Aldi Vegan Meatballs Review (2023)

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In this Aldi vegan meatballs review, I give a my personal opinion about the taste as a vegan (I’ve tried many vegan meatless meatballs-just saying).

As a dietitian, I’ll also nerd out on the nutrition facts because, why not?

Lets dive in!

Disclaimer: This article is just providing education, and the writers personal opinion. It is not a substitute for medical or dietary advice. Always talk to your doctor about any health concerns, if you want to make major dietary changes, or take a supplement. Please note that prices, ingredients, and nutrition facts may change. See our Disclaimers for more details.

Quick Summary

Overall, I would buy these again!

Here’s a quick breakdown of the Pros and Cons:

Pros:

  • Very tasty and well seasoned!
  • Easy to cook
  • Decent amount of plant based protein (if that’s what you’re looking for)

Cons:

  • Doesn’t have a “meaty” mouth feel.
  • Sodium is high
  • Can be more expensive than other vegan meatballs.

Here’s a quick review about them from my YouTube channel below!

What are Aldi Vegan Meatballs?

Aldi vegan meatballs are under the Aldi’s brand: Earth Grown. They are seasoned balls that resemble the look of meat, but are actually vegan(1).

Instead of meat, they are made with vegan ingredients, like soy (the bean that is used to make tofu) and seasonings (that’s great news for me as a vegan!).

There are two flavors from Aldi:

  • Classic Meatless Meatballs
  • Zesty Italian Meatless Meatballs

This review is only going over the “classic” flavor.

picture of cooked meatless meatballs from the Earth Grown brand from Aldi

How Do I Eat it?

There are several ways to eat these meatless meatballs!

Instructions are on the back. For this review, I used the stove top method and it was delish!

Here’s the different ways to prepare Aldi vegan meatballs as listed on the back (please refer to your package, as instructions may change):

  • Stovetop: “Heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the frozen meatless meatballs and cover for 15-17 minutes until browned, turning often.”
  • Oven: Preheat oven to 400 degrees farinheight. Place meaballs in a single layer on baking sheet. Bake for 10-11 minutes on th ecenter rack of the oven until throughly heated. Let cool slightly before serving.
  • Microwave: Place meatballs in a single layer on a microwave safe plate. Microwave on high for 45-60 seconds. Let cool before serving.”

Source: The back of Earth Grown Classic Meatless Meatballs from Aldi(pictured below)

picture of the back of the package of aldi earth grown meatless meatballs that has cooking instructions (listed in the text).

Where Can I Buy Them?

You can buy these at Aldi! I don’t know of any other stores that might carry these.

You could also try searching for them on Instacart, but they may or may not be available.

Aldi Meatless Meatballs Review

Taste

I absolutely love the taste of these meatballs (and I’m not just saying that!).

Compared to other vegan meatballs that I’ve tried, these were the most well seasoned, with notes of black pepper, parsley, and garlic.

The flavor was not as “meaty” as the vegan Trader Joes or Whole Foods brand meatballs (but that is a-ok for me!). That’s not necissarily a “bad” thing, but if you were expecting a flavor like Impossible or Beyond, this is not it.

Also the texture was more soft than rubbery (something else I prefer).

If I were to buy more vegan meatballs soley based on taste, I would choose these over Trader Joes, Gradien or Whole Food 365 brand meatballs!

For the record: my husband and daughter (who are vegetarian), also enjoyed them!

picture of a hand holding a aldi vegan meatball with a bite take out

Cooking Level

I used the stove top method to cook these. They were easy to cook and did not take a lot of time-as they are premade.

The instructions were simple, and easy to follow (keep in mind, I’m not a trained or very skilled chef).

Ingredients

FYI: ingredients may change, check your own package for ingredients.

Here’s the ingredients as copied from the package pictured below.

“Ingredients: Water, Canola oil, textured soy protein (soy protein concentrate, caramel color), soy flour, Breadcrumb (wheat flour, dextrose, salt, yeast, sunflower oil), wheat gluten, salt, methylcellulose, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, yeast extract (yeast extract, salt), caramel color, parsley.
Contains: Soy & Wheat.”

picture of the nutrition facts from earth grown aldi meatless meatballs

The ingredients in this product are quite typical for a vegan meatless meat products. Soy protein likely contributes much of the protein content.

Nutrition

FYI: Nutrition facts and ingredients may change. Read the nutrition facts panel of your own package.

Here’s some nutrition info from the back of the package (source: picture from the ingredients section above) for a 85 gram (about 6 meatballs) serving:

  • Calories: 170
  • Total Fat: 11 grams
  • Saturated Fat: 1 grams
  • Trans Fat: 0 grams
  • Cholesterol: 0 milligrams
  • Sodium: 490 milligrams
  • Total Carbohydrates: 6 grams
  • Dietary Fiber: 2 grams
  • Total Sugars: 1 grams
  • Added Sugars: 0 grams
  • Protein: 14 grams
  • Calcium: 61 milligrams
  • Iron: 2 milligram
  • Potassium: 424 milligrams

I love that that their are 0 added sugars, and a decent amount of plant based protein. After all, you’d probably expect a faux meatball to have some protein right? (if you aren’t-there are some fake meatballs that have less protein, you just have to look for them).

The sodium is on the high side, at around 21% the daily value.

Too much sodium could increase the risk of hypertension and heart disease(2). Many meatless products have lots of sodium. So it’s important to be aware of this and the other foods that contribute sodium in your diet.

If you need help figuring out sodium limits that are best for you, talk to your doctor and Registered Dietitian.

Portion

Visually, 6 meatballs in a serving looks like a nice hefty portion (and would look extra fancy on top of pasta, if that is a part of your menu)!

You could even cut your portion in half and still get about 7 grams of plant based protein with these meatballs. Other plant based foods that have 7 grams of protein include about a half a cup of canned garbanzo beans(3), or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (4)

Price

To some, the price of these meatballs might be expensive.

I got these meatballs for $4.95 USD at my nearest Aldi. For comparison, the Gardein plant based meatballs are about $4.92 USD at my nearest Walmart(3). So they are similar in price.

Compared to Trader Joes Meatball (about $3.99 USD)(4), the Aldi meatballs are certainly more expensive though!

Would I buy Earth Grown Meatless Meatballs Again?

picture of a hand holding one aldi vegan meatball

I will buy these again! They are the tastiest vegan meatless meatballs I have had as of the date of this post (just my opinion;) ).

Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons (again, my opinion! )

Pros

  • Tasty
  • Well seasoned
  • Softer texture (not rubbery)
  • Didn’t taste overly Protein-y or animal meat-like
  • Easy to cook
  • Low in saturated fat
  • Protein is decent (14 grams per serving)

Cons

  • Texture is more soft than “meaty”
  • Some other meatballs might have a more realistic meat flavor.
  • Relatively more expensive than some other brands of vegan meatballs
  • High in sodium

I hope you found this article helpful! If you’ve tried these meatballs, what did you think (let me know in the comments below)! And if you’ve tried the zesty Italian meatless meatballs flavor, let me know if you liked those! I don’t think our store had them, but they’ll be on my list to look when I shop next.
If you enjoyed it, you might like some of our other posts about vegan food and reviews including:
-Tattooed Chef Acai Bowl Review
-Do Vegans Eat Cheese?
-What Cereals are Vegan? (How do I Pick healthier ones?)
If you want to keep up with our helpful content for vegans/veg curious folks: sign up for Plant Powered You’s e-mail subscribers list  ❤✌

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