13 Hidden Gems In Aldi's Produce Section - Mashed (2024)

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When you're shopping at Aldi, it's easy to miss some of the hidden gems of the produce department. The great thing is that they're hiding in plain sight. After all, the produce section isn't all that large.

There was a time a few years ago when I avoided the Aldi produce section because the vegetables and fruits were hard and tasteless even when they finally ripened. However, Aldi has upped its produce game in the last few years so that the prices are not only good, but you're also getting high-quality produce that really tastes good. The fruit and vegetables that I'd pass by a decade ago, I'd pick up without hesitation now. So, if you've skipped the produce at Aldi, you might want to give it a chance again. Of course, you can't find everything, but there's a good variety as well as a few items that keep customers coming back for more.

We've listed 13 items from the Aldi produce aisle that you may have cruised by on your way to other sections of the store. But we think they're worth your consideration. Some represent items that are finally available and you might have missed, while others represent customer favorites or more exotic items you might not think to look for at Aldi. Once you've tried these produce, it's likely you'll start adding them to your shopping cart more often.

Kim Scianna / Facebook

Once upon a time, if you were looking for fresh herbs at Aldi, all you could find was cilantro. So, if you shop infrequently, you might have missed the fact that the selection of fresh herbs has finally expanded. If your store is onethat now carries them, you won't have to make a second grocery store stop to pick up fresh herbs elsewhere.

In addition to cilantro, my local Aldi now carries parsley, mint, rosemary, and thyme — just one herb short of a trip to Scarborough Fair. The cilantro remains the cheapest at $0.75 a bunch. Parsley is slightly more at $1.05, and the rest come in plastic clamshell containers and cost $1.89. While basil is missing, you can find it in paste form over in the spice section of the store.

As a special treat, you can sometimes find plantable fresh herbs in the spring. At least in my Aldi, the herb plants are always stocked to the left of the refrigerated case that holds the fresh herbs. So, you get to make a choice of a few sprigs of the herb you need or a whole plant that will keep giving you fresh herbs all season. In 2024, the potted herb options were sage, rosemary, and thyme (still one herb short of the Simon and Garfunkel song).

Tess Cooks 4u / YouTube

Some fun hidden gems at Aldi are the mini potatoes. I've seen several different versions. Currently, the Bite-Size Medley Potatoes come in three different colors: yellow, red, and purple. Not only do they make your potato dishes more colorful, but their diminutive size makes them cook faster than larger potatoes. Another isThe Little Potato Co. Little Yellows, which may appeal to those who aren't willing to try multi-colored ones (even though they pretty much taste the same as regular potatoes). The two types range between $3.29 and $3.65 at my store, with the colorful ones being cheaper.

My favorite thing to do with Aldi's baby potatoes is to boil them together with fresh green beans and onions (sometimes with bacon). Customers have shared other things they've done with these baby potatoes on social media. One TikTokker coats them with olive oil and garlic and bakes them in a 400-degree-Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes. A YouTuber does the same thing, but also adds fresh rosemary, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and cayenne before roasting. You can also use them for a mixed veggie roast, and they take less effort to cut than larger potatoes.

Nichole Eaton / Facebook

While I love garlic, I don't love peeling it. No matter how many garlic-peeling hacks I've tried, they're never the garlic-peeling miracle I've hoped for. I don't know about you, but to any recipe that calls for a single clove of garlic, I'm adding three or four. So, I go through a lot of garlic. If that's the type of garlic habit you have, too, you're going to be glad you found Aldi's Little Salad Bar Fresh Peeled Garlic.

The peeled garlic comes in a 6-ounce package, so it's a decent-sized bag. I have to admit that I don't always manage to get through the bag before it goes moldy. If the bag looks like more than you would use in a week or so, it's a good idea to find a way to preserve it. Some people just freeze it whole and grate it into dishes from frozen. However, chopping it and freezing it for later can make meal prep even easier than having pre-peeled garlic around (a food-processor can be helpful here). Plus, the type you chop yourself tastes tons better than the chopped garlic you get in a jar, which some people call "jarlic."

Claudia Marquez / Facebook

If you're a salad fan, you're missing out if you haven't tried salad kits or bowls yet. While you could get the ingredients to make a salad on your own, the convenience factor is nice. In my experience, they tend to be universally good, too. The kits and bowls are about the same cost (around $3.19), but the kits have more servings.

I almost always grab a Little Salad Bar salad kit when I visit Aldi. They contain salad dressing and fun add-ons like tortilla strips, dried fruit, nuts, and seeds. Some flavors you might find include Southwest Chopped Salad Kit, Sweet Kale Chopped Salad Kit, and the Asian Chopped Salad Kit. Since they have a cabbage rather than lettuce base, I've found that they stay fresh in the fridge longer than some other brands. Although they don't come with a lot of protein beyond nuts, you can always add your own at home.

If you want a more robust salad with more protein, you'll want to choose a Little Salad Bar bowl instead. For example, the Santa Fe Salad Bowl adds chicken, corn, and fresh cheese in addition to lettuce, tortilla chips, and dressing. Some others you might see include a Chicken Caesar Salad Bowl and a Chef Salad Bowl. One nice thing about the bowls is that they contain a plastic fork so you can get them for a lunch on the go.

Nguyen Vu / Facebook

Full-sized avocados are great for making guacamole, but sometimes, you need a smaller avocado for your purposes. That's where the bagged mini avocados come in handy. Aldi has carried a few brands, like Minis and Lil 'Cados. They only cover about half your hand when you hold them and are just the right size for single meals.

Mini avocados are a best seller. They're the perfect size for slicing up to add to your sandwich or making avocado toast. Even if you know how to prevent avocados from turning brown in the fridge, it's so easy to forget that you've put half of one in the fridge in the first place. So, buying single-serving mini avocados that are out in plain view on your countertop can help you waste less. You end up using just one and then remembering how good it was, then use another the next day. Now that you have perfectly-sized avocados, the only thing you need to master is learning how to choose one that's perfectly ripe.

At $4.19, a 6-count bag of minis is cheaper than a 4-count bag of regular sized avocados at $4.39. It's also cheaper than buying the large ones individually at $0.85-$1.09 each.

Kelly Graham / Facebook

Aldi's Cotton Candy Grapes are only in stores a short time each summer, but people always talk them up on social media when they appear. I find that they have a very distinctive taste that makes them stand out. And, yes, they do remind me of cotton candy. So, they're definitely worth a try.

Unfortunately, some customers have been disappointed, saying that they taste just like regular grapes to them. When a customer asked in the ALDI Aisle of Shame Community group on Facebook if they'd been duped, an employee said, "You could have. I work at Aldi and I have caught multiple people dumping the regular green grapes into the cotton candy grape container, and dumping the cotton candy grapes into the regular green grape bag in an effort to not pay the higher price." It's only a small difference since regular ones cost $3.58 and the Cotton Candy ones cost $4.98. Real Cotton Candy Grapes tend to be more plump and often more circular than regular green grapes. They also contain seeds, so beware.

In 2022, TikTokkers started freezing their Cotton Candy Grapes with a variety of extra coatings. Sugar or Jell-O powder added more sweetness, while citric acid coatings added tartness. Adli jumped on the frozen Cotton Candy Grape craze by offering them in the freezer section toward the end of the summer in 2023. So, look for them in the freezer section if you can't find them in the produce aisle.

Kathy Guziewicz Koepke / Facebook

I like to get the Medjool Dates at Aldi as an alternative to sugar-sweetened snacks. They're rich, plump, soft, and sweet. Plus, they hit just the right spot to cure my sweet cravings (albeit temporarily).

Beware that they do have pits. However, not going through a de-pitting process likely contributes to them being about to have a lower price point than at some other stores (around $5.50). The low price and lovely caramel flavor likely also contribute to it being one of Aldi's bestsellers, and customers rave about them.

While they're perfectly fine to pop into your mouth and eat like you would other dried fruit, customers on social media explain that they love stuffing them or wrapping them to turn them into appetizers. Dates are nice stuffed with nuts or soft cheeses like goat cheese. You can wrap them with bacon or prosciutto and bake them, too. Puréed dates also make excellent sugar substitutes in baked goods or add a touch of sweetness to sandwiches or salads.

Judy King / Facebook

If you've ever bought papayas, you'll know that they're not all equal. So, finding a good papaya is always exciting. Aldi feels so confident about the quality of its papayas that it even has a commercial in Spanish for them on iSpot.tv. Since they're native to Mesoamerica, it makes sense to market the fruit to a demographic that really knows how to appreciate them. At as low as $0.59 a pound (almost half the cost I've seen them in other grocery stores), they're well worth a try.

The ones Aldi has are huge. When they're good, they're extremely good. However, it's a good idea to know how to pick a good papaya so you're not disappointed. You won't have as good of an experience if you get one that's underripe and still green or one that's bruised. It should also be slightly soft (without soft spots) and have a musky smell when you put it up to your nose.

I'm a little disappointed that papayas are not available at my local Aldi right now. However, I certainly keep my eye open for them and grab the next perfectly ripe one with nice colors that I see.

Shanley Cole / Facebook

Next time you see a pomegranate at Aldi, you'll want to grab it. Not only are they tasty and healthy because they're full of vitamins, but they're often super cheap (as low as $1.00 each). They sometimes cost as much as $5 each. So, keep a watch out for sales. Customers have been known to grab several when they're that cheap.

If pomegranates are new to you, I want to suggest the underwater method for removing the arils (the tasty, fleshy seeds) from the outer peel. This method prevents getting pomegranate juice all over your kitchen and all over your clothes.

If you end up getting a lot while they're cheap, you can always freeze them. Speaking of which, if you can't find them in the fresh produce section or are nervous about removing the arils yourself, Aldi sometimes has frozen bags of Pomegranate Arils in the freezer section of the store.

zulema.araceli / TikTok

While there are often several types of pre-peeled and pre-sliced fruits available in the produce aisle, one of the best-loved ones is the Little Salad Bar Mango Slices. The sliced version represents one of the best ways to enjoy these sweet and juicy tropical fruits.

Mangos are one of my favorite fruits, but they can be so juicy and messy to eat whole that you might be better off eating them in a bathtub. Splurging on pre-cut mangoes can be a great option to make eating them a little less of a chore and a little less messy. Just be aware that they can become quite an addiction. One person in the Aldi Aisle of Shame Facebook Group admitted, "I have a small addiction [to mango slices] and none of the stores near me have them anymore. I'm having some withdrawals here."

So, if you love mangoes, you're going to want to try these. Just know that you may end up spending far more on them than you plan in the long run with multiple trips back to get more. They're $4.75 at my Aldi compared to $0.79 for a single mango. So, they certainly are tempting.

Brian Thomas / Facebook

If you've never had Cara Cara oranges before, you're missing out. They're not just like every other orange you've tasted. They're small and sweet navel oranges that are pink inside and have low acidity. They're also extra orangey but with a fruity berry flavor that people compare to blackberries or raspberries. While they originated in Venezuela, the ones you find at Aldi are likely from California. They're not in season all year, so grab them when you can.

So, how good are Cara Cara oranges from Aldi? One Redditor called them "elite" and said, "I don't eat much fruit but I ate a segment from my baby's breakfast leftovers. Fast forward an hour later, I've eaten half a bag and I'm in sweet citrus heaven, they're perfection!" Another Redditorliked them so much that they decided to plant Cara Cara orange trees in their backyard.

Cara Cara oranges have gone viral, which is a strange thing to say about fruit. Do a search for them on TikTok, and you'll be scrolling through endless Cara Cara orange videos with hundreds and sometimes even millions of views. Yes, they're slightly more expensive than regular oranges, but fans of them say that they're worth the extra dollar and change (a three-pound bag of Cara Caras are $4.95 in comparison to a $3.75 of regular navel oranges). I'll be grabbing some on my next Aldi run for sure.

Amy Bell/Mashed

One draw of plantains is how cheap they are. At my Aldi, I can buy one for just $0.65, and there aren't many items that are that cheap that can give you as much mileage as a single plantain.

If you haven't tried plantains before, they might look a lot like bananas, but they don't look or taste like them inside. In fact, once you peel them, they're more reminiscent of a root vegetable. Plantains are savory if you cook them while the peel is still yellow like a banana. However, they end up sweeter and caramelize when you cook them if you wait after they're extremely ripe and the peel is black.

There are a lot of great recipes to make with plantains, like mofongo,caramelized plantains, and tostones. One of my favorite dishes to make with plantains is patacones con hogao, which is a twice-fried tostones with a simple onion and tomato sauce on top. So, if you're looking for something different to try that certainly won't break the bank, don't sleep on plantains next time you see them. And if you accidentally bought plantains instead of bananas (like many people have), you've accidentally purchased an Aldi gem.

JobbingLeftieH / X, formerly known as Twitter

I love when English seedless cucumbers are available, but my interest is not because they're seedless. After all, most cucumbers you get now are seedless (especially the mini ones). However, what I like most about these is that they're long enough for a single one to last all week. I've seen some that were close to a foot long. They're also easy to keep fresh since they come individually sealed.

At $1.05 each, they're more expensive than a regular cucumber at $0.65, but they have more servings. If a whole bag of mini cucumbers is too much for you to eat before they go bad, one long English cucumber might be exactly what you need.

Yes, all that plastic for an individual cucumber is wasteful, but it's standard for an English cucumber. The reason they come individually wrapped is that the skin is delicate. The cucumber can easily become bruised and limp without a plastic layer of protection. Since it has softer skin than other types of cucumbers, you're not as likely to need to peel them before eating them either. One bonus of them coming pre-wrapped in plastic is that, once you've cut off a few slices, you can wrap the remaining plastic around the top to keep it fresh. Plus, not having any seeds and having a thinner skin makes them mild and not bitter like some other cucumbers. So, if you haven't tried them yet, it's time you put one in your cart.