Aldi Tuna Salad with Crackers and Chicken Salad with Crackers

A couple of years ago, one of my kids was in an extracurricular program that met before regular school hours began, making for an early start to the day once a week. My child often likes to pack a hot lunch in a thermos, but on those days there was a large enough span of time between when we left the house and when she had her lunch break that it pushed the limits of the thermos and its ability to keep food hot, leaving us with food safety concerns. I wasn’t sure an ice pack could keep a lunchmeat or tuna sandwich at appropriate temperatures for that length of time either. My daughter’s options were to pack something like a PB & J sandwich or buy a hot lunch from the school cafeteria, with the latter option quickly adding up in cost.

Then I found these little tuna salad or chicken salad and cracker kits at Aldi. They’re shelf stable until opened, can be eaten straight out of the packaging (with a small plastic spoon included), and are the perfect size to tuck into a lunch box. The tuna salad and chicken salad are packed into small cans with easy-peel lids that are easy for middle-to-upper elementary students to open, and possibly younger kids, too.

Northern Catch Ready to Eat Tuna Salad with Crackers, Fit & Active Fat Free Tuna Salad with Wheat Crackers, and Brookdale Ready to Eat Chicken Salad with Crackers cost $1.05 each for a 3.5-oz. package.

These are all Regular Buys, which means you can find them at Aldi all year. You can find them near the canned tuna. Northern Catch is Aldi’s private label for canned seafood, while Brookdale is the Aldi label for what you might call emergency food or camping food such as beef stew, canned chili, Vienna sausages, and other canned goods such as sloppy joe sauce. Fit and Active is the Aldi brand for foods with a focus on lower calories, lower fat, and so on.

As for how these tuna and chicken salad and cracker kits taste, they’re not as good as chicken salad or tuna salad I make at home, but my daughter likes them a lot and happily eats them, and she sometimes asks for them even when we’re not packing lunches. They’re good not only for packing in lunches, but they’re also useful as part of an emergency food stash or for when you’re camping or road tripping and picnicking at rest stops. They’re portable and easy to take along anywhere you need a snack or light meal.

Keep in mind that if you don’t eat the entire can of chicken salad or tuna salad in one sitting, it should be refrigerated.

Here’s more information on each variety.

Northern Catch Ready to Eat Tuna Salad with Crackers

This is made with skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) that claims to be dolphin safe. It’s a product of the U.S., and it may contain bones. It was caught in the Pacific (FAO major fishing areas 61, 71, 77, and 81) using the purse seine (free school) method.

If you’re avoiding allergens, this contains egg, soy, and fish (skipjack tuna).

Nutrition information is listed separately for the tuna salad and the crackers.

The tuna salad is 82 grams and has 230 calories, 19 grams of total fat (25% DV), 3 grams of saturated fat (15% DV), 20 mg of cholesterol (7% DV), 220 mg of sodium (10% DV), 7 grams of total carbohydrates (3% DV), 4 grams of total sugars, 3 grams of added sugars (6% DV), and 6 grams of protein.

The crackers are in an 18-gram package and has 80 calories, 3 grams of fat (4% DV), 105 mg of sodium (4% DV), 13 grams of total carbohydrates (5% DV), and 1 gram of added sugars (2% DV).

Fit & Active Fat Free Tuna Salad

Like the other tuna salad option above, this is made with skipjack tuna that claims to be dolphin safe. It was caught in the Pacific (FAO major fishing areas 61, 71, 77, and 81) using the purse seine (free school) method. Like the tuna salad above, this also is a product of the U.S., and it might contain bones.

If you’re watching out for allergens, this tuna salad contains egg, soy, and fish (skipjack tuna). The crackers contain milk, soy, and wheat.

I noticed this tuna salad is slightly higher in sodium compared to the regular tuna salad, but it’s got a lot fewer calories in addition to being fat free.

The tuna salad has 70 calories, no fat, 10 mg of cholesterol (3% DV), 340 mg of sodium (15% DV), 10 grams of total carbohydrates (4% DV), 2 grams of dietary fiber (8% DV), 5 grams of total sugars, 3 grams of added sugars (7% DV), and 6 grams of protein.

The crackers have 80 calories, 2.5 grams of total fat (3% DV), no saturated fat, no cholesterol, 95 mg of sodium (4% DV), 13 grams of total carbohydrates (5% DV), no fiber, 1 gram of added sugars (2% DV), and 1 gram of protein (1% DV).

Brookdale Ready to Eat Chicken Salad with Crackers

This also lists nutrition information for the chicken salad and the crackers separately.

The chicken salad is in an 82-gram can and has 140 calories, 9 grams of total fat (11% DV), 1.5 grams of saturated fat (8% DV), 30 mg of cholesterol (10% DV), 230 mg of sodium (10% DV), 8 grams of total carbohydrates (3% DV), 4 grams of total sugars, 3 grams of added sugars (6% DV), and 8 grams of protein.

The crackers are in an 18-gram package and have 80 calories, 3 grams of total fat (4% DV), 105 mg of sodium (4% DV), 13 grams of total carbohydrates (5% DV), and 1 gram of added sugars (2% DV).

The Verdict:

Northern Catch Ready to Eat Tuna Salad with Crackers, Fit & Active Fat Free Tuna Salad with Wheat Crackers, and Brookdale Ready to Eat Chicken Salad with Crackers each contain a single serving with a small can of tuna salad or chicken salad and a small package of crackers. They are shelf stable, portable, and great for packing anytime you need an easy lunch or snack.