The $1.49 ALDI Find So Good I Buy 6 at a Time

I worked as a saucier at a restaurant in the early ’90s, and one of the jobs was making chicken stock and soup from scratch. At night, the crew put a huge pot of whole chickens, vegetables, and water on the back burner. In the morning, I would scoop out the birds, strain the stock, and then pull all the chicken off the bones to use in the soup.

It might surprise you to learn that 12 hours at a very low simmer actually made the chicken incredibly tender and moist. The resulting “pulled chicken” was like gold. Once I used what I needed in my soups, the other cooks pleaded for a few pounds to make “today’s special” salads, pastas, and sandwiches. I had to watch it closely, or it might just disappear!

So when I saw prepared pouches of cooked chicken at my local ALDI, I had a little flashback to those days and the hours I spent picking that meat from the bones. That lesson taught me that good prepared chicken is great to have on hand—something that can be combined with any number of other ingredients to make a quick meal. Now that I am a private chef for families who want to eat lots of protein, I always keep ALDI’s pouches of cooked chicken handy for quick snacks and meals.

The Many Ways To Use ALDI’s Cooked Chicken Pouches

Each Harvest Creek Pouch Chicken contains 2.6 ounces of cooked white meat. That makes it a perfect size to snack on after a workout—just throw it in your gym bag.

When a hungry teen walks into the kitchen, grab a pouch or two and make a quick chicken salad, with a little mayo, Dijon mustard, and chopped celery and scallions, if you have them. Pile mixed greens in a bowl and top it with the chicken; add a sliced tomato or whatever vegetable you have handy and dress with bottled dressing. A quick pasta with jarred sauce gets upgraded with cooked chicken tossed in. Scrambled eggs, nachos, sandwiches, and bruschetta can all become more of a meal with chicken from the pouch.

There’s also a Buffalo Style Chicken pouch. All you need to make a meal of it is a burrito-size tortilla, a handful of salad, a can of drained black beans, and some salsa. Just roll it up and microwave it.

And yes, it’s easy to make soup with prepared chicken stock, veggies, and your already cooked chicken, just like I did back at the restaurant.