Aldi Gyro Sandwich Kit (Bremer) Review
Author’s Note: The following review is my own silly opinion. I don’t work for Aldi. Or Costco. Nobody paid me to write this review. I have no affiliation with Bremer brand nor Aldi.
It’s all about the sauce.
Is this a terrible meal? Not entirely. Was it amazing? Also no.
I bought this frozen Chicken Gyro Sandwich Kit from Aldi several months ago, and I am just now getting around to trying it. It comes in a big-ish box, and that box was taking up far too much space in my poor freezer. And that’s my entire reason for eating it. I need freezer space. And I was hungry. The end.
What’s in the box?
The meal kit is frozen, and inside the box is a plastic bag of 5 flat bread loaves, a pouch of tzatziki sauce, and a block of chicken gyro meat. You will need your own lettuce, tomatoes, onions or other veggies. Unless you don’t want any veggies. You monster.
How long does it take to prepare?
This was actually a quick meal to prepare, EXCEPT you have to plan ahead and thaw it about 24 hours in advance. The package says “thaw overnight,” but mine was still half-frozen 12 hours later. So, try a full 24 hours instead.
Once thawed, the bread and meat heats in a skillet in just a couple minutes. It takes another few minutes to prepare the veggies and assemble it all together. So, pretty quick.
The gyro meat reminds me of bologna. But like, textured chicken bologna. It is pre-sliced, but vacuum-packed into a block shape. I had some difficulty separating the slices from the block — mine were tearing and falling apart. This didn’t actually upset me, because I torn mine into pieces before adding to my sandwich anyway.
What does it taste like?
My gyro tasted pretty sad. At first, I thought it was the meat. But I nibbled a piece of meat by itself, and it wasn’t really that awful. I finally decided it was the tzatziki sauce. The sauce is gooey and “creamy,” but doesn’t taste like yogurt.
It was so icky, I had to throw away the rest of the pouch after eating just one gyro. It had a strange, slimy texture. I felt sick just looking at my pictures of the sauce that had dripped onto my plate. Ugh.
Anyway. That tzatziki had a yucky texture, but it also wasn’t zesty or flavorful. Double-whammy. It was just sort of bland and slimy.
I think the lack of zestiness was my biggest disappointment in this meal. The meat is bland. The sauce is bland. The bread is (obviously and appropriately) bland. It was all just bland sadness.
Now, some people like bland. Some people like slimy sauces. Maybe you are one of these people. Maybe you would love this meal. I wish I could send you my leftover gyros. Alas.
I ended up making my own sauce for the remaining 4 sandwiches, using full-fat Greek yogurt, garlic, and lemon juice. This made an enormous difference! It was like night and day. These are reasonably tasty gyros with the right sauce!
The Pita Bread
The pita bread is possibly the strongest part of this meal. Mine came out the the bag feeling gummy and soggy. But, the loaves toasted nicely in a hot pan, and quickly turned into a fluffy, fresh-tasting bread.
I cooked mine for longer than the box recommended, because I like my bread a little crisp, and I wanted to get rid of all potential sogginess.
How big are the gyros?
These are pretty generously-sized gyros. They’re significantly larger than Costco’s Gyro Meal Kit (you can read my review of it here). I was full after eating one. I would hazard there are truly 5 reasonable servings in the box.
I liked that the gyro meat isn’t oily after cooking. The box had a warning not to cook it too long — because it would become dry or tough. The chicken is already pre-cooked, so it only has to be briefly warmed on each side.
If you are cooking the entire package at once, I can see it being inconvenient to heat each strip evenly on each side. I was only able to fit one serving in my large skillet at a time.
As a side note, the instructions said to use 5 meat strips for each gyro. I did that for the first three sandwiches, and then realized I only had 8 left for the last two sandwiches. Not a huge deal, but there weren’t 5 strips for each gyro. Oh well!
Ingredients in Aldi Chicken Gyro Kit
Here are the ingredients, from the label:
- Chicken Gyro Slices: Chicken, Water, Corn Starch, Soybean Oil, Soy Protein Concentrate, Contains less than 2% of Sea Salt, Onion and Garlic Powder, Spices, Brown Sugar and Sodium Phosphate.
- Pita: Enriched Wheat Flour, Water, Soybean and/or Canola Oil, Yeast, Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Salt, Dextrose, Sugar, White Vinegar, Calcium Propionate, Mono and Diglycerides, Baking Powder, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Silicon Dioxide, Calcium Sulfate, L-Cysteine Hydrochloride, Enzymes, (Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate), Soy Flour, Ascorbic Acid, and Azocarbo-Namide.
- Tzatziki: Sour Dressing (Skim Milk, Water, Coconut Oil, Modified Corn Starch, Mono and Diglycerides, Lactic & Citric Acid, Gelatin, Citrus Fiber, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Sunflower Lecithin, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Disodium Phosphate), Fresh Cucumbers, White vinegar, Soybean Oil, Garlic Powder, Salt, Sugar.
Ugh. Not impressed by these ingredients. Nope. For a frozen product, I don’t want to see this many preservatives and additives. I hate seeing “Soy Protein Concentrate” added to the chicken meat.
Nutrition Facts in Gyro Sandwich Kit from Aldi
There are 5 servings per box of 380 calories each. Each prepared gyro has 17 grams of fat, 19 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, and 38 grams of carbohydrates. There’s a stunning 49% of your daily value of sodium per serving, and a modest 4 grams of sugar.
Cooking Instructions for Aldi Gyro Meal Kit
The box provides three ways to heat this:
- Skillet
- Air Fryer
- Microwave
I used the skillet method, and found it quick and easy.
Price and Servings
The 38 ounce box cost $11.99 at my local Aldi. Since there are 5 servings per box, each serving costs $2.40. This seems a bit high for an Aldi product, especially since it is frozen (not fresh) and doesn’t come with veggies or feta or other nice toppings. It’s high for being chicken-based meat (with soy protein fillers!), instead of lamb/beef (like Costco).
Shelf Life
The “best by” date on my package allowed me nearly a year to consume, if kept frozen.
Dramatic Conclusion
I wouldn’t buy this a second time. The gyros lack flavor, and the tzatziki sauce has a nasty texture. It’s priced too high for the quality. If you do buy this, you will need to plan ahead about 24 hours, so that the meat and sauce can fully thaw.
The End.
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