It May Be Best To Avoid Buying Chicken Breasts At Aldi. Here's Why

If you're skeptical of the meat at Aldi, assuming its low prices equate to bad quality is one of the myths you need to unlearn. That said, the chicken breasts are, in fact, an Aldi product to avoid buying. While the chicken breasts have an unbeatably low price tag at just under $9 for more than 4 pounds of Kirkwood Split Chicken Breasts depending on the location, the sacrifices to the meat quality comes at too big a cost — and Aldi customers haven't held back about their disappointment in the grocer's chicken breasts online. 

Aldi customers have taken to social media to advise others to avoid buying the chicken breast. While many have pointed out that it was flavorless or even off-tasting, the main complaint has to do with the texture. One Reddit user wrote, "I stopped buying their chicken due to them all being 'woody' lately." When describing chicken breast, the term "woody" refers to an unusually hard, tough, rubbery, coarse, and sometimes stringy texture that is said to be a direct result of the rapid muscle growth that is required to meet the demand for commercial poultry. 

In a Facebook comment, another customer claimed that "The Aldi chicken has been rubbery and has an uncooked texture when it's cooked." Others have used adjectives like tough and stringy to describe the consistency. Some customers surmise that the non-organic, genetically-modified chicken that Aldi uses is the culprit for its subpar flavor and texture. One Facebook user wrote, "It's literally not an Aldi issue. It's an industry wide chicken issue ... Chickens grown too fast and too big ... Odd that it only affects the breast though." Whatever the reason, a chewy, dried-out breast, even when cooked well, is just not worth eating. 

Reddit users recommend other chicken products from Aldi to avoid an off-putting texture and flavor. For example, one Redditor recommended the "skin-on and bone-in" chicken thighs while another swore by the "bone-in split chicken breasts." This makes sense, as bone-in chicken and dark meat tend to offer more flavor and moisture. Even some of the USDA organic chicken breasts, such as those from Simply Nature, and those labelled antibiotic-free from the Never Any! or Perdue brands, may be worth buying from Aldi — even if they do come at more of a cost. 

What these three products have in common is that they come from sources that don't use hormones or antibiotics — ingredients commonly used in animal agricultural settings to speed up muscle growth and prevent disease. Per federal law, hormones haven't been used to encourage growth in chicken production since the 1950's. While this can't be labelled as the sole reason for the difference in quality across Aldi's chicken products — nor the "woody" texture some of it comes with – organic chicken is believed to taste better and may even be better for you. 

Even if you buy organic chicken breasts, you should look for recipes and cooking methods to keep the meat hydrated. For example, you can shred the chicken breasts to incorporate them into a creamy chicken salad or chicken buffalo dip for light lunched and game-day snacks, or cheesy salsa verde chicken enchiladas for an easy dinner casserole. If you want to make the whole breasts the star of the show, brining or marinating them is the best way to infuse flavor and prevent dry, overcooked chicken.