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Specially Selected Shrimp & Scallops with Champagne Sauce

A few years ago, Aldi introduced some limited-edition crème brûlée that came specially packaged in its own little ceramic serving dishes. The dessert was delicious, but the little dishes also got a lot of attention from Aldi fans who shared various ways to reuse the dishes, including as pet food dishes (great especially for cat food) or as serving dishes for dip or whatever you could think up. (If you have special uses for the dishes, feel free to leave a comment at the end of this post.)

Now, Aldi is selling another food product that comes in its own small serving dishes. This time, it’s a shrimp and scallop bake with a creamy, cheesy, champagne-based sauce. I love seafood and am particularly fond of shrimp, scallops, and other shellfish, so I looked forward to finding these at my local Aldi.

Specially Selected Shrimp & Scallops with Champagne Sauce

Specially Selected Shrimp & Scallops with Champagne Sauce cost $6.99 for an 8.46-ounce package at the time of publication. With two servings per package, that comes out to about $3.50 per serving. This is on the pricey side especially because the servings aren’t large, so it’s definitely a special treat. This would be nice to save for a fancy dinner or celebration or for an at-home date night.

The package describes this as “shrimp and sweet scallops with a creamy champagne sauce, served in an oven ready terracotta pot.” This is a product of the United Kingdom.

This is an Aldi Find, so it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and once that sells out, they’re gone. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products not in stock at your local store.

The package notes that the scallops were wild caught using trawls in FAO 41 in the southwest part of the Atlantic Ocean. The scallops were certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.

The shrimp were farm raised, and the box states they were certified to have been responsibly farmed by the Aquaculture Stewardship Foundation.

The box also indicates that while every effort was made to remove shells, some small fragments may remain.

Specially Selected Shrimp & Scallops with Champagne Sauce
Nutrition information, ingredients, and baking directions. (Click to enlarge.)

Other than some maltodextrin, this contains mostly whole or easily recognizable ingredients such as heavy cream, whole milk, cheese, white wine, butter, flour, seasonings, seafood, and breadcrumbs, to name a few.

If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains milk, wheat, shrimp, and fish (saithe).

One box has two 1-pot servings (120 grams). One serving has 210 calories, 16 grams of total fat (20% DV), 10 grams of saturated fat (48% DV), 530 mg of sodium (23% DV), 5 grams of total carbohydrates (2% DV), 2 grams of total sugars, no added sugars, and 13 grams of protein.

This is cooked from frozen, and the box has directions for baking. The box states this is not suitable for microwave cooking.

To bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the carton and tray. Place the terracotta pots on a baking sheet and put in the preheated oven on a rack in the middle position. Bake for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature is 145 degrees or higher. Let stand for 2-3 minutes before serving.

Specially Selected Shrimp & Scallops with Champagne Sauce
After baking.

This was piping hot and slightly bubbly after exactly 30 minutes in my oven. It was a hit with my family. It features tender, sweet scallops and perfectly cooked shrimp all in a thick, gooey, cheesy sauce. The sauce has mostly a cheesy and creamy flavor and not necessarily a strong champagne flavor, so if you’re not a fan of champagne, don’t worry. This has a lot of sauce, but I didn’t necessarily feel like it skimped on the scallops and shrimp, although it’s not a large serving. There’s a light topping of breadcrumbs that browns nicely and adds just the right amount of crunch for a bit of texture.

This is delicious, but the servings are small and it’s an expensive dish — even if it does literally come with its own reusable dishes — so I won’t be buying this often. It would be great to buy a couple of these and save them for special occasions. In the meantime, it could be fun to try making my own version of this using seafood, cream, cheese, and seasonings. I could even make it in the same dishes.

The Verdict:

Specially Selected Shrimp & Scallops with Champagne Sauce is a product of the United Kingdom and features tender seafood in a thick, creamy, cheesy sauce topped with crispy breadcrumbs. If you like shellfish, this is really good and worth trying. As a bonus, each serving comes packaged in an oven-safe terracotta dish that can be reused for serving other foods, or they also make great pet food dishes.

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13 Comments

  1. Is this a dish I can eat raw, or must it be cooked? I don’t have access to an oven or microwave so anything I can eat on the go is much appreciated. I like to be able to stow it in my crossbody bag while I run errands throughout the day. Is this package similar size as a Lululemon crossbody bag or would it be smart to size up? Thanks for reviewing these products! Your reviews are refreshing and helpful!

    1. It does have to be baked according to instructions on back of product. Once cooked, though, you could probably take with you and eat it cold if you needed to

  2. This sounds like something I would love to try! However, though I get these e-mails early Sunday morning and travel to the US early Monday morning, NOTHING is there for me to buy. So not fair! I am still hoping to buy Aldi bottled artesian water. Any chance of that?

  3. These have become a new obsession!! In the past two weeks I have accumulated 20 pots and have a few more stashed in the freezer at my mom’s house (so I have to go out of my way to get more)! The price is worth it for the amount of seafood in each pot and the servings are perfect. I only wish they covered the top of each pot or each package in plastic like the crème brûlée. They have no covering so some the panko topping falls off in transport.

  4. I have one in the freezer right now and even though I am not a big fan of scallops I don’t think they taste like anything I’m excited to try them in this new way also to use the dishes maybe for mini pot pies. I’m glad I was able to get one while the getting was good thank you for reviewing look forward to reading more.

  5. I bought 2 packages the first 2 times after the Aldi opening on Tarentum Bridge Rd. New Kensington, Pa. Have not seen it on the shelfs since. Will this be available again or can I order it from Aldi. The dish was absolutely delicious.

    1. Only Aldi knows whether it will be available again. As the post explains above, Aldi doesn’t offer online ordering for limited-time specials that are not currently in stock in stores.

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