Aldi Hawaiian Stuffing (Chef’s Cupboard) Review
Sugar and spice and sucralose nice.
I thoroughly enjoyed this stuffing, but it gave me wicked stomach aches. It took me a while to realize it’s possibly the “sucralose” artificial sweetener in the ingredients. Maybe. More about that later.
I chose the “Sage & Onion” flavor, although Aldi also sells a “Classic Herbs & Spices” version of this stuffing mix.
If you can eat this without gastrointestinal distress (and you don’t mind artificial sweeteners), it’s well worth buying. The savory flavor is excellent, and I enjoyed the soft, sweet bread. It was quick and easy to prepare.
I’d describe the texture as fluffy and moist. The stuffing clumps together, but isn’t overly gummy. The preparation instructions call for a half stick of butter, so the resulting taste is full of buttery joy. Butter makes everything better.
The stuffing manages to be verrrrry soft, without becoming too soggy. There are small pieces of soft onion — small enough that even onion haters won’t be mad. I enjoyed the pieces of green herbs, even if I couldn’t immediately identify what they were, exactly. Parsley, me thinks. Sparsely-parsley, but still parsley. The flavor is rich and satisfying — but much, much sweeter than typical stuffing mixes.
My dry mix was very fresh, with hard, crisp bread pieces. The spices and flavorings are pre-mixed into the crumbs, and mine also had fragments of dehydrated veggies (the box says they are onion, parsley, and celery — mystery solved!).
I liked how the crust had been left on the bread pieces — it added more chew-able texture, and visually, it provided some nice brown contrast to the paler, soft Hawaiian bread.
How to Cook Aldi Hawaiian Stuffing
The box included instructions for preparing this either in the microwave or stove top. I picked stove top. You’ll need a half a stick of butter and some water, but that’s it. It took less than 10 minutes from start to finish to prepare this.
I found the cooked stuffing to be pretty durable. It holds up well to re-heating on the stove, or even baking in a pan, if you want it a little crisper. I saved leftovers in the refrigerator and microwaved them, which worked great.
Nutrition Facts and Price
The label says there are six servings per box of 180 calories each (after preparing with butter). I found this to be a pretty accurate number of servings. After cooking, each serving has 9 grams of fat and 3 grams of protein. There are only 5 grams of sugar per serving. More about that later!
I bought this Hawaiian Stuffing Mix at Aldi for $1.39. Per serving, it cost 23 cents — which is a bargain. The Aldi website categorized this as a “Seasonal Product,” so it isn’t available all the time. I found it in my local stores between October and December.
Ingredients in Aldi Hawaiian Stuffing
Here are the ingredients from the label:
- Enriched Wheat Flour (What Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid)
- Sugar
- Potato Flakes
- Palm Oil
- Dried Onion
- Salt
- Contains 2% or less of: Vegetable Protein (Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Salt), Spices, Dried Celery, Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate, Wheat Gluten, Yeast, Grain Vinegar, Dried Parsley, Natural Flavor, Canola Oil, Sucralose, Soy Lecithin, Annatto (Color), Turmeric Oleoresin (Color).
Yes, sugar is the second ingredient. And yes, there is also sucralose, more commonly sold as “Splenda.” Sugar and spice and sucralose nice! Sucralose is an entire topic — and a somewhat controversial one. Here’s an article from the Cleveland Clinic that weighs some pros and cons of sucralose. Although I enjoyed the taste of this Hawaiian stuffing, I probably won’t buy it again.
More Reviews of Aldi Products You Might Like (or Hate)
Check out these other reviews of Aldi stuff I’ve recently written:
- Aldi Fruits of the Forest Strudel (Deutsche Küche)
- Aldi Bienenstich Indulgent Cakes (Deutsche Küche)
- Aldi Bavarian Soft Pretzel Sticks (Deutsche Küche)
- Aldi Mushroom Schupfnudeln (Deutsche Küche)
- Aldi Cheese Spätzle (Deutsche Küche)
- Aldi Cherry Frangipane Tart (Deutsche Küche)
Author’s note: I have no affiliation with Aldi, and I wasn’t compensated in any way for this review.
