Healthy 8 Salad Mix - Trader Joe's Copycat Recipe

Do you feel like you're eating enough vegetables? I don't think I've ever talked to anyone who says they eat enough fresh veggies. We could all use some help in that department - myself included!

That's where I got the idea to keep a chopped veggie mix in my fridge so I could add some fresh produce to our meals. And the best part is, I don't need to pull out a cutting board and make a mess when I'm in a hurry to get dinner on the table.

But I didn't make this idea up myself. If you are familiar with my favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's, then you might have seen this Healthy 8 Salad Mix on their shelves near their pre-made salads and salad kits.

Why Make Healthy 8 Salad Mix When You Can Buy It?

So why did I make my own version instead of just buying it at one of their grocery stores? Here are some reasons:

1. You can save some money. You can make about a dozen servings of this salad for the cost of 1-2 servings of it from the store.
2. Trader Joe's will often discontinue food items. I haven't seen this in stores for many months now ( I just checked again the last time I was there), so I'm afraid that's what happened to it 😭
3. It's so easy to make! If you're meal prepping some fresh veggies anyway, it makes sense to throw these simple ingredients together and store it away for some easy meals during the week.

You can customize the mix to your taste. If you don't like one of the veggies, you can leave it out, and if you want to add something else you like, then of course you can! Just use a vegetable from the list below ( look for Change it Up!) to make sure it won't spoil before you need it.

 8 Simple Ingredients

What's in this salad blend? 8 different kinds of very durable vegetables! By durable, I mean they don't spoil quickly, so you can make a pretty big batch of this and keep it around for a whole week to use in salads, soups, or just eat on its own 

• Red cabbage
• Green cabbage
• Celery
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Radishes
• Green bell pepper
• Daikon radish, or another white vegetable (scroll down for suggestions)

Change it Up!

You can use other vegetables, but remember - not all vegetables will stay fresh mixed together like the ones in the recipe. Stick to these swaps to be safe:

1. Feel free to use purple carrots for extra fun color, but keep in mind that they lose their pretty color when they're cooked and can end up looking kind of gray. So think twice before using it in soup.
2. One of my favorite things is to swap red peppers for the green bell peppers. They are a little sweeter and add some bright red color that looks great with all the other veggies.
3. Use all red or all green cabbage instead of both.
4. If you can't find daikon radish in grocery stores, use jicama. However, I've found that jicama doesn't keep as long as the other vegetables in the mix. You could use cauliflower florets to keep the same color, and it would last longer.

How to Use Healthy 8 Salad Mix

• A super simple salad to go along with most dinners ( even pizza) is to top some romaine lettuce with a big handful of Healthy 8 Salad, toss lightly, and serve with your favorite salad dressing.
• It makes a perfect salad on its own. I like to toss it with a little Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing or Apple Cider Salad Dressing before serving.
• It's a good way to fill up an empty spot when you need a little bit of extra color, or if you don't have enough vegetables in a bento box. Toss it with some salad dressing and it will stay good until lunch time. Find more bento box tips here: How to make a bento, how to pack a healthy bento box.
• You can add this to soup recipes, too. If you decide to try Healthy 8 Salad in a soup recipe, I recommend softening the veggies a little before adding them to your soup recipe by cooking them over medium/low heat in a pan with some olive oil or butter. This will really bring out the flavors and enhance your soup. Low Carb Chicken and wild rice Soup  would be a good one to try.

Tips & Tricks

1. This is a really big recipe. The reason why I made such a large recipe is because it's almost impossible to buy a very small amount of cabbage! I always buy the tiniest head of cabbage I can find , and I still have some left over when I chop it up for this salad. But fortunately, this is a very versatile salad and it stores well for (at least) a week. And you can always make coleslaw with the extra cabbage. Try my Low carb  coleslaw Dressing.
2. When you chop up all the veggies for this salad try to dry them off as much as you can before storing them in a covered container in your fridge - wet vegetables will spoil faster. I like to lay a piece of paper towel on top of  the veggies before putting the lid on to absorb any extra moisture that will wick out from the veggies during the weekStore this mix in an airtight container with a tight fitting lid. You can also use a plastic storage bag. If you press all the air out before sealing it, it will stay fresh longer. 

Healthy 8 Salad - Trader Joe's Copycat Recipe

Print Recipe

5 from 2 reviews

My Healthy 8 Salad recipe (inspired by Trader Joe's) is a mix of 8 healthy veggies that you can chop up and use all week in salads, soup, or eat on its own.

• Author: Kristie @ Beneficial Bento
• Yield: 16 cups 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 cups diced carrots (I use bagged baby carrots to make this easier)
• 2 cups diced green bell pepper
• 2 cups diced broccoli, including some of the stem
• 2 cups diced red radishes
• 2 cups diced celery
• 2 cups diced green cabbage
• 2 cups diced purple cabbage
• 2 cups diced Daikon radish, optional

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. When dicing the vegetables, try to keep the size pretty uniform, like 1/ 2 inch cubes.
2. Toss together and store in a large bowl with a lid, or a gallon sized zip top plastic bag.

Notes

This makes avery large amount, but is really versatile. I like to eat this tossed with ranch dressing in lunches or to go with dinner.

You can also add this to soup - I recommend browning it in a little olive oil over medium/low heat first to bring out the flavors even more.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 cup
• Calories: 21
• Sugar: 1.6 g
• Sodium: 31.7 mg
• Fat: 0.2 g
• Carbohydrates: 4.5 g
• Fiber: 1.5 g
• Protein: 1.2 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg

 Recipes for that Extra Cabbage

When you make this, you will most likely have extra cabbage! Here are some other ideas for what to do with that extra cabbage:

Salad Cups - the Portable Mason Jar Salad

Thai Chicken Noodle Salad Recipe

Make a big Salad Bowl

Make a Salad Bar

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More Veggies Please!