The Fan-Favorite Aldi Brownie Mix That's Identical To This Name Brand (But So Much Cheaper)

Ghirardelli's store-bought brownies top the rankings quite often, and for good reason — they're rich, reliable, and have been around long enough to earn people's trust. So when Aldi's Specially Selected Double Chocolate Brownie Mix started getting compared to the brand-name favorite, most folks probably weren't expecting it to actually hold up — until they started baking them.

In a Reddit thread, one user casually pointed out that the inner bag inside Aldi's box has the same product code as Ghirardelli's. Others chimed in: The baking instructions are nearly identical, and the packaging — if you really look at it — has more than a just few suspicious similarities, following nearly the same layout. On Facebook, someone in the Aldi Aisle of Shame group ran their own little test. They made the Aldi brownies first, planning to follow up with the Ghirardelli mix to see if their grandkid would notice. Spoiler: The brownies got eaten without hesitation. No questions, no side-eye. Just clean plates.

Aldi's brownie mix doesn't just taste similar. It tastes the same — at least according to plenty of people who swear by the name brand. And when you're getting that for nearly half the price, it stops being a dupe and starts looking like the real deal in disguise.

If the taste wasn't convincing enough, the ingredients seal the deal. A side-by-side comparison of Ghirardelli's Double Chocolate Brownie Mix and Aldi's Specially Selected version reads like someone hit copy-paste. From the enriched bleached flour to the double hit of cocoa (one regular, one processed with alkali), even the order of ingredients is practically identical. Aldi's mix swaps out artificial flavor for natural, but that's about as far as the differences go.

Ghirardelli, one of America's oldest chocolate manufacturers, doesn't get name-dropped on the Aldi box — but the similarities are hard to ignore. It has the same weight, the same bake time, and the same unmistakable results. Aldi sells its version for $2.65, while Target sells the Ghirardelli version for $4.29. So unless you just like paying more for cardboard, there's not much of a case for sticking with the name brand.

After knowing this, you might want to skip out on Pillsbury's Chocolate Fudge brownie mix while you're at it. With Aldi quietly putting out what might be the actual Ghirardelli brownies under a different label, the bar's been set higher than ever.