Aldi Aisle Of Shame Column: Aldi Beef Birria Bites

Welcome back to the Aldi Aisle of Shame column, where Daily Meal's Aldi superfans try out the most attention-grabbing new Find of the week to let you know if it's worth seeking out.

There's little I love more than great Mexican food, and if I can heat it up quickly at home when the craving strikes, that's even better. Aldi's Mexican foods run the gamut from burritos and chimichangas to pork carnitas and chicken fajitas. But there's always room for more delicious additions I can add to my shopping cart, which is why I was super excited when I saw that Aldi was introducing beef birria bites.

If you're not already familiar with birria or how it's served, it's a way to prepare and serve meat that results in a spicy, savory, and exceptionally moist dish. Often, it's served almost soup-style in the juices it was cooked in, but birria tacos are amongst my favorite serving methods — breaded bite-form is a new one, and I had to try them.

I had high hopes that these would be at least halfway decent. Boy, was I wrong. Each birria bite consists of a ball of seasoned beef wrapped in a fairly thin breading, and the bag says a typical serving size is three — but I couldn't even gag a full one down.

The one positive thing I can say about these is that they smelled great while cooking; a light, savory scent mixed with hints of spice that made my mouth start watering. Unfortunately, the smell wasn't indicative of the flavor to any degree. The moment I bit into the first beef birria bite, I was greeted by a revolting texture that was kind of grainy from the breading and mushy from the meat. The flavor wasn't any better, featuring an overpowering spice laced with heavy artificial tones that made any other potential flavor notes indiscernible. To top it all off, the filling looked like it had already been digested when I cut one of these open.

This wasn't moist, braised beef but rather dog food with Mexican seasonings. Steer clear of this at all costs. If you're looking for a solid Mexican food or spicy snack from Aldi, there are many other significantly better options.