Avoid This Aldi Bakery Item Unless You Like The Taste Of Cardboard

Aldi has a lot of hits, but it's not without its misses, either. After all, there's a reason why this guide includes some of the worst foods at Aldi, and we have a list of the things you should never buy from the German discount grocer. Customers gather on the Internet to complain about its ranch dressing, Clancy's Doritos knock-off, and its cream cheese. But there is one item that Aldi sells that comes from its bakery, and it has received reviews that liken it to the taste of cardboard: It's the L'oven Fresh Pre-Sliced Bagel Skinnys. "They taste like cardboard in the worst way," someone exclaimed on Reddit.

These flat-as-a-pancake (and maybe flatter than most pancakes) bagels, which come in two flavors, plain and everything, and sell for $2.99 a package. One shopper on an r/Aldi thread called them so flavorless, they can't taste the difference between the two different types. Another customer on a different r/Aldi thread opined that even in the skinny bagel universe (including name brands, like Thomas'), "they're pretty awful."

What's worse, shoppers on yet a third Aldi Reddit thread also complained that because of how flat they are, they rarely split in half cleanly, even with the pre-cut slice. So you end up with not only two very thin, flavorless slices of bread, but they are often uneven, and in the worst cases, ripped.

Aldi's bagel skinnys have received their fair share of bad-mouthing on the Internet, but some people don't mind them so much — provided they're just part of a greater whole and aren't being eaten on their own. "I find them enjoyable with ... whipped cream cheese, smoked salmon, a Roma tomato, and homemade pickled red onions," one Redditor on an r/Aldi thread wrote, leading someone else to point out it's because there's so much "goodness" on top, they can no longer taste them. 

Still, another commenter on that same thread remarked that they like to use the plain ones as a base for breakfast sandwiches, and they're great when used in that fashion. It seems the general consensus among bagel skinny apologists is that when used to hold fillings, they are serviceable at least.

If "serviceable" doesn't do it for you, though, Aldi does carry some stand-out bread products for super-affordable prices. Customers rave about the Everything Sourdough loaf, both for its flavor and for its simple ingredients. Shoppers are also big fans of the Jalapeno Cheddar Sourdough loaf, though one Redditor recommended it's best when toasted or heated up, so the chunks of cheese get all gooey.