The $6 Aldi Freezer Find I Ate for Lunch Twice This Week (It’s That Good)

I work from home most weekdays, and I’ve been trying to better plan my lunches. It’s far too easy to get sucked into a Google doc or Zoom meeting, only to discover it’s well past 2 p.m. Cheese plate it is!

I stopped by Aldi recently to wander around and see what the beloved discount grocer had to offer. After making my way through the notorious “Aisle of Shame” (where I picked up some plump looking Paccheri pasta in a matte black bag), I headed toward the frozen-foods section. It was there I discovered a striking amount of seafood. 

Surrounding the popular Ahi Tuna Steaks, I spotted rows and rows of pink salmon, cod, swai, haddock, tilapia, and flounder. What a catch, err, find! I grabbed a bag of flounder fillets and headed straight for the checkout. 

As the name so clearly states, the boneless, skinless fillets are wild caught and come individually vacuum sealed. They’re also certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, an independent international environmental agency based in London. There are four thinly sliced 4-ounce filets in a bag, which makes it easy to just make one and not have to rewrap the remaining pieces.  

That’s all well and good, but if I’m being honest the affordable price was also a big selling point. At $6.29 per bag, it was the second-cheapest option in the group (behind the ahi). It was also half the size of some others, making it less of a commitment just in case. 

I’m writing this on a Tuesday, and I’ve already had flounder for lunch twice this week. The best laid plans, amiright? OK, back to the fish. 

I removed the frozen filet from the plastic, as the package instructs, and placed it in a glass Pyrex, covered it, and let it thaw overnight in the fridge. (The package recommends using a plate and plastic wrap, but that felt excessive and wasteful.) You can also thaw them in two minutes if you’re short on time by running the unwrapped fillets under cold water.

For my first lunch, I whisked together soy, miso, and honey and brushed it on the fillet. I pan-fried it for a quick two minutes per side and as the rice finished steaming. I also heated some Trader Joe’s frozen garlic shiitake green beans (new last February) in a separate pan.

The filets are delicately thin, so even with a fish spatula, it broke in two as I transferred from the pan to the plate. It’s not fishy, and the texture is soft and tender. It absorbed the flavor of the sauce and complemented the sweet garlicky beans and buttery rice. 

The next day, I covered the flounder in herby lemon-garlic butter and breadcrumbs, and baked it in the oven. Once again, the fillet broke apart — this time in several pieces under the weight of the buttery bread crumbs. The flavor more than made up for it, though. 

It was rich and buttery with a balanced brightness thanks to the lemon. The breadcrumbs added a nice textural contrast, too. I didn’t even need the full 10 minutes before my next Zoom meeting to finish it.

Find it in stores: Freemont Fish Market Wild Caught Flounder, $6.29 for 16 ounces at Aldi

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: The $6 Aldi Freezer Find I Wish I Tried Sooner (I Ate It for Lunch Twice This Week)