Shrimp are a great choice if you want a meal featuring a low-fat protein. Besides tasting delicious, shrimp also contain important vitamins and minerals, including iodine, calcium, magnesium, and selenium. Shrimp are also lower in mercury than many other types of seafood.
We love shrimp in my household. We eat them chilled with cocktail sauce, toss them in pasta or salads, put them in quesadillas or tacos, turn them into scampi, or eat them breaded and air fried.
Aldi sells several types of frozen shrimp in both medium and jumbo sizes. Here, I’m taking a closer look at the frozen medium shrimp options at Aldi.
From left to right: cooked shrimp with shell and tail off, cooked shrimp with shell off but tail on, and raw shrimp with shell and tail on.
I found three different medium frozen shrimp choices at my local store at the time of writing. What you choose might depend on your price point and also how you intend to serve the shrimp. It seems like prices tend to vary by 10 to 20 cents, more or less, from week to week, so your mileage may vary.
- Fremont Fish Market Medium Cooked in Shell Shrimp (Peeled and Deveined, Tail Off), $5.79 for 12 ounces, about 48 cents per ounce.
- Sea Queen Medium Cooked Shrimp (Peeled and Deveined with Tail On), $5.15 for 12 ounces, about 43 cents per ounce.
- Fremont Fish Market Medium Raw Shrimp (Deveined, Shell and Tail On, Easy Peel), $6.49 for 12 ounces, about 54 cents per ounce.
Fremont Fish Market and Sea Queen are Aldi house brands. That means there are no companies called Fremont Fish Market or Sea Queen. Those are simply names Aldi puts on the various seafood products it sells, which it sources from a variety of suppliers.
These are Regular Buys, which means you should be able to find them at Aldi all year.
All of these shrimp are Best Aquaculture Practices certified, and they’re all farm raised.
Obviously, if you’re looking out for allergens, these contain crustacean shellfish (shrimp).
From left to right: cooked (sold raw) shrimp with tail and shell on, cooked shrimp with shell off and tail on, and cooked shrimp with tail and shell off.
I prepared all three of these types of shrimp and served them plain and chilled with both Aldi Burman’s Cocktail Sauce and Trader Joe’s Cocktail Sauce for Seafood for dipping. Keep reading to learn our taste testers’ thoughts about each shrimp variety, along with nutrition information and preparation instructions.
Fremont Fish Market Medium Cooked in Shell Shrimp:
Thawed and ready to serve.
The package label states these are “cooked in shell,” but the fine print states these are peeled and deveined with the tail off. In other words, these shrimp are cooked and have all shells and tails removed, so they’re ideal for when you don’t want to spend extra time removing the shells and tails. These are ready to toss in a salad or on top of pasta, for instance.
We like these shrimp just fine. However, when we sampled them alongside the other medium frozen shrimp from Aldi, we thought these had a chewier texture compared to others. Not a deal breaker, but just an observation.
Fremont Fish Market Medium Cooked in Shell Shrimp nutrition information, ingredients, and preparation instructions. (Click to enlarge.)
These are farm raised and a product of Vietnam. Ingredients are shrimp, water, and salt. They contain no preservatives.
One 3-ounce serving (about 17 shrimp) has 80 calories, 0.5 grams of total fat (1% DV), no saturated fat, 250 mg of sodium (11% DV), and no carbs, dietary fiber, or sugars. One serving has 19 grams of protein.
The package has directions for thawing these. It recommends placing the shrimp in a bowl and covering the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight (approximately 12 hours). Rinse with cold water and drain, and the shrimp ar ready to serve.
For a quick thaw, place frozen shrimp into a strainer and rinse under cold running water for 6-8 minutes, lightly tossing and rotating the shrimp. Let them drain for 2-3 minutes before serving.
The package also states that for best taste, you should use these frozen shrimp with three months of purchase. If thawed, store the shrimp in the refrigerator and use within three days.
Sea Queen Medium Cooked Shrimp:
Thawed and ready to serve.
These are peeled and deveined with the tail on, and they’re sold fully cooked. These are good for a lot of uses, including serving with cocktail sauce for dipping.
We liked the texture of these shrimp. They’re tender and not overcooked. They don’t have the somewhat chewy or slightly tougher texture that the other fully cooked shrimp listed above have.
Sea Queen Medium Cooked Shrimp nutrition information, ingredients, and thawing directions. (Click to enlarge.)
These are farm raised and a product of Indonesia. Ingredients are shrimp, salt, and sodium tripolyphosphate (to retain moisture).
A 3-ounce serving (about 17 shrimp) has 80 calories, 0.5 grams of total fat, no saturated fat, 250 mg of sodium (10% DV), and no carbs, dietary fiber, or sugar. One serving has 19 grams of protein.
The package recommends placing frozen shrimp in a bowl covered with plastic wrap or foil in the refrigerator overnight to thaw, about 12 hours. Then drain excess water and serve.
For quick thawing, place the frozen shrimp in a strainer and rinse with cold running water 6-8 minutes, lightly tossing and rotating the shrimp. Drain for 2-3 minutes and serve.
Use within three months of purchase for best taste. If thawed, store in the fridge and use within three days.
Fremont Fish Market Medium Raw Shrimp:
Thawed, boiled, and ready to serve.
These are deveined, with shell and tail on, and they’re advertised as “easy peel.” These are also sold raw, so they’re great for recipes where you want to cook the shrimp with some seasonings to add flavor. The only downside is that you may have to peel and remove the tails yourself.
I buy these frequently when I make shrimp quesadillas. I cook the shrimp in a skillet with some salsa, which gives them great flavor, and then I add them to my quesadillas. I’ve also made homemade shrimp scampi with these. These particular shrimp are fine for whatever recipe you want to use them in. For taste testing purposes for this review, I simply boiled them and served them up with cocktail sauce.
Fremont Fish Market Medium Raw Shrimp nutrition information, ingredients, and cooking directions. (Click to enlarge.)
These are farmed raised and a product of India. Ingredients are shrimp and salt. They contain no preservatives.
One 4-ounce serving (about 15 shrimp) has 90 calories, no fat, 250 mg of sodium (11% DV), and no carbs, dietary fiber, or sugars. One serving has 19 grams of protein.
The package gives directions for thawing these prior to cooking them. Place frozen shrimp in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or approximately 12 hours. Rinse with cold water, drain, pat dry, and cook.
For quick thawing, place frozen shrimp in a strainer and rinse with cold running water for 6-8 minutes, tossing the rotating the shrimp. Let drain for 2-3 minutes, pat dry, and cook.
The package offers directions for cooking these by boiling them, sauteing them, or broiling them.
To boil, cook in boiling salted water with one thick slice of lemon until the shrimp turn pink. They cook in 3-5 minutes, depending on size. Peel and eat.
To saute, heat butter in a skillet and add finely chopped Italian parsley. Saute shrimp for about 2 minutes on each side. Add lemon juice and serve. Peel and eat.
To broil, preheat the broiler. Broil shrimp 4-5 inches from the heat source for approximately 2.5-5 minutes or until shrimp turns opaque. Turn once while broiling. Serve with melted butter and lemon. Peel and eat.
For best taste, use frozen shrimp within three months of purchase. If thawed, store in the refrigerator and use within three days.
The Verdict:
Aldi sells three types of frozen medium shrimp under its Fremont Fish Market and Sea Queen private labels.
- Fremont Fish Market Medium Cooked in Shell Shrimp are fully cooked with tails and shells removed. These shrimp are all right but had a somewhat chewy texture.
- Sea Queen Medium Cooked Shrimp are fully cooked with tail and shell removed. We like these shrimp a lot, and they’re great for serving with cocktail sauce.
- Fremont Fish Market Medium Raw Shrimp are uncooked and have shells and tails on. These are good for recipes where you want to cook the shrimp yourself and add seasonings. You do have to remove tails and shells.
Which type of shrimp you purchase may depend on how you want to serve them and whether you want pre-cooked or raw shrimp. We like all of these shrimp to different degrees and frequently buy them.
The sodium tripolyphosphate in the Sea Queen shrimp contributes to a softer texture, as you noted. It’s a little like pork that’s been injected with “a solution” of salt and water to tenderize. If you prefer that texture, it’s fine. But the Fremont raw shrimp texture is more like that of a real shrimp that’s been wild-caught.