Fans Gather To Revel In Their Love Of Aldi Red Bag Chicken

Quick, name a specific food you love so much you would willingly join a Facebook group so you can post comments and interact with 15,000 other people who also love this food.

Would it, by chance, be the Kirkwood breaded chicken breast fillets sold exclusively at Aldi? To be even more specific, these are the breaded chicken breast fillets in the red bag. (There are blue, green, orange, and purple bags, too, but those are not the same, and woe to the shopper who picks one up by mistake. They are headed for nothing but disappointment.) If this is you and you haven't signed up yet, your people are waiting for you.

Aldi Red Bag Chicken was started in May by Christine D. Steele, a New Jersey chicken enthusiast, so that RBC lovers could bond and share their favorite cooking tips, and its membership has been growing steadily since then. It took a tremendous leap in popularity earlier this week when Today ran an online profile of the group.

Although RBC can be baked or pan-fried, the Facebook group collectively agrees that it's best prepared in an air fryer and that when served on a brioche bun with pickles, it tastes just like Chick-fil-A. But members also like it as the base for chicken parm or chicken marsala, wrapped in a tortilla, at the center of an unhealthy salad, or simply served on a plate and covered with gravy. Some are so enthusiastic they even eat it for breakfast.

But now some group members are worried that notoriety will make the RBC harder to find. Many of the new members confess that they haven't actually tried the RBC yet, but they've gone to Aldi and bought their bags and are all ready to go. Even before the Today article went live, old-timers were apprehensive. "Omg no. Please don't tell more people about it!! I'll never be able to find it again!!" one wrote in response to the Today reporter's request for information. "NOOOO! SHHHHHHHH," wrote another.

An Aldi spokesperson promised Today that RBC would be available year-round and wouldn't disappear suddenly like some seasonal products. But already it appears that some Aldi locations have already been cleared out. My fellow Americans, let me offer you the same advice I've heard about toilet paper: don't hoard! Share so there will be plenty for everyone.