I have come to like a lot of the products in the Park Street Deli house brand lineup at Aldi. The private label focuses on refrigerated delicatessen-style items and includes egg rolls, guacamole, snack trays, layered dip, street corn dip, chicken salad, and more. They’re ideal for fast, easy lunches or snacks whether you’re eating at home, on the go, or at work or school. They can also make for some good appetizers to take to a party or potluck.
The Park Street Deli product line also includes a wide array of ready-to-heat refrigerated entrées that can be quickly microwaved in the trays they’re sold in. They include pork carnitas (a favorite in my house), Korean style BBQ chicken, Thai coconut chicken, artichoke stuffed chicken (not the best product in this lineup), smoked pulled pork with BBQ sauce, chicken fajitas, burnt ends, and more.
The latest refrigerated entrée I tried features boneless pork ribs with a Hawaiian style sauce.
Park Street Deli Hawaiian Style Boneless Pork Ribs with Sauce cost $6.99 for a 16-ounce package at the time of publication. The package describes this as “boneless pork ribs in a sweet BBQ sauce with pineapple juice, tomatoes & peppers.”
This is a Seasonal Item, which means it’s in stores longer than an Aldi Find, but Aldi does not sell it year round. In this case, it’s a product Aldi stocks during the spring and summer months. Aldi does not offer online ordering for this product if it’s not in stock at your local store.
One package has about three servings. One serving has 170 calories, 5 grams of total fat (6% DV), 1.5 grams of saturated fat (8% DV), 1,020 mg of sodium (44% DV), 12 grams of total carbohydrates (4% DV), 9 grams of total sugars, and 8 grams of added sugars (16% DV). In other words, this has a lot of sodium, and it has some added sugar.
This does contain some processed ingredients such as carrageenan, zanthan gum, dextrose, corn syrup solids, natural flavor, and maltodextrin. That’s not surprising with a ready-to-heat entrée like this.
Nutrition information, ingredients, and heating directions. (Click to enlarge.)
If you don’t intend to eat this right away, it can be frozen. To defrost, place it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. Then following the warming instructions below. Use this within three days of defrosting.
The package has directions for heating this in the microwave (recommended) or in a conventional oven.
To microwave, remove the outer sleeve from the tray. Leave the inner pouch in the tray. Puncture the inner pouch. Place in the microwave oven and heat on high for 2-3 minutes or until the product is hot and ready to serve.
To heat in a conventional oven, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the outer sleeve and tray. Open the inner pouch and empty the product into an oven-safe pan (do not use the included tray in the oven). Cover the pan with foil. Place the pan in the oven and heat for 12-15 minutes or until hot and ready to serve.
After microwaving.
I microwaved this and served it with some rice from Aldi that microwaves in its own packet. The pork is tender, but not all of it was easy to cut with just a fork, so you’ll want to keep a knife handy to cut it into bite-sized pieces. It has good flavor, and the sauce has noticeable notes of pineapple. While it advertises tomatoes and peppers, it doesn’t have visible pieces of them, and it only lists tomato paste in the ingredients rather than diced tomatoes.
My family all thought this was fine. It’s not the biggest standout in this product line — that might be the pork carnitas — but it’s good on its own merits.
The Verdict:
Park Street Deli Hawaiian Style Boneless Pork Ribs features pork in a tomato sauce with pineapple juice and various seasonings. It heats quickly and easily in its own tray in the microwave. It’s perfectly fine for days when you want dinner fast. Serve it alongside rice if desired and a garden salad for a complete meal.
