16 Cheap Aldi Products You Should Avoid Buying At All Costs

As grocery prices around the country soar, our undying love for Aldi continues to grow. The German-born grocery chain has been making headlines as it opens up new stores all over the U.S., promising some salvation against rising food costs. It eschews name-brand groceries in favor of house-brand items, keeping prices ridiculously low, rarely sacrificing quality. Rarely — not never.

Among Aldi's slew of bargains and affordable foods that are still somehow really good,  some products match their price in terms of quality. In this list, we'll explore a few of the worst items at the chain based on personal experience from Tasting Table staff and some online reviews. All prices listed are accurate at the time of writing. Most of these items are unassuming — you probably wouldn't think twice about tossing them in your cart, adding a mere couple of bucks to your grocery total in order to try out something new. But we'll let you in on these egregious offerings so you know what to avoid, saving your money and your taste buds.

Sometimes it's nice to keep a box or two of instant rice in your pantry for those nights when you don't feel like hovering over the stove for 40 minutes. But in the case of Aldi's Earthy Grains Instant White Rice, the 20 to 30 minutes saved is also a sacrifice of any and all flavor and quality.

No matter how you cook this rice, it always comes out looking like a pile of mushy porridge. On top of the gummy, mushy texture, this rice has no flavor whatsoever. Sure, white rice isn't supposed to be a flavor bomb, but it still needs to lend a touch of earthiness. But this instant rice — tempting, at under $3 a box — is like adding a pile of chunky, chewable water to your meal. Instead of this instant disaster, reach for Aldi's regular white rice by the same brand. It requires normal rice time to cook, but the added time is worth the much higher quality.

Buying fish from Aldi is a dangerous game. Seafood is notoriously pricey, so the cheap price tags on Aldi's fish are tempting, and honestly, it isn't all half bad — save for the infamous Aldi salmon scandal (which, in its defense, has since been rectified) and a few other gnarly options hiding in the freezer section. After trying almost every fish from Aldi (sorry Aldi, we're still not brave enough to go back for the salmon) we can safely say that the Fremont Fish Market Pacific Whiting is the catch that you should be tossing back.

At Aldi, a 24-ounce bag of frozen whiting filets goes for only about seven bucks. However, it's wildly fishy, but not in an appetizing, fresh-from-the-sea kind of way. It tastes and smells more like it was sitting out in the sun too long before it got tossed in the deep freezer. Go for Aldi's tilapia instead — it's a similarly flaky, delicate fish, and it tastes much fresher than the whiting.

Freezer bags are a must in any kitchen. And if there's one thing you'd like your zipping freezer bags to do, it's, well, zip. We bet you can guess what the Boulder brand freezer bags at Aldi are bad at doing. Not only is the plastic that makes up these bags flimsy and threatening to rip at even the slightest nudge, but they just won't stay closed, even if you use all your force to squeeze the bag shut. 

You might feel like you want to try them out anyway, since a 40-count box of the Boulder quart-sized bags clocks in at under $3 (a fraction of the price of the name-brand freezer bags). But it just isn't worth it, especially when you factor in the price of repairs after you rage-throw the box through your kitchen window. The sliding lock bags are marginally better, but generally, freezer bags aren't Aldi's forte.

The Specially Selected brand (one of Aldi's many in-house brands) is usually a safe bet for everything from bougie cracker spreads to jarred olives. But when it comes to its pre-made soups — most notoriously the Slow-Cooked Broccoli and Cheddar — this normally high-quality label shows off its dark side.

Broccoli cheddar soup is a classic comfort food soup, loved by kids and adults alike, but Aldi's perversion of this classic is anything but comforting. It's been known to have a nasty, dirty-dishwater smell combined with a funky consistency that has some unsuspecting victims tossing it before they can even sink their spoon in. Chewy, hard broccoli bits have been reported, as well as an aroma like burnt plastic. If you're lucky, you might find Panera's fan-favorite broccoli cheddar soup at Aldi, so grab one of those instead.

There's something about off-brand cereals that makes us giddy inside. They have the most fun names, and they're almost always identical to the real deal at about half the price. But "almost always" means there are some exceptions, and Aldi's Honey Nut Crispy Oats are one of the few disappointing off-brand cereals in its repertoire.

It feels like it would be hard to ruin a Honey Nut Cheerios knock-off, but Aldi found a way, making the price the only decent thing about this family-sized cereal. The name-brand version is delicious thanks to its crispy texture and sweet, nutty flavor, but this Aldi dupe doesn't accomplish any of that. The little Os get soggy seconds after milk is poured into the bowl, rendering them essentially inedible. On top of that, they lack the trademark nuttiness of the real stuff. Reach for Millville's Honey Crunch 'n Oats instead, which has way more flavor, texture, and bang for your buck.

Keeping a few bags of frozen veggies lying around in your freezer is just good sense. They're great for making soup, or just to reduce trips to the grocery store. But, even though it may seem like it, not all frozen veggies are created equal — Aldi's Season's Choice Steamable Frozen Broccoli Florets are proof of this.

Even though this product claims it's filled with broccoli florets (the fluffy, flavorful heads of the broccoli), there are a suspicious amount of fibrous stems lurking in the bag. These bits are tough and hard to chew, and make for a disappointing dinner when you were expecting fluffy, soft broccoli to be the star of the show. However, even the broccoli heads in the bag are tiny and lacking in flavor, making them not worth even their low ($1.29) price point. Instead of this sad bag of frozen veggies, try out the Simply Nature brand frozen broccoli florets — they're a bit more expensive, but are a worthwhile choice if you're making a broccoli-heavy meal.

Great Northern beans are kind of obscure against the tried-and-true classics like black and pinto. They're a real every bean — mild flavor, soft texture, moderate size. They fit into just about any bean-based dish, but if you're thinking about giving these beans a try while out Aldi shopping, we implore you — don't.

The Dakota's Pride Great Northern Beans in a can are suspiciously wet. As soon as you crack open the can, you'll notice a weird, slimy goop covering all of the beans that makes them look anything but appetizing. If you weren't deterred by the goop, you will be after your first bite. They're ridiculously salty, to the point where they're not even worth stocking up on as part of an emergency canned food supply (even though they're only about 89 cents a can). Instead, grab a can of the mild chili beans — they're quite different from the Great Northerns, but they're among Aldi's best beans.

There's something about low-quality deli meat that's far more skeevy than other low-quality food items. Just the thought of biting into a sandwich to be met with rancid meat is enough to make anyone shudder. Well, that might be what you're in for if you decided to snag a package of Aldi's Lunch Mate brand deli meats off the shelf.

Aldi's Lunch Mate brand has all the deli meats you could think of — chicken, turkey, honey ham, roast beef, you name it. But these meats are known to have a nasty, rotten smell, and sometimes they're even covered in a gelatinous slime like something out of a sci-fi movie. Folks claim that meats have a chemical-like, over-salted taste that they just can't look past, making these deli meats among the most disappointing finds at Aldi. However, the Simply Nature organic deli meats are significantly higher in quality and less salty, and they only cost a tiny bit more than far-from-organic Lunch Mate.

You might think all coffee at Aldi is low quality based on its reputation for having some of the lowest grocery prices around, but that isn't the case. Aldi is home to some surprisingly high-quality brews, but that doesn't mean there aren't some nasty beans lurking on the shelf. It probably won't come as a surprise that the bulk ground coffee option at Aldi just doesn't cut it — actually, scratch that: It's downright terrible.

The Beaumont 100% Colombian Coffee at Aldi is stuffed into a plastic container, and the ground beans seem to absorb the essence of the cheap plastic. A cup brewed with these medium-dark beans brings to mind a dank, musty basement; not a flavor profile in a decent cup of joe, if you ask us. At about $12 for over two pounds of beans, it seems like it might be worth sacrificing some flavor for a caffeine jolt, but the coffee is bad enough to ruin your day with the egregious aftertaste it leaves behind. Stick with nearly any other coffee from Aldi for a better, cheaper cup, especially the Barissimo French roast, if darker roasts are your pleasure.

Aldi is known for carrying a vast selection of baked goods, and honestly, most of them miss the mark (although the cookies are a diamond in the rough). They're clearly not fresh, since Aldi isn't equipped with an in-store bakery like other larger grocery chains, so even if the flavors are on point, the snacks are always going to be a touch stale. But among the plethora of subpar treats, the cinnamon rolls take the cake (pun intended) as one of the worst bakery items at Aldi.

Whoever said there's no such thing as a bad cinnamon roll clearly never took a bite into a Bake Shop brand version from Aldi. The icing on top has the consistency of plastic, and, to be honest, the flavor isn't much different either. The bland, oddly-crunchy icing rests on top of stale dough with so much cinnamon that it's almost nauseating. Heating them up does absolutely nothing for their flavor or texture — if anything, it just makes them even more sad and not worth the $3.75 per package. If your sweet tooth is aching while on an Adli run, grab the Bake Shop brand carrot cake sandwich cookies instead and thank us later.

We shouldn't have to be the ones to tell you that this frozen breakfast meal from Aldi is bad; the laundry list of ingredients and disturbingly fake image on the box should be enough to have you running for the hills. But just in case you thought the Breakfast Best brand Sausage and Gravy Breakfast Bowl would be a sleeper hit at Aldi, we're here to tell you that it, in fact, is not.

All of the ingredients — eggs, cheese, potatoes, sausage, and country gravy — are pre-mixed in this microwavable bowl, which allegedly takes three minutes to heat up. But, if you end up succumbing to the just-over-$2 price point and get one for yourself, don't be surprised if the bowl is still frozen in the middle. Most of the bowl is what you would expect from a microwaved breakfast: wet, soggy, disappointing. But the bland, watery gravy is the metaphorical icing on top of this disaster. If you're after a quick brekky, the Breakfast Best sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits are far less upsetting.

Sour cream and onion is a fan-favorite chip flavor for good reason. It's tangy, zesty, and doesn't need a dip to be loaded with umami goodness. But while most sour cream and onion chips succeed, Aldi's take on the classic flavor earns it the title of most disappointing chip at Aldi.

Clancy's Sour Cream and Onions Chips are too thin, overly starchy, and mealy, kind of like Pringles, but not in an appetizing way. The flavor dusting is blatantly artificial and doesn't taste anything like genuine sour cream or real onion. The tang comes from an acrid vinegar flavor, and there's basically no creaminess to speak of whatsoever. Instead of these gnarly chips, reach for a bag of Clancy's Street Corn Dippers (which are the same price as the sour cream and onion chips — $1.89) if you're looking for a snack that delivers in the flavor department.

Unless you live in total isolation, you're probably well aware that oat milk is having a huge moment right now. Thanks to its popularity, the oat milk scientists out there keep making it better and better than previous iterations. However, it seems that Aldi's milk brand Friendly Farms didn't get the memo.

The Friendly Farms oat milk feels like it adds plenty of extra sugar to its recipe to cover the taste of low-quality oats. It's just okay in a bowl of cereal or in dessert recipes, but it shouldn't be caught dead anywhere near a cup of coffee. It doesn't elevate a cup of joe with much creaminess — in fact, it waters it down more than anything. Its frothing abilities are nearly non-existent, so if you like to make at-home lattes, don't let this milk's $4.29 price tag suck you in. In fact, the Simply Nature organic almond milk froths well, tastes better, has no added sugar, and is even cheaper to boot.

Ah, the humble banana. It's a favorite fruit for many, and therefore a staple at every Aldi. You'll find the little yellow crescents filling up box after box in the produce section, and they're almost always on the greener side (if you know, you know). Aldi's bananas are tempting at only 52 cents per pound, but they have some strange, almost ethereal qualities.

Customers report that they'll bring unripe Aldi bananas home, only to have them go from tough and green to brown and mushy in just a couple of days. We're not sure what magic fruit wand Aldi is waving over the bananas to make them time-travel like this, but it results in you never getting to enjoy your bananas at peak ripeness. In general, Aldi's produce is hit or miss depending on where you live, so don't risk it and stick with its tasty and affordable frozen fruit options instead.

When we're craving an ice cream cone on a hot summer day, we usually pop over to our neighborhood ice cream shop. But picking up a box of waffle cones and a tub of your favorite ice cream means money saved (and, more importantly, not having to leave the house). Aldi hosts waffle cones under its Benton's brand, and even though they're a mere 65 cents per box, you wouldn't want these in your house even if they were free.

Unlike the crispy, crunchy waffle cones from your favorite ice cream shop, these cheap-o Benton's cones will practically disintegrate in your hand. You have about 4.2 seconds to enjoy your ice cream before the bottom of the cone falls apart and leaves you with a sloppy mess all over your lap. Those who like to crumble up a cone on top of a bowl of ice cream (guilty) might think they're worth it, but the waffle bits get soggy so quickly that you'll end up picking them off your dessert while wishing you had your 65 cents back. Instead, give Aldi's Sundae Shoppe cones a try.

Peanut butter-filled pretzels are a glorious snack. They're salty, sweet, crunchy, creamy — they really have it all. But the Clancy's brand at Aldi does a great job of taking a fantastic concept and doing everything in its power to make it as unappealing and unappetizing as possible.

Clancy's Peanut Butter-Filled Pretzels don't have the signature creaminess of a good, quality rendition of this snack. The peanut butter inside the stale-tasting, paper-thin pretzels is chalky and dry. Good luck getting through three of these things without nearly choking on all the peanut butter dust and dry, salty pretzel bits. We thought we might have just snagged an old bag — nope. We tried again and were met with the same crumbly, dry snack. These pretzels are only about five bucks for a large bag, but they can't hold a candle to Clancy's Pub-Style Pretzels, which are loaded with zesty flavor and have an exquisite texture.

To put together this list of the worst cheap items from Aldi, we relied primarily on personal experience (and regrets) trying most of the products, including incorporating insight from Tasting Table's previous rankings of Aldi products. Some items were included based on reviews from Aldi customers in Reddit threads. Only items that are considered inexpensive compared to similar, name-brand products were added to the list.

Each of these products is considered a bad buy based on poor taste, quality, or performance. We judged these items and their quality objectively, casting aside any bias or preference in taste.