Inspiredgo Review: Salad in a Flash

Do you aspire to eat more salads, but often end up with slimy vegetables in the crisper instead? Do you lack the time or energy it takes to prepare a salad in addition to the main meal? Or maybe your salad game is just getting a little boring?

Either way, I have an option for you: inspiredgo salads, available in select cities in Canada.

A few members of my Facebook group raved about inspiredgo earlier this year in a discussion about meal kit services, and then thoughtful friends of ours gave us a gift card, so I was excited to try it.

We’ve become fans, so I thought I’d write a review, in case you want a little help with salads too. If so, read on…

Are they tasty?

This is the most important thing, and I would say yes, absolutely, at least for most of the ones we’ve ordered. We like the California Crunch Salad, the Sweet Beet Salad, and the Blueberry Boost. (We weren’t keen on the Lettuce Wrap Salad or the Thai Lemongrass, but that’s just us.)

Each container includes the greens and dressing down below, and a selection of yummy flavour-boosting ingredients above. You can pick and choose and toss together your favourites. When ordering, you can look at the ingredient list and make a fairly good guess about which combination you’ll enjoy.

Are they heart-healthy?

Really, anytime you’re eating whole, minimally-processed foods, you’re doing great, heart-healthwise. You’ll find plenty of vegetables and things like apples, chickpeas, and pumpkin seeds to boost your intake of plant-based foods.

There’s a nutrition facts table for each salad, so if you’re concerned about sodium or another nutrient, you can use that. (Most of the salads fall within or close to my rule of thumb of 500mg of sodium per meal, and that’s for a pretty big serving size.)

Are they convenient?

Unlike most meal kit services, inspiredgo salads take only as much time as you need to toss them in a bowl. No cooking required.

Also, we figured out that if you open the top carefully, you can reseal it if you don’t eat the whole salad.

Less convenient is the delivery approach, especially if you work outside of the home. The delivery windows are three hours, say 2-5pm, but they don’t tell you yours until the day before.

On the other hand, the salads are delivered in an insulated bag with ice packs in it, so they should stay fresh outside for a couple of hours, depending on the weather.

Is there a lot of waste?

The other question, as with all of these services, is what to do with the packaging materials. The clear plastic containers are reportedly recyclable, but I’m not so sure about the insulated bag. It says “Reuse or recycle this bag,” but I’m skeptical about recycling it.

On the other hand, if using a service like this helps you minimize food waste, that’s a plus for the environment!

How much do they cost?

For the regular-sized salads, the price ranges from $10.00 to $13.50. There are also “family sized” salads for $20.00. There is a minimum order of $40, or effectively four of the regular-sized salads. Add taxes and $6.95 for delivery and our last order was $53.30 for four salads, or $13.33 each. (Note that we’re in Alberta where there is no PST.)

You can save on that unit cost if you have a serious salad appetite: Order $65 worth and delivery is free. Subscribe to weekly orders and save 5%.

How big are the salads?

We found the regular-sized salads plenty for two adults as a side dish, with plenty left for lunch the next day. If those two adults make salad the whole meal, there might not have enough for leftovers.

Nutritionally, can the salad stand on its own as a meal? It depends on which salad you choose. Most have enough carbohydrate but not quite enough protein. Add a glass of milk or yogurt, a few forkfuls of tuna, or a handful of beans, and you’re there.

How long do they stay fresh?

A big question we had was “Will they last in the fridge?” Inspiredgo promises most salads will last for five days, and we did find them to be fresh throughout that time! You have to want to eat salads four to five days in a row though.

Bottom Line

You don’t have to eat salads to be heart-healthy, but it can help! If you rarely manage to get them on the table, maybe this is a better way to go. Let me know what you think in the Facebook group.

Disclosure statement

This review is not sponsored. I don’t do sponsored reviews. In other words, no one paid me to write it, and we purchased the foods ourselves (and with the gift card from our friends), so you get 100% independent guidance.