{"id":10972,"date":"2025-08-14T22:30:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T02:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snarklesauce.com\/blog\/?p=10972"},"modified":"2025-08-14T22:30:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T02:30:28","slug":"aldi-mushroom-risotto-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snarklesauce.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/14\/aldi-mushroom-risotto-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Aldi Mushroom Risotto Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Author’s Note: As always, this is not a paid review. I have no affiliation with Aldi<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unpleasant to cook and unpleasant to eat.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I love you Aldi, but I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard for so little reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a half-hour at a full boil, the “parboiled rice” still had a chewy-firm texture. Not crunchy or hard, but quite<\/em> chewy. Unpleasantly stiff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Optional parmesan cheese and butter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What does it taste like?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The cooled<\/em> texture is thick and sticky. The rice bits have a short, squat, rounded shape that reminded me of barley. It was much<\/em> chewier than I wanted. And I loooove chewy food. So, something isn’t right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flavor is “nice.” It’s savory and has a strong<\/em> 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t need to salt mine at all,<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What did I serve with my risotto?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Aldi<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I ate mine with some sauteed carrots and Aldi Crab Cakes<\/a>, which I’ve previously reviewed.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Ingredients<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ingredients in Aldi Priano Mushroom Risotto<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are the ingredients, from the label:<\/p>\n\n\n\n