Aldi Mushroom Risotto Review
Author’s Note: As always, this is not a paid review. I have no affiliation with Aldi.
Unpleasant to cook and unpleasant to eat.
I love you Aldi, but I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard for so little reward.
According to the label directions, this imported Italian Mushroom Risotto is supposed to cook in 15 minutes (or less). But I spent more than 30 minutes trying to cook mine, and finally gave up.
After a half-hour at a full boil, the “parboiled rice” still had a chewy-firm texture. Not crunchy or hard, but quite chewy. Unpleasantly stiff.
It took that long to get *most* of the water to evaporate. The label says to cook until *all* the water is absorbed, but after more than 30 minutes of sweating my brains out over the stove, I called it quits. There was still a decent amount of liquid in the pot at that point.
For the record, I had to stir it CONTINUOUSLY (and very vigorously) the last 10 minutes to keep it from burning on the bottom of the pot. The label says to “stir occasionally.” Ha! Arm workout sold separately.
Optional parmesan cheese and butter
The instructions include adding some optional butter and parmesan to the cooked risotto at the end. I just happened to have a good block of parmesan cheese in my house, so I added some of that. And, of course, butter! I will never-not add butter.
What does it taste like?
The cooled texture is thick and sticky. The rice bits have a short, squat, rounded shape that reminded me of barley. It was much chewier than I wanted. And I loooove chewy food. So, something isn’t right.
The flavor is “nice.” It’s savory and has a strong mushroomy-kick, which doesn’t taste completely natural. There are, however, small bits of dried mushrooms in the mix that rehydrate to add some fresh-looking pizazz.
I didn’t need to salt mine at all, which is a miracle. It has a rich umami salty taste by itself. Mine definitely had a cheesy flavor, too, but I don’t know how much of that is from my own added parmesan cheese.
What did I serve with my risotto?
I ate mine with some sauteed carrots and Aldi Crab Cakes, which I’ve previously reviewed.
Ingredients in Aldi Priano Mushroom Risotto
Here are the ingredients, from the label:
- Parboiled Rice
- Powdered Sunflower Oil Preparation (Sunflower Oil, Glucose Syrup, Sodium Caseinate, Silicon Dioxide)
- Whey Powder
- Dehydrated Button Mushrooms
- Potato Starch
- Salt
- Natural Flavor
- Wild Porcini Mushrooms (pieces and powder)
- Onion Powder
- Yeast Extract
- Artificial Mushroom Flavor
- Garlic Powder
- Dehydrated Parsley
I’m disappointed by the Artificial Mushroom Flavor. The good news is, there are two kinds of real mushrooms in this risotto: button mushrooms and wild porcini mushrooms.
Nutrition Facts
There are two servings per packet of 1/2 cup. However, this is one of the rare instances where I believe the servings were underestimated. I personally got about 4 side-dish-size servings from a single packet.
Anyway. IF you eat half a packet, it has 330 calories. There are 6 grams of fat (0.5 grams saturated fat) and 8 grams of protein. You get 59 grams total carbohydrates, of which 2 grams are fiber and 4 grams are sugars (0 grams added sugar). As expected, there’s a fair amount of sodium, with 34% your daily value.
Cooking Instructions
Here are the official cooking directions, from the label:
- Stove Top: “Pour 2 2/3 cup cold unsalted water and the contents of the pouch into a 8-inch diameter pot. Stir well and bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 14-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until water is completely absorbed…. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese and 2 tsp unsalted butter, if desired.”
- Microwave: “In a microwave safe dish (about 2 quarts), pour the contents of the pouch into 2 1/4 cup cold unsalted water. Stir well and bring to a boil. Cook for 15-17 minutes, until water is completely absorbed. Remove from oven and stir in 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese and 2 tsp unsalted butter, if desired.”
I almost always prefer a stove top preparation. But, in this case, I wonder if the microwave method might have been a smarter move. If you’ve tried that, let me know if it worked better.
Price and Servings
The 6 ounce packet cost $1.69 at my local Aldi. Since there are two servings per pouch, each serving is about 85 cents. For a rice dish, this is not an eye-popping bargain. The actual cost per serving is higher once you add your own cheese and butter.
Shelf Life
The “best by” date on my dry risotto packet allowed almost a year to consume.
Leftovers
My leftovers congealed into a sticky, solid mass. I tried to re-heat and eat the next day, but it was soo goopy and awful, I ended up throwing away the rest. Alas for wasted food.
Dramatic Conclusion
I would gladly put in the 30+ minutes of effort to cook this IF it produced a delicious result. But it did not. It’s unpleasant to make and unpleasant to eat. Combined with the questionable artificial flavoring, this risotto is a hard pass for me. Sorry-not-sorry.
On my high-tech “Awesome-o-Meter,” this scores a frustrated “Why, Tho?”
The End.
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