21 Aldi Fall 2024 Items, Ranked Worst To Best

Ah, fall. The leaves are turning, the kids are back to school, and the store aisles are brimming with pumpkin spice products. In fact, if you take a trip down your local grocery store aisle, chances are that you'll find pumpkin spice and caramel apple spinoffs of seemingly every product, from snacks to cheese.

Aldi is one store that has an impressive collection of these products in its so-called "aisle of shame." As a regular Aldi shopper (ballin' on a budget, as I like to say), I've watched pumpkin permeate into every shelf of this aisle, as well as in other, more unexpected sections. I've sampled an array of its fall products in order to see which ones are worth purchasing for your autumnal snacking routine, and which ones are better left on the shelf. All of these products are from Aldi's in-house brands, like Clancy's, Berryhill, and Millville, and were ranked based on factors like taste, texture, and adherence to the autumnal theme. 

Apple cider isn't the same thing as apple juice – and it's something that you should tell the team at Aldi, because clearly, someone in the labeling department had a big "Oops!" This sparking beverage, which loses its bubbles after about five seconds, is just apple juice with a fancy name. It has that same cloying flavor on your tongue and doesn't have that refreshing, fresh-from-the-orchard flavor that screams fall. 

The only suitable occasion for drinking this can, which is sold in a pack of four, would be to try to convince kids under five that they're drinking something "fancy." This one, for sure, isn't worth a cocktail, mocktail, or anything in between. 

This product walks a tightrope between being called an actual fall product and a gimmick — and I honestly thought they were made for decoration rather than snacking. The chocolates inside are filled with one of three flavors: cookie dough, chocolate mousse, and almond creme. Seriously, can there be anything less fall?

I tried the cookie dough (green) first. As I expected, it just tasted like a bag of softened candy melts. There was a slight bit of crunch, but not enough to make it a truly remarkable truffle. Plus, the milk chocolate was far too sweet and really overwhelming on my palate. The chocolate mousse apple (yellow) was better, but still not great. The little bit of milk chocolate tried to fight the sweetness of the white chocolate and lost. The almond creme one was lighter and had a subtle nuttiness to it, but I would have liked to see actual hunks of almond in it. Overall, the flavor of these chocolates was poor, and the consistency was low-quality — plus, it was anything but autumnal. 

I could only come up with one word when I took a whiff of this box of chocolate truffles: cacophony. There was berry, there was chocolate, there was what I thought was nuts but may have not been. This chocolate box was about as confused as I was. I tasted the worst one first: caramel apple. There was that artificial apple flavor in the back of my throat, which I decided was just a synthetic sour apple flavor that had been distilled into the caramel base. There wasn't anything enjoyable about it. The fall berry truffle was much more enjoyable, but I couldn't decide which berry (or berries) it was trying to portray. It was blackberry-esque, like that ice cream flavor, but it could have been better with a little bit of jam in the center. 

The pumpkin spice truffle, meanwhile, was horrendous. The center was white chocolate with pumpkin spice, but it felt more like I was eating pumpkin-spiced candle wax. The almond maple was by far the most pleasurable one out of the bunch. It was too sweet, thanks to the maple, and the almond was wholly lost — but it still has the most balanced flavor. As you can probably tell, I would never, ever buy this chocolate box again — but it wasn't as bad as the apples

Do we need to have a whipped cream that's pumpkin-flavored? Probably not, but Aldi did it anyway. This product comes out an unappetizing shade of orange — perhaps so that folks can tell the difference between it and regular whipped cream. When I tasted it, I didn't immediately think "pumpkin" or "pumpkin spice." Rather, it tasted oddly plasticky without any noticeable spice or squash notes. And, its flavor is so odd that I can't even think about what to put it on. 

This was clearly a big miss from Aldi's fall lineup. But luckily, there are so many other, better items to choose from. The bright side? It didn't send me running for the trash can like some of the lower-ranked options.

The salted caramel apple spread had the consistency of a very, very thick applesauce. However, it was missing that caramelization that would really push it into apple butter territory. Since the texture was so odd, I struggled to picture what exactly I would put it on (leaf-shaped crackers ... maybe?). 

Moreover, the flavor of this spread was quite cloying, and the saltiness only really made the spread itself more confusing. I expected it to taste like a cross between salted caramel sauce and apple butter, but it came out like an awkward hodgepodge of the two. The concept was cool, but the execution was poor. 

Pumpkin is truly supposed to be one of those flavors that's best when it comes as a light, gentle kiss. This pumpkin spice kettle corn? It hits you like a ton of bricks, and then throws a few extra at you for good measure. This product really leans synthetic, to the point where I was debating whether or not I was eating pumpkin spice candle wax dribbled over a handful of popcorn or not. 

The popcorn has the same problems as the maple-drizzled version — mainly that it's too soft. But the highly artificial flavor on this pumpkin version really puts a damper on my craving for anything pumpkin-spiced. 

I've tasted Aldi's store-bought bagels before, and I can tell you — I wasn't impressed. These pumpkin bagels offered a spark of hope, though. Maybe, since pumpkin is such a sweet and moisture-inducing item, it could help revive this bagel to all of its pumpkin spice glory. 

That, my friends, is wishful thinking. This bagel is just plain awful. It has the cheap baked-not-boiled consistency and a flavor that is more bitter pumpkin than fresh pumpkin. Even if the brand touts that it uses "real pumpkin" on the label, you would have thought that it would use some sort of spice to back that up. The only indication that this is, indeed, a fall item is the slight orange tint. 

These cookie mug toppers are cute, even if they are wholly unnecessary. The label touts them as "crunchy caramelized cookies," but it's clear that they're just average molasses cookies. While they are snappy and well-sweetened, I would have liked to see more fall inspiration here. Clove cookies brimming with cinnamon and spices? That would have been much more preferable compared to this ho-hum, molasses cookie that could really be eaten any time of year. 

I also think that the little spot where the cookie attaches to the mug was made too wide. I found my cookie fell off very easily unless it was positioned at just the right angle. Cute cookie, sure — but poor execution all around. 

I'm not the biggest fan of yogurt-covered pretzels — since pretzels are fine all on their own. But, Aldi introduced something rather exciting with its pumpkin-spiced yogurt pretzels. However, if you fed these pretzels to an unassuming individual, I doubt that "yogurt" would be the first product that comes to their mind. Rather, these pretzels just taste like someone melted down orange candy melts, threw in some musty cloves, and called it a day. 

The yogurt coating on these pretzels is far too sweet. If Aldi marketed these as "spiced white chocolate covered pretzels" and nixed the orange dye, it would have a winner on its hands. But as it stands, this is just false advertising. But, it would still be a pretzel I wouldn't mind having in a snack mix. 

Why does everyone think that salted caramel is a fall thing? It's so good, it should be an every-time-of-year thing. 

I found these wafer rolls in the same aisle as the pumpkin spice ones. The aroma pulls you in when you open the bag, but not in an attractive way. It was more so a warning about the sugar bomb inside. These were crisp and light, but the main issue was with the salted caramel. The inside was too sweet — even with the added salt. 

I will give Aldi one thing, though — it sure knows the difference between "salted" caramel and the plain stuff. This filling had the perfect balance of salt in every bite, which limited how cloying this cookie could be overall. But if the brand really toned down the sweetness and kept the same saltiness, it would have a great product on its hands. 

I'll give Aldi this — this is not a bad cookie. But is it a pumpkin-spiced cookie? Me thinks not. 

The flavor is very sweet, and the filling in the center is very gritty. I didn't detect any notion of pumpkin in this entire cookie, even in the filling that's florescent orange (like, deer hunter orange). There might have been some ginger on the back of my mouth to make it slightly fall-adjacent. But otherwise, this cookie was devoid of any sort of spice, which it desperately needed to hide from the cloyingness. 

The apple pie sandwich cremes, like the pumpkin ones, were a disappointment. While there are some foods that can really mimic that synthetic apple flavor, these fall short — by a long shot. The filling is cloying and sweet, and while it smells like apple, it doesn't taste like anything close to it. 

Like the pumpkin cookies, these are well-constructed, with a generous filling in tow, but they're not something that really screams autumnal. I will give it some points on the pumpkin ones, though, because it does have that fall-ish, apple aroma. 

Pumpkin spice ... tea? No, I'm not talking about a chai — this is a black tea infused with spices like cinnamon and blackberry leaf. The aroma of this tea was inviting and brimming with familiar cinnamon notes, which was a welcome change. 

But, the flavor was rather bland. I don't think it could really count as a "pumpkin spice tea" because cinnamon was the only note that I could actually pick out. The tea itself isn't especially powerfully flavored, which led to me having a few sips before putting it down. I wasn't wow-ed, nor was I surprised, by this Aldi selection, so it earns a spot in the middle of this ranking. 

I will be the first person to admit that I'm not a big fan of flavored instant oatmeals. After all, plain oatmeal really isn't all that bad (or time-consuming). So, I proceeded to sample this pumpkin-spiced oatmeal with trepidation — and a little bit of uneasiness in my stomach. 

The sweetness of this oatmeal wasn't as prominent as I was expecting. While the smell was brimming with sweet flavors of cinnamon, spice, and everything nice, the flavor of this oatmeal could have easily been confused with your classic brown sugar instant oatmeal. What I did appreciate, though, was that there were little pieces of whole oats inside of this oatmeal, so it wasn't just an indiscriminate bowl of mush. 

I would consider eating this oatmeal again, which is surprising, given my negative association with the breakfast food. But, I wish it had more pumpkin spice-specific flavors, like its aroma suggested it would. 

I'm always looking for my next French toast bread — and I thought that Aldi's maple streusel breakfast bread could be it. It's quite sturdy and very fragrant with notes of cinnamon, so I had high hopes. But, once I bit in, I knew this was just another sad, dry bread. 

The flavor wasn't bad; it was still sweet-leaning with cinnamon. But, the issue was that the maple was not there. Moreover, Aldi failed to deliver on the promise of something that had streusel; this bread had a little bit of decorative sugar on the top, but it wasn't enough topping to give it the title of "streusel." Structurally sound, yes, but tasty — no. 

The pumpkin cake, swirled with buttercream icing, was one of the most expensive items on my list. But, sadly, its price tag was not worth it. 

This pumpkin cake was more stodgy and cake-like than the pumpkin bread (which had the perfect texture). On its own, this bite was well-spiced and autumnal, but the grittiness of the buttercream really distracted from the cake. Moreover, I think that the buttercream was a bad move because it shifted the focus of the cake to something sweet, rather than something balanced. A cream cheese icing would have been a far better fit. 

Kettle corn is like popcorn's cool, fun cousin. This bag, which is drizzled in a sugary maple concoction that's more like maple butter than maple syrup, is a true treat. While the flavor is really maple-forward, the taste of this popcorn is subtly sweet and really balanced overall. I could see this being a great addition to a snacking mix, complete with chocolate candies and pecans. But eating it out of hand? I could see it getting boring fast. 

The only thing more that I would want from this kettle corn is a more profound crunch. Its texture is a little too soft, like regular popcorn, so its consistency comes off as a bit mushy. 

I can appreciate this fall pasta from a practicality standpoint. It's not really "fall" in terms of flavor; rather, it has whimsical little shapes that are akin to the tri-color pasta that you'd buy from the grocery store. There are spinach, pumpkin, red beet, and tomato-infused shapes, but you don't really taste any of them. And honestly, it's not a bad thing whatsoever. 

The pasta itself is rather limp and soft when it's cooked (as is the case with any pasta with a ton of surface area), which makes it a series of shapes that I wouldn't want to cover with a super-heavy Alfredo. But for the most part, this is a fun way to enjoy the autumnal spirit without venturing into anything sweet.

I'll admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for wafer rolls. The outside wafer of Aldi's product, which is filled with a pumpkin-spiced filling, is perfectly crunchy and light. While the filling is sweet and brimming with cinnamon and cloves, this isn't a cookie that I could get tired of. It's far from cloying, and it's one of the few items in this review that I felt myself gravitating towards for a second bite. 

The other thing that gave the wafer cookies a step up from the other products was that it was actually pumpkin-like, without tasting too artificial. The squash flavor wasn't bitter, but almost like the subtle kiss in pumpkin bread of a pumpkin pie filling. But, the pumpkin wasn't as balanced as my top picks. 

I'm a big fan of pumpkin bread, and I'm an even bigger fan of Aldi's pumpkin bread slices. The pumpkin cake slices in this package were delectably moist and balanced — just like the pumpkin bread I've made myself.

The one downside to this product is that it has a slightly synthetic aftertaste that makes you think it was store-bought rather than homemade. I would have also liked to see a bit more cinnamon, since this bread tends to run rather clove-heavy.

The pumpkin pie caramel clusters, which are essentially hodgepodge hunks of thick melted caramel (infused with pumpkin spice), white chocolate, graham cracker, and cinnamon sugar, are absolutely divine — and wildly unexpected. The flavor is sweet-leaning, and the consistency has really all of the things I want from an after-dinner treat — and more. Every bite is different, and the chewy caramel gives your teeth something to work for. 

While I would have liked the graham cracker to be a bit crunchier, and I think the white chocolate could have been nixed from the recipe, I think that this treat is, by far, the most complex one on the list. The pumpkin spice flavors were warm, inviting, and slightly spicy, while the sweetness from the caramel really united this treat together as one. 

I ranked each of these products according to several different factors including taste, texture, and overall fall-ness. Although the bulk of these products leaned sweet, I looked for items that really balanced that dominant flavor with other notes, including autumnal spices. Overall, products should be not gimmicky; they should have a solid flavor that you could consider coming back to and eating again, rather than remaining a one-bite-wonder. 

Besides having a balanced flavor and a solid texture, I also looked for products that were really autumnal in spirit and design. Items that were associated with fall things, like pumpkins or apples, ranked higher than those that were autumn-adjacent or that could be enjoyed any time of the year (sorry salted caramel).