On busy weekdays when I want a quick and easy lunch I can throw in the microwave, I’ve discovered that Aldi sells several good bowl options. They sell some Southwestern and Mediterranean quinoa bowls all year. Aldi also sells some limited-time special bowls at different points in the year, and those include harvest grain bowls, shrimp bowls, Mexican street corn style bowls (a personal favorite of mine), and even pad Thai or green curry bowls. Some of those bowls, such as the quinoa bowls, are actually pretty healthy, while others may be less good for you. But if you choose carefully, you can feel good about what you’re eating.
The most recent bowls to show up at Aldi are some Asian-inspired Szechuan or General Tsao’s bowls. These are sold under the Park Street Deli private label at Aldi, which usually encompasses refrigerated deli-style foods. However, I found these in the limited-edition Aldi Find freezer aisle. Spoiler: these are not healthy for you.
The Park Street Deli General Tsao’s Chicken Bowl and Park Street Deli Szechuan Lo Mein Chicken Bowl cost $3.29 each at the time of publication.
These are Aldi Finds, so they’re only in stores for a limited time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, they’re gone unless Aldi brings them back at some later point. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products that aren’t in stock at your local store.
Both packages have directions for heating these in the microwave. Remove the bowl from the cardboard sleeve. Peel back the film to vent, but do not remove the film. Place the bowl in the microwave. If heating from refrigerated/thawed, microwave on high for 2 minutes for the lo mein or 2 1/2 minutes for the General Tsao’s. If heating from frozen, microwave on high for 4 minutes no matter which bowl or flavor you’re heating. Remove from the microwave and let rest for 1 minute before carefully removing the film. Stir gently and serve.
Keep reading for more information about each bowl.
Park Street Deli General Tsao’s Chicken Bowl
Park Street Deli General Tsao’s Chicken Bowl ready to serve.
The package describes this as “popcorn chicken fritter, carrots, broccoli & chili peppers in a tangy General Tsao’s sauce over white rice.”
This has a good amount of breaded chicken in sauce, along with rice, and it has some veggies — mostly carrots and broccoli. Sometimes dishes like these can be heavy on the diced carrots as filler, but the chicken is the main feature here. This has just the right amount of veggies, and the broccoli is all florets and not stalks. It’s mildly spicy, as I would expect for a General Tsao’s dish. It also has a couple of dried pepper pods that I removed before serving.
I wasn’t expecting anything really gourmet with a frozen Asian entrée like this, but it actually tastes pretty good. The chicken breading gets a little mushy, which is not a surprise for a frozen meal with sauce, and the rice is basic white rice rather than fried rice, but otherwise, this is better than I thought it would be. It made a nice workday lunch, as long as I didn’t pay too much attention to the nutrition information panel.
Park Street Deli General Tsao’s Chicken Bowl nutrition information, ingredients, and heating directions. (Click to enlarge.)
If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains wheat, soy, egg, and sesame.
As is often the case with takeout-style food, this is loaded with sodium, and it has as much added sugar as a dessert. The ingredients list is also long and contains some processed ingredients.
One bowl (284 grams) has 450 calories, 10 grams of total fat (13% DV), 1 gram of saturated fat (5% DV), 1,480 mg of sodium (64% DV), 77 grams of total carbohydrates (28% DV), 27 grams of total sugars, and 23 grams of added sugars (46% DV).
Park Street Deli Szechuan Lo Mein Chicken Bowl
Park Street Deli Szechuan Lo Mein Chicken Bowl ready to serve.
The package describes this as “chicken breast strips, carrots, onion, red, green & yellow peppers with Szechuan style sauce infused lo mein noodles.”
This is primarily a noodle dish. While it says it has carrots, I didn’t notice many. The veggies consist mostly of peppers and a few onions, and while there are a good amount of them, the noodles are the focus of this meal. This also has some non-breaded chicken pieces, but not a lot, and some of the pieces are small. This bowl does not have the dried pepper pods like the General Tsao’s bowl, but it does have crushed red pepper, and the seeds’ tougher texture stands out mixed with the soft noodles. This is a little spicier than the General Tsao’s bowl, but I think it still qualifies as mild.
This is a good bowl. Which bowl you like best depends on whether you want a lot of noodles (this bowl) or more chicken (General Tsao’s).
Park Street Deli Szechuan Lo Mein Chicken Bowl nutrition information, ingredients, and heating directions. (Click to enlarge.)
If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains wheat and soy.
This has even more sodium than the other bowl, and it still has some added sugars, although not quite as much as the other bowl. It also has a lengthy ingredients list.
This bowl has 540 calories, 9 grams of total fat (12% DV), 1.5 grams of saturated fat (8% DV), 1,750 mg of sodium (76% DV), 93 grams of total carbohydrates (34% DV), 13 grams of total sugars, and 10 grams of added sugars (20% DV).
The Verdict:
The Park Street Deli General Tsao’s Chicken Bowl and Park Street Deli Szechuan Lo Mein Chicken Bowl are frozen single-serve entrees that heat in minutes in the microwave, making them a quick and convenient choice for a meal on a busy day.
Both are mildly spicy. The General Tsao’s bowl features plenty of breaded chicken with white rice and veggies, while the Szechuan Lo Mein bowl features lots of noodles with some chicken and peppers. We slightly prefer the General Tsao’s bowl, but both are good, flavorful options.
Just be aware that these are loaded with sodium, added sugars, and some processed ingredients. If you want single-serve frozen meals, Aldi sells some healthier options.
