Purely Elizabeth Organic Salty-Sweet Granola Review
Nothing to feel salty about, except the serving size.
I tried this weird granola, and now I’m going to tell you about it.
I only bought it because it was on sale at Costco, and the label said “salty.” I was intrigued how a granola could be salty and not taste disgusting. And. I’m just gonna say it: this granola surprised me. In a good way.
I love salt. I have Dysautonomia — a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system — which means anything “salty” is my hero. Salt keeps my body going, so I intentionally seek out snacks and meals that have the highest possible sodium content. This granola has more sodium per serving than typical potato chips, so that’s a huge “win.”
A bonus is that it really does taste good. It’s a weird, different taste (and probably not for everyone) but I found it incredibly satisfying. It grew on me, too — the longer I ate it, the more enjoyable it became. That’s pretty much the opposite of most food experiences. Huzzah.
What’s it taste like? It’s a deep, earthy, caramelly-burnt flavor, with a subtle sweetness. This is probably from the coconut sugar. The saltiness gives it a more robust, almost savory taste. It reminded me a little bit of a nut butter, even though there are no actual nuts in the ingredients.
If you don’t particularly like sunflower seeds (I don’t), you’ll be glad to hear that the seeds don’t really stand out from the rest of the taste. I wouldn’t have known they were there, except by reading the ingredients and peering closely at the clusters. Likewise, the chia seeds aren’t really a distinct “taste” here — they just assimilate seamlessly into the cronchy matrix.
The texture is more crisp than chewy, although the oatmeal is satisfyingly thick. I like that there are chunks for snacking. Purely Elizabeth did a good job shellacking the bits together to form sturdy clumps that that are not difficult to chew, but not so soft that they disintegrate in the bag. Science.
I also love that this is made with coconut oil. And, because there are 5 grams of fat per serving, it ended up being more filling than I expected. I felt good after eating it.
1/3 cup is a serving size, which is a bit bonkers. There’s no way I’d consider that enough food for a meal. Maybe a wee little snack — for a tiny elf or hobbit or leprechaun. But not for a normal, hungry person. Just for funsies, I measured 1/3 cup and photographed it in my itty bitty hand, so you can see how small the serving is. Not a lot of food.
There’s also very little protein, per serving (3 grams). If you add a cup of milk, you could bump this up to around 11 grams of protein. The package says “Best enjoyed as a snack,” so apparently it isn’t really breakfast food anyway. Alas.
The 24 ounce bag retails for $8.99 at Costco (I got it on sale for $5.49), and contains 23 servings. If you truly stick to the 1/3 cup serving size (weirdo!), you’d only be paying 39 cents per serving, which is actually fantastic. However, if you eat a whole cup for breakfast, it will set you back $1.17, which is still not terrible. Especially for an organic product.
Although I snagged this on sale at Costco, it appears you can also purchase it…well, almost anywhere: Publix, Target, Wal-Mart, even Amazon. I look forward to trying different flavors/varieties from this brand. Maybe they can make an “extra-salty” version for the “extra-salty” oddballs, like myself.
Author’s note:
You probably have a healthy sense of skepticism, my friend, so I’ll go ahead and state for the record: I was not paid to write this review, and I have no affiliation with Purely Elizabeth or Costco. I bought the product with my own monies, with no motive other than to eat salty wierdness and write silly things about it online. Thanks for reading!
