Aldi's Frozen Texas Toast Garlic Bread Isn't As Great As We'd Hoped

Along with saving its customers money, Aldi also puts a lot of time and effort into developing its exclusive brands to ensure they meet a certain standard of quality. And while the chain offers lots of amazing items to shoppers (such as Aldi's enticing savory snack duo), not every product soars above expectations. Just consider the results of Daily Meal's ranking of frozen garlic bread brands.

While Mama Cozzi's Five Cheese Texas Toast didn't come in dead last (that slot was occupied by Furlani Garlic Bread), it certainly didn't leave an outstanding impression on the reviewer. In fact, this cheesy product seemed to be missing that all-important cheese flavor, although a tinge of garlic was detected. According to Aldi's online shopping site, an eight-count package of Texas toast retails for $2.55 and features parmesan, provolone, mozzarella, asiago, and cheddar, as well as a garlic spread. Many of the cheeses included in the five-cheese blend are quite flavorful, so it's not clear just what went wrong with what should have been a crowd-pleasing item.

You'd think something as simple and delicious as cheesy Texas toast would be impossible to mess up. Also, consider that Mama Cozzi's is a beloved brand at Aldi. In fact, one Mama Cozzi's pie was dubbed a worthy rival to the DiGiorno name, which is high praise for any frozen pizza. Unfortunately, the same level of quality is not found in the brand's Five Cheese Texas Toast. The cheese component of the product was described as "absolutely nothing special," and the Texas toast was ultimately designated as "merely okay." A related product, Mama Cozzi's Garlic Texas Toast, also received a lackluster review on Reddit. According to the poster, this cheese-less version "was dry, had a pronounced fake butter taste and no garlic flavor."

A check of the ingredients included in Aldi's five-cheese Texas toast shows that the product is pretty similar to other brands on the market. As a result, it's not entirely clear why this version fails to deliver on the promise of cheesy, garlicky goodness. Its lack of quality is even more puzzling when you consider it comes from one of the biggest brands in the chain. 

As devoted Aldi fans already know, over 90% of the chain's goods are private-label products, which are created by third-party manufacturers exclusively for the store. Private labeling offers more affordable items to shoppers, as these goods are less expensive to make. As for the manufacturer behind Mama Cozzi's products, including the disappointing Texas toast, it appears to be a company called Nation Pizza. Because Nation Pizza is now owned by Nestlé, it's safe to say that this Aldi product has name-brand backing. However, that isn't enough to snatch Mama Cozzi's Five Cheese Texas Toast from the jaws of mediocrity.

In general, there are some key characteristics to consider when evaluating the quality of frozen Texas toast. The texture should be perfectly crispy, while the inside should be soft (but not mushy). In addition to the rich, garlic flavor of the toast, the bread should also be nice and hearty. Consider that Daily Meal's number one selection, New York Bakery Five Cheese Texas Toast, hit all the right notes when it came to flavor and texture. So, what went wrong with Mama Cozzi's cheesy Texas toast? Unfortunately, that remains to be seen, but it appears that shoppers are better off with tried-and-true products like frozen pizza when it comes to this coveted Aldi brand.