I'm A Frequent Aldi Shopper, But You'll Never Find These 8 Items In My Cart

Aldi has been one of my go-to shopping destinations for years. Growing up in a household of five, my family frequently shopped at Aldi to take advantage of its affordable prices, especially when it came to hosting holiday gatherings (the cheese selection is perfect for gourmet charcuterie boards). The habit continued once I went to college and opted to cook my meals from my dorm, rather than taking my chances with questionable food from the dining hall. And even now as a food writer living on a budget, an Aldi grocery haul is guaranteed to happen at least twice a month. Fortunately, I'm rarely disappointed by the affordable and unique offerings the store provides.

Of course, that doesn't mean Aldi is above criticism. While I'll seldom leave the store without a block of tofu or a bag of chocolate-covered pretzels, there are a few items that I will always skip, no matter how good the price is. Here are the eight items you'll never find in my cart — and that's not without trying them at least once.

Cucumbers are something I like to keep on hand when I need a healthy and quick snack, so purchasing them at Aldi would seem like a reasonable choice. Unfortunately, my experience buying them has proven otherwise. Whether purchasing in-store or via Instacart, I have rarely ever found cucumbers at Aldi that weren't damaged in some way. And we all can agree, there's nothing worse than cutting into what you expect is a crisp and refreshing cucumber, only to find it's a mushy, soggy mess.  

I will say that I have managed to find some cucumbers, mainly the Mini Organic, to be in good-enough condition in store. If I'm planning to serve them fresh or use them in a recipe the day of purchase, I can justify buying a bag. But beyond a day or two, the cucumbers typically are spotted with mold and mushy bruises, making it nearly impossible for me to finish a bag. After tossing one too many in the trash, I've learned my lesson to skip over them during my Aldi runs. 

Lobster mac and cheese is one of those dishes that I just have to order if I see it on the menu at a fancier restaurant. You just can't go wrong with the delicious combination of creamy cheese sauce, perfectly cooked pasta, and subtly sweet, tender lobster meat. When I came across the Specially Selected Baked Lobster Mac & Cheese during an Aldi trip, I was pleasantly surprised by the quantity and even more so by the affordable price. At about $6.99 for 18 ounces, it seemed like a deal that was too good to be true. Spoiler alert: It was too good to be true.

The Specially Selected Baked Lobster Mac & Cheese comes frozen in a tray, and can be cooked by either baking it in the oven or popping it in the microwave. I went the oven route, and even with the extra effort, the results were severely disappointing. The lobster was rubbery and chewy, with a strong fishy taste that permeated the entire dish and overwhelmed the cheese sauce entirely. And the pasta was completely overcooked, leaving me with a mushy mess that had an unappealing gritty texture. Two bites were all I could manage, and after a quick Google search, Aldi shoppers agree wholeheartedly that lobster mac and cheese has no place in our shopping carts. I wish I had looked at the negative reviews ahead of purchasing it, if only to spare myself and my apartment of the fishy odor that lingered for days.

I'm admittedly wary of purchasing bagged salad mixes, thanks to the ever increasing list of food recalls and bagged salads being a common culprit. However, I love the convenience that comes with being able to dump everything in a container, give it a quick toss, and dig in. Aldi's Little Salad Bar offerings always caught my eye, due to the revolving variety of options and the affordability. I decided to give the Little Salad Bar Bacon Avocado Ranch Chopped Salad Kit a try and was once again reminded why I avoid pre-made salads.

The avocado ranch dressing was what drew me in, and it unfortunately did not meet my expectations. The vibrant green dressing was oddly sour and artificial tasting, with an oily sheen that made it hard to fully coat the salad. The lettuce itself was also wilted and brown, with several slimy pieces. The one saving grace was the amount of crispy bacon and corn included. While I wouldn't say the bacon was actually crispy, there was a generous portion provided, and the seasoned corn was pretty tasty. However, neither the corn nor bacon were good enough to convince me to purchase it again. The other salad kits my family has tried from Aldi have also had brown and rotted lettuce, so I have decided to stick to my guts and put in the extra effort to prepare my salads myself.

Full disclosure: There is a pretty good chance I might just be spoiled from growing up on freshly-made bagels purchased at one of our local South Jersey delis. But either way, my experience with Aldi's L'oven Fresh Everything Bagels was dismal at best. The bagels had a strange artificial taste that only intensified after toasting them. And size-wise, I felt they were a lot smaller than your average grocery store bagel. Even when topped with a generous serving of cream cheese, smoked salmon, and green onion, I did not find the bagels to be filling or satisfying as a meal. 

The everything-seasoned bagels were not the only disappointment. In hopes of it being a one-off, I also tried the plain, French toast, and blueberry versions (the blueberry ones came in at No. 7 in our ranking of 12 blueberry bagels), and still found them all to be some of the worst bagels I have ever eaten — and I've eaten a lot of them. All in all, I would rather spend the extra money to get my bagels from a true bakery instead of saving a few bucks buying Aldi's L'oven Fresh options.

As a Puerto Rican, plantains are a huge staple in my kitchen. My favorite way to serve them is letting them ripen until soft and sweet, and then frying them up in some butter to make platanos maduros fritos (or fried sweet plantains). You can imagine how difficult it would be to make this dish with plantains that never ripen. And, unfortunately, this has been my experience with Aldi's plantains. For some reason, each time I purchase them from the store, they've stayed perfectly green for weeks on end, never ripening.

I have tried all the tricks in the book to help ripen bananas and plantains, from storing them in a paper bag, putting them in the oven, keeping them in the fridge, and so much more, but these plantains just stayed green. And it hasn't been an isolated case. Over the past four years of me living on my own, this has happened at least five times with no explanation. Because of this unexpected phenomenon, you won't find me purchasing the staple produce from Aldi. 

Buffalo chicken dip is hands down my favorite dip of all time, to the point where my mom makes me a crockpot-full for my birthday every year. My family also frequently enjoys the dip for our holiday gatherings, and of course, during football season. I've tried my hand at making the spicy creamy buffalo dip myself, but I couldn't resist trying the Park Street Deli Buffalo Chicken Dip. Unfortunately, this game-day staple was not a winner. 

Personally, the idea of eating cold buffalo dip wasn't super appealing to me, so I opted to heat it up in the microwave. Once heated, the dip was very soupy and it had an unappetizing layer of grease pooling on the top that refused to combine with the dip no matter how much I stirred it. While there was a decent amount of chicken throughout, I found the texture of some pieces to be overly chewy, and they were all very drastically different sizes. The spice level was okay for a premade dip, but as someone who really enjoys spicy foods, I really wanted the dip to have a bit more heat. The next time I purchased it, I tried to eat it cold and at room temperature to see if my heating method was the reason I didn't enjoy it. While I didn't have to deal with the oily separation, there wasn't enough of an improvement for me to get another container.

As someone who primarily follows a pescatarian diet (just ignore the previous statements about bacon-topped salads and buffalo chicken dip), I'm always looking for ways to boost my protein intake, and chickpea pasta has been one of my go-to options. When I came across the Simply Nature Chickpea Pasta, I was excited at the affordable price of about $3.50 a box.

Because I've cooked with chickpea pasta for years, I felt confident in my ability to prepare it, but this version was difficult to work with every time I purchased it. Chickpea pasta has a tendency to be a bit mushy so I usually undercook it slightly to preserve some bite to the dish. I opted to follow the box's cooking instructions my first time around, and unsurprisingly the pasta was almost disintegrating in the pot. Even when I undercooked my second box, the texture was still soggy, especially once I added it to my sauce. Flavor-wise, it tasted pretty similar to other chickpea pastas I've tried, with a pleasantly earthy taste. But coupled with the poor texture, I found it wasn't worth the money I saved.

Almond milk is another common purchase of mine, since I have the misfortune of being lactose-intolerant. While lactase pills help me get through my occasional lobster mac and cheese, I typically opt for plant-based milk in my morning coffee because I also prefer how it tastes. Unfortunately, Friendly Farms Unsweetened Almondmilk did not meet my expectations, aside from being relatively affordable at about $2.29 for a 64-ounce carton. I found this plant-based milk to be extremely thin and watery, which resulted in my daily lattes being very watered down. It's worth noting that I've had other brands of almond milk with a similarly watery consistency, so this wasn't the most egregious fault. 

But what really put me off purchasing this almond milk again was the flavor. For a beverage that is labeled "unsweetened," I was surprised to find it had a noticeably sweet taste that impacted the overall flavor of my coffee. There was also a strange aftertaste that made me hesitate to continue using it. Ultimately, I had a hard time getting through the carton due to the overall quality of the milk and I ended up switching to Friendly Farms Oatmilk, which I've found has a considerably better consistency and flavor.

I have shopped at Aldi twice a month at a minimum for the last five years, and my family also frequently shopped there throughout my childhood. To draw these conclusions, I purchased and sampled all of the items listed at least once in the last three years. In many cases, I tried them on multiple occasions, used different cooking methods to try and get better results, and even purchased them from different Aldi stores entirely. Despite my best efforts, these eight items remain disappointing, and I won't be purchasing them again.