The One Aldi Frozen Seafood Product We Just Can't Get Behind

Aldi is one of the cheapest grocery chains in the U.S., offering all the staples, snacks, and unique specialty items you could want at hard to beat prices. The German grocery giant's frozen seafood selection is also impressively diverse and definitely worth exploring if you haven't before, whether you want a fish fillet or some crispy tempura shrimp. Tasting Table sampled and ranked 14 different frozen seafood items from Aldi according to taste, texture, quality, and value for money. While most were easily worthy of a spot in your freezer, the delicious-sounding oven crispy popcorn shrimp is the one Aldi frozen seafood product we just can't recommend. 

As the name implies, popcorn shrimp are small, bite-sized appetizers. And these, in particular, were coated in a thick, golden breading that just need a short stint in the oven to crisp up. While we wanted to judge a book by its cover in this situation, a peek inside deterred us from even taking a bite. Upon closer inspection, we noticed that these itty bitty shrimp haven't been deveined. And that thick, greenish-black digestive tract couldn't look any more unappealing. 

Obviously, we understand that the vein is perfectly safe to eat, especially since these shrimp have been pre-cooked and will be also cooked a second time to warm them up. But we just couldn't get past the gross-out factor. We managed to find one popcorn shrimp without a vein, and it was deliciously mild, sweet, and tender. However, we aren't going to be scavenging through every bag of popcorn shrimp to find the small percentage of morsels sans digestive tracts.

A Reddit thread condemned Aldi's oven crispy popcorn shrimp for not being deveined, deeming it "poopcorn" shrimp and complaining about the grit that the vein leaves behind. As one user pointed out, "The duct often has sand in it, making the shrimp taste 'grainy.'" They then likened a veined shrimp to "pulling a leek out of the ground and immediately cutting it up and adding it to a dish without washing out all the dirt first." One Redditor advised against buying frozen breaded popcorn shrimp in general because, according to them, "[It] tends to be mostly breading, little shrimp, and no deveining." 

Other customers could overlook the shrimp vein because, as one put it, "You pop it in your mouth like popcorn. Not take a bite and look at what's inside," adding that the size makes deveining pointless. Since the shrimp are so small it's also too involved a task, especially at an industrial level. If you can't ignore that pesky digestive tract, though, steer clear of Aldi's oven crispy popcorn shrimp. 

If you're looking for deveined frozen shrimp, the German grocery giant's tempura shrimp landed in first place in our ranking. It's deliciously crunchy, delicate, and also comes with a tasty dipping sauce. It's thus the perfect alternative snack or appetizer to popcorn shrimp. You could also venture out of the realm of Aldi seafood entirely and opt for a different frozen shrimp brand. For example, we reckon SeaPak's breaded and fried butterfly shrimp are definitely worth picking up.