Should I apologize for my extreme obsession with Aldi? My first trip to an Aldi was at the store in Pittsburg, KS after Chad started to school there. Joplin also has an Aldi and it was about the same distance to Pittsburg as it was to Joplin but if I went to Pittsburg, I didn’t have to deal with the traffic in Joplin and, if I timed it right, I could meet Chad for lunch since he was in college there. I didn’t go often – maybe once a month. The funny thing was that the first few times I went, I didn’t even like it and really only went back because of Vince insisting I shop there because of the prices. At some point, the love affair with Aldi began and blossomed.
Then, when we moved here, I missed Aldi terribly! When I’d come back from my trips to MO, I’d stop at the Aldi in Lawton, OK and stock up on as much as I could fit in the car.
It wasn’t until the store opened here and we would go often . . yes, mostly every day or every other day, that it became almost a mission to find the most amazing bargains and the best foods.
There’s an “Aldi Nerd” Facebook group and if you think I’m addicted to Aldi, you should see some of those people. They’re way worse (that’s my story!).
On that group, they’ve been talking about the “red bag chicken”. Most of them say if you use those chicken breasts, and the brioche buns, it tastes just like a chicken sandwich from . . I probably shouldn’t say the name but they’re not open on Sunday and Vince and I go there often. OK . . got it?
I am really picky about my chicken and had no intention of trying it. When Vince and I go to the restaurant, he gets the sandwich and I get the strips, which I carefully cut apart and make sure there are no gross veins or weird rubbery pieces that I’m going to bite into. When I buy raw chicken, I really give it the once over and I cut out anything that doesn’t look completely right – bruises, veins, fat, rubbery looking parts. So, no . . buying a pre-breaded, pre-cooked chicken breast was not going to work for me. Except . . those people on the Facebook group were relentless . . they cannot live without their red bag chicken and brioche buns.
The last time we were out, there it was at our store – red bag chicken! I told Vince about how everyone raves about it. He got the bag out, looked at it, shook it a bit and said “No, I don’t think we’d like this.” I said “Fine, eat out and pay more!” He got the red bag chicken.
And another bag of brioche buns.
I wasn’t sure how long to cook it. I knew the Aldi Nerd folks were mostly cooking it in the air fryer so I googled it and found this page. Not only does it have complete instructions, which really . . cook in air fryer for 10 minutes on one side, flip and cook on the other side for 10 minutes, but she also had the recipe for the sauce that I love! The sauce that I can actually eat with a spoon. She said to use the Aldi brand (of course!) Carolina BBQ sauce and mayo, equal parts. I can do that!
Just that morning I had worked on cleaning out the pantry, came across that bottle of Carolina BBQ sauce that is about to expire; thought to myself that we never use a different BBQ sauce but kept it anyway. So I grabbed it, grabbed the mayo and mixed it up.
There it is . . right next to a container of the real thing . . looking almost exactly like it and tasting exactly like it! Vince was working on a computer and I went in there with a spoon I’d dipped in the sauce and said “Taste this!” Honest to goodness . . he said “Why are you wasting the sauce?” because he thought it was the sauce we’d brought home from the restaurant!
Put the sauce on the bread, made the sandwiches. Oh, my . . those sandwiches were so good. The chicken was tender and there was nothing weird in it – I didn’t see any veins or any rubbery pieces. Perfect!
We both sat there saying . . WOW! This is so good. I was so good. I’m so happy I tried the red bag chicken.
Carol says
You’ve convinced me to give Aldi another try. I went once and wasn’t impressed. Between this and the thinly sliced steaks, I’ll try. But what do I look for with the steaks?
Judy Laquidara says
The steak is packaged in a package similar to ground beef (plastic tray with high sides). I think it says something like “shaved ribeye”. I can’t remember what it says and I’ve taken all mine out of the package and vacuum sealed it but you’ll know it when you see it.
A lot of things are seasonal or on some unexplained rotation basis. I’ll find things in there and then not see them again for months. I actually haven’t seen the shaved steak in probably a month but it could be selling out before I see it.
Don’t forget the brioche buns! 🙂
Cecilia Walis says
Good to know and anxious to try! LOVE Aldi and have been shopping there since the early nineties.
Judy Laquidara says
Oh, goodness! You had a head start on me. It was probably about 2009 when I discovered them.
Connie says
I have not developed your love for Aldi. Maybe I need to force myself to keep going.
Judy Laquidara says
Not everyone likes it, and that’s ok, but we find the neatest things there and since food is one of the things we love, and eating out is one of the things we don’t love, we’re always happy to find interesting food (and other things as well) there.
Ava says
We have three Aldi stores here and the newest one is only 2 miles from me. I love the Brioche buns. Now I’m getting hungry for a chicken sandwich (and it hasn’t been that long since I had lunch).
Dottie says
We’ve been Aldi’s fans for almost 30 years. Funny story – we had friends over to play cards and I had picked up a can of mixed nuts at Aldi’s. We were telling the husband about all the good stuff at Aldi’s – he said, I won’t buy anything but the name brand. I asked him how he liked the mixed nuts and he thought they were great – said P****s brand was always good. The look on his face when he found out they were Aldi’s was priceless. :-).
Judy Laquidara says
When I first mentioned shopping at Aldi, someone told me not to buy their mayo. Of course, I had to try it and I absolutely cannot tell the difference in their brand and the name brand we mostly had been purchasing. I can’t think of anything we’ve bought that we did like like but we’re not really picky eaters. Our store seems to have a problem with fresh produce and their milk goes bad before the expiration date so we’re picky about the produce we buy there and unless they have milk with a way far expiration date, we don’t buy milk there. Last time we bought milk, the expiration date at Walmart was 2/7 and the expiration date at Aldi was 2/17 so we didn’t mind buying Aldi milk that day.
Chris Miller says
You’re killin’ me here!! I even googled Aldi and they are not within 1500 miles of here. A bit too far to shop. Sigh… Enjoy those sandwiches!
Tee says
When I am staying in Denver (no Aldi’s), my husband brings a suitcase full of Aldi buys. I cannot live without them!
Judy Laquidara says
Nice husband! 🙂
Nelle Coursey says
You are making me want to start going to Aldi!!
Judy Laquidara says
I can’t believe you haven’t been going. We love shopping there. We go to Walmart for things Aldi doesn’t carry (chicken livers; a wide variety of dry beans). Otherwise, we hardly shop anywhere else. I think it’s a really fun place to shop.
Marnell kames says
I love Aldi so much I wrote a jingle for it.
Ethelann Wood says
Our nearest Aldi’s is about an hour away.We make time to go. We will be looking for the red bag chicken. We are going to the opening of a Lidl store this week, it is also a German company that is supposed to be similar to Aldi’s with lower prices. It is over an hour away but who won’t drive to find another cool place to shop…LOL. We will stop at Aldi’s also.
Judy Laquidara says
Let me know what you think of the Lidl store. I have heard about those.
We would probably be better off if our Aldi was a bit farther away because sometimes one of us will say . . want to go see what Aldi has that’s interesting? And . . off we go when we really don’t need anything.
Susan Nixon says
Yes, yes, you should apologize. LOL!