Little Salad Bar Classic Chicken Salad (Aldi)

Quite simply put, one of the best chicken salads on the planet.

Chicken salad has never been one of my favorite things. I think the main reason for this is because it was never one of my mom’s favorite things and so, as a result, I rarely, if ever, had it growing up. Naturally, when I moved out on my own, it never even crossed my mind as something I should pick up.

But then years and years of packing my lunch for work finally took its toll: I couldn’t bear to eat peanut butter and jelly any more. I had to have something different, but what? One day a while back, my wife urged me to check out Aldi’s chicken salad. I wasn’t sure about that at first, especially considering a tub of the stuff is $3.69…I mean, I could virtually make a hundred peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for that price! The thought of wasting that on something I might not enjoy bounced around my head for a while, but after realizing I couldn’t think of anything better to get, I scooped it up.

Alternate view.

Now, about a year later, it’s one of my go-to sandwiches for packing. This stuff is unbelievable, especially for a pre-packaged product…it tastes like it was made in a supermarket deli, rather than in a factory somewhere. Once I tried it, the price made complete sense, too: there are HUGE chunks of chicken in here. There are also celery bits, which provide a satisfying little crunch, as well as a tad bit of noticeable flavor, while the mayo base is so delectably rich and creamy that it blows pretty much every other store-bought chicken salads out of the water. This is stuff that could be served in a little corner deli somewhere, with a hiked-up price tag, and no one would even bat an eye…it’s that good.

See why it pays to try new things? This went from being a reluctant purchase, to one of my all-around favorite things that Aldi carries, period, and if you haven’t given it a shot yet, I urge you to do so. Even if you’re not familiar with how chicken salad “should” taste, or don’t typically like it, it doesn’t matter, because this is how it should taste. Truly phenomenal stuff.

Overall: 10/10. I want to deduct points for something, but I just can’t. The $3.69 price tag, which I initially felt was pretty high, is justified by the huge chunks of chicken inside, while the flavor is so good, you’d swear it came from a deli somewhere, and not from a prepackaged tub. The mayo base is ridiculously rich and creamy, while the celery adds a little crunch to the otherwise soft combination. To be fair, I haven’t had many chicken salads in my day (never something I ate growing up), so I'm sure there are better options out there somewhere

NOTE: If “classic” chicken salad is too “boring” for you, they also offer a variety of alternate flavors, like “chipotle” and “cranberry”, all with the same delicious base (though some are $.30 more). Pick any of them up, and chances are you will not be the least bit disappointed, although this one is still consistently my favorite.