Pre-made salads are truly a lifesaver, especially when you’re in dire need of a quick yet healthy meal. They also require very little assembly, typically nothing more than the addition of key toppings like crotons, cheese, and a delectable dressing. Plus, they can be eaten on the go or scarfed down in mere minutes while you mindlessly watch TikTok in the breakroom. Whether you prefer salads with no greens or a flavorful salad with no dressing, there are plenty of pre-made options to choose from. However, it can be quite overwhelming to choose one. Luckily, there’s one establishment that’s known for its abundance of pre-made salads: Trader Joe’s. It knows a thing or two about creating flavorful yet cost-effective salads that will leave your stomach and wallet in a state of bliss. But, if you can only buy one salad from Trader Joe’s, it should be its Broccoli Slaw & Kale Salad with White Chicken Meat.
This salad beautifully encompasses the complex flavors, hearty ingredients, and great textures that all salads should have. Hence, it was ranked the absolute best Trader Joe’s pre-made salad by the Tasting Table staff. On its own, this salad is flawless. It’s flavorful and perfectly crisp and crunchy. And there’s the perfect amount of kale, chicken, broccoli slaw, red onions, cranberries, and sunflower kernels, with each ingredient adding something special to both the flavor and texture. This salad is well-balanced, and no ingredient is screaming for attention. Luckily, the spicy dressing is equally as delicious. It delivers on its promise of heat without being too spicy and doesn’t overpower any of the existing flavors within the salad.
Why Trader Joe’s Broccoli Slaw & Kale Salad with White Chicken Meat is truly the best
The supporting characters in this salad are what make this meal such a standout. The cranberries, which are dried and sweetened, provide a level of sweetness that’s essential to the complexity of flavors in this salad. The cranberries cut through the sharpness of the red onions and the earthy yet bitter undertones of the kale. And the sweetness pairs beautifully with the subtle heat from the dressing while the sunflower kernels offer some much-needed crunch and a delicate nutty flavor. Additionally, there’s plenty of each ingredient, so each bite is guaranteed to have everything in it.
Made with grilled white chicken, which is a combination of chicken breast with rib meat, this protein is truly the perfect choice for this salad. It gently subdues the harsher components like the kale and red onion while maintaining its own flavor. Tasting lovely, smothered in the spicy dressing, the addition of chicken gives this salad 17 grams of protein.
The dressing gets its spiciness from the dried chilaca pepper and cayenne pepper. For reference, chilaca peppers are milder than a jalapeño, while cayenne peppers are roughly 12 times spicier than a jalapeño. Together, these peppers create a level of spice that will make your tongue tingle while also adding depth of flavor. The spice is the perfect juxtaposition to the sweet yet creamy aspects of the dressing. And you can thank mayonnaise for the creaminess and honey and sugar for the sweetness. Although the dressing is truly incredible, this salad can be enjoyed with or without it. That’s how scrumptious the salad is.
