Salad Bags

Donnelly's Irish Salad Leaves €2 for 150g, €13.33 per kg

This is head and shoulders above the competition for two crucial reasons. First the leaves actually taste like they are supposed to taste. Far too many bagged salad leaves are tasteless in our experience. And secondly, we believe this product should be supported as it is made up of a selection of locally-grown Irish salad leaves, including cos, rocket and red chard. All the leaves have an impressive crunch. While it is available in Superquinn and Eurospar, it may not be as readily accessible as some of the competition.

Verdict:Tasty and local *****

Tesco Seasonal Baby Leaf Salad €1.64 for 83g, €19.79 per kg

This stands out largely because of its price. It is substantially more expensive than its rivals, something which is unusual for Tesco, we have to say. The bag was "produced in Ireland" we are told, although we are not sure if this means the leaves are Irish or simply shipped in from overseas to be bagged here. The mixture of red leaf chard, baby spinach and mizuna has a nice peppery taste and a pleasing freshness to it. The bag is very small and we're not sure if even two mildly hungry adults would get much satisfaction from it.

Verdict: Nice but pricey **

Florette €1.99 for 200g, €9.95 per kg

This is the most widely available – and the most widely travelled – salad bag we reviewed. The leaves come from France via the UK and have ended up in convenience stores all over the country. If you find yourself in the market for a salad late at night and don't fancy shredding your own lettuce, then this will be the bag to buy. It has been packed in "natural air" which is supposed to keep the leaves fresh and filled with flavour. While there was certainly a crunch to the leaves, there wasn't much flavour in the bag by the time it made its way to the Pricewatch table and we also found it a little stalky.

Verdict: A little bland ***

Leafy Salad with Beetroot from Aldi €1.59 for 100g, €15.90 per kg


This is another fresh- tasting product which, we are told, is produced in Ireland. The beetroot adds a splash of colour to an already pretty colourful salad bowl, although it does not add much by way of taste. We could have done with more lamb's lettuce as it goes with everything. It is not cheap but is of very high quality and would not be out of place in the most upmarket of salad bowls. The spinach deserves special mention for its lovely crunch.

Verdict:Very good ****

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