Portland’s grocery stores compete fiercely for deli dominance, but which makes the best of the Portland deli salads? When Meg Cotner of Bridgetown Bites reached out about participating in Portland Salad Week, I jumped at the chance to settle this with an old-fashioned taste test.
Ground rules were simple: These Portland deli salads had to be prepared fresh, not prepackaged—leveling the playing field while ensuring freshness. Rather than ordering identical salads everywhere (impossible given each store’s unique offerings), we’d consult the experts: deli counter employees. Finally, all salads were purchased within 24 hours of tasting.
With those parameters set, we agreed on nine stores representing Portland’s grocery landscape, from budget-friendly to upscale.
Meet the Contenders
Stumptown Savings covers Portland’s grocery scene, so rather than visiting sandwich shops or restaurants, we opted to focus this taste test on salads from grocery deli counters or salad bars. We picked a mix of big brands—Fred Meyer, Safeway, Whole Foods—and local favorites—New Seasons, Market of Choice— with a few specialty or independent grocers included. This ensures that there is a great mix of stores from across the Portland metro region represented.
- Basics Market: Kale salad with apple
- Fred Meyer: Spicy Thai noodle salad
- Market of Choice: Turmeric broccoli and kale salad
- New Seasons: Summer corn slaw
- Providore: Kale salad with farro
- Safeway: Antipasto salad
- Sheridan Fruit Co.: Potato salad with ham
- Whole Foods: Grilled corn and tomato salad
- World Foods: Beet salad with parsley
Meet Your Judges
- I’m Bryan M. Vance, founder and publisher of Stumptown Savings and author of this piece. I’m partial to well-balanced vinaigrettes and funky cheeses. My absolute favorite salad is basically anything featuring blue cheese and walnuts.
- Meg Cotner is the founder and editor of Bridgetown Bites, and mastermind behind Portland Salad Week. She lives in NE Portland and grows her own salad vegetables during the summer. Her favorite salad to make is what she calls Summer Salad: cucumber, tomato, sweet peppers, avocado, fresh mozz, scallions, herbs, EVOO + lemon juice and salt.
- Judith Rich is a writer and co-contributor to Bridgetown Bites. She’s been a proud Portlander since 2014 and is now raising two Portland natives who are budding foodies. Judith prefers non-lettuce based salads and appreciates creative salad touches such as fruit and edible flowers.
The Methodology for Our Portland Deli Salads Tasting
Since we purchased the deli salads ourselves, a truly blind taste test wasn’t possible. Instead, we hid labels, numbered salads 1 through 9 (randomly assigned), and agreed not to discuss impressions until we’d tasted everything. We cleansed our palates with chilled water between tastings to eliminate flavor transfer.
Each salad received up to five points in three categories:
- Flavor
- Presentation
- Value
After tasting, we revealed each salad’s store, name and price before discussing impressions and issuing final grades. While our preferences clearly differed—I favor acidic dressings, Judith emphasized consistent ingredients, Meg was influenced by aroma—clear favorites emerged.
Portland Deli Salads Tasting: The Winners
First Place: Spicy Thai Noodle Salad From Fred Meyer
Niko, a deli worker at the Hawthorne Fred Meyer, immediately recommended this salad when asked about popular options. He noted the cashews provide protein while maintaining a medium spice level that wouldn’t overwhelm most palates.
This unanimous favorite earned 40 points out of a possible 45—topping every judge’s scorecard. Featuring rice noodles lightly dressed in chili oil with al dente broccoli, shredded carrots, and cashews, it was delightfully straightforward. While not the most photogenic salad, its flavor and value ($4.99 per pound) made it the clear winner.
The lightness of the vermicelli-style noodles impressed all three tasters. Judith loved it so much she planned to buy a large container for a weekend barbecue—the ultimate endorsement.
Second Place: Kale Salad With Apple From Basics Market
Tina at Basics Market in Hillsdale recommended this salad without hesitation. While several stores featured kale—perhaps Portland’s signature vegetable—this version executed it best. The kale was properly massaged, maintaining nice crunch without tasting too tough. Shaved Parmesan, sliced almonds, apple chunks, and golden raisins added pleasant notes of funk, nuttiness, and sweetness.
One of the prettiest salads in our lineup, it ranked high on presentation across all judges. While Meg and Judith scored it highly on flavor, I knocked points for being too sweet—the combination of apples and golden raisins overpowered the other elements for my taste. At $9.99 per pound, it struggled in the value category but compensated with flavor and presentation to score 33 out of 45.
Third Place: Potato Salad With Ham From Sheridan Fruit Co.
One of the few featuring creamy dressing, this red potato salad included tiny ham chunks, celery, onion, and a subtle dill note.
Potato salads rarely photograph well, but we agreed this one looked appealing. Though mayo-based, the dressing felt light and balanced with vinegar, creating a tangy profile Judith particularly praised. Meg was surprised by the tiny ham pieces—an unusual potato salad addition. We unanimously agreed the potatoes achieved perfect texture: not too firm, not too soft. Goldilocks-approved.
At $7.99 per pound, it scored well on value. But flavor clearly distinguished this salad. It captured classic potato salad essence while incorporating unique twists and maintaining a light enough dressing for hot-weather consumption without feeling heavy. Score: 30 out of 45.
The Rest of the Field
- Market of Choice’s turmeric broccoli and kale salad scored well for balanced flavor and properly cooked broccoli but was dinged for its $12.99 per pound price tag.
- TIE: World Foods’ beet salad with parsley proved polarizing. We appreciated the beets but noted wild inconsistency in chunk sizes and heavy parsley use, though it offered a solid value at $7.99 per pound.
- TIE: Whole Foods’ grilled corn and tomato salad was colorful and visually appealing. Of two corn-based salads, it featured the best sweet corn flavor. But at $11.99 per pound, value suffered significantly.
- Safeway’s antipasto salad ranked lowest for flavor, featuring a sour (not tangy), slightly creamy dressing and massive chunks of heavily salted cured sausage that overwhelmed other elements. Presentation also lagged, though at $6.99 per pound, it ranked among better values.
- New Seasons’ summer corn slaw offered a nice coleslaw twist but featured too many ingredients and bland corn. At $12.99 per pound, it lost points for value.
- Providore’s kale salad with farro finished last, taking a major hit in value at $14 per pound. It was also the blandest kale salad, retaining bitter notes from greens without much other flavor development.
Portland Deli Salads Tasting: Special Recognition
Best Value: Fred Meyer’s Spicy Thai Noodle Salad
This salad claimed this title at $4.99 per pound. The noodles, cashews, and broccoli create a filling salad that could serve as a complete meal without breaking budgets.
Most Surprising: Market of Choice’s Turmeric Broccoli and Kale Salad
Best for Parties: Fred Meyer’s Spicy Thai Noodle Salad
The people’s champion takes another crown. This crowd-pleasing, flavorful, affordable option should please most palates. Vegan and likely to hold up well on buffet tables, it’s most likely to satisfy diverse party guests. Even the spice level remains mild enough for heat-averse diners.
Best Visual Appeal: New Seasons’ Summer Corn Slaw
A divisive winner among the deli salads, this slaw actually claims this honor. Judith and I scored it high on presentation—the corn, cabbage, carrots and onions provide nice color balance, and ingredients are uniformly cut for an appealing coleslaw appearance. Meg disagreed with this assessment.
Have a favorite grocery store salad? Email us at hello@stumptownsavings.com.
Lastly, from Meg: I wanted to encourage you to subscribe to Bryan’s Stumptown Savings, a weekly newsletter helping 1,500+ Portlanders save an average of $50/month on groceries by curating the best local deals and sharing budget-friendly strategies from fellow residents. Subscribe free and start saving today.
The beet salad would not have been my choice from world foods. The Lebanese potato salad is much better. Or the tabouleh. Bad advice from the staff.
It wasn’t all bad. As far as a beet salad goes, it was a pretty strong one. But I agree, I’d have LOVED to hear more about that Lebanese potato salad. I’m a sucker for Lebanese potatoes!
Parsley, onion, and new potatoes in a lemon vinaigrette. It’s the best example of a non-mayonnaise potato salad you can get from a Portland deli. And very consistent, unlike the beet salad.
Would add Elephant’s Deli kale chicken caesar to solid deli salads, we live across from Fox Tower downtown and that’s a go-to for us.