Walmart Vs Target: Which Has The Best Bagged Salads, According To Reviews

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Delivering veggies, dressing, and toppings all in one, bagged salad kits are a near-perfect healthy lunch, though you definitely pay a bit extra for the convenience. That's why Walmart and Target's cheaper store-brand salads can be so tempting — but which chain sells the superior products? To help you decide where to shop, we compared reviews of similar Walmart Marketside bagged salads and Target Good & Gather salads, taking taste, consistency, and prices into consideration to see which store's lineup is better.

Starting off with Walmart, customers find its Marketside salads to be tasty and incredibly convenient when fresh, but note that the greens go bad quickly or are already past their prime upon purchase, especially when ordered via delivery (spoiled produce is a frequent Walmart delivery complaint). Additionally, ingredient ratios can be inconsistent. "It's a good value, just make sure to have your own croutons and dressing," wrote one reviewer of Marketside Caesar salad. "Dressing, like all kits and premade, is half what they should give." Several other Marketside salads get complaints about the same issue, so stock a few bottled salad dressings in advance. 

More pressingly, customers say the Marketside Southwest and Avocado Ranch salads contain way too much cabbage and few other greens. "The cabbage was bitter and that was the pervasive overriding flavor," said one reviewer of the Southwest. "No other vegetables were noticed." And while the Kale Pecan Cranberry kit is deemed one of the most delicious Marketside salads by reviewers, multiple shoppers have found bags consisting mainly of shredded carrots with almost no kale.

Some of Target's bagged salads have similar issues like Walmart's. The Good & Gather Classic Caesar salad is said to taste great when fresh, with fans praising its restaurant-quality dressing. However, it's also plagued by tons of complaints of spoiled or red "rusted" lettuce. Meanwhile, G&G's Southwest salad suffers from the same cabbage overload as its Marketside counterpart, and some reviews call it bland and too heavy on cilantro.

However, Target's Avocado Ranch kit gets higher marks than Walmart's, with customers praising the lively, delicious mix of toppings. "Creamy avocado, sweet corn, cheesy taco, cabbage, and cilantro flavors are where it's at," said a reviewer on Target's website. Just make sure you're okay with the cilantro — much like the Southwest kit, this salad is not light on the controversial herb. Some Target shoppers have also found moldy cheese in their kits, but it seems to be a rare issue resulting from the lack of artificial preservatives in Good & Gather salads.

Additionally, while the greens in G&G's Sweet Kale salad are sometimes too tough, customers rate it highly for its balanced sweet, tangy, and savory flavors. "This is by far the best salad Target has, I didn't like kale at all but this is SO delicious," said one reviewer. Overall, opinions on Target's salads may depend on personal tastes, but the ingredient ratios and freshness seem far more consistent than Walmart's. All that's left to consider are the prices and variety found in each brand.

Walmart's Marketside salad lineup is simple and affordable. Its cheapest kits are basic, 9-ounce lettuce mixes with dressings like Italian, honey mustard, and ranch. These cost $2.47 or 27 cents per ounce. Marketside's most creative and expensive salads – Sunflower Bacon Crunch, Kale Pecan Cranberry, and Pizza Ranch – come in at $3.78 each. The kale salad has the highest price per ounce at 40 cents.

Target's Good & Gather salads have higher total prices than Walmart's, but don't count them out. The cheapest kits cost $3.49 per bag, with Buffalo Ranch being the thriftiest at 26 cents per ounce. G&G's priciest kits are sold for $4.29, with the most expensive being the Nashville Style Hot chicken salad at 38 cents per ounce. Target's salads win for value by one to two pennies, and the chain also offers a larger, more creative variety than Walmart. We put the Buffalo Ranch and Thai-Style Chili Mango on our list of the absolute best salad kits, and with other flavors like Maple Bacon Bourbon, Everything Seasoned, and Avocado Toast, you're sure to find something exciting for lunch.

Ultimately, we declare Target the winner for its superior value, consistency, and selection of bagged salads. However, Walmart's plainer kits form a more versatile base for improved store-bought salads, and they may appeal to shoppers who don't want such out-of-the-box flavors. And if you want a lower total at checkout, regardless of prices per ounce, you may still prefer buying from Walmart.