Aldi's Season's Choice Hash Browns Are Almost Identical To McDonald's
Mike Haracz is spilling all sorts of McDonald's secrets on his TikTok account. The former corporate chef for the chain has already revealed the truth behind those oddly delicious minced onions that McDonald's puts on most of its burgers and the best Big Mac sauce copycat that you can get in grocery stores. Now he's spilling the beans on where to buy the most reasonable facsimile of its hash browns — as it turns out, they're made by Season's Choice, and you can find them at Aldi.
Many grocery stores sell at least one kind of hash brown patty, so you might expect to find a similar taste and texture as McDonald's hash browns no matter which you buy. But as Haracz explains, there's more to it than that. Fortunately, he's done his homework and is confident in directing those who would rather have the next best imitation at home than head for the drive-thru.
Hash browns from Aldi have the closest ingredients
In the video, Mike Haracz points out that a lot of the generic and smaller processed food makers will often try to emulate popular products made by chain restaurants and major brands. Naturally, hash browns are no different. In order to find McDonald's best imitator, the erstwhile McDonald's chef reviewed the ingredient lists from different store brands, landing on Season's Choice as the closest option.
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"Been buying seasons choice at Aldi's for years. Can confirm if done right they're almost identical," one commenter wrote under the TikTok video. Another user noted that they had seen a shopper buying four packs of the hash browns on their last trip to Aldi. "Now I know why," they wrote. In fact, the coveted spuds are already popular on the social media platform and have been the subject of numerous videos both extolling their virtues and warning of shortages.
Quite a few other commenters pointed to Trader Joe's as carrying a very similar hash brown as well. A quick comparison of the ingredients in Trader Joe's store brand patties and the Season's Choice patties available at Aldi reveals that they are a lot alike. So TikTokers might be onto something there.
You'll need beef flavoring to fully replicate McDonald's hash browns
In the video, chef Mike Haracz also points out that McDonald's hash browns are fried with beef flavoring, and that makes a huge difference in the final flavor. Although commenters took issue with this since the chain technically does not use the same scandal-causing beef tallow in its fryers anymore, the hash browns do get deep fried for a short bit of time before they are even sent off to McDonald's franchises. That initial frying is done in vegetable oil that contains beef flavoring. So if you want the complete McDonald's hash brown experience at home, you're going to have to fry those Season's Choice (or Trader Joe's) patties with something beefy.
Even if you have to buy a bit of beef tallow to get the flavoring right, picking up some hash browns at Aldi will likely save a good amount of money. Redditors have had a lot to say about the rising costs in the drive-thru, and the hash browns are no exception. Likewise, commenters under Haracz's video railed against the prices. It's good to know that there is a cheaper option at the grocery store, and it appears to be just as satisfying.