The Amazingly Versatile $3 Aldi Grocery I’m Using in Everything from Salads to Desserts

If your standard grocery store leaves you wanting more, it is time you tried Aldi. This surprisingly small store stocks the staple ingredients you need, while scattering new products, seasonal finds, and weekly deals in every aisle. You will not find many of the big national brands stocked here (although there are a few) — instead, Aldi’s many private-label brands offer high-quality groceries at a low price you won’t believe. One of my favorite items to add to my cart at Aldi is one I can use at any meal of the day: It’s the Specially Selected Dark Morello Cherries. 

Fresh sour cherries fill a small pocket of the summer season before they vanish again until next year. The tart fruit can be tough to find, as sweet cherries tend to take up the most real estate in the produce department. The Morello cherry is a type of sour cherry that is quite tart, so it’s not often served raw unless it’s perfectly ripe. 

Luckily, Aldi’s Specially Selected Dark Morello Cherries are pitted, jarred, and recipe-ready. These jarred Morello cherries are plump, juicy, and pleasantly sweet-tart, thanks to the slightly sweetened syrup surrounding the fruit. Not only can you use the cherries in recipes, but the cherry-infused syrup also can (and should!) be used as well. 

Aldi’s Specially Selected Dark Morello Cherries can be served during any meal of the day. For breakfast, spoon the cherries straight from the jar onto oatmeal or yogurt. Chop the cherries and mix into muffins studded with chocolate chunks or scatter atop a stone fruit clafoutis. 

For lunch, halve the cherries and toss with arugula and warm cubes of halloumi cheese. Swap these tart cherries in when making a simple cherry salsa to spoon over crispy, browned chicken thighs. 

Dessert is where the Morello cherries find their stride, starting with ice cream made from the jar of sour cherries and chocolate. The sweet-tart cherries balance the buttery brown sugar crisp topping in this oven-baked cherry crisp. Reduce the syrup by half, then spoon the cherries and glaze over homemade or store-bought cheesecake.

You can also use the syrup to flavor seltzer water or sparkling wine or in cocktails where you want to add a fruit-infused syrup.

The Specially Selected Dark Morello Cherries are a seasonal item at Aldi, so don’t delay. Look for the jars on your next shopping trip and pick up a jar (or two!) before they are gone.

Find it in stores: Specially Selected Dark Morello Cherries, $2.99 for 24 ounces 

What’s your favorite jarred staple to pick up at Aldi? Tell us in the comments.

This post originally ran on Kitchn. See it there: The $3 Aldi Grocery I’m Stocking in My Pantry All Winter Long.