7 Aldi Produce Items Worth Every Penny, And 2 You Can Leave Behind

Aldi is a private label grocery store that I (and many others) regularly shop at because they carry a wide range of quality products that are relatively inexpensive. Even without utilizing tricks for shopping at Aldi on a budget, I've always been able to load up my grocery cart with my favorite spicy snacks, dairy essentials, high quality fresh meats, and, of course, plenty of fresh produce. The Aldi produce section has sometimes gotten a bad rap, but I personally love it. There's a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and salad mixes at affordable prices that are sometimes as low as half of what my other local grocers charge. But, not every produce item is worth your hard-earned money. How can you tell which are worth every penny and which you can safely leave behind?

You can skip the guessing games and jump straight to filling your cart with only the most worthwhile produce. I was given the opportunity to try nine items from this department and report my findings back here. Each was judged based on taste and freshness, after I carefully chose the best available options from the presented selection. I used my food industry background and other relevant experiences to make these assessments. You can find my full methodology at the end of this article. Now, ready to discover which Aldi fruits and veggies you should snag and which you should leave on the shelf? Let's get into it.

When I was looking through the produce bins, there were a lot of these Sunset Beefsteak Tomatoes available, and many of them were in very good condition. In fact, there were only a handful out of dozens that were a little soft or squishy, with none sporting mold or other indicators of truly poor quality. This is fantastic, since I go through a lot of tomatoes, using them in everything from homemade tomato sauce to an old-school American goulash dinner, and beyond.

Once I brought the best three-pack I could find home, I further inspected them. These were firm, with an appropriate amount of give, and had a beautiful bright red coloring devoid of any green or brown spots. The taste was a little sweet, with defined earthy notes. These tomatoes featured a good amount of acid that didn't feel excessive — and thank goodness, because overly acidic foods can quickly turn my stomach angry.

I used some of these tomatoes in a salad with the mixed greens and cucumbers also featured in this article, alongside a bit of sprinkled cheese that I also got from Aldi. The last fruit in the pack was used in a tomato sandwich with mayo, salt, and pepper on some sourdough bread. Aldi's beefsteak tomatoes worked great for both uses, and I highly recommend grabbing a pack or two.

At most local grocery stores, and even some of my preferred produce stands, I've run into the issue of these mini potatoes being rotten. I enjoy using these, so their apparent propensity to rot before purchase has been a sore spot for me. At first glance of the Aldi potato bin, the assortment of bags that showcased rotten or heavily eyed options made me believe this would also be the case here. However, with some digging around, I found numerous bags that appeared perfectly acceptable, and, to me, I think the small extra effort was well worth it.

Each bag of potatoes is just enough to make one good side for a family of four. If your family is bigger, or you plan on making an entrée with your potatoes, grab two or three bags instead. The texture before cooking is very firm and crunchy, which transitions to soft and flaky after cooking. The flavor of the potatoes on their own is exactly what you'd expect from a good spud, predominantly being starchy with a few earthy notes.

I created a side of oven roasted potatoes with Aldi's Gourmet Petite Potatoes Classic Medley. I seasoned most of the potatoes with salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, parsley, paprika, and oregano. However, I left a few potatoes unseasoned to taste their natural flavor. In both instances, they held up well to my standards, and I will definitely be buying them on future shopping trips.

Not only were there an abundance of these three-pack Nature Sweet Mixed Bell Peppers available in the Aldi produce section, but the vast majority of them appeared incredibly fresh. There were limited options with wrinkled skin or soft spots, and none sported mold or other signs of extreme spoilage. Thanks to these facts, it was pretty easy to pick the best available option.

I really like the three pepper combination because it adds a lot of color to any dishes you use them in. The peppers I brought home had a nice crisp texture that softened well as they were cooked. A natural sweetness is dominant in the flavor profile, which features faint notes of earthiness that are a little stronger in the green pepper than the brighter-colored varieties.

I put these to good use making sausage and peppers, which I served over white rice instead of inside a roll. The peppers worked beautifully here, offering a nice sweet counterpoint to the spicy sausage. I highly recommend grabbing a few packs of these on your next Aldi trip. For me, I plan to purchase a several of these and slice them up so I can freeze them for quick meal prep throughout the week.

When I was looking at these Nature Sweet Starlight Garden Fresh Mini Cukes, I didn't see a single bag of rotten cucumbers. Not only that, but I didn't find more than two bags featuring vegetables that were slightly past their prime. This was fantastic because cucumbers (like potatoes) are another place where I frequently find produce rotting on the shelves.

There were a handful or so of mini cucumbers inside the bag — which, to me, is the perfect amount to have on hand for snacking without risking spoilage before you can consume them. People with larger families may want to buy two bags. Texturally, these were firm with softer centers, and quite juicy. The taste was very mild, but refreshingly crisp and watery, featuring that hallmark "cool" feeling cucumbers are so well known for. Amongst the dominant flavor notes were subtle sweet tones and a faint earthiness, adding an appealing layer of complexity I hadn't expected.

I used half of these mini cukes in a salad alongside the tomatoes and mixed greens on this list. I sliced the other half of the bag and popped them into snacking cups with ranch dressing. I munched on these for days without tiring of them. If you enjoy cucumbers, these are a must-add to your Aldi shopping list.

Here was another example where I saw little to no spoilage amongst the selection. All of the Sunbelle Blackberries that I found on the Aldi shelf looked perfectly acceptable and ready to eat (after a thorough wash, of course). This was such a determining factor in my considerations on whether an Aldi produce item was worth every penny because I've frequently heard complaints about the spoilage issue. Of course, this doesn't seem to be an issue solely at Aldi, but at many grocery stores around the nation, based on my experience and that of those I've spoken to.

These blackberries aren't quite as good as the ones I pick straight from the bush at my father's house in West Virginia, but, I'm not exaggerating when I say they're some of the best I've gotten here in New Jersey. These berries were firm, but squished nicely with a little pressure between my fingers. And, they were absolutely gushing with the perfect combination of sweet and sour, featuring overarching, delicate earthy undertones. Each little clamshell container includes enough blackberries for a satisfying light snack for one to two people.

I ate half of these blackberries plain as a quick and healthy snack during my work day. The other half I used as part of some berry-based breakfast parfaits for myself and my children. I layered my favorite Mixed Berry Blended Friendly Farms Greek Yogurt with these blackberries, and a handful of my preferred honey cluster granola.

Truthfully, I had chosen the Little Salad Bar Sliced Pineapple for inclusion in this list initially. But, there weren't any when I visited the store to do my shopping, so I grabbed these instead. Although I was initially disappointed because pineapples are one of my favorite snacking fruits, I can't be upset when these Little Salad Bar Cantaloupe Chunks were truly delicious.

The very first thing I noticed about these pieces of fruit were that they were soft and juicy, and this was the general consensus for all the shelved offerings. To me, this is a huge boon because many of the pre-sliced cantaloupe I've purchased from stores have been too hard and under-ripe. As for the taste? These orangish chunks were very sweet, bursting with flavorful juice, and featured mild floral notes throughout. The container included a nice amount of cantaloupe for the price.

I shared this cantaloupe with my children as a snack, pairing it with some full-fat cottage cheese. If you haven't tried this flavor combination yet, I highly suggest it because it's the perfect blend of juicy sweetness and rich dairy. Of course, you'll want to make sure to grab some of this Aldi pre-sliced cantaloupe to make it with.

The Simply Nature Organic Mixed Greens were one of two salad mixes I included in my taste test, and they were also the only ones I can actually recommend. Unfortunately, I have to say that leafy greens and salad mixes generally aren't something that Aldi does well, in my personal experience. But, for this product specifically, all of the boxes remaining on the shelves looked to be fresh.

These mixed greens included a combination of baby spinach, baby chard, and baby green kale. They're organic, already thoroughly washed, and contain no preservatives — all of which I really liked. But, what I liked even more is how great they looked, both inside the package and after I'd taken them out to arrange in a bowl for my salad. The coloring is mostly a bright, vivid green, with a few dark purple tinted pieces adding a gorgeous contrast. Texturally, these were crisp and fresh. I mostly tasted earthiness, as one would expect from salad greens. However, there were robust bitter notes and faint sweet tones throughout that added flavor complexity.

I mostly used these to make a salad with the tomatoes and cucumbers in this article. However, I also used a handful of them to create a bed for my lemon pepper chicken recipe. Here, it added a nice pop of color that made the whole meal look more appetizing.

There were only two produce items from this whole list that I have to tell you to leave behind, and these Bland Farms Premium Sweet Onions are the first of those. It was challenging to find a bag of onions that weren't either heavily spoiled or on their way there, which was disappointing. I did find a bag that appeared acceptable, if not perfect, so at least that was something.

It's with great sadness that I have to tell you looks can be deceiving. Although the onions I grabbed looked good, most of them ended up being rotten on the inside. Out of the whole bag, I ended up with two that I could use, and I had to cut part of one off to make it edible. The texture of those that I did end up using was a little squishier than I would have preferred, but the taste was nicely sweet and zingy like I would have expected.

It's a shame I can't recommend these because the taste really wasn't bad. But, as it stands, you're better off buying your onions elsewhere. I personally suggest trying your local farmer's market for any produce you can't affordably and reliably get at Aldi.

Since the Little Salad Bar Italian Salad bag was really cheap, I had hopes it would turn out well. We go through a lot of salad in my house and I'll be completely honest, I hate chopping lettuce. I know, it's such a silly thing to hate coming from a person who has spent three decades in kitchens, but there it is. Unfortunately, this bagged salad mix won't be gracing my refrigerator again, and I'll be sticking with the mixed greens option above.

The lettuce in this salad was sad. That's the best way I can describe it to you. Even though I picked the best option, the lettuce was wilted and many pieces were brown along the edges. Everything was also really wet, which was weird to me, and likely contributed to how quickly this lettuce seemed to go bad. The texture was too soft, and the taste was very bland.

I threw most of this into the garbage, which I hate doing. I strongly recommend leaving this (and most bagged salads from Aldi) on the shelf. Buy your lettuce elsewhere or opt for the mixed greens option at Aldi that I keep raving about.

I chose a variety of Aldi produce items for inclusion in this list, based on their availability to me at my local store in Vineland, New Jersey. Of those options I found, I aimed to pick a wide assortment from the most common produce subcategories, including fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, salad mixes, and pre-cut produce. At the store, care was taken to find the best-looking, freshest-appearing options that were currently available. Each produce item was judged primarily on taste and whether they were fresh, old, or rotten (despite having chosen the best available option). Since all Aldi products are relatively cheap, cost was not a factor, but how much produce you received per bag or container was.

I primarily relied on more than 15 years of food industry background to make my judgments, during which time I frequently chose and used fresh produce. Extensive personal consumption of fresh produce also helped, as did my previous work creating Daily Meal articles. This includes somewhat similar Aldi-based articles, like this one ranking the best Aldi spices, and this one ranking Aldi Mexican foods. Personal preference did play a role in this ranking, but I strived to be unbiased about product quality.