Whole & Simple Tahini & Chickpea Protein Bowl

Last Updated on September 8, 2023

The Whole & Simple product line at Aldi routinely rolls out limited-edition frozen single-serve meals that are surprisingly healthy with various grains and veggies. After trying a couple that I liked very much, these little boxed microwavable meals always catch my eye whenever Aldi introduces new ones in different flavors and food combinations. I’m always open to trying new ones.

Whole & Simple is not a company but rather is an Aldi house brand that focuses on what it sounds like: foods that are minimally processed, contain readily recognizable ingredients like what you’d use in your own kitchen, and are relatively good for you. That can be a big ask for frozen convenience meals. This product line pulls it off pretty well, though.

My favorite is the Mexican Style Street Corn Riced Cauliflower Bowl. I stock up on that one whenever I see it in the Aldi frozen aisle. I also like the shrimp and quinoa bowl and the pork enchilada bowl.

Most recently, Aldi sold Whole & Simple Tahini & Chickpea Protein Bowls and Whole & Simple Edamame Energy Bowls. I like tahini, which is a sesame-based paste-like sauce or condiment I see on the menu in most Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants. So I bought the tahini and chickpea bowl to try at home for a quick and easy workday lunch.

The Whole & Simple Tahini & Chickpea Protein Bowl cost $3.19 for a 10.5-ounce bowl at the time of publication. The package describes this as a protein bowl “with sauce, rice blend, vegetable blend, [and] green and white garbanzo beans.” It advertises half a cup of vegetables per serving. This is a product of Canada.

At the time of writing, this is an Aldi Find, which means it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone unless Aldi decides to bring them back at some point. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products not currently in stock at your local store.

As mentioned above, this Aldi house brand is known for focusing on whole foods and easily identifiable ingredients. The ingredients for this bowl are cooked brown rice, water, sweet potatoes, garbanzo beans, cooked black lentils, kale, green garbanzo beans, tahini, coconut milk (coconut milk, water, xanthan gum), concentrated lemon juice, garlic puree (garlic, water), agave syrup, sea salt, organic canola oil, parsley, sesame seeds, corn starch, yeast extract, spices and xanthan gum. Some may not approve of the xanthan gum, and it might be helpful to know what “spices” are used here, but otherwise it’s a good-looking list of ingredients.

If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains coconut (tree nuts) and sesame.

Nutrition information, ingredients, and heating instructions. (Click to enlarge.)

This does have some sodium, and it’s got a lot of carbs, but it also has a large amount of dietary fiber. In addition, it contains healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.

One bowl or one serving has 440 calories, 15 grams of total fat (19% DV), 3.5 grams of saturated fat (18% DV), no cholesterol, 580 mg of sodium (25% DV), 63 grams of total carbohydrates (23% DV), 7 grams of dietary fiber (25% DV), 4 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of added sugars (2% DV), and 14 grams of protein.

The box has directions for heating this in a microwave or in a conventional oven.

To microwave, remove the bowl from the carton. Do not pierce or remove the film. Heat on high for 3 minutes. Peel back the film and stir thoroughly. Replace the film and cook on high for an additional 1 to 1.5 minutes. Remove from the microwave. Stir and let stand 1-2 minutes before serving. The bowl will be hot, so use caution and support the bowl when removing it from the microwave.

To heat in an oven, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the bowl from the carton. Do not pierce or remove the film. Place the bowl on a baking sheet on the middle oven rack for 25-30 minutes. Halfway through cooking, peel back the film, stir, and replace the film for the remaining cooking time. When done, remove the baking sheet from the oven. The bowl will be hot, so use caution when removing it from the baking sheet. Remove the film and stir thoroughly. Let stand 1-2 minutes before serving.

Ready to serve after microwaving.

I microwaved this, which is what I’m guessing most people will do because it’s quick and easy. With these being single-serve meals, they’re convenient to take to work or school if you have access to a microwave. (They can also be great for single people who don’t want to cook large amounts of food.) The food was very hot after microwaving, and I let it sit for several minutes to cool down so I could actually enjoy it.

It includes a generous amount of tahini and, in fact, when you first take this out of the box, you’ll see that the tahini and the grains and veggies are sort of on separate sides of the bowl. You stir them together about halfway through the heating process, whether you’re using the microwave or a conventional oven.

The variety of veggies and grains in this bowl is appealing, with a good mix of brown rice, garbanzo beans, lentils, and kale (I had one semi-tough kale stem in my bowl). This also contains sweet potato, but it doesn’t have much (probably no more than half a dozen pieces), and I would have liked a little more of that. The tahini helps to add some flavor complexity. This bowl isn’t as highly flavored and seasoned as some other Whole & Simple bowls I’ve had such as the street corn bowl or the enchilada bowls. Still, it’s decent. I added a couple of shakes of salt to my bowl, which helped some. I didn’t like this one enough to want to buy it again, but it’s not bad.

The Verdict:

The Whole & Simple Tahini & Chickpea Protein Bowl features brown rice, white and green garbanzo beans, lentils, kale, and various seasonings with sesame-based tahini. This is fairly healthy for a frozen convenience meal, as are most of the products in the Aldi Whole & Simple line. We like some of Whole & Simple bowls better than others, and this tahini one falls somewhere in the middle. It’s decent, but it’s not among our favorites.