuce, kale, cabbage, and sliced almonds are good, the true stars of the show are the crunchy sesame sticks, which add some really nice salty savoriness.

Credit: Liv Averett / Albertsons

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Cranberry Kale Salad

Marketside Cranberry Kale

Walmart

I love the creamy Dijon dressing in this salad kit from Walmart. It’s sharp and creamy and goes great with the kale and the cranberries. While this salad definitely leans slaw, it’s still salad-y enough. And it’d be great with a rotisserie chicken.

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Avocado Ranch Salad

Taylor Farms Avocado Ranch

Instacart

This salad kit is Taco Bell in a bag—and it’s better than the Good & Gather Avocado Ranch salad we tried. The dressing truly tastes like Taco Bell’s avocado ranch. And it’s delicious mixed with lettuce, cabbage, carrots, corn, and green onions (I love green onions in a salad—they add such great zip). There’s cheese, too. Seriously, if you’re hankering for Taco Bell but trying to be somewhat more responsible, grab this salad kit instead.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Dill Pickle Salad

Tabitha Brown Dill Pickle Chopped Salad Kit

Target

A Target exclusive, this salad kit from Tabitha Brown does something no other bagged salad on this list does: It includes a seasoning packet. That dill pickle seasoning flavor blasts everything—the cauliflower, radish, cabbage, lettuce, and kale—with tangy dill pickle flavor. And I love that you get little crouton crumbles instead of whole croutons. It makes for better texture.

Credit: Liv Averett / Target

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Pizza Ranch Salad

Marketside Pizza Ranch

Walmart

We tried two different pizza ranch salad kits—this one and Trader Joe’s. Personally, I do like Trader Joe’s Pizza Ranch salad but others thought it went too hard on the pizza. Walmart’s version, conversely, goes hard on the ranch with some pizza flourishes like spicy diced pepperoni and tomato basil croutons. There is no way this salad kit is good for you, but it’s so creamy and salty and savory and delicious. Pair it with a frozen pizza and watch the world burn.

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best Asian-Style Salad

Trader Joe’s Sweet Chili Mango

Trader Joe’s

We previously published a ranking of all the Trader Joe’s salad kits, but this one wasn’t available at the time so it’s not on that list. We’ll be amending that ranking soon, though, because this is one of the best salad kits around. Made with cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, and radicchio (I adore bitter radicchio), it’s a true salad—not a slaw. You also get dried mango, toasted quinoa, and sweet chili dressing. There are so many textures: crunchy quinoa, chewy mango, crisp cruciferous vegetables. And the dressing tastes like a dipping sauce for spring rolls. As far as bagged salad kits go, it’s a really fun time.

Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Best Caesar Salad

Earthbound Farm Organic Classic Caesar Salad Kit

Instacart

This bagged caesar salad took the top spot in our ranking of the best caesar salad kits. A caesar is simple—it’s just lettuce, croutons, cheese, and dressing. So there’s a lot of pressure to get it all right. And this one does it. The dressing is perfect. It’s super tangy and creamy and peppery. It even tastes a bit like anchovies without being fishy. There are parmesan shreds, which are so much better than grated parmesan. And the croutons are pleasantly garlicky. This salad kit should be a staple in your fridge. 

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

Trader Joe’s Lemony Arugula Basil Salad Kit

Trader Joe’s

Man, this Trader Joe’s bagged salad rocks so hard. It’s simple—just ribbons of carrots and parmesan mixed with arugula, almonds, and basil with a lemony dressing. But it’s thoughtful and elegant. It’s something a chef would make. The basil really puts it over for me. It gives the whole thing a new dimension of flavor and depth. I really cannot get enough of this bagged salad kit. Do yourself a favor and try it.

Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other bagged salad kits we tried: 

Taylor Farms Everything, Taylor Farms Sweet Kale, Taylor Farms Steakhouse Wedge, Earthbound Farm Apple Cider Crunch, Earthbound Farm Lemon Arugula, Taylor Farms Jalapeno Popper, Marketside Italian, Marketside Cherry Almond Gorgonzola, Marketside Taco, Bistro Kale Cranberry, Good & Gather Avocado Toast, Good & Gather Nashville Hot, Tabitha Brown Jalapeno