13 Items You Should Avoid At Aldi, According To Reddit

As frustrating as it is to visit multiple grocery stores to find everything you need, Aldi unfortunately cannot be your one-stop shop. Since opening its first U.S. location in 1976, the German discount grocer has developed a cult-like following, beloved for its quirky snacks and good deals. The Aisle of Shame, for example, is a section in the supermarkets dedicated solely to a hodge-podge collection of weird and limited-time offers. Although it's not hard to score incredible finds throughout the unique and varied selection at Aldi, we have to admit some of the chain's items are a complete misstep. 

Instead of trudging through an endless trial by error, we consulted the crossroads where Aldi's devotees meet the open and sometimes painfully honest opinions of Reddit. The first red flag was a megathread on r/Aldi with over 700 comments, titled "What items do you avoid buying at Aldi?" To save you the trouble, we combed through the subreddit to gather advice from customers who weren't afraid to share which products are a disappointment, and which items have changed for the worse. While you could always try to take advantage of Twice as Nice — a liberal return policy on Aldi-brand items that fail to meet expectations — skip the hassle and simply cross the following items off your shopping list for good.

The amount of posts on r/Aldi about lunch meat is honestly alarming, and reason enough to steer clear of the pre-packaged slices for good. Aldi offers plenty of deli meats from various brands, but Redditors stress that the ones to avoid come loose in sealed plastic bags, labeled as fresh or deli sliced. "I had never bought deli meat from them until a few days ago, opened it yesterday for the first time and it was the most rank, slimy turkey I've ever seen," one shopper shared on the "what to avoid" megathread. Another upset customer claimed, "Pretty sure I got listeria off some last year — was the only one who ate any and I was sick for a week."

Of course, we'll take anything a stranger on the Internet says with a grain of salt, but another solid reason to skip the Aldi brand lunch meats is that none of the supermarkets have a proper deli counter. This cost-cutting move means the meats are shipped in slurries of saline and sugar water to extend their shelf-life, creating a sticky and unpleasant texture that repels some customers.

A shopper on another thread said that the expiration date on their honey ham looked suspiciously everlasting, but the meat had already gone bad after two days unopened in the fridge. A similarly disgruntled Redditor agreed, writing, "Very uneven quality varying from 'barely acceptable' to 'is this meat'?"

No other brand really stands a chance at recreating the grip Doritos has on our taste buds, but Redditors have made it clear that Aldi's take is particularly bad. "Their Doritos dupes are criminal," one shopper posted on a thread calling out the worst dupes at Aldi. Sold under one of the private house brands, Clancy's nacho cheese tortilla chips are regularly attacked on the supermarket subreddit. Should a customer venture to say they actually enjoy the product, they're promptly ratioed in the comments. "These are so foul I'd rather eat styrofoam shaped like them," another Redditor responded after one user bravely described Clancy's as "quality."

Plenty of Aldi's copycat snacks have come under legal heat for mimicking original designs, but Clancy's has so far escaped any lawsuits. Reddit customers will assure you, however, that the flavor misses the mark entirely. "You can tell from the Aldi Doritos packaging that they lack DUST," one such customer cried. Many describe the texture as something between a tortilla, kettle, and Sun Chip.

In Clancy's defense, some Redditors point out that the Aldi copycat doesn't have any artificial coloring, like Doritos. Actually it does, and Clancy's is so chock-full of additives and preservatives that we're thinking if you're craving Doritos, spend the extra buck and buy the Doritos.

It turns out Redditors have a bone to pick with Aldi's fresh packaged chicken breasts, too. "They were tough and very stringy," one shopper reported, looking for some solidarity. "I took two bites and couldn't finish it due to the texture." Far from a unique experience, the chicken breasts are a repeat offender on r/Aldi, criticized for an almost inedible chewiness. Another Reddit customer posted a video, showing how their thumb broke though the raw chicken almost as if it were ground meat. Some users claim it depends on the cut, or that they've never had an issue with the chicken, so it may be a hit-or-miss if you're willing to risk it.

Whenever a shopper complains about the poultry on the subreddit, it's often followed by the mention of "woody chicken." This term refers to cuts that are unpleasantly tough and rubbery, likely due to growing too large, too fast on mass-scale farms. More of an industry-wide issue, Aldi is nowhere near the only supermarket where you'll encounter unappetizing cuts of woody chicken. It might even vary by individual location, since Aldi cuts transportation costs by sourcing its fresh meat from the closest suppliers. You can amend a tough chicken breast by tenderizing, stewing, or shredding it, but we'd recommend finding a local grocer or butcher that offers a more consistent quality.

Nothing is quite as satisfying as getting all your groceries done in one go, but Reddit shoppers warn you not to go to Aldi with produce on the shopping list. Instead, take a look at what's available and what actually looks good. In one Redditor's experience, even judging the fruits or veggies by looks isn't enough. After carefully inspecting and buying some blueberries and mushrooms, the OP discovered their produce had gone mushy by the next day. Further along the thread, another customer responded, "I only buy what I plan to use THAT DAY. It practically goes bad on the car ride home!" 

It seems several of Aldi's produce aisles are in sad shape, with "rotten or near-rotten" products on display, as shared by a client on a separate thread. "I got fruit flies in my house multiple times because of Aldi," another user replied.

Many Redditors also find that certain products (particularly bananas) will look deceptively green but be bad on the inside, or will over-ripen if you take your eyes off of them for a second. A purported Aldi store associate chalked the issue up to local suppliers and improper storage at warehouses and stores. "HIGHLY recommend sniffing your produce at the store," they commented.

The consensus is in and Aldi's premade soups are out. While you can find plenty of soups at the chain — including name brands — Redditors feel the private label, premade soups are largely underwhelming. If you ever depended on them for cozy weeknight meals, many shoppers point out the product isn't what it used to be. In a sprawling thread lamenting an overall drop in quality at Aldi, the OP specifically called out the cream of mushroom soup, describing it as "inedible." In another thread, shoppers noted the soup's lack of thickness and mushrooms. Sparing us the complete flavor breakdown, one customer summed it up: "I didn't like it. Tasted weird. I'd get the Campell's soup."

Aldi also offers a lineup of shelf-stable soups in plastic containers under the Specially Selected private label, but they're similarly notorious on the supermarket subreddit. Posting a photo of the broccoli cheddar, one Redditor admitted, "I've had my fair share of premade soups. This has to be the worst one I've tried. It's all cream, zero texture. Both the smell and taste are offensive." Opinions varied on the thread, but many customers agreed on the unappetizing smell, bland flavor, and off-putting aftertaste. "My cats liked it better than I did," another user remarked.

Who can't help but to feel a bit giddy when fall comes around and a new wave of pumpkin spice offerings hits the shelves? Many Aldi enthusiasts felt this initial excitement upon buying the pumpkin pie hard cider, but later flocked to Reddit to express their disappointment. On a thread seeking opinions on the bottled cider, one of the first comments reads: "Not worth it in my opinion. Tasted very artificial and left a weird aftertaste." Another Redditor wrote, "This is the worst ever. You taste it and at first you're like, it's a cider, then the pumpkin chemicals kick in and it's like omg!"

While certain customers admit the cider has a decent amount of alcohol, it seems the main gripe with the product is the false hope of drinking something similar to an Angry Orchard. Instead, as one shopper on another thread described, "It tasted more like a normal cheap beer with a splash of cider." One commenter reported, "I tried this two years ago and I can't get the memory of the awful taste out of my brain."

If you've got a hankering for potato chips, Clancy's offers everything from original and barbecue to hot honey and spicy dill pickle. According to Reddit Aldi shoppers, however, the variety of chips is just about as wide as the inconsistency between bags, and there are some Aldi chips you should avoid. When a Redditor asked for flavor recommendations, one user commented, "It's like every third or fourth bag is off — like slightly undercooked or not salty." What's more, for every bag that doesn't suffer from a lack of salt, even more customers complain about excessive saltiness.

On a separate thread, one shopper shared that they picked up a bag of Clancy's cheddar and sour cream, expecting something akin to Ruffles. To their dismay, the flavors were both too salty and too sweet, reaffirming that Ruffles would have been "worth the extra dollar." One of the top commenters speculated that the formula had changed, saying "The only flavor is salt now." Other customers confirmed their distaste for the purported recipe change, with clients across the subreddit frequently mentioning a stale aroma and dusty, overpowering seasoning.

If you fall in love with a product at Aldi, Reddit shoppers would urge you to stock up as soon as possible. The supermarket keeps customers on their toes, permanently pulling items or changing up the recipe of your favorite product on a whim. Aldi's Casa Mamita private brand once offered a salsa con queso so good Redditors claimed it rivaled Tostitos, making a saucy and tangy addition for everything from burgers to scrambled eggs. After some apparent recipe tweaks, however, the hive mind turned against the cheese dip. "I thought it was just me but it tastes extra artificial and the texture is off," one customer shared.

Open a jar of the dip and it won't take you long to spot the texture issue. Another shopper posted a photo of the salsa con queso, showcasing a neon yellow sauce as thick as glue. "It's like they use that gross spray cheese as the base now," a user commented. On the same thread, one investigative client uploaded a side-by-side comparison of the old sauce and the new. Some key changes in the new recipe included less sodium and "cheese" instead of "monterey jack cheese." While some shoppers recommend the white queso in the refrigerated aisle instead, with so many amazing cheeses to buy at Aldi, why subject yourself to the canned goo?

Although you should approach Aldi's produce aisle in general with some caution, many Reddit shoppers feel the bagged onions in particular should be avoided for good. After cutting into one of the chain's red onions, a customer posted a photo of the three perfectly crisp outer layers surrounding a mushy, discolored core. 

There's nothing worse than slicing into your fresh produce only to find a putrid product, but it's apparently a repeat occurrence with Aldi's onions. A Redditor on a separate thread shared a similar story, claiming that while they'll look fine, most bags carry only one or two usable onions. "I've completely stopped buying onions from Aldi for this reason," the top commenter wrote. "Everywhere else I have no issues. But from Aldi they're moldy in three days." Some users stepped in to clarify that it could be regional issues or especially humid harvesting conditions, but shoppers across the subreddit complain about the onions' expired taste and excessive pungency.

While onions also got wrapped up in one of Aldi's major food recalls in the summer of 2020, perhaps the biggest issue is that the supermarket only offers two to three pound bags of the root vegetable. You're better off buying onions individually and as needed to avoid waste and the spread of infection.

Another item to fall victim to recipe changes at Aldi, Redditors assure that the Bake House croissant rolls have suffered a nosedive in quality. One shopper uploaded an incriminating photo of the new pastry dough, which appears so dry that it cracks and tears apart upon unrolling. The top commenter also revealed that the packaging has changed. "I really miss the previous version they had in the pressured cardboard cans, they were comparable to Pillsbury," they shared. The new version is seemingly packaged in a plastic wrapper.

On another thread, the OP reported that the croissant rolls get worse after baking. "The baked result was just AWFUL," they wrote. "Crunchy and odd flavor. They even smelled funny while baking." While shoppers on r/Aldi are quite vocal about their distaste for the new dough (some comparing it to Play-Doh), users suggest making complaints to the individual private brands, rather than Aldi. If you haven't got it in you to fight over pastry dough, other customers recommend the frozen croissant rolls instead.

Fiber Now bars were once a beloved snack among shoppers, rivaling even the Fiber One bars that they duped. After some recent manufacturing tweaks, however, the fiber-rich treats are yet another product best left on the shelves. Staring at you from the front of the box, the most obvious change is the drop from 90 calories to 70. Aldi aficionados gather that the new bars represent a cost-cutting move, reporting that they're a smaller product for the same price.

Inside the package, customers also complain that the bars are drier. "The new ones seem more crumbly which makes me think that perhaps they removed some fat to get to the lower calories," one customer wrote. "They are absolutely terrible. Like eating sawdust," another Redditor shared, longing for the chewier and denser originals. A comment further along the thread reported that sugar had been replaced with erythritol, no doubt permeating every bite with an artificial sweetness. The deception has even pushed some shoppers so far as to buy their knockoffs at Walmart.

Little matches the magic of making your own breakfast sandwich at home without having to wait in the drive-thru. For a time, Aldi had the perfect solution. The chain's Breakfast Best frozen sausage patties came in a 32-ounce package with 18 patties for under $10, and customers raved about the patties' perfect size for bagels or English muffins.

Sometime in 2024, however, the private label quietly altered their star product, prompting shoppers to air their grievances out on Reddit. One user commented on a photo of the new item, reporting that the name had changed from "original pork sausage patties" to just "original sausage patties." The most apparent modification was leaning out the 100% pork patties with the addition of ground turkey, fueling doubts on the thread if it was to cut costs or market a healthier product. Either way, enthusiasts seemed perfectly content with the previous version. On another thread lamenting products that have changed, one Redditor wrote, "I just recently tried the new version and they're horrible. It was the first time I ever returned anything for a refund."

Summit is a private Aldi brand focused on beverages, offering everything from energy drink dupes to prebiotic sodas. Before you go stocking up your fridge with the brand's canned mocktails, though, you're better off sticking to other must-buy items at Aldi instead. For starters, one customer who tried the drinks started a thread titled "Disappointed," calling them out for an overwhelming sweetness. The brand uses sucralose to artificially sweeten its mocktails, which can also cause an upset stomach for many people. Another customer commented, "These were a hard no for me... Fake sugar is just so in your face in some things that I can't taste past it."

It also seems that the overpowering sweetness could just be compensation for no real flavor. "They have a bland, sparkling water taste. Very similar to La Croix," one Redditor wrote on a separate thread. If you bought some of the mocktails before consulting the Reddit hive mind, other users recommend cutting the sweetness and adding some actual flavor by mixing in grapefruit juice.

In order to judiciously narrow down the products we think you should avoid at Aldi into one comprehensive list, we started by perusing through the subreddit r/Aldi. The community has intense daily activity and some 245 thousand users, who speak quite honestly on their current perceptions of products at the supermarket. Our first point of reference was the "What to avoid at Aldi" megathread. We watched for trends and items frequently mentioned in the thread, creating a preliminary list.

From there, we plugged each individual product into the subreddit's search function, discovering which items have garnered the most threads, comments, and activity expressing an overall disappointment or distaste. For relevance, we focused on the most current threads. As of 2025, the majority of Reddit opinions we used as sources were posted within the last year.