I'm Always Shopping At Aldi — But These 12 Items Will Never Go In My Cart

Aldi isn't the only store I shop at (can't miss out on those "Woohoo!" buys at my local Kroger), but I do hit up the discount chain a few times a month. After all, I've got to get the most out of Aldi's Aisle of Shame as well as stock up on budget-priced basics and see if my favorite marzipan cake will ever return. So far, I've been disappointed on the latter front, but that's not the only way in which Aldi has let me down.

Don't get me wrong — I do enjoy most of what I purchase there, and some items, like Aldi candies and chocolates, are must-buys for me. I also get many of my produce and dairy items there. Other aisles, however, are where I tread more warily. Over the years, certain condiments, desserts, and snack products have let me down pretty badly. Many of them were limited-time offers that showed up as weekly finds, and not all of them have made repeat appearances. (Good riddance!) Still, my general rule of thumb is that if two or more varieties of an item were underwhelming, any further iterations won't be going in my cart.

Cannolis are one of my favorite desserts, so I was pretty excited to see Park Street Deli Chocolate Chip Cannoli Dip at Aldi. Excitement soon turned to ick, though: It was hate at first bite. Despite listing ricotta as an ingredient, this dip tastes nothing whatsoever like the inside of a cannoli — it's disgustingly sweet with odd plastic-like and sour notes. The texture is weirdly goopy, too. I tried to repurpose this dip in other desserts, but it just ruined everything. Much as I hate to waste food, this product finally defeated me and earned a trip to the trash.

My favorite thing about owning a Keurig, apart from convenience, is being able to experiment with different flavors of K-cups. The Barissimo seasonal offerings often look tempting, and I've succumbed more than once. Cherry, chocolate coconut, honey lavender, or coconut rum ... they all sounded so good, but they all tasted so blah. They didn't taste like their purported flavors or really like coffee either — more like a cup of soggy cardboard. The standard flavors like hazelnut haven't been quite so disappointing, but then, my expectations were lower going in. I've found better, cheaper K-cups in more enticing flavors at Walmart, so I don't even bother looking at Aldi's anymore.

Last summer, a bag of limited-time Barissimo Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream-flavored ground coffee threatened to kill my coffee machine. It was making the most awful noises and only trickling out an ounce or two of coffee before shutting down, so at first I thought it was broken. I then tried what may be the best tip for Keurig troubleshooting: I changed up the coffee, and a different brand worked just fine. Back to the store went the Barissimo bag to be replaced with another flavor. (Aldi's Twice as Nice return policy really is almost too good to be true!) The hazelnut variety I got as a replacement wasn't quite as bad as the limited edition one, but it still made my Keurig pretty sluggish. Since I'd like the appliance to last a while longer, I don't dare buy any more Barissimo ground coffee.

I love hot sauce and always have at least a dozen different bottles in the pantry, which is why I'm bummed that I've never found one at Aldi that I really liked. The generic Burman's Louisiana-style hot sauce is a decent Frank's knockoff and one of the cheap Aldi sauces worth buying, but all of the flavored Burman's hot sauces I've tried have been nasty. One year there was a citrus trio: blood orange, key lime, and lemon; I bought them all and regretted each one. I also tried an avocado serrano number and a Polynesian hot sauce, and these too were not good. Every one had a weird chemical flavor to it and was either overly sweet (a common Aldi sauce failing) or, as in the case of Burman's still-available Spicy Garlic Hot Sauce, tasted oddly burnt. I'll admit that some other Burman's hot sauce offerings — like Poblano and Chimichurri — do sound appealing, but I've learned my lesson and will be taking a pass.

I hate to hate on any Aldi brands, but I have to say, Burman's might be one of my least favorite. Its sauces and condiments tend to be adequate at best, but in my opinion, they're more miss than hit. One item I'm definitely not a fan of is Burman's Tomato Ketchup. While all ketchups tend to be slightly sugary, Burman's leans way too far in that direction. High fructose corn syrup comes higher on the ingredient list than vinegar, and you can really tell. The only thing worse than this ketchup is when Burman's branches out into offering specialty variants. A year or so ago I picked up jalapeño and habanero ketchups selling for $0.35 apiece at Aldi's deep-discount "summer items funeral" sale, and they were so sickeningly sweet I couldn't finish either bottle.

Clancy's is another Aldi brand with a mixed track record. For the most part, its standard range of snacks is okay, but this isn't always the case with limited-time items and seasonal specials. Sometimes when Clancy's gets fancy, it fails, and this was definitely the case with the 2025 Cheesy Queso chips that Reddit hated. I didn't like the Ridged Hot Chili Lime ones either since they tasted both burnt and chemical. I've also had some bad experiences with Clancy chips whose names and flavors I don't even remember, although the disappointment and disgust linger on. Needless to say, I didn't even bother trying the more recent Italian seasoning chips, but a member of Facebook's Aldi Aisle of Shame Community took that bullet for me. Their verdict: "These are not good. I like Italian seasoning in my spaghetti but it doesn't quite work on a chip."

The frozen foods section of Aldi tells a tale of two pizzas. The Specially Selected ones tend to be quite good. Mama Cozzi's pizzas, however, are generally pretty so-so, with the exception of the stuffed crust ones — these are downright awful. I was excited to try the Jalapeño Pepperoni one, even paying full price instead of waiting to see if it would be discounted as seasonal items often are, but it was a huge letdown. Not only was there not the slightest hint of jalapeño heat, but I could barely taste the pepperoni — or the sauce, for that matter. Each slice was just a big wodge of soggy bread filled with rubbery cheese.

One of my all-time worst Aldi experiences came when I tried Sundae Shoppe Bubble Gum and Cotton Candy popsicles, something I would not even wish on an enemy. Ordinarily, I wouldn't dismiss an entire category of items on the basis of two unfortunate flavors, but subsequent experiences with other types of popsicles (or adjacent products) have me convinced that these Sundae Shoppe items really are flawed. The Sour Apple and Sour Cherry Fruit Bars weren't sour at all, nor did their flavor bear much resemblance to fruit.

The Mango Fruit Bars, which are still available, do taste like mangoes; more's the pity. I don't like mangoes, but they'd been accidentally packed into the box of Pineapple Fruit Bars I'd purchased. I wouldn't even recommend them to mango lovers, though, because they share the same weird, rubbery texture that's plagued all of the other popsicles I've tried.

Two items that always seem to be available in the refrigerated case at Aldi are Park Street Deli Crab Rangoon Dip and Lobster Roll Dip. I bought both earlier in the year, convinced I'd love them since I'm very fond of both their namesake items. I could not have been more wrong. Neither one tastes anything like seafood. Instead, they're just as gloopy and nearly as sweet as the cannoli dip, with some off-putting sour notes and other odd intrusive flavors. The lobster dip tastes excessively of celery, while the crab one has a prominent bell pepper taste. Just like I did with the dessert dip, I tried repurposing these products in other recipes, but to no avail. That unpleasant taste and texture tainted everything it touched.

My initial impression of Aldi's Southwest Style Seasoned Chicken was that the flavor was really enjoyable. It's only mildly spicy but has a nice citrusy tang and just the right amount of seasoning. The problem with the chicken, however, became apparent a few bites in: The texture is oddly spongy. I've experienced this with a few other Aldi meat products, including marinated pork tenderloins, so I researched what these all had in common. It turns out that squishy meat syndrome is likely because of the sodium phosphate and salt water listed on the label. These ingredients are often injected into meat to plump it up and help it retain moisture, but the combination can lead to a texture that feels anything but natural. These same additives can be found in rotisserie chickens, too, which is why they sometimes taste like chemicals or soap. The phosphates don't seem to be affecting the flavor of Aldi's offerings, but texture is just as important as taste.

Before I learned to like beer, I started in on hard cider, so it's one product I can make a plausible claim to having enjoyed before it went mainstream. I'm not a connoisseur, but I know what I like, and I was never really sold on Angry Orchard. Although I wanted to like Aldi's budget-friendly knockoff, Wicked Grove Hard Cider, unfortunately it isn't any better. (Perhaps slightly worse, honestly.) It somehow manages to be both too sweet and slightly bitter, with overtones of cheap supermarket apple juice. Does Aldi's supplier make this stuff from red delicious apples or something? It has a similar lack of flavor.

I eat salad quite often and almost always with the same dressing: a tablespoon or so of bottled balsamic combined with an equal amount of balsamic vinegar. While I'm fine with Aldi's Priano Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, I have sworn off the store's Tuscan Garden Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing. Despite the fact that balsamic vinegar is listed right after water on the ingredients label, I can barely detect the flavor. Instead, this dressing tastes to me like sugar and oil. It's so syrupy that no amount of vinegar can counteract the excessive sweetness, and I've ruined enough salads to ever give it room in my refrigerator again.