Aldi sells a ton of special foods for the summer season, including several types of potato salad, coleslaw, and boxed pasta salad. The discount grocery also sells fresh pasta salad in a few flavors in the refrigerated section, including the Little Salad Bar Caprese Pasta Salad and the Little Salad Bar Fresh & Zesty Rotini Pasta Salad.
These are Seasonal Favorites, meaning they’re in stores for longer than an ALDI Find (Special Buy), but they aren’t on the shelves year round.
The Little Salad Bar Caprese Pasta Salad and Fresh & Zesty Rotini Pasta Salad sold for $4.99 for a 25-oz. container at the time of publication, which seems on the pricier side for Aldi, but these pasta salads are more like specialty products and are not wholly unworthy of the slightly higher price tag. If you want a more garden-variety and less expensive pasta salad, Aldi also sells a traditional mayo-based pasta salad as a Seasonal Favorite for a couple of dollars during the summer months.
Little Salad Bar Caprese Pasta Salad
This was our favorite of the two pasta salads we tried. It includes mezzi rigatoni, cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, red peppers, and mozzarella in a roasted garlic vinaigrette.
We liked how the noodles were thick and substantial, making it feel like we were eating an upscale, artisan-style dish, and the seasonings and flavors were spot-on and satisfying. It was a bit light on the whole cherry tomatoes, but there is enough vinaigrette and “sauce” to coat everything that you could easily add a few more tomatoes if you want to up the veggie factor.
Little Salad Bar Caprese Pasta Salad nutrition info. (Click to enlarge.)
LIttle Salad Bar Caprese Pasta Salad ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
One 25-oz. container has about 7 servings, and each serving contains 200 calories, 1.5 grams of saturated fat (8% of your recommended daily value), 20 mg of cholesterol (7% DV), 310 mg of sodium (13% DV), 16 grams of total carbohydrates (6% DV), 2 grams of total sugars, and 1 gram of added sugars (0% DV).
I appreciate that its ingredients list is filled with identifiable foods like canola oil, tomatoes, red pepper, mozzarella cheese, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, onion, sea salt, basil, and garlic.
It’s a product of Canada, and it contains wheat and milk.
Little Salad Bar Freshy & Zesty Rotini Pasta Salad
This includes rotini pasta with red and green peppers and onions in a light vinaigrette dressing.
This tasted more like a standard Italian pasta salad. It didn’t seem as special as the Caprese pasta salad, but it was still a solid option. One thing that stood out was all the slices of green pepper in this one.
Little Salad Bar Fresh & Zesty Rotini Pasta Salad nutrition info. (Click to enlarge.)
Little Salad Bar Fresh and Zesty Rotini Pasta Salad ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
One 25-oz. container has about 7 servings, and each serving contains 130 calories, 0 grams of saturated fat, 20 mg of cholesterol (7% of your recommended daily value), 360 mg of sodium (16% DV), 20 grams of total carbohydrates (7% DV), 2 grams of total sugars, and less than 1 gram of added sugars.
Again, the ingredients list contains identifiable foods such as fusilli pasta, green peppers, filtered water, canola oil, onions, red peppers, white vinegar, sea salt, garlic puree, sugar, and parsley.
This is a product of Canada, and it contains wheat.
The Verdict:
Aldi’s Seasonal Favorite Little Salad Bar Caprese Pasta Salad and Little Salad Bar Fresh & Zesty Rotini Pasta Salad are specialty pasta salads the grocer offers during the summer months. Neither one lasted long in my house, but my family particularly enjoyed the Caprese pasta salad. The Rotini pasta salad was fine, but it was not quite as memorable.
