Limited-edition “ALDI Finds” are fun and flashy, the types of items you’d text a picture of to a friend and say, “Look at what I found!” But the amount of attention these products get is kind of like when the “fun parent” gets all the praise instead of the one who’s doing most of the work.
Don’t reliable ALDI basics deserve just as much of our love? After all, these are the products we rely on for day-to-day cooking and the ones we can count on to be available year-round. In this spirit, I’m giving an ode to ALDI’s Canned Diced Tomatoes.
ALDI Happy Harvest Diced Tomatoes
Price: $0.99 for a 14.5-ounce can
Why I Love It: These canned tomatoes are one of my favorite pantry staples. They have great flavor and texture, and they’ve become my go-to ingredient in soups, pastas, and other tomato-based dishes.
Why I Love ALDI’s Happy Harvest Diced Tomatoes
ALDI carries three varieties of these canned Happy Harvest Diced Tomatoes: the classic Diced Tomatoes, Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic, and Oregano, and Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes. These cans range in price from 99 cents to $1.29. The classic can is my go-to, but I’ve also bought the seasoned option, which tastes like the plain version with added dried spices.
The tomatoes are small and soft in texture—I’ll sometimes even pop one in my mouth raw while cooking with them. I love that they come in 14.5-ounce cans, often the size my recipes call for. Alternatively, if a recipe calls for a 28-ounce can of tomatoes and I plan on splitting it in half, I like that I can use one 14.5-ounce can rather than letting half of a 28-ounce can go to waste.
These tomatoes come packed in water, which I don’t drain. The water slightly evaporates while cooking and can actually prevent the tomatoes from burning over the stove if there’s no other liquid in the recipe. These diced tomatoes have a unique texture, so they are best cooked in recipes rather than as a substitute in a recipe that calls for fresh tomatoes.
I like keeping one or two of these cans stocked in my kitchen at all times. They’re the base of so many dishes I love, from puréed tomato sauces and aromatic shakshukas to briny puttanescas and hearty minestrones. They’re an invaluable product in my pantry,
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