- I tried 18 different frozen appetizers from Aldi and ranked them from worst to best.
- I wasn't a fan of the Appetitos Buffalo-style chicken dip or Fusia chicken egg rolls.
- However, my whole family enjoyed the Appetitos breaded cheese curds and cheese-stuffed pretzels.
The Super Bowl is almost here, but before the Chiefs and Eagles kick off on Sunday night, football fans have game-day menus to plan.
For those of us who don't have time to prepare a vast variety of homemade snacks, Aldi has a broad array of frozen-appetizer options at reasonable prices.
In the interest of figuring out which of the discount supermarket chain's starters would be worth serving at a Super Bowl party (or any other type, for that matter), I recently took a trip to Aldi and bought 18 different appetizers — nearly everything they had, and as much as I could fit in my freezer.
Then, I sampled them all with my family of four and ranked them from worst to first.
I wasn't a fan of the Appetitos Buffalo-style chicken dip.
Normally, I'm a fan of anything that's made Buffalo-style. However, the Appetitos Buffalo chicken dip was oddly heavy on onions — which isn't a flavor I typically associate with Buffalo wings.
When I pulled it from the microwave, the combination of earthiness from the onions and vinegar from the hot sauce produced an unpleasant aroma. It didn't look especially appetizing, either.
There was a respectable amount of chicken, and the peppery flavor of the hot sauce was good, but the onions tasted out of place, and the whole dip was a bit too tangy for my taste.
At $5 for a 12.5-ounce portion, it didn't seem like a great value relative to the other deals at Aldi.
I wouldn't buy the Fusia chicken egg rolls again.
Unfortunately, the Fusia chicken egg rolls fell apart a bit while cooking in my air fryer.
The outer crust was more dry and crumbly than the egg rolls I prefer. The stuffing was also heavy on cabbage, leaving a fairly strong aftertaste that I didn't love.
At $3.40 for a package of four, I'll probably skip these next time.
Mama Cozzi's pizza bagels were just OK.
Mama Cozzi's mini pizza bagels looked exactly like the more familiar Bagel Bites brand appetizer.
They tasted a lot like them, too, but to me, they didn't stack up well against the other options I tried. I found the sauce a little too sweet, the bagel a bit too dry, and the pepperoni lacking in flavor.
At $7.10 for a pack of 36 bagel bites, these were less expensive than similar products I've seen at other grocery stores.
I wish the Kirkwood Buffalo-style chicken wings came with the sauce on the side.
Wings are fairly easy to prepare from fresh or frozen chicken, and unfortunately, I didn't think the Kirkwood Buffalo-style chicken wings stood up to the version I make myself.
The wings came with sauce already on them, which likely prevented them from getting crispy in the air fryer. The chicken was a bit on the greasy side, but they packed more spice than I expected.
I thought $5.90 was a good deal for more than a pound of wings, but I would've preferred this product if the sauce came in a separate packet.
My daughter enjoyed the Fusia mini wontons.
I steamed the Fusia mini wontons in the microwave, and given how many of the appetizers I tried were fried, I was happy about the change of pace.
The pork-and-vegetable stuffing was heavy on scallion flavor and a bit sweet.
At $6.90 for a 24-ounce bag, these were on the costlier side of Aldi's appetizer offerings. However, I'd buy these again because my 4-year-old daughter loved them — and she's particular about dumplings.
Mama Cozzi's pepperoni pizza snacks reminded me of brand-name pizza rolls.
Like the pizza bagels I tried, Mama Cozzi's pepperoni pizza snacks closely resembled the brand-name product.
These didn't explode in the air fryer, which is an issue I've had with similar snacks in the past, and their outer shell took on a nice, crispy texture.
The $6.50 price tag seemed very reasonable for an enormous 45-ounce bag. However, I would've preferred a smaller option to keep in my freezer.
The Casa Mamita stuffed beef and cheese nachos reminded me of fried ravioli.
The Casa Mamita stuffed beef and cheese nachos looked like toasted ravioli, and the chewy-crunchy outer shell had the same texture.
Inside, the stuffed nachos were reminiscent of a convenience-store microwavable burrito, which is not meant as a knock. The filling was heavier on cheese than seasoned beef, and I could've gone for a bit more of the latter.
However, they had a nice peppery kick to them, and at $4, would make for a fine change of pace at a Super Bowl party.
The Kirkwood chicken fries were great for dipping.
Aldi had a wide selection of chicken nuggets and tenders. I chose the Kirkwood chicken fries because the $5.30 24-ounce bag was the smallest and least expensive option.
There wasn't much seasoning in the breading, and there was a high bread-to-chicken ratio, but they were great for dipping.
The Appetitos mac-and-cheese bites tasted better when dipped in a homemade aioli.
The Appetitos mac-and-cheese bites looked exactly like chicken nuggets but were stuffed with creamy, melty cheese and pasta.
They were salty but a little light on flavor and definitely tastier when dipped in a homemade cajun aioli. However, these blew my 4-year-old's mind, and she insisted on showing me that every bite had "real mac and cheese inside."
I thought $3.50 seemed well worth it for the 8-ounce package.
The Bremer mini corn dogs were better than I expected them to be.
Since I prefer beef hot dogs to chicken ones, I had reservations about Bremer's mini corn dogs.
However, they cooked up nicely in the air fryer, with a nice crispness to the honey-tinged cornmeal crusts. The franks inside didn't taste like much, but they didn't detract from the snack, either.
Like most corn dogs, these were much better with mustard or ketchup. A huge 26.8-ounce box cost me $6.50.
The SeaPak wild-caught clam strips crisped up nicely in the air fryer.
I didn't realize it at the time, but the SeaPak wild-caught clam strips were the only appetizer I found at Aldi that didn't come from one of the supermarket's house brands.
The clam strips, which cost $5 for an 8-ounce box, took on a great crunch from my air fryer and packed a nice, mildly briny seafood flavor.
The Appetitos jalapeño poppers made a decent appetizer.
The Appetitos jalapeño poppers did not disappoint. At $2.90 for an 11-ounce package, they were the least expensive starters I found.
There wasn't a ton of kick from the jalapeños, but they were a nice, tender complement to the crunchy breading and molten cream cheese.
They weren't the best jalapeño poppers I've ever had, but if I paid for them at a local bar, I wouldn't complain.
The Season's Choice Buffalo cauliflower bites were a pleasant surprise.
Cauliflower is one of my least-favorite vegetables, but after eating so many breaded, fried, cheese-stuffed things, I was excited about a breaded, fried vegetable-stuffed thing.
Unlike the Buffalo wings I tried, the Season's Choice Buffalo cauliflower bites came with the sauce in a separate packet. Even after I tossed them in the sauce, they maintained a nice crunch, and the cauliflower had a nice, hearty texture.
I also thought $3.50 for a 13-ounce bag seemed like a good deal.
My whole family enjoyed the Appetitos breaded cheese curds.
The Appetitos breaded cheese curds, which cost $4.40 for a 15-ounce package, were an absolute hit with my whole family.
They had a winning combination of hot, molten cheese and crunchy, salty breading.
The Appetitos loaded potato skins were my wife's favorite.
I don't normally love potato skins or baked potatoes, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Aldi's cheddar-and-bacon-topped potato skins.
They were hardly "skins" at all — more like baked potato halves.
When cooked, they had more potato flavor than I expected, a smoother texture than I would've imagined possible from a frozen baked potato, and nice bits of salty crunch from the bacon.
They cost $3.50 for a package of four and were my wife's favorite of the appetizers we tried.
I wish there were more cream-cheese wontons in the package.
The Appetitos cream-cheese wontons had a crispy, flaky crust that I really enjoyed. They weren't overwhelmingly greasy, and the cream cheese inside was smooth and rich.
I tried them with a few different dips, but I liked them best on their own. However, there were only six wontons in the $3.70 package, so I'd need to buy multiple boxes if I were to serve them to guests.
I'll definitely purchase the Appetitos cheese-stuffed pretzels again.
Appetitos' cheese-stuffed pretzels were another family favorite. The warm, sweet, soft pretzels provided a great vehicle for the hot, creamy cheddar cheese inside.
I especially liked that they weren't overwhelmingly salty. A few of them lost some cheese in the cooking process, but I trust that I can make the necessary adjustments moving forward.
At $3 for a 10-ounce box, I'll absolutely buy these again.
The Fremont shrimp queso bites were my favorite.
Most of Aldi's cheese-stuffed appetizers were good, but in my opinion, the Fremont shrimp queso bites were the best.
At $5 for an 11-ounce bag, they were on the expensive side by Aldi standards. There was definitely a lot more queso than shrimp inside the golden-brown puffs, but I could definitely taste the seafood.
The cheese also had a sharp, peppery spice. Of the 18 appetizers I tried, these were a narrow favorite.
