7 Aldi Prepared Chicken Items You Should Buy, And 2 You Should Skip

If you've been trying to stretch your grocery budget, chances are you've shopped at or thought about shopping at Aldi. Aldi is a private label retailer with a wealth of high-quality, affordable items that make stocking your fridge, freezer, and pantry super manageable. They have wonderfully indulgent pre-packaged bakery treats sure to satisfy your sweet tooth — along with frozen appetizers that make hosting gatherings simple. And the Aldi Emporium Selection cheeses are amazing — if you know, you know. But, if you haven't yet tried Aldi's prepared chicken items, you're really missing out.

Not only does Aldi carry everything from chicken nuggets to Asian-inspired chicken dishes, it also has a few gluten-free options. So, if you have to follow a gluten-free diet, there's no need to feel left out. Of course, not every prepared chicken item at Aldi is a hit, so it helps to know which items are worth buying and which are better off being skipped. Thankfully, you don't have to make a random purchase and hope for the best. I had the opportunity to try nine prepared chicken options and report my findings.

My food industry background and Aldi expertise makes me uniquely qualified to make these recommendations. To determine whether an item was worth buying, I considered taste, smell, texture, and overall perceived value. You can find my full methodology at the end of this article. Let's get into it.

Although I really enjoyed these Bremer Chicken Melts, I do want to offer a single warning about cooking times. These didn't cook properly for me based on the instructions printed on the box, and I ended up having to double it to ensure the cheese was melted and the chicken was hot. With that out of the way, I didn't have any other issues with these chicken melts during my taste test, making them something you should definitely buy on your next trip to Aldi.

There isn't a definitive smell to these either when they're cooking, nor when you pull them out of the microwave. However, you can catch very faint starchy and savory notes if you pay close attention. The first bite offers an explosion of complementing flavors that merge together to create a beautiful depth that I found appealing, especially for a quick snack. The flatbread pockets offer an intense starchiness with mild buttery and salty notes, which wraps around the creamy, milky cheese and savory chicken patties.

These Bremer Chicken Melts are an excellent option when you need to grab something on-the-go and in a hurry. While they can be eaten this way by themselves, they can also make a great entree for a full lunch when paired with French fries or tater tots.

I'm a big fan of egg rolls, although my personal preference is always to choose pork egg rolls (which the Fusia brand also makes). However, I found myself pleasantly surprised by just how good these Fusia Chicken Egg Rolls were and can definitely see myself keeping a box in stock for future snacks or meal sides. Plus, my daughter especially loved this Aldi prepared chicken item, so I'll likely keep them on hand for her, anyways.

There's a predominantly earthy smell to these egg rolls while they're cooking, which is accented with starchy notes. Truthfully, the savoriness of the chicken doesn't come through in the scent, but I was okay with that since the smell was mouthwatering as-is — and the smell of my food is really important to me, so this was a nice bonus. When I took my first bite, I was met by a satisfying crunch from the wrapper, which was followed by a generous mouthful of fillings. The first taste notes were dominantly starchy, but as these faded away, the flavor profile turned earthy, with light notes of savoriness from the chicken.

One or two Fusia Chicken Egg Rolls would make an excellent snack. However, I recommend heating these up to use as a side dish for homemade fried rice, as the two dishes complement each other nicely.

liveGfree is Aldi's dedicated gluten free private label, providing a range of delicious food items for people who have to follow a gluten free diet. I've eaten a lot of gluten free foods, as I prefer these whenever possible. But, I often find the taste and texture of these specialty products is off — thankfully, that hasn't been the case for any liveGfree products I've tasted now or in the past, with the General Tso's Chicken being no exception.

You can make this dish in either the microwave or oven; both options work well. I recommend using the microwave if you want your chicken bites to be a little softer, and using the oven if you want them to be crispier. There's no smell to these when cooking, but once you toss them in the Asian-style sauce provided, they have a robust sweet and spicy scent. Taste-wise, these mouth-sized bites feature a savory and starchy base heavily accented by sweet and spicy notes and the faintest citrusy tones.

The bag is divided to allow you to easily make two separate servings of this liveGfree Gluten Free General Tso's Chicken. Using it this way, it makes for a perfectly-sized lunch for one. Or, you can heat up the whole bag and pair it with sautéed vegetables and some white rice to create a whole meal for the family.

I can't be certain, but after trying both options, I think the liveGfree Gluten Free Chicken Breast Bites are the same thing used in the General Tso's Chicken. The only difference, of course, is that they don't come with Asian-style sauce. Like the other option, they also cook well in either the microwave or the oven, with the same rules applying based on the texture you're looking for — a softer texture is created using the microwave, while a crispier one is created using the oven.

There's no defining smell while these are cooking, although you can catch faint starchy notes if you get up close and smell after cooking. The taste is a perfect balance of starchy from the breading and savory from the chicken, accented by a good amount of salt. Something I really like about these is that they can be cooked quickly when you want to eat something filling but don't have a lot of time for it.

These liveGfree Gluten Free Chicken Breast Bites are great alone or when dipped in barbecue sauce, honey mustard, or even ranch dressing. For a meal, I recommend pairing them with either French fries or sweet potato fries.

Kirkwood is an Aldi private label that, based on what I've seen in store, makes a lot of chicken-based items. I've had a few of their products, with the Kirkwood Fully Cooked Chicken Fries coming in first place in my ranking of Aldi frozen appetizers. Since I was so pleased with previous products, I was happy to give more of their dishes a try for this taste testing — and, the brand did not disappoint.

I will say my experience with these Kirkwood Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Nuggets started off on a shaky note because the smell wasn't entirely appetizing. It had that hallmark smell of lower-quality chicken nuggets that have been paired with rib meat. However, I'm glad I persevered because the nuggets didn't have that low-quality taste to them. While they didn't quite taste like 100% white meat chicken, they did have a nice savory profile encased with well-seasoned starchy notes that I enjoyed. Perhaps even more importantly, my son quickly devoured his plate before asking for more. Since he can be quite a picky eater, I'll take this as a raving endorsement.

These nuggets are fine on their own or with your favorite dipping sauce. Like a few other options on this list, pairing them with French fries is a great choice to make a full meal. I also recommend adding mac and cheese to that meal, as the flavor profile complements these nuggets.

This was the second Kirkwood product I had the pleasure of trying for this taste test and honestly, I think it turned out to be my favorite chicken dish from the brand thus far. I like that the Kirkwood Fully Cooked Popcorn Chicken is made with white meat chicken containing no added hormones or steroids — making it a good choice for people who try to avoid these in their meats. It's also helpful that these are shaped into small pieces that are perfectly bite-sized.

While these were cooking, a mouthwatering peppery and savory smell had me feeling impatient for them to be done. After the wait, I finally got to pop my first popcorn chicken into my mouth, and I was immediately pleased. A warm black pepper seasoning overlaid a savory and starchy profile lightly streaked with buttery notes. The texture of the breading wasn't too soft or too crispy, while the chicken inside was delightfully moist and tender. If you buy no other Aldi prepared chicken items from this list, I strongly recommend grabbing this one.

The strong peppery flavor of the Kirkwood Fully Cooked Popcorn Chicken is nicely balanced by potato salad and coleslaw. Or, if you aren't a fan of either of those, it could also be paired with an oven baked potato and baked beans.

I want to preface this recommendation by saying that I went back and forth on whether to recommend buying or skipping the Bremer Chicken Fajitas Skillet. Ultimately, I decided it was worth buying because it does taste delicious. The reason I debated not recommending it is because there's an overwhelming amount of peppers and onions compared to chicken, so it feels a little unbalanced. That said, the truly fantastic taste makes it worthwhile anyways.

There's a nice sweet and savory smell that emanates from this chicken fajita mix while it's cooking on the stovetop. When I took my first bite, my taste buds were greeted by a dominant sweetness from the peppers paired with a little savoriness and faint smokey notes. The seasoning profile was good, although I would have preferred it slightly stronger — but I think most people will find the seasoning acceptable.

This would be ideal wrapped in a freshly warmed tortilla and could be dressed up in your favorite spicy sauce. I say spicy sauce because some heat would balance the dominant sweetness in this skillet. This would also be excellent served over yellow rice.

There are only two Aldi prepared chicken items that I confidently recommend you skip, and this Fusia Chicken Lo Mein is the first of those. The sauce packet was a weird, unexpected brown color, which was a little off-putting, and the noodle mixture didn't look appetizing while frozen. Truthfully, if it weren't for this taste test, I likely wouldn't have eaten it. But, I carried on and experienced what I can only describe as a gross, sloppy mess.

You have to make this chicken lo mein in a pan on the stove, so it isn't as convenient as most of the items I recommend buying. Of course, this isn't necessarily a deal breaker. But, this also smelled weird while it was cooking. Instead of the sweet, savory, and tangy combination I was expecting, it smelled more musty and just weird in a way that's hard to describe. Again, the smell of my food is important to me, so this was my first deal breaker.

When I took my first bite, I was greeted by noodles that tasted a bit slimy, vegetables that were overpowered by the sauce, and chicken that did impart the savoriness I expected (thankfully). The sauce had a faintly musty taste to pair with the smell, with an overbearing amount of saltiness. Definitely skip this on your next Aldi shopping trip.

Not only is the Fusia Chicken Fried Rice the second item I recommend skipping, but it's also the one I would have ranked last if this was a ranking. From the beginning, it wasn't appealing, between an oddly colored brown sauce to the obviously lacking amount of chicken in the frozen bag. Nevertheless, I cooked the fried rice in a skillet, and plated it.

The sauce I was wary about had that same faint musty taste as the other Fusia bag option, paired with a bit of spiciness. I thought the lima beans were a weird choice, and they remained quite hard while everything else cooked more or less appropriately. The rice and other vegetables were fine as is, although I lamented at how little chicken there was. What chicken did find its way into the dish was fine on its own.

I didn't enjoy the smell or taste of this meal; it was poorly balanced due to the lack of chicken. This is really a shame because fried rice dishes are something I usually love. Definitely skip this on your next Aldi shopping trip. If you're really craving chicken fried rice, I suggest making it yourself.

I chose Aldi prepared chicken items based on their availability to me at the Aldi in Vineland, New Jersey. Of those items available during my visit, efforts were made to secure a wide range of options to ensure the most comprehensive review. Items were judged based on taste, smell, texture, and overall perceived value. From these qualities, I decided whether an item was good (and therefore worth buying), or bad (and worth skipping).

To make my determinations, I relied primarily on more than 15 years of experience in the food industry. I also leaned into three decades of cooking at home, extensive experience with Aldi, and previous work creating recommendations for Daily Meal — like this similar one ranking Aldi frozen pre-made meals. Although personal preference played a role in this recommendation, I aimed to be as unbiased about product quality as possible.