Appetitos Southwestern Style Rolls

EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated for 2025. 

Rachael also contributed to this review. 

The Aldi Find freezer aisle includes plenty of finger foods and appetizers in its rotating selection. You might find crab rangoon, pretzel bites, or breaded cheese curds.

One of my favorites is currently back in stock, while supplies last.

Appetitos Southwestern Style Rolls are an Aldi Find, meaning they’re in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, they’re not immediately restocked. Aldi does not offer online ordering if these are out of stock at your local store. Aldi sells these in a mixed case with green chile rolls.

As of September of 2025, these cost $6.99 for a 24-ounce box containing eight rolls. That comes out to about 29 cents per ounce, or about 87 cents per roll.

These are stuffed with chicken, spinach, corn, mozzarella cheese, black beans, red peppers, and jalapenos, all in a crispy roll. A look at the ingredients list shows the primary cheese to be mozzarella; the roll itself is wheat flour.

If you’re looking out for allergens, these contain soy, milk, and wheat.

One serving is one roll, which has 200 calories, 8 grams of total fat (12% DV), 2 grams of saturated fat (10% DV), 480 mg of sodium (20% DV), 22 grams of total carbohydrates (7% DV), 2 grams of dietary fiber (8% DV), 2 grams of sugars, and 9 grams of protein.

The packaging lists three preparation methods: conventional oven, microwave, or deep fryer.

The longest method is the oven. After preheating the oven to 425 degrees, the rolls are cooked uncovered for 18-22 minutes, turning them halfway through. If you don’t have a deep fryer or air fryer, we recommend this method if you have the time. The rolls are much crispier than if they were cooked in the microwave.

The microwave instructions are, not surprisingly, the fastest: cover a roll with a paper towel and place on a microwave-safe plate. Cook on high for 1 minute and 15 seconds to 1 minute and 45 seconds, turning the roll halfway through cooking. (The directions actually say 1 1/4 minutes to 1 3/4 minutes, which we find odd.) For each additional roll, add 1 minute and 15 seconds of cooking time. The downside to the microwave instructions is that the rolls don’t come out very crispy, although this probably doesn’t surprise anyone.

The deep fryer instructions are in the middle when it comes to time: 350 degrees, cooked in the deep fryer for 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 minutes. We no longer have a deep fryer so we haven’t tested this method, but we assume they come out plenty crispy.

While there aren’t air fryer directions (a big oversight these days, in our opinion), we like to air fry these. I air fried them at 400 degrees for about 16-17 minutes. Your mileage may vary, so if you try air frying these, keep an eye on them.

Before we talk taste, a disclaimer: Aldi seems to have tinkered with the recipe on this roll, and for a while we stopped buying them because we didn’t like the direction Aldi went with them. But we’re believers again, at least with regard to the rolls at the time of this post. They have a great, rich taste, with a nice blend of veggies, chicken, and various spices. They’re particularly tasty dipped in the likes of ranch dressing, although they’re also perfectly good plain.

The Verdict:

Appetitos Southwestern Style Rolls are excellent appetizers that are perfectly suited to any party, gathering, or other excuse for making some. They’re not at all good for you — they have plenty of calories, fat, sodium, and carbs — but the taste is excellent, especially when paired with ranch dressing. Definitely recommended.

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