The Aldi Canned Baked Beans That's Not Worth A Single Bite

For the most part, Aldi is a magical place. Between the across-the-board low prices and the product labels that look familiar but just slightly off — in a way that can make it feel a little bit like you're in the Twilight Zone — it is always an intriguing place to shop. And, for the most part, the products are good. Every month, there is a new list of must-have Aldi products. Unfortunately, even Aldi is not perfect, and some of the store-brand items don't pass muster. There may be no product on the shelves where this is more evident than Dakota's Pride baked beans.

According to our reviewer, these baked beans were solidly in the camp of Aldi canned items to skip. The writer noted that while the ingredient list seemed pretty standard for such a product, something about these beans just didn't come out right. There are many aspects of a can of baked beans that must fit the bill — flavor, texture, appearance — and these Dakota's Pride baked beans failed in every category. Based on the writer's research, these beans look like dog food, have an unpleasantly mushy texture, and need doctoring up to approach palatability — a pretty rough overall review.

Now, the Aldi beans do come at a significant discount compared with other offerings. These 28-ounce cans of Dakota's Pride are about $2 each, which is about 28% cheaper than the name-brand cans over at the big box store. So, if saving money is the top priority, you could try one of the many ways to boost the flavor of these canned baked beans and ignore the looks and texture. But once you hear what customers have to say, even that might not cut it.

Unfortunately, it does not seem to be an outlier opinion that the Dakota's Pride baked beans from Aldi are just not up to snuff. A quick scan of the internet finds many voices sharing similar gripes. One Reddit thread on the maple and cured bacon variety is titled: "I love, love baked beans. Anything from pork n beans to fresh beans with the fanciest mix-ins. These are the worst of the worst."

In the thread, the poster writes that they've tried them on several occasions, each time hoping that the other cans were just one-off mistakes, but each time they came up short. Many others agree with the assessment, calling them "vile" and suggesting that shelling out for the name brand is the only way to go. But there are some dissenting voices out there that have stepped up to defend these Aldi-brand beans. "I thought they were great so... to each their own I suppose," wrote another user in that same thread. Not all of the positive opinions are as mild as that, though. In stark contrast to the negativity of the above-mentioned thread, another Redditor took to the forum to state to the world, "I could definitely live off these," above a photo of three cans of Dakota's Pride baked beans.

In the end, only you can really decide how you feel about this Aldi product line. Maybe all they need is a simple upgrade, like adding a splash of root beer to the beans, to unlock their full potential. Or, perhaps more likely, you're better off skipping this one Aldi offering and instead picking a can that sits a bit higher on the overall canned baked beans ranking.