3 Bagged Salad Hacks That Make a Full Meal
Here’s how to turn a bagged salad mix into a well-rounded high-protein meal for lunch or dinner.
From sad lettuce to protein-packed power bowl! 🥗
Bagged salad mixes are the unsung heroes of weeknight dinners! They’re cheap, fast, and usually come with a sprinkle of shredded carrots and a few croutons pretending to be a full meal. If you’ve ever opened one for dinner and wondered how you could expand this into a full meal, here’s how.
The trick? Add protein. Lots of it!
Try adding ingredients like:
- grilled chicken
- chicken tenders
- rotisserie chicken
- cooked ground meat
- leftover steak
- shrimp
- beans and legumes
- cottage cheese
- boiled eggs
- crispy chickpeas
These are all great ways to boost the protein and the flavor! The best part? No one has to know your “chef-inspired” meal started with a humble grocery store salad kit. With the right protein, that bag of greens goes from side dish to star of the show. Plus, you’ll actually leave the table full!
Today I am sharing 3 different high protein salad recipes. Each one is easy and special in it’s own way using a bagged salad mix! Use this as inspiration to design your own similar salads your family will love!
Option 1: The Chicken Tender Glow-Up
For this idea, I prepared about 4 oz of high-protein pasta and added olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then I made chicken tenders in the air fryer and tossed it all together with a grocery store Caesar salad mix.
The result is filling, delicious, and so easy. This is perfect for a busy weekend night! My family loved it.
Option 2: Ground Turkey Chopped Mexican Salad
If you haven’t had this Mexican street corn salad kit yet, it’s one of our faves. I added some taco-seasoned ground turkey, beans, avocado, frozen corn, and some cottage cheese to round out this meal. This was a hearty meal with all the great taco flavors.
Option 3: Shrimp the 5-minute Fix
This salad starts with an Asian salad mix, but the star of the show is my favorite Panko shrimp from Costco! These are so easy to heat up in the air fryer and get nice and crispy. I added in some protein pasta and edamame to bulk up this meal, and we enjoyed it!
Instead of breaded shrimp, you could always add in some defrosted cooked shrimp, or even some cooked salmon would be amazing.
3 High-Protein Bagged Salad Ideas
yield: 3 SERVINGS
prep time: 25 MINUTES
cook time: 15 MINUTES
total time: 40 MINUTES
Here are 3 ways to turn bagged salads into outstanding full meals by adding protein.
Ingredients
For the Chicken Tender Caesar Salad:
- 4 oz. high protein noodles, cooked
- 11.5 oz. bag Caesar salad mix
- 9-12 oz. chicken tenders, sliced (such as Bare breaded nuggets)
For the Mexican Taco Salad:
- 1 pound ground turkey or beef
- taco seasoning packet (such as Kinder's)
- can black beans, drained
- 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese
- 1 avocado, diced
- 11.6 oz. Mexican street corn salad kit
For the Asian Shrimp Salad:
- 12 frozen Panko shrimp
- 4 oz protein noodles, coooked
- 1 cup edamame, shelled
- 10.6 oz Asian chopped salad mix
Directions
1
For the Chicken Tender Caesar Salad:
Boil noodles, drain water and add a bit of olive oil and salt & pepper. Cook chicken tenders in the air fryer according to package directions. Toss all together with the salad mix and dressing/toppings included.
2
For the Mexican Taco Salad :
Brown and cook ground turkey on the stove with taco seasoning. Let that cool and it it too a bowl with the beans, corn, cottage cheese, avocado, and Mexican salad mix with toppings and dressing. Toss all together and enjoy!
3
For the Asian Shrimp Salad:
Cook the shrimp in the air fryer or oven according to package directions. Cook and drain the pasta. Add a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss the noodles, edamame, Asian salad mix with topping and dressings. Add the shrimp and enjoy!
Having these easy protein recipes in your back pocket can be so helpful for busy nights!
I love the convenience of the bagged salad and how you can improvise protein from the fridge or freezer to add. if you have any great salad and protein ideas to add, share in the comments so we can all get some fresh ideas!
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