Earth Grown Vegan Teriyaki Chickenless Bites + General Tso's Chickenless Bites

Aldi has a decent selection of vegan or vegetarian products under its Earth Grown brand. Whether you’re in the mood for something sweet or savory, Aldi carries something to suit your tastes and dietary needs.

The Earth Grown brand is not a company but rather is the Aldi private label encompassing vegan or vegetarian prepared foods. Some of those foods we’ve sampled over the years include:

Many of these are limited-time time specials, so Aldi may not carry all of them all year.

Most recently, I spotted some new vegan products in the specials freezer aisle: some Chinese takeout-style teriyaki and General Tso’s chickenless bites. My family loves takeout food, and I often keep various frozen options from Aldi in my deep freezer, including orange chicken, General Tso’s chicken, egg rolls, chicken lo mein, and potstickers. I picked up some of the vegan Chinese takeout options to try at home.

Earth Grown Vegan Teriyaki Chickenless Bites and Earth Grown Vegan General Tso’s Chickenless Bites cost $3.29 for a 9.5-ounce package at the time of publication. The packages describe the Teriyaki Chickenless Bites as “batter-coated soy protein morsels with a rich and savory sauce,” while the General Tso’s Chickenless Bites feature “batter-coated soy protein morsels with a sweet and zesty sauce.”

These are an Aldi Find, so 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 at some point. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products not in stock at your local store.

If you’re watching out for allergens, both of these flavors contain soy, wheat, and sesame. They may contain milk, eggs, and fish (which may not sit well with people who want to eat vegan, but if any of these ingredients are present, they are going to be very small trace amounts due to various other foods being processed on the same production equipment). These are processed, so they also have fairly lengthy lists of ingredients.

The packages have directions for baking these in a conventional oven. First, place the included sauce packet in a bowl of hot water to defrost while the rest of the meal cooks. Then preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the morsels on a lined baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes. Turn and continue to bake until golden and crisp, about 9 minutes longer. Place in a serving dish, add the sauce, and toss together before serving.

Earth Grown Vegan Teriyaki Chickenless Bites after being baked and tossed with sauce, ready to serve.

I found that these browned easily and quickly in my oven. You’ll want to keep an eye on these while they’re baking, and set the timer for less than the required time so you can check on the morsels and pull them from the oven if necessary. I baked mine for about 7-8 minutes, then flipped them and baked for another 7 minutes. Some of them stuck a bit to my foil-lined baking sheet and I had to work with a spatula to release them.

Earth Grown Vegan General Tso’s Chickenless Bites after being baked and tossed with sauce, ready to serve.

In terms of texture and taste, these are a lot like chicken, and I don’t think my family would have realized they aren’t chicken if I hadn’t told them. The sauces have decent flavor as well. My family strongly preferred the General Tso’s flavor, which is not spicy at all. My family thought the teriyaki had a strange or “off” flavor, although I thought it was okay, if a little on the strong side. Some of the chickenless bites had a slightly dry texture, but most of them were perfectly fine.

Neither of these bags contains a large amount of food, so I’m not sure I’d buy these again based solely on that factor. However, if you prefer a vegan or vegetarian diet, they taste decent, and I’d eat them again, especially the General Tso’s version.

Keep reading for nutrition information about each package.

Earth Grown Vegan Teriyaki Chickenless Bites

Teriyaki Chickenless Bites nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

One serving has 290 calories, 12 grams of total fat (16% DV), 1 gram of saturated fat (5% DV), 740 mg of sodium (32% DV), 22 grams of total carbohydrates (8% DV), and 8 grams of added sugars (16% DV).

Earth Grown Vegan General Tso’s Chickenless Bites

General Tso’s Chickenless Bites nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

One serving has 310 calories, 12 grams of total fat (15% DV), 1 gram of saturated fat (4% DV), 670 mg of sodium (29% DV), 30 grams of total carbohydrates (11% DV), and 17 grams of added sugars (35% DV).

The Verdict:

Earth Grown Vegan Teriyaki Chickenless Bites and Earth Grown Vegan General Tso’s Chickenless Bites are made with soy protein morsels covered in crispy batter and served with flavorful sauce. These are easy to bake in the oven and taste a lot like real chicken. Our family preferred the General Tso’s variety (and it’s not spicy, if heat level is a concern for you), but the teriyaki flavor is fine, too. If you eat a vegan or vegetarian diet and enjoy Chinese-American takeout food, these are worth dropping in your shopping cart.