Every Saint Patrick's Day Find At Aldi, Ranked

Saint Patrick's Day festivity has landed, and no grocery store goes all-out with their holiday themes like Aldi. From Valentine's Day to Halloween, you can find specialty food products in all the relevant colors, flavors, and cultures of the occasion. In this case, we got lots of green, hearty Irish fare.

Between Pub-Style Battered Shrimp Bites and Shamrockin' Mint Swirl Ice Cream, we found lots of pots of gold at the end of this rainbow. And lots of cheese. Maybe the best part of this project was discovering, yet again, that Aldi really is such a great resource for budget-friendly buys. But some products were better than others, so read this roundup before you go out and buy your whole Saint Patrick's Day spread at Aldi. We found everything edible we could get our hands on, taste-tested it, and ranked each product from worst (which was still pretty good) to best (which was hard to single out). Luckily, we didn't feel green after all this food, but we come on — we are professionals.

This was one of the heftiest Saint Patrick's Day items we found at Aldi, both in terms of ingredients and price tag. At 6.99, the Park Street Deli Shepherds Pie is still relatively inexpensive for what can be a complete, one-and-done, utterly Irish dinner for two. Shepherd's Pie consists of spiced ground meat and vegetable filling covered in a thick mashed potato cap.

This Aldi version gets points for piped presentation and the way those little star tips gave the potatoes a bit of crispiness and texture once we baked them up. Underneath, the potatoes were somewhat bland as opposed to velvety and buttery: The meat mixture, though flavorful, needed more vegetables. We still prefer our simple and foolproof homemade version, though. So we suppose that if you're looking to really just kick back and relax this Saint Patty's Day without boiling a potato, but you crave some hearty Irish fare, this frozen dinner has its purpose.

Did mint become the unofficial dessert flavor of Saint Patrick's day for any particular reason, or just because it's usually colored green? Whatever the reason, you're sure to find lots of minty food products on shelves once March rolls around. Aldi gave us a refreshing pint of ice cream which you shall encounter shortly, but also these Sundae Shop Mint Swirl Lepre-Cones just for fun. They are super small handheld treats that, in our humble opinion, are simply delightful. Crisp mini wafer cones lined in chocolate fudge hold swirls of mint and chocolate ice cream, and as if that wasn't enough, get showered in cookie crumbles. 

They sure managed to pack a lot into such a little vehicle, but despite the business, it tastes rather tame. Both the mint and chocolate ice creams are very, very mild, and the cone doesn't have any flavor on its own. The best part is the gimmick and the variety of textures you get in each bite. If they bring you joy, we recommend them, but if you want rich flavors, this is child's play.

Aldi really went all-out for us in the cheese section this holiday! Well, it's just our luck because we are a team of cheese lovers. The same cannot be said for Irish Porter, however, because we admit to never having tried it before. Many of us don't like beer or beer-like alcohols — Porter, Stout, or otherwise — but we loved this cheese. It's sharp and slightly crumbly when cutting into it but melts in our mouths with surprising creaminess. This twofold tasting experience makes for a nuanced, complex cheese.

The "beer" flavor also adds to this nuance. We didn't taste beer in particular, just an extra nutty, slightly caramelized, and toasted profile that only accentuates cheddar's natural taste. We also found it a lively, jaunty cheese that can stand on its own feet without any supporting crackers or meats. But if you want to pair it up, don't forget to buy some Aldi corned beef to roast: The leftover beef plus a generous layer of this rich cheese would make a mean sandwich. Our one gripe was that the cheddar didn't taste the highest quality, so the Porter was doing most of the heavy lifting here.

Of all the fun and frenzied flavors of whipped cream — pardon us, whipped dairy topping — that we have witnessed hitting supermarket shelves, this one probably makes the most logical sense. The Irish Cream Whipped Topping is the perfect way to infuse cream with, well, more cream. We had a feeling this would go over well, and we were right. The subtle depth and sensuous undertones of Irish Cream simply add a festive flair to a classic topping. As long as we did our part and shook the can accordingly, the product was fluffy and light yet rich enough to have a satisfying mouthfeel. Aldi's Friendly Farms brand turns out to be just as good as Reddi-Whip.

Since the flavor isn't as in-your-face as pumpkin spice or peppermint mocha whipped toppings, we could see ourselves putting it on everything from a celebratory coffee beverage on Saint Patrick's Day morn' to an ice cream sundae made with either of the limited-edition ice creams we tried. Or, you know, straight out of the can and into your open mouth.

Has anyone realized that Saint Patrick's day always corresponds with Lent? Well, just in case you're unable to eat meat and the holiday falls on a Friday, do not despair. Eat fish, and you sacrifice nothing, particularly if you go all-out and fry it up in a beer batter. Or, you know, reheat it up. Aldi's Beer Battered Fish Fillets are frozen for your convenience and come out of the oven after a beautiful makeover. A golden-brown, buttery but not greasy crust gives way to tender wild-caught pollock, and they taste excellent with tartar sauce. We agreed that they were so much better than those fish sticks we'd eat as kids, and they definitely rekindled our love for the grown-up version.

How do they compare to name-brand products? Honestly, we couldn't taste a difference, so it's another win for Aldi. They aren't perfect, but frozen breaded fish fillets never are: They can't help but taste like they came from a cardboard box rather than a deep-fryer. Obviously, beer-battered fish is great, exactly as is, but if you want to find new ways to use the flavor and texture, stick it in a taco shell. No, really: Homemade fish tacos just got a major upgrade in this ingenious recipe.

With such fun products and such reasonable prices, is it any surprise that the gold, silver, and bronze medals all go to cheese? The Aged Irish Cheddar definitely was one of the first things we thought of when imagining the kinds of Irish-themed foods Aldi would drum up. So we weren't surprised at all to find a timely version on the store shelves. We were surprised to find two other riffs on it, which you have already discovered above. Though the Beer- and Porter-infused cheddars were super fun to taste and test, they just can't hold a candle to the original. Most of us on the team really prefer a nice, sharp cheddar as opposed to a mild one. The sharper, the better, honestly. And even though this is no fancy-schmancy, million-year-old cheese wheel, it still brought enough aged tang to satisfy us. Lots of grocery store cheese is imported, but they don't all taste like it. This one reeks, in the best way, of the Emerald Isles. Though hard cheese like this doesn't melt without effort, we think that this would be delightful in grilled cheese. The salty, feisty finish makes it a real standout. But the real key to the kingdom: It's a steal at $3.99, so you can feel fancy and festive on the cheap.

Though the Kentucky Derby, another springtime staple event, does not occur until the first weekend of May, Aldi is giving us a different kind of derby to tide us over in the meantime. Perhaps it's even the better of the two. Along with the Pesto Gouda, this Sage Derby is the other green-hued cheese you can pick up for a tantalizing Saint Patrick's Day cheese board or festive snack. This cheese is a spin-off of the classic, semi-hard British Derby cheese, a national treasure that incorporates fresh sage leaves in careful layers and lets it mature for months on end, resulting in a through-and-through flavor. That meticulous layering process also leads to our favorite thing about this cheese, the thing that makes it perfect for March 17th: The visual appeal. Come on, admit it: This is one gorgeous cheese.

We would buy it just based on that kelly-green marbling, using it as the piece de resistance on a charcuterie board or a pretty garnish on soups, salads, and toast. We would use this pattern to redo our kitchens with Sage Derby marble countertops, too. As for the flavor, sage typically appears as a key ingredient in Thanksgiving recipes, lending stuffings and side dishes a full-bodied aromatic depth. We love it here, and though it got a little intense after a few slices, this cheese tastes heavenly in small doses. Try it on top of any baked good or cracker made with rye flour.