12 Aldi Trail Mixes, Ranked

Despite its name, you don't have to save trail mix for a hike. These mixes are calorically dense, so you don't necessarily want to eat a huge bag in one setting, but they can offer sustenance, no matter whether you're on the trail or on the couch. Trail mix is usually a mix of nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, or other ingredients, and while it's not difficult to craft your own (like a scrumptious pumpkin spice trail mix), it's still nice to buy a pack once in a while. There's no better place to do so than Aldi, which has many options based on your desired ingredients.

I found 11 in stock at my store (all from Aldi's Southern Grove brand), but yours may have more depending on your location's availability. I selected one of everything my shop had on the shelves to separate the best from the mediocre — none were bad, luckily, but some were underwhelming. I based my ranking on taste, harmony of included ingredients, texture, and a sprinkle of my own personal preferences. Some of these have a delicious balance, while others are overrun with one ingredient or a bit bland. Let's discover the best from the blah!

The Serenity trail mix has everything you could want in a nut-centric trail mix: almonds, walnuts, raisins, dried cranberries, hazelnuts, and pecans. It has a clean taste since there are no added seasonings to distract you from the natural flavors of the nuts and dried fruit. The only issue is that there are perhaps five hazelnuts in the entire bag, and maybe two pecans' worth of measly nut fragments. 

In my scoop, I spotted a good amount of everything, except there was only one hazelnut and no pecans. There's an obvious imbalance of promised ingredients. Yes, I understand that the order of the ingredients on the packaging reflects how much of each set ingredient is in the trail mix, but they might as well just not have hazelnuts or pecans included at all if there's going to be so little of them. The flavor is totally fine, but this is the most disappointing bag in terms of proportions, especially since none of the other trail mixes on this list have hazelnuts — it would be a nice palate cleanser.

Aldi has two cheddar trail mixes — a jalapeño one and this one. The Cheddar Crunch has many of the same elements, minus the jalapeño seasoning (I'll talk about that mix further on, though). The cheddar trail mix is a combination of almonds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, dried cheddar cheese bites, and pecans. I can appreciate the unflavored nature of this mix, which allows the nuts and seeds to shine. It's earthy and savory with that welcome crunch of the cheesy bit. 

There's nothing wrong with the flavor, but once more, we see a huge inequality in the promised ingredients. There are so many pumpkin seeds (which keep costs lower as they are one of the cheaper nuts and seeds available), hardly any pecans, and just a select few morsels of the titular cheddar crunch bites. Unfortunately, this is a consistent issue, as the mix is a major disappointment for anyone who's a fan of cheese. I felt quite disappointed as they provide the most flavor and textural dimension to the mix. There were slightly more pecans and cheese bits than there were hazelnuts and pecans in the Serenity mix to give it a slight lead in the ranking, but I would not buy this again. 

The tropical trail mix is the only fruit-based mix of the bunch. Yes, we see raisins in multiple bags, but I'm talking pineapple, papaya, banana, cranberries, golden raisins, and then raisins — all dried, of course. The pineapple and papaya offer a sweet chewiness, while the banana, almonds, and cashews bring crunch. While sugary from the various fruits, it works with the addition of unsweetened nuts. It's colorful and captivating, and each fruit brings its unique complexity into the fold. 

This feels like something you'd put out to eat for guests (at least in my household) or seems very typical to bring out on a trail adventure, especially since there's no chocolate or yogurt-covered bits to melt on a hot day. The issue we face here is a lack of balance (again). Banana chips take up the most space, followed by raisins and cranberries. And then those tropical fruits and nuts are pretty sparse. I like the ingredients and textures of the tropical mix to give it a higher spot than the cheddar mix. It could have ranked higher if it had a smidge more nuts, pineapple, and papaya to offer a better ratio.

This beige bag of s'mores trail mix has a combination of peanuts, yogurt-covered marshmallows, milk chocolate morsels, honey graham cookies, and milk chocolate marshmallow truffles. Truthfully, I didn't realize there were marshmallows in any form in this mix until browsing the packaging. The yogurt-covered marshmallows are merely sweet with a touch of milky yogurt coating; the interior (supposed) marshmallow gets lost in the shuffle, while the milk chocolate marshmallow truffles somehow taste like peanut butter cups. Perhaps it's all the peanuts rubbing onto the truffles, but I didn't know they were supposed to be marshmallow-filled until reading the bag.

This is a tough placement because I like the flavors and interesting elements. I love the graham cookie bits and chocolate chunks, but this underdelivers on the marshmallow aspect of a s'more and what it promises on the packaging. Not only that, but this mix is extremely peanut-heavy. It's actually very delicious, but it's outweighed by peanuts, and the two marshmallow-filled items don't provide the nuanced flavor associated with the ingredient. I wouldn't buy it again since it's mainly peanuts, but I prefer the overall flavor to the tropical concoction.

The Sweet & Salty trail mix is the only pre-portioned trail mix my store had, which makes it incredibly easy to take on the go. My toddler saw the red dot on the packaging (yes, that tiny red speck meant to signal one of the chocolate candies) and immediately wanted to try it. Safe to say the pack was eaten as we strolled in the park — although we lost a peanut or two and one red candy in the mud. 

So, I can tell you that this is a sound choice for young children or anybody who likes a blend of peanuts, raisins, sunflower kernels, and colorful chocolate candies. There is a good amount of the candies to offer chocolatey sweetness among the nuts and raisins. That said, it's quite heavy on the sunflower kernels, which means it dominates the mouthful. You might not be able to tell from the photo since they sink to the bottom of the plate under the larger items. I like the chocolate candy bits, the convenience, and general flavor a bit more than the s'mores trail mix (these made it on Tasting Table's list of cheap and healthy snacks to buy at Aldi for a reason), but the abundance of sunflower seeds means it can't go any higher.

The Mountain trail mix is a concoction of peanuts, raisins, cocoa gems (basically an M&M knockoff), almonds, and then cashews. I like the clean taste since the nuts aren't coated in any type of flavoring, which allows the ingredients to taste like themselves. It's similar to the Sweet & Salty mix, except it has almonds and cashews in place of sunflower seeds. There's a fair amount of chewiness from the raisins, then crispness from the nuts, and a crunchy exterior followed by melt-in-your-mouth creaminess thanks to the cocoa gems.

The issue, however, is the sheer amount of raisins. It takes up around 50% of the bag, followed by peanuts. Then, I'm sad to say there's hardly any cashews in the mix at all. Additionally, my scoop looks like there's a good amount of the chocolate gems, but there are not too many in the bag itself. If there were more of those two elements, I'd love to rank it higher. As it is, it gets the lead over the Sweet & Salty mix because I like the addition of almonds and the prospect of cashews over the sunflower seeds.

If you are craving something sweet, then you should opt for the Indulgent trail mix – it lives up to its name. The mix comes with peanut butter chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanuts, dried cranberries, golden raisins, almonds, and cashews. It's quite sweet thanks to the trio of chips or 'drops' as they are called. I think the Indulgent mix creates a splendid combination of nutty, chocolatey, and creamy flavors that all melt in your mouth. Plus, the sizing is even, so nothing feels out of whack as you chew.

We see golden raisins and cranberries to offer chewiness and added sweetness. There are peanuts, some almonds, and a very limited amount of cashews. This ranks toward the middle of the pack because I enjoy the various flavors and textures, but am disappointed in the lack of cashews, and it's a smidge sweet without enough nuts to give it balance. I prefer the range of fruity, peanut buttery, chocolatey flavors in this mix to the raisin-bomb of the Mountain mix.

I really like the cheddar jalapeño mix from Aldi and even included it in a roundup of the jalapeño items to buy and to skip from the store (it's a buy item). It has such a memorable, robust flavor that coats every morsel. It has crunchy almonds and crisp corn nuggets to bring firmer textures. Cashews and dried cheddar cheese bites offer a lighter crunch, while the pumpkin seeds are slightly milder. 

Then we have seasoning, which includes green bell pepper, onion, and garlic that gives everything its incredible flavor. There's a bit more symmetry in the pumpkin seeds than in the previous cheddar mix, but it still suffers from a lack of cheddar cheese bites — please fix this, Aldi! The spicy aspect of jalapeño offers further enticing flavor, but it's not unapproachable. I like this seasoning blend and the taste and crunchy texture of the corn nuggets a bit more than the super sweet Indulgent trail mix. It could use more cashews (what's new there?), but we're finally seeing more balance among ingredients. That said, the next mix is even tastier.

The honey nut trail mix brings sweetness without any chocolate or raisins, for anyone keen on avoiding those ingredients. It's certainly welcome during my taste test, as they are abundant in these mixes. This blend has honey-roasted ingredients galore: peanuts, sesame sticks, almonds, and cashews. Then, randomly, there are some butter toffee peanuts strewn in. This is the ultimate sweet and crunchy mix. Every element offers crunch, though, so it's a bit one-note in that respect. But that honey exterior also brings a slightly gritty coating and mouthfeel to mix things up marginally. 

The sweetness is pleasant and not overbearing, as that honeyed aspect provides more than a sugary flavor. It carries a deeper, more dynamic caramel-like richness of honey. I can appreciate the sesame sticks, but they're not my favorite. The wheat flour, malted barley flour, and bulgar wheat make the mild savory taste seem out of sync with all the notes of honey, but the sesame brings it back into the nutty-tasting territory. I can chalk this up to personal preference, though. If you love sesame sticks, then you'll adore this trail mix. The honey seasoning is successful, and I have no notes in that regard. It's easy to nosh on, and I'd reach for it over the cheddar jalapeño.

The chocolate peanut butter mix, aka the Explore trail mix, is like a better remix of the s'mores blend. It has a similar profile because of the peanut butter and chocolate aspect, but in a new format. We see peanuts, peanut butter candies (think Reese's chocolate candies), tiny milk chocolate peanut butter cups, peanut butter-filled pretzels, chocolate chips, and peanut butter-flavored chips. You can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate because they go so well together – sweet and salty with a creamy twist. 

In addition to the excellent flavors, we see melt-in-your-mouth qualities from the chocolate and peanut butter flavored chips and candies, and then the pretzels add a needed crunch. Without them, this trail mix would be far too repetitive and soft ... and that's why this can't go any higher. It needs at least another full handful of peanut butter pretzels tossed in to balance the sweetness of everything else. Still, I like the medley of ingredients and that peanut butter and chocolate combination over the honey nut blend.

I thought this Retreat mix might be boring based on all the other mixes' fun ingredients, but this simple blend works. Here, we see almonds, cashews, and dark chocolate combined for a no-fuss trail mix. Nuts and chocolate are an iconic duo, and it clearly works in this case, too. The dark chocolate is rich and sweet, with a touch of earthiness that makes an ideal match for the crisp, unflavored cashews and almonds. Some trail mixes skimp on chocolate, but Aldi's Southern Grove mix is ultra generous with the sweet addition. It makes a terrific, even partner to the nuts, so you get all three in every handful.

I love cashews, so we finally see a heftier portion in this Retreat mix — something the rest of the mixes severely lack. However, it looks like there are slightly more almonds than cashews, so I'd enjoy another scoop of them added in, but this is my personal preference. The flavors and balance of ingredients make this Retreat trail mix my No. 2 pick, particularly if you don't want any added seasonings or fancy add-ins. The next Aldi snack, though, contains all you need for a satisfying trail mix.

This Cajun trail mix comes at the top of the ranking because it has everything; it's bursting with flavor and a variety of textures, and to round it out, the ingredients feel harmonious — nothing overpowers the other. We see peanuts, which have been a very common factor in most of these trail mixes, and then there are butter toffee peanuts that add a sweet layer and a slightly crunchy coating. There are also Cajun-style corn sticks, roasted corn, honey-roasted sesame sticks, and almonds. 

I love the corn flavor of the corn sticks, which taste similar to Fritos corn chips, but they also have Cajun seasoning that comes in the form of onion, tomato, garlic, and green pepper powder. The corn sticks are not included in any of the mixes I tried, so they stand out in terms of flavor and the firm snap as you bite into them. The spicy peanut seasoning is tasty too, consisting of paprika, black pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and thyme. 

It's safe to say every element of this mix is bursting with flavor. The range of textures and sizes of the add-ins makes it stand out, while the proportion of ingredients truly solidifies this Cajun blend as the first-place winner among Aldi's trail mix selection. You can eat these on the trail without any melted chocolate (you will have a powdery coating on your fingers, though) or set some out for a game day watch party. These are incredibly versatile and delicious without being too spicy or too sweet.

I purchased everything from my local Aldi and sampled it over the course of a couple of days. There are many ingredients, so I wanted time to test out the elements separately and together. I critiqued these trail mixes based on their taste, texture, balance of ingredients, and my personal preference. 

For taste, I preferred items with captivating flavors and dimension, rather than limited or one-note flavors. Items ranked higher if the ingredients brought harmony to the mix (in both flavor and texture), while those with overpowering, too abundant, or too few ingredients ranked lower. 

For the photos used in this review, I used a ¼ measuring cup to scoop each trail mix to get a clear idea of the average ratio of ingredients. I didn't mix it up or add any missing elements to best show how the trail mix would look if you were to grab a handful. Ultimately, these are all genuinely tasty and good trail mixes, but some lacked dimension or certain promised ingredients. Nothing was unpalatable, poorly made, or anything of the sort.