I Tried And Ranked 8 Aldi Dips From Worst To Best

In the best cases, Aldi products can provide a great value while still being delicious (including a lot of Aldi beer). This can be pretty helpful for anyone hosting an event where they don't want to blow their budget on basic amenities, and also don't want to sacrifice a truly delicious spread for their guests. Arguably, dips and their accoutrements are the one relatively universal party offering, fulfilling that essential need to feed guests during a get-together, birthday party, or holiday party. But with so many varied options on the store's shelves, which ones are worth picking up, and which ones should you leave in the cooler aisle?

As a very regular host, I tasked myself with trying some of the highlights from the store's dip lineup to try and determine which were truly noteworthy. Since I have my go-to recipes and usually like to make them from scratch at home, this exercise was fairly new territory for me. Instead of shooting too wide, I chose to focus on the core offerings from Aldi's savory selections to determine which were worth the money. I also chose basic dipping vehicles (salted pita chips, carrots, and celery sticks) to ensure there was a coherent pairing for each option on the table. Ultimately, I was left relatively surprised by my findings — but not necessarily in a good way. Here's how the dips ended up stacking up.

When it comes down to it, there's not much out there more basic than a traditional spinach veggie dip. My favorite versions usually resemble something like a thicker ranch dressing with a Greek yogurt base, a pack of frozen spinach, diced shallots, grated cheese, and some seasonings (and ideally served in a bread bowl). Since everyone's take on it is different, I wasn't expecting this to taste very much like what I serve when hosting. But I still wasn't expecting it to be this much of a letdown.

When your first words written down in a tasting note are "Wow! Not good!" in all caps, you know it's pretty rough. This hit as a complete dud on my palate, where the mayonnaise-like texture stuck to my tongue in a way that made me want more pita chips to move it through. It was short on acid, seasoning, and above all, salt. At the very best, I would say it had all the charm of a disappointing tartar sauce.

Even switching over to veggies for dipping couldn't save this representation. If I were trying to salvage this at a party, I might grate some garlic, toss in some onion powder, or even squeeze in a lemon to give this dip some kind of life on the table. Unfortunately, this wasn't the time for that, and barring a true catastrophe down the line, I immediately decided that it would take the bottom spot on the list.

If I'm being honest, this is the style of dip I usually get most excited to see on a table at a party (and have a hard time not ordering it at restaurants). With ample amounts of cream, cheese, and assorted dairy, the fibrous spinach and artichokes usually are just there to give it enough structure to keep it on a chip and a bit of earthiness to balance all that fat. While I'll always prefer a homemade option, I've still never shied away from picking some up from the store in a pinch (including when I want to make the Trader Joe's spinach and artichoke dip pasta). But after this experience, I might think twice about being so trustworthy.

Similar to the spinach veggie dip, I noticed when dipping my first pita chip into the tub that it had much more of a mayonnaise texture (which happens to be the second listed ingredient) than a cream cheese texture. And once again, a single bite revealed that this tasted much more like straight mayo or even tartar sauce, with hardly any hint of seasoning or trace of acid. In a surprising twist for store-bought items, it also desperately needed more salt!

Once again, I subconsciously wanted to grab a lemon and a clove of garlic to try to salvage this dip. But when I realized this was only very slightly more tolerable than the veggie dip, I decided to move along.

I have to admit that I was most curious about this flavor combination when picking options from the cooler. I've never been opposed to the combination of spicy and tart in dishes, but I also struggled to figure out exactly who this dip was for. Once I opened it, I realized it had a looser cream cheese consistency than most of the other dips, with small chunks of cranberry floating throughout.

After grabbing a pita chip and taking my first bite, I immediately realized I had been misled. Instead of a burst of tartness, the dip was shockingly sweet, overwhelming the palate and almost coming across as a sweet yogurt. Then, it suddenly took a left turn and kicked in with a relatively spicy finish that I didn't see coming for a second.

I have to admit that I don't flat-out hate this dip, but I can't say I feel it's very coherent. At the most, I wouldn't see myself eating more than a bite or two of this before moving on from it for the rest of the night — and I definitely didn't see myself recommending it to other guests. For that reason, it has earned a low spot on the ranking list.

Unlike the similarly packaged Cranberry Jalapeño dip, I picked this tub up convinced I knew what I was getting. I'll even go so far as to say that I had the highest hopes for this selection, being the kind of combination I might whip up in a pinch at home. After all, who doesn't love goat cheese amplified by veggies and seasonings? It's practically a cheat code!

Unfortunately, what I had assumed would be a contender for the top spot ended up being one of the biggest letdowns of the bunch. Instead of vegetal notes and that tangy goat cheese kick, it comes off entirely too sweet with an oddly gritty, gloopy texture that's one step too close to grout for my tastes. Things actually got worse when I switched over from pita chips to veggies: The dip desperately needed the fried flavors to give it much life outside the overbearing bell pepper sweetness. This is especially odd considering that Aldi advertises this as "bold, savory flavor" when it is objectively anything but.

What's even more disappointing about this situation is that it's highly unlikely you could doctor this to make it taste better. With such unbalanced base flavors, I figured this was yet another dip in the lineup that I would never pick up again, and certainly wouldn't recommend to fellow shoppers. The one case where I think this might be able to work is as a sandwich spread.

I'm old enough to remember a time when "truffle everything" became an oversaturated food trend (somewhere along the lines of "epic bacon"). But even though tossing truffle oil or essence into a dish isn't anywhere near as exciting as shaving one of those pricey pieces of fungus over your risotto or pasta, I can still appreciate some products that lean into flavor. This is especially true of charcuterie boards and party spreads, where some truffled cheeses or truffle honey can provide just enough of that earthy punch to stand out. While I basically assumed this product would be on the more aggressive side of truffle oil pungency, I still knew it would be a standout in the lineup.

It turns out I was correct in my assumption: I could barely peel off the lid before my entire kitchen smelled like someone had smashed a bottle of truffle oil on the floor. Undeterred, I grabbed a pita chip and took my first bite, and immediately found myself somewhat pleasantly surprised. Yes, it's a truly bold truffle flavor, but it still has a richness with the cream cheese base that makes it mostly work. By now, it should come as no surprise that this dip was also lacking in salt. But a part of me imagined this would work great as part of a bigger spread with plenty of diverse items, especially after realizing how well the dip also worked with the carrots and celery.

Like many Americans, I have a somewhat fraught relationship with store-bought queso. In most cases, I feel like I have to get lucky to find something worth buying, as those brilliant orange-colored jars of gloopy nacho sauce just don't do this amazing dip justice. Fortunately, this brand (which is technically not an in-house Aldi product, from what I can tell) takes the restaurant-style approach, making it much more appealing. I also have to admit here that, given the circumstances, I had to bring out my favorite tortilla chips as a dipping vehicle, as anything else wouldn't be fair to Gordo's.

After heating it up in the microwave for 90 seconds as recommended on the packaging, I got excited as I popped the lid and stirred up the now much runnier queso. I was pretty happy with my first bite: This did taste like above-average restaurant quality! It has that perfect, cheesy, buttery base without too much sharpness while still not being overly salty.

I'm almost tempted to say this would work better if dumped onto a plate of nachos, as even minutes after being out on my countertop, it began to cool and thicken again (or at least served with a tea light stand). Dressing this up with some green chilis or Mexican chorizo would likely put it over the top. But even on its own, I'm solidly convinced I'll be buying this again the next time I need it for a party.

When putting this list together, I have to admit that this was my first selection to include. It's the kind of homemade-style dip I would hope to see out at a party, made with a sour cream base with mayo, jalapeños, tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, spices, and cheeses. Even just opening the container, I could see the consistency was already better than many of the others in the lineup, which gave me hope there was a better cream-cheese-to-mayo ratio at work.

Fortunately, I was correct! It had a velvety texture with a subtle smokiness and a decent kick of spice from start to finish. I also appreciated the chunks of vegetables floating about, adding to the authentic, homemade feeling it pretty much had off the bat. After switching over to veggies, I realized that the relatively heavy dip fared even better, bringing a bright freshness to it that I hadn't noticed with the pita chips.

During our taste test, my wife said she would absolutely buy this again for a party, but would also like to use it as part of a seven-layer dip. I agreed that while I likely wouldn't buy this for everyday snacking, it was a pretty perfect party offering (and maybe even a spread for a sandwich or two).

As someone who goes through multiple tubs of Greek yogurt a week, I was fully expecting to be drawn to this classic. I've been known to whip up my own at home with cucumbers, garlic, and dill to snack on through the week and use in wraps. But having grown up surrounded by Greek neighbors, I also know how easy it can be to go through tubs of this at a party, thanks to how relatively light and refreshing it is compared to the heavier stable of cream cheese-based dips.

Of course, one bite of this on a crispy pita chip was all I needed to sell me. It had the right texture, an appropriate amount of salt, and the brightness I was hoping for when I opened the tub. My wife agreed that if we weren't already making it at home, this would be a suitable stand-in to use in our go-to Mediterranean wraps we make at lunch or for homemade souvlaki. Obviously, the cucumber and celery both worked just as well with the dip, too, and I essentially had to stop myself from eating more than a few bites.

My only slight knock is that this store-bought version is missing just a bit of the lactic kick you get from really good Greek yogurts. I assume adding a small squeeze of lemon to the mix should more than do the trick to kick it up to the levels I'm used to.

To come up with my selections, I consulted the Aldi website and carefully went through to find what would best represent a core of the store's dip offerings. I chose to focus on the base varieties so as not to get bogged down by multiple flavors of the same style of dip. I also decided to use typical neutral dipping bases, grabbing some carrots, celery, and a bag of Stacy's Sea Salt pita chips for tasting purposes.

During the tasting, I made it a point to try each dip once out of the fridge and then once again after it had sat out at room temperature (as you would see at a party or gathering). Of course, the lone exception to this was Gordo's queso dip, which requires a quick heating up in the microwave before serving. I also swapped tortilla chips in for the veggies when tasting the queso, as that just seemed the most appropriate. I ranked everything based on how well I thought it represented my past experiences with the dips and how much I liked it. Ultimately, any tiebreakers went to the dips I would see myself buying more of in the future.