Cattlemen’s Ranch Corned Beef Reuben Bites

Aldi pulls out all the stops for St. Patrick’s Day, selling everything you need for a corned beef and cabbage dinner, plus other items such as Irish cream cheesecake, sugar cookies topped with green sprinkles, and a selection of Irish liquor. Then there are the Irish-American-inspired novelties you didn’t even know you needed until you saw them in the store. That’s the case with the Corned Beef Reuben Bites that showed up this year.

Cattlemen’s Ranch Corned Beef Reuben Bites are $7.99 for a 24-oz. package at the time of publication. They are an “uncured corned beef, sauerkraut & pasteurized processed provolone cheese fritter” with dipping sauce included. They’re processed in the U.S. and contain no nitrites or nitrates.

These are an ALDI Find (Special Buy), which means they’re only in stores for a short time, so get them while you can.

They’re obviously a highly processed food with a lengthy ingredient list. The primary ingredient is beef, though. People with allergies should be aware the Reuben Bites contain milk, wheat, soy, and egg. The sauce contains egg.

One 3-oz. serving with 1 1/4 tablespoons of sauce has 240 calories, 13 grams of total fat (17% of your daily value), 4 grams of saturated fat (20% DV), 570 mg of sodium (25% DV), 21 grams of total carbohydrates (8% DV), 1 gram of dietary fiber (4% DV), 3 grams of total sugars, 2 grams of added sugars (4% DV), and 11 grams of protein.

Cattlemen’s Ranch Corned Beef Reuben Bites nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

The Reuben Bites can be prepared in a conventional oven, convection oven, deep fryer, or air fryer.

To bake in a conventional oven, preheat oven to 425 degrees and cook for 10-12 minutes on a baking sheet.

To prepare in a convection oven, preheat to 350 degrees and cook for 8-9 minutes.

To deep fry, preheat oil to 350 degrees and cook for 4-5 minutes.

To air fry, preheat to 390 degrees and cook for 5-6 minutes.

I opted to heat our Reuben Bites in the air fryer we purchased from Aldi last year. They didn’t seem quite hot enough after 6 minutes, so I let them go for another 3 and they were fine. There were no directions for the little packet of dipping sauce, so I set it in a bowl of hot water to thaw while the Reuben Bites were in the air fryer. Just before serving, I poured the sauce into a small bowl and microwaved it for 30 seconds to take the remaining chill off.

Reuben Bites with dipping sauce.

I went full St. Patrick’s Day and served these alongside some traditional corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes prepared in my slow cooker. My family likes corned beef and cabbage, and they also instantly loved the Reuben Bites. Even the more picky eaters among gobbled them up, including the dipping sauce, and we had no leftovers.

The Reuben Bites are like a Reuben sandwich version of chicken nuggets, and they look a lot like chicken nuggets from the outside, which might explain why the kids in my house liked these so much. They have a satisfying crispy breading, especially when air fried. Inside, the corned beef is the most prominent component of the filling. We saw the processed provolone cheese mixed in with the corned beef, and while we thought there was an adequate amount of cheese, these don’t drip cheese when you bite into them. What we didn’t see or detect much of was the sauerkraut. If I hadn’t read on the package that these contain sauerkraut, I might not know they have it.

What it looks like after you bite into one.

The dipping sauce is like a Thousand Island dressing and is fairly smooth in texture, with small bits here and there of the sweet relish listed in the ingredients. Its sweetness nicely complemented the savory beefy Reuben nuggets.

Overall, these were extremely popular in my house, with family members requesting that I buy them again. Since they’re not the healthiest things, I won’t buy them often, but they would make a good once-a-year treat if Aldi decides to bring them back again next year.

The Verdict:

Cattlemen’s Ranch Corned Beef Reuben Bites look like chicken nuggets and contain savory corned beef and processed provolone cheese. The package says they have sauerkraut, too, but we didn’t see much of it. Despite that minor quibble, these were a hit in my household. The Thousand Island-style dipping sauce hits the spot as well. The package even has air fryer instructions, which we don’t typically see on packaged food preparation instructions. Recommended as a fun St. Patrick’s Day-themed seasonal indulgence.