Aldi Fans Are Psyched For These New Cauliflower Breadsticks
It's definitely been a December to remember at Aldi, although we don't think they're allowed to say that in their advertising. The list of new products hitting Aldi stores in the final month of 2020 includes something that's sure to please: Mama Cozzi's garlic butter cauliflower breadsticks. They're frozen, they're ready to bake, and they're $3.49 for a package of six (via The Kitchn).
The cauliflower breadsticks were scheduled to appear at Aldi's on Dec. 30. They're so new that the reviews aren't even out yet. But we're guessing the ingredient list is comparable to what you find for Mama Cozzi's cauliflower crust pizza. The crust is made from cauliflower powder, corn or potato starch, tapioca starch, cheese, and various flours including rice, buckwheat, millet, pea, and flaxseed (via Aldi Reviewer). It also contains vegetable fibers and a chemical gelatin substitute called hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, which probably helps the product maintain something close to a real-crust texture. (That said, The Cookful recommends telling your family or guests that they're eating something cauliflower-based, not real bread, because it's not going to fool anybody.)
Again, we assume the Mama Cozzi's cauliflower breadsticks will have a similar ingredient lineup to Mamma Cozzi's pizza crust. These products clearly aren't made from some Italian family recipe and sold in artisanal batches to Aldi. This is food science, folks. And the mélange of five different flours keep Mama Cozzi's cauliflower-pizza products gluten-free.
Cauliflower is a versatile low-carb substitute for bread
If you haven't noticed that cauliflower has become all the rage in food products recently, then you probably aren't counting carbs. The vegetable's neutral taste enables it to substitute for the much starchier rice, potatoes, and bread (via Ketologic). Plus, you get the added benefit of plenty of vitamin C, some vitamin K, and the various B vitamins — all while consuming only 3.2 grams of carbohydrates per cup of chopped cauliflower.
Instagrammer and Aldi fan @aldi.mademedoit posted about the cauliflower breadsticks from her California Aldi store on Dec. 30, 2020. "If cauliflower can become garlic butter bread sticks, then you, my friend, can do anything," she wrote in her caption. A lot of her fans were excited to see the new Aldi item, but one of them had been down the cauliflower breadstick road before and was skeptical. "I hope they taste better than the Green Giant brand! I bought them and threw them out because they tasted horrible," @britsonthego commented.
The carb-conscious crowd might also hope that Mama Cozzi does a better job than Green Giant keeping the carb number down. One Green Giant cauliflower breadstick has 16 grams of carbohydrates, compared to 25 grams in an Olive Garden breadstick (via EatingWell). That's not much of a drop-off, really, and the Green Giant breadsticks have more fat and less protein than Olive Garden's sticks.