Appetitos Crab Rockefeller Tarts

Aldi introduced some new frozen seafood-based appetizers this week in time for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Options include lobster roll bites, along with crab rockefeller tarts.

I’m taking a closer look here at the crab rockefeller tarts. Any type of seafood dish with the name “rockefeller” attached to it typically includes spinach, garlic, butter, and assorted herbs. The box describes these as “buttery crab and spinach filling in a puff pastry shell.”

These are sold under the Appetitos brand, which is not a company. Instead, it’s the name Aldi puts on many of its appetizers, which it sources from various suppliers.

Appetitos Crab Rockefeller Tarts are an Aldi Find, which means they’re only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, they’re gone unless Aldi decides to bring them back later. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products that are out of stock at your local store.

We buy Aldi products ourselves for review. I paid $4.49 for a 5.6-ounce package at my local store in 2024. That comes out to about 80 cents per ounce.

If you’re looking out for allergens, these contain wheat, milk, crustacean shellfish (crab, lobster), and egg.

There are two 4-piece servings per package. One serving has 200 calories, 12 grams of total fat (15% DV), 7 grams of saturated fat (35% DV), 290 mg of sodium (13% DV), 17 grams of total carbohydrates (6% DV), 1 gram of dietary fiber (4% DV), 1 gram of total sugars, no added sugars, and 6 grams of protein.

The box has directions for baking these in a conventional oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place frozen pieces one inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place on the center rack in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until fully cooked.

You could probably bake these in an air fryer, but I followed the directions and baked them in my regular oven.

These feature deliciously flaky puff pastry shells. The filling is creamy, with plenty of spinach. These don’t have a huge amount of crab flavor (similar to the lobster roll bites sold in the same mixed case, which don’t have a lot of lobster flavor). However, they’re good on their own merits. Be aware they also have an extremely mild spiciness to them, thanks to some black pepper and cayenne pepper at the end of the ingredients list.

The Verdict:

Appetitos Crab Rockefeller Tarts have a creamy, cheesy crab and spinach filling in small puff pastry shells. They taste good, although they don’t have much crab flavor.