My wife used to eat these quite frequently, often as the main course for dinner.  I never understood why. What’s so special about a bagged salad? How can a salad be filling? As a member of the male species, I refused to try it for the longest time.  Then, one day, I took a bite…and then I immediately understood.

I’m probably going to go into a hyperbolic rant, so please forgive me for a while, but this salad is hands down the best bagged salad I’ve ever had. It’s ridiculously good. I’d go so far as to call it “restaurant quality”, only that brings me thoughts of this being served at chain restaurants…it’s even better than that. It’s a rare occasion that we don’t have at least one bag of this in the house at any given time.

Probably the only “underwhelming” component of this kit is the lettuce, which I guess is pretty understandable, considering the whole point of a salad is to make the lettuce taste good. As with most such salads, the bag contains a large helping of Romaine. Next up is the Caesar dressing, conveniently contained in a little pouch with a tear-apart opening. Now I certainly didn’t have much hope for this, expecting it to be a watered-down, cheap dressing wannabe, but I was blown away…this is a full-flavored Caesar dressing that doesn’t mess around. It’s almost tart it’s so strong, and it’s what kept me coming back for more bites. Perhaps most importantly, however, is that there is plenty enough to coat every bit of lettuce in the bag, so you won’t have to deal with dry bites as you get toward the bottom.

The parmesan cheese, contained in a separate pack, was also a surprise. I expected dried-out cheese, but it tastes just like the grated parmesan Aldi sells in the tubs. It would probably be a stretch to say it tastes like freshly-grated cheese, but considering it’s a component in a bagged salad mix, it’s closer than you would ever think possible. Last up are the croutons, which are usually my favorite part of a salad. That they are very good, yet somehow end up being my least favorite component, should tell you just how good this salad is as a whole.

It gets full marks from me for taste, but gets just as many for value, as a generous 10.5 oz. bag is just $1.99. That might not sound like much, but considering most of the kit is made up of lettuce, which is pretty much light as a feather, means you really do get a lot of salad for your money. I have a pretty big appetite, and even I have problems finishing this by myself. Also works excellently as a side dish, which is generally the way we enjoy it. If you’re eating it alone and can drag it out to two servings, that’s only a dollar per serving, which isn’t bad at all.

Overall: 10/10.  Flawless salad perfection in a bag.  The Caesar dressing is super strong and full-flavored, the croutons are delicious, and the parmesan cheese tastes surprisingly fresh.  There’s a lot of lettuce in here, but plenty of the dressing, cheese, and croutons to cover it all.  Making it taste even better is the price:  $1.99 for a 10.5 oz. bag that’s easily enough to feed two adults, or one person over two days.  We also tried the national brand, and it didn’t even come close.  See why this has become a staple in our house, and make it one in yours by giving it a shot!

UPDATE (8/2019): The price has recently gone up (to $2.29 in my neck of the woods; prices may vary by location), but besides being slightly disappointing, it is not enough to affect the score. This is still a fantastic product for the money.