The Secret Ingredient Lurking Inside Aldi Tortelloni

We frequently talk about the utility of discount grocery store Aldi for its low prices on things we buy every day. But let's face it — Aldi is cheap for a reason, and it all comes down to the finer details. One thing we rely on Aldi for is staples like pasta, such as its packaged tortelloni, but there's one ingredient in this product that likely helps shave its price down: breadcrumbs.

If you inspect the tortelloni's ingredients list (this goes for both cheese and mushroom varieties), you'll notice that the filling doesn't start with cheese or mushrooms, but rather, breadcrumbs. Then the flavoring agents come after the breadcrumbs in the ingredients list. Depending on the product, that includes assorted cheeses (like ricotta or provolone), herbs and spices, various dairy products, and preservatives and stabilizers. 

That's sort of a bummer, considering you probably wanted to buy them to enjoy their advertised filling, but they're not entirely out of place. The breadcrumbs help bind the ingredients to each other so they stick together inside the pasta. They're cheap, have a neutral flavor, and have historically been used to add extra volume and a tender texture to more expensive ingredients like meat, like by putting soaked breadcrumbs in meatballs. When they're rehydrated, they create bulk, which is more than likely contributing to the affordable price tag.

There are some Aldi tortelloni products that do not contain breadcrumbs — if you're looking to avoid the filler — but you're going to have to make a bit of a concession. That's because these tortelloni are part of the liveGfree gluten-free line, just like Aldi's gluten-free bread. They come in four cheese and spinach varieties, and in this case, there are no breadcrumbs in the filling whatsoever, not even gluten-free ones. They also come at a much steeper price tag. The regular Aldi cheese tortelloni costs $1.99 at my local store for an 8.8-ounce package, while the gluten-free cheese tortelloni costs $4.29 for 9 ounces. If you don't mind shopping for gluten-free food, then this might be an option for you.

Though the tortelloni might not have the filling you were hoping to get, you can also try out the sausage tortellini or the ravioli (both the cheese and spinach varieties). They still contain breadcrumbs, but it's lower down on the ingredient list than the tortelloni. It's always good to check ingredients lists while you're out shopping, because details like these are like a trail of breadcrumbs (get it?) as to why some items might not meet your expectations.