Last week I had a wonderful opportunity to try Marketside’s meal solutions. It was a welcomed reprieve from cooking. We’ve been going nonstop it seems. However, before I share any more about what we tried and how we liked it, it must preface this review with this statement: I don’t normally buy OR like deli foods, heat & serve, or meal kits that you purchase at the grocery store. It is usually overpriced and lacks flavor. All those freezer meals in a bag taste the same to me and although all these things can be made quickly, I am always left wanting after the meal is served.
That is why Marketside blew my socks off! I was familiar with Marketside (a brand exclusively at Walmart) only for their Artisan bread and organic salad mixes. I had bought both the salad and the bread on several occasions to go along with a meal and had been pleased with both. That is why when Walmart asked me if I would be interested in doing a review with them I said yes. When I decided to do the review, however, I had no idea all the products that Marketside had.
On Tuesday they sent me several Take and Bake pizzas (found in the deli area) and salad kits. The pizzas are made with fresh ingredients and aren’t frozen. I have to say, I do like to make my own pizza crust, but these were outstanding! I will probably buy these again in the future for a quick meal when I don’t feel like cooking. They are terrific when you bring them straight home and bake them, but we froze a few and had them for lunch a few days later, and they were just as good. So, I wouldn’t hestitate to purchase these and freeze them. Also, like many frozen pizza companies, the pizzas only come in a few varieties, many of which have pork. Since we don’t eat pork, I thought a great way to use these pizzas would be to purchase the cheese variety (which is terific as is) and then add my own toppings at home! You could add chicken, veggies, whatever you like! The salads were awesome too. The cesar dressing is one of the best I’ve tasted.
On Wednesday, they sent soups and breads. The Marketside soups come in lots of varieties (also found near the deli) and two sizes – a small individual size great for taking for lunches, and a larger one that will feed about 3. The loaded potato was my favorite. I sprinkled a little cheese on top of mine.. mmmm. The breads are fabulous and are baked fresh each day at your local store. I love to put fresh mozzarella on the roasted garlic artisan loaf and then pop it in under the broiler for a minute.
On Thursday, they sent gourmet pasta and sauces along with fresh veggies. The veggies I was already familiar with but I had the opportunity to try a few varieties that my local store doesn’t carry. They sent bags of diced butternut squash and bags of stir fry veggies along with bags of the classic cauliflower, broccoli, and carrot medley. The pasta is similar to the kinds I’ve been purchasing at EarthFare, but the price is a lot less at $2.98 for 9 oz (they also have larger boxes that would be appropriate for a larger family (20 oz). The pastas are fresh, not frozen, so they only take about 3 minutes to boil – A warm, filling dinner in ten minutes! You can’t beat that! We paired our pastas with more Artisan bread and salad from the salad kits. The cheese ravioli and chicken apinach ravioli were my favorites. A side note: I am planning to use some of the fresh cheese tortellini in a big pot of Tortellini soup!
Friday’s shipment was tons of Marketside dips. They have so many varieties I can’t remember them all! There was hummus, vegetable dip, fruit dip, and guacamole. I don’t like store-bought guacamole (I know I am picky!) – it tastes like paste. But this was good! It had real big chunks of Avacado! The dijon dill vegetable dip was delicious! It could also serve as a chip dip! Other favs were the roasted red pepper hummus and the vanilla bean and cream cheese fruit dip.
In conclusion, the Marketside items we tried were ALL delicious and we didn’t find anything we weren’t more than pleased with! I can honestly say this is one of the best things I’ve ever reviewed and I can’t say enough how delicious these things were. I will definitely be purchasing more items in the Marketside line-up!
I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program. Marketside provided me with meals last week in exchange for my honest feedback. Participation in this program is voluntary. All opinions are my own.
