We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
There’s nothing like a fresh tomato for a BLT sandwich, but there are still a few months to go before peak tomato season hits. Lest you think that that means meals in my house are tomato-free, I simply rely on canned tomatoes in the interim. Practically every grocery store sells canned tomatoes, but for the past (cough, cough) 12 years, whenever I’m at Aldi — the fast-growing discount chain — I make sure to stock up on Happy Harvest diced tomatoes.
What’s So Great About Happy Harvest Diced Tomatoes?
Aldi sells a few styles of canned tomatoes, including crushed, sauce, and paste. I could build a pretty strong case for keeping a can of each on your pantry shelf, but if there’s one style that I can’t live without, it’s diced tomatoes. In fact, canned diced tomatoes are often a better choice for cooking than their fresh counterparts because they’re already peeled and diced for you. Plus, canned tomatoes are shelf-stable, so you don’t have to worry about them spoiling on your counter.
Aldi’s Happy Harvest diced tomatoes are packed in 14.5-ounce cans, which is the same size as most name brands. The price of these tomatoes is what makes a strong case for this find (and dozens of Aldi groceries I rely on every week). Each can costs just $0.95 at Aldi, while at my local grocery store in the Tampa area I’d have to pay $1.35 for the store brand or over $3 for the name brand.
What’s the Best Way to Enjoy Happy Harvest Diced Tomatoes?
Many of the recipes in my weekly dinner rotation all have one thing in common: canned diced tomatoes. These stuffed bell peppers combine the tomatoes with ground meat, cooked rice, and gooey shredded cheese. This recipe for one-pot chili mac gets rave reviews every time I make it. These tomatoes can be used to make your own marinara sauce. (Remember to pick up four cans of diced tomatoes for this recipe to substitute for the two 28-ounce cans of whole peeled tomatoes.)
Try making your own homemade salsa with canned tomatoes. This easy blender salsa recipe calls for canned tomatoes, white onion, jalapeño peppers, and cilantro. On Fridays we make our own pizzas, and that means I need to have pizza sauce on hand. It’s simple to make with just a few ingredients, plus extra sauce can be frozen.
Find it in stores: Happy Harvest Diced Tomatoes, $0.95 for 14.5 ounces
What Aldi groceries have you been buying for years and years? Tell us about it in the comments below.