Costco Tostada Salad Kit by Sweet Earth Foods Review

So many toppings!

Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. I purchased this product with my own money and the opinions in this review are strictly my own. I am not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. I am just a fan of the company. I write these reviews to help my fellow shoppers.

So I think we have already established that I love salad kits. I like how convenient they are and how I can easily whip them into a healthy week night dinner. It’s safe to say I’ll probably review every salad kit and chocolate covered item I can find at Costco. I reviewed the Baja Chopped Salad Kit by Taylor Farms on my blog previously and although I love that salad kit I decided to try a similar salad kit currently available at Costco. The Tostada Salad by Sweet Earth Foods.

This salad kit has romaine, red and green cabbage, a “chipotle seitan”, a bean and corn salsa packet, tortilla strips, cheese and also a zesty ranch dressing. This salad kit is not vegan due to the fact there is eggs and milk in the salad dressing. It also contains gluten in the chipotle seitan so if you’re gluten free, skip that.

I enjoyed the taste of the bean and corn salsa and the romaine and cabbage but honestly I could do without the zesty ranch and chipotle seitan. The chipotle seitan, in my opinion, has the consistency of hard, wet dog food and a displeasing taste. I honestly could not think of another way to describe it. It’s slightly smoky tasting and I like smoky tasting things but the consistency and overall taste of this completely threw me off, even after microwaving it, it remained hard and chewy. The seitan is supposed to replace meat/taste similar to meat and that is what increases the amount of protein in this salad kit. I didn’t end up using much of it and neither did my husband. I didn’t love the zesty ranch dressing either, I found it to be too much on top of the bean and corn salsa and I felt it tasted more of a buttermilk full fat ranch and lacked the zesty. I would have preferred they just offer a large pack of the salsa as the dressing. I also wish they had some kale or spinach in this salad to provide more dark leafy greens or even some chopped brussel sprouts would be nice to add some subsidence. The cheese and tortilla strips were good, but those are always good!

Although this salad kit has a lot of additions, the chipotle seitan, corn and bean salsa, ranch dressing, tortilla strips and cheese, I found it to be quite expensive for what you actually get. I paid $5.49 for this kit and compared to the large Super 7 Sweet Kale Salad Kit for $6.49, it seems very small. Maybe if I didn’t throw out the chipotle seitan and not use much of the ranch dressing I would have felt differently. However there is not much “salad” to this salad kit and I like a lot of vegetables and volume in my salad. I definitely feel this was overpriced.

When I look at the nutrition information, this salad kit with all the add ins is actually not that healthy for you. The nutrition information is for one cup of prepared salad (assuming that’s everything in the bag). Who eats one cup of salad though? Not me. I wish it broke up the nutrition information and told me the nutrition info for each item. 1 cup of salad is 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 310mg of sodium, 2 grams of sugar and 8 grams of protein. The high amount of protein actually really surprises me, the protein is coming from the chipotle seitan. That’s quite a bit of protein for one cup of salad. However it’s a bit higher in calories than other salad kits. The entire salad kit is 838 calories, 52.4 grams of fat, 1624 mg of sodium, 10.5 grams of sugar and 41.92 grams of protein. Take that how you will but if you’re looking at buying this to eat yourself for a quick dinner thinking it is better than other quick and convenient options you may be deceived. I think I would rather use this salad as a side salad split between 4 or 5 people.

I buy salad kits for convenience so to begin with this salad kit is convenient. The only thing that makes it not convenient is the chipotle seitan comes in a formed, hard block so you have to cut open the sealed package it comes in, microwave it and break it up to serve it. Other than that all you have to do is dump all the other ingredients in your salad bowl.

Overall I will not purchase this salad kit again. When I consider the cost and taste I much prefer the Baja Chopped Salad Kit by Taylor Farms from Costco which is usually $3.29-$3.49 Canadian. I actually disliked the taste of the chipotle seitan and found this salad kit to be more about toppings than actual salad. I enjoyed the corn and bean salsa but could do without the zesty ranch dressing. Also I realize it’s not the healthiest option available when looking for a healthy, convenient dinner. I would have rather bought this a side salad to serve between multiple people but even then I would have left out the chipotle seitan and ranch dressing.

Nutrition: 5/10 (highest protein salad I have seen)

Taste: 4/10

Convenience: 8.5/10 (the chipotle seitan is not easy to mix in at all)

Cost: 6/10 (not the most expensive salad kit I have seen but overpriced in my opinion)

Have you ever had chipotle seitan? Did you like it? What’s your favorite salad kit from Costco?