Aldi is a whole experience. We’ve talked about what you need to know before your first trip to Aldi before, so you can enter this grocery store prepared for all the joys (and a few tragic duds) that lie in wait among its shelves. Tackling everything Aldi has to offer would be far too overwhelming, so let’s start by looking at 10 chicken products to buy at Aldi and two to avoid. By our measure, you should definitely swerve Aldi’s teriyaki-seasoned chicken.
Now, let’s get one thing straight first: this chicken isn’t bad. In fact, our taster actually loved the flavor and the marinade itself, which made for a delicious crust. The biggest problem was just the cut of the chicken itself. It’s a pretty thick cut of meat, and it’s uneven, too. This means you can’t really pan sear, and you especially don’t want to stick to the suggested several minutes of cooking per side. Our taster actually popped it into the oven and finished it off in a skillet, and even after 20 minutes, the thick parts of the chicken were still pink and under-cooked. Considering eating under-cooked chicken can lead to serious health issues and gastrointestinal problems, that’s just not something you want to mess around with.
How the teriyaki-seasoned chicken stacks up
Flavor-wise, Aldi’s teriyaki-seasoned chicken actually wasn’t a letdown. It could have made things pretty easy if you wanted a quick and tasty dinner without having to prep your own sauce and chicken, but unfortunately, you’d still have to put in extra work to make sure the thick and uneven meat cooks all the way through. By the time the thick parts of the chicken are done, the thinner parts will have dried out. This gives the edge to products like the boneless, skinless chicken thighs, the grilled chicken breast strips, or the crispy chicken strips. These cook much more evenly or don’t start out raw to begin with, so all you need to do is heat them.
The number one way to make this chicken better is to cut it up and cook it rather than trying to cook the chicken whole. But if you’re going to put in extra effort, you might as well save a bit of money by buying your own unflavored chicken. That way, you can season it to your personal preference and flatten the meat so it cooks evenly. No teriyaki sauce? No problem. You can make teriyaki sauce with just two ingredients. But if you’re dead set on buying chicken from Aldi, there are simply better options out there. If you have the time to deal with uneven chicken and the cooking problems that come from it, though, you’ll at least get a well-seasoned meal out of it.
