Weekends are for big breakfasts in my house. My husband enjoys cooking breakfast and often takes charge of cooking the morning meal on the weekends, and he is likely to make anything from omelets to English muffin “McDonald’s” breakfast sandwiches to pancakes to biscuits and gravy. We’ve purchased and reviewed a couple of different waffle makers from Aldi over the years, and so homemade Belgian waffles sometimes make their way into the weekend breakfast rotation as well.
On weekends that are a little busier, when we don’t have time to lounge around the house for a few hours in the morning and make breakfast from scratch, we might fall back on some quick, easy foods like frozen waffles. Aldi sells some basic Eggo-style frozen waffles as everyday Regular Buys. The store also rotates different specialty waffles in as limited-time specials. I’ve seen some excellent chocolate-covered grab and go waffles and protein waffles, to name a few.
The most recent type of waffles to show up at Aldi, while supplies last, are some plant-based vegan waffles. These contain no milk and no eggs, which are often components of traditional waffles. I picked up a box of these from the Aldi Find freezer aisle for a recent Saturday breakfast.
Breakfast Best Plant Based Homestyle Waffles are an Aldi Find, which means they’re only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, they’re gone unless Aldi decides to bring them back later. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products not in stock at your local store.
These cost $3.99 for an 8-ounce box at the time of writing. That’s about 50 cents per ounce. With three 2-waffle servings per box, that comes out to about $1.33 per serving. That’s more than what regular frozen waffles cost at Aldi, perhaps by as much as double the cost, but if vegan, dairy-free, egg-free waffles are important to you, the higher price might be worth it.
These are a product of Canada.
Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
The package promotes these as a “good source of protein,” and that holds true, even though these are dairy free and egg free. With 10 grams of protein per serving, these contain almost as much protein as the limited-edition protein waffles Aldi has sold at other times, which contained 12 grams of protein per two-waffle serving. That’s also a lot more protein than what the traditional Regular Buy frozen Aldi waffles contain, which clocked in at 3 grams of protein per two-waffle serving at the time we reviewed them. These plant based waffles get their protein from soy, wheat, and peas, as indicated in the ingredients list below.
The full ingredients list for the plant based waffles is water, enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin B1], riboflavin [vitamin B2], folic acid), tapioca starch, vegetable oil (canola oil, soybean oil), soy protein isolate, sugar, wheat protein isolate, and less than 2% of pea protein, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), soy lecithin (emulsifier), sea salt, and natural flavor.
If you’re looking out for allergens, these contain soy and wheat. These are kosher certified.
A 2-waffle serving has 220 calories, 8 grams of total fat (10% DV), 1 gram of saturated fat (4% DV), 340 mg of sodium (15% DV), 26 grams of total carbohydrates (10% DV), less than 1 gram of dietary fiber (3% DV), 5 grams of total sugars, 4 grams of added sugars (8% DV), and 10 grams of protein.
The box has directions for heating these from frozen in either a conventional or toaster oven or in a wide-mouth toaster. The box does not recommend cooking these in a microwave. Serve the heated waffles with warm syrup and butter, or whipped cream and fruit.
To heat in a conventional oven or toaster oven, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place frozen waffles on a wire rack or baking sheet for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes or until crisp and hot.
To heat in a wide-mouth toaster, set the toaster on the lightest/lowest setting. Toast waffles until brown.
Ready to serve.
We heated these in our Aldi 4-slot toaster. We served them with butter and syrup alongside some Trader Joe’s Chicken Breakfast Sausage Patties, and they made a good breakfast. We couldn’t tell the difference between these and regular frozen waffles in terms of taste and texture.
The Verdict:
Breakfast Best Plant Based Homestyle Waffles are dairy free and egg free, and they contain added protein in the form of soy protein isolate, wheat protein isolate, and pea protein. With 10 grams of protein per two-waffle serving, they contain more protein than traditional frozen waffles. We toasted these and served them with butter and syrup and couldn’t detect any noticeable difference in flavor or texture compared to regular frozen waffles. If you’re looking for vegan waffles, give these a try.
