This Award-Winning Bread From Aldi Is Definitely A Must-Buy

With all the options down the bread aisle and in the bakery section, it's hard to find a genuinely delicious loaf at the store. From strange additives to heaps of unnecessary sugar, there's more to avoid than there is to love. Thankfully, the Product of the Year Awards USA put in the work, asking thousands of consumers which bread and other products they loved, with one pre-sliced loaf rising above the rest.

The bread in question is Aldi's Specially Selected Sliced Italian Loaf, and it won for a variety of reasons. Namely, its ingredients list is as simple as it should be: A few kinds of flour, some water and salt, and a bit of yeast. There are no nasty additives or unnecessary ingredients to be seen. 

As far as flavor, the sourdough culture in the recipe adds a nice tang. It also has a tender, chewy texture and crisp crust that makes it suitable for a broad range of recipes. Plus, with its low price point, purchasing this loaf for your own pantry is a must.

Winning a Product of the Year award isn't just some fun bragging rights competition. The organization has been around for over three decades, so it's had the time to study sales improvements based on wins. Among the many eye-opening numbers, Product of the Year Awards USA's data points to its winners outperforming similar items by as much as 38.1%.

Even better, the awards aren't determined by corporate elites, but by the votes of 40,000 average Americans. The selected few consider a product across a broad range of qualifiers, including appeal, uniqueness and satisfaction. Winning one is impressive enough, yet Aldi won a whopping five out of 46 categories. That's more than any other body that won an award, with second place going to chemical company Henkel's four awards.

Besides winning the bread category with its Specially Selected sliced Italian loaf, Aldi also took home the prize for best cooking essential with its Simply Nature spray oils, and won the pasta category with its Priano raviolis. The last two awards came from the juice and wine categories, with its Nature's Nectar orange juice mixes and Belletti prosecco both earning top marks.

The award-winning Aldi's loaf comes with 12 servings, more than enough to make your favorite sandwiches and then some. The texture pairs well with thicker, heavier sandwiches such as chicken parmesan, giving them a nice bed to rest on. The crumb also adds some nice toothiness to filling-lite sandwiches such as grilled cheeses. Meanwhile, the slight sour tang adds a nice extra layer of flavor, especially when paired with vinegar elements such as sandwiches that contain coleslaw.

Since most store bought bread only lasts a few days on the counter or up to two weeks in the refrigerator, chances are you're going to have some stale leftover bread unless you freeze what you don't immediately need. French toast is a common way to use up aging bread, but make it way fancier by going the Hong Kong-style route. That version uses fillings such as peanut butter between two slices of bread that all get fried together, before toppings such as condensed milk finish the dish. That's a heavy meal though, so you may want something lighter if you have a busy day ahead. In that case, try pappa al pomodoro, a tomato soup that uses chunks of stale bread as a thickener.