Kirkwood Breaded Chicken Breast Fillets (Aldi Red Bag Chicken)
Back in 2020, the red bag chicken craze caught fire.
On social media, Aldi superfans claimed that these chicken breast fillets were the restaurant killer, especially when paired with brioche buns. Buyers claimed the chicken fillets were crisp and tasty, with a flavor that rivaled your local Chick-fil-A. The resulting buzz made it hard to find these, as shoppers scooped them up as fast as Aldi could stock them.
The craze has since cooled off, but the red bag chicken remains a staple on Aldi shelves, one of many chicken options the grocer sells, both raw and precooked.
So was the hype justified? Or was it just an example of all hat and no cattle?
Let’s talk.
Kirkwood Breaded Chicken Breast Fillets are a Regular Buy, meaning they’re in Aldi stores year-round. You can find them in the store’s frozen section.
They currently come in a 24-ounce bag of roughly 4 fillets. In 2025, they cost $7.49 per bag, or about 31 cents per ounce. That’s up from 2020, when a bag cost $5.99, or about 25 cents an ounce.
There is only one listed way to cook the fillets, and that’s in the oven. Prepare yourself, though, as it’s not a fast process. You first have to preheat the oven to 400 degrees, cook the fillets for 20 minutes, flip them, and then cook them for another 15-20 minutes. That’s a total of 35-40 minutes. Not a quick and easy meal.
That said, I’ve found I can cut down the time substantially by using an air fryer. When I cook them in the air fryer at 400 degrees, they’re typically ready in 15-20 minutes. In fact, I have to be careful, as the air fryer can burn the breading if I let them go too long. Also, keep in mind these are precooked, so it’s about heating them up, not cooking the meat.
The payoff, is that these are as good as advertised. In our view, they really are restaurant quality. They’re crisp, well seasoned, and undeniably tasty. If you have the foresight to put one of these on, say, a toasted brioche bun, you’re going to have something that’s as good as fast food.
Nothing this tasty is going to be all that good for you, and these aren’t. Each fillet has 280 calories, 10 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, and a whopping 1,010 milligrams of sodium, or 44% of the recommended daily value.
Also, this is an ultra-processed food, which means there’s a lot more than chicken in here. I won’t spell out all the ingredients here (you can find them all in the picture below), but a lot of it is hard to pronounce or not things you’d find in a home kitchen, which are usually pretty important warnings.
There is one listed allergen, wheat.
The Verdict:
From a taste perspective, Aldi’s red bag chicken, also known as Kirkwood Chicken Breast Fillets, is extraordinary. The flavor is wonderful, they come out crispy, and they make for a dynamite Chik-fil-A impersonation, especially when paired with a brioche bun. The ultra-processed ingredients list and high sodium mean you probably shouldn’t have these often, but for a sometime treat we think these are as good as what you’d get from a restaurant.
i want to use my air fryer for the red bag chicken , what temp and how long
I cooked them at 400 degrees for about 25-30 minutes, flipping them after 15 minutes. They seemed to come out OK that way. You may have to experiment to find out what works best.
In my air fryer using French fry setting I cooked for 7 mins flipped for additional 5 Came out perfect
I have no oven or air fryer. Can I prepare them in a skillet on the stovetop? I didn’t pay attention to the cooking instructions when I bought 2 bags for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Thank you very much for your fast reply and
Happy Thnksgiving to you
I’m not sure how they’d turn out prepared on the stove. If you try it, let us know how it goes.
I fried them in my frying pan on the stove. I used about 1/2 cup olive oil. They were amazing and crispy!!!
It wasn’t the Best I would say 3 and a half stars.
Since they are fully cooked, why can’t you heat them in a microwave?
I had a friend buy me a bag and I am disappointed they are not microwaveable.
Has to do with how the microwave functions. moisture transformation etc… The breast explodes because of the moisture inside of it. (I tried this just for giggles)
With the oven the heating process is different and the breading will not fall off as when moisture is developed it gets “fried” at the exterior the result is crispy outer layer. The microwave fails at this.
that about sums it up without getting too long and boring.
I tried it a couple of times in a 1100 watt microwave and I think I cooked them on high for a minute and a half each on each side. Just a little soggy. We had them in the air fryer last night and my wife cooked them at 400 degrees for 7 minutes on each side and they were very good.
Of course all these appliances are different so you may have to do the old trial and error method.
I stopped in Aldi several days ago and these were readily available. There were six in the bag. I baked them per instructions. Some grease bled out of them and it smelled like dirty shortening. If I were to take a blind taste test I would immediately know that these were not Chick Fila as some have said they taste the same. I bought the brioche buns to go with them. I am not in the habit of buying frozen chicken filets/patties, but these were decent.
I actually found these to be pretty disappointing. Sure I got six breasts in there but I found the flavor to be off putting. I figured it would have a fried chicken kind of taste, though they smelled like Kirkwood chicken patties, instead they had a sweet taste I really didn’t expect or like. Definitely a disappointment for nearly $7. And people ask me why I eat the same things over and over again. I know what I like and many of the new things I try disappoint me while also draining my wallet. Talk about throwing good money at bad.
Exactly! They didn’t used to be sweet! We can’t tolerate them anymore.
The red bag chicken was $7.99 today. No thanks.
This is the 2nd bag I ve purchased that have been extremely hard and couldn’t t be cut, they came apart in chunks. I never before had this problem. What is going on? I am very disappointed especially at $7.99 a bag. I won t be buying them again. I have 2bags yet to use.
These chicken filets used to be really good. For at least the past 6 months or so they have been so spicy hot that I cannot eat them. What happened? Why did they change?
been buying them for years. they are still good but they are about half the size they used to be.
They are not the same as they used to be. Aldi must have changed suppliers and this new version is not nearly as good. If you cook them as directed in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes they are way overcooked and dry.
We used to like them prior to 2024, but they changed the recipe and now they are sweet. Yuck!
I tried these but they don’t compare to Just Bare brand. Just Bare are the only brand I have found that compare to Chick-Fila.
they changed. last two bags have funny taste. won’t be buying again.
Exactly- they are sweet now! Yuck!
yes. used to love them now they have a weird after taste.