Food & Wine

The Aldi Freezer Find I'll Be Making for Memorial Day Weekend-and Beyond

By Kenn C. Bivins Parade - Food and Drink Stories

Updated May 20, 2026 4:57 PM

We've officially made it to cookout season, friends, and if you haven't already gotten your backyard setup ready, Memorial Day is the perfect excuse to knock the dust off your grill and fire it up. Juicy brats, perfectly cooked burgers and all the fixin's sound like the perfect start to summer if you ask me.

Of course, actually taking on the task of hosting a cookout can be a bit stressful if you're short on time (and these days, it seems like we have less of it than ever). I'm always looking for food hacks to make my life easier, and while we report on Aldi Finds frequently, there's one freezer item at this grocery store that has especially stood out: their smash burgers-aka Aldi's Cattlemen's Ranch Smashed Burgers.

And I'm not the only one taking notice. Fans on Reddit have recently shared their enthusiasm for these burgers returning to stores. "My wife loves these, we are so happy they are back," one person commented. "I love chucking these in the air fryer for easy dinner," another user wrote.

Intrigued? Read on for my honest review of these Aldi burgers, including if they're a good value, how to make them at home, and tips for cooking them for a crowd ahead of the holiday weekend.

What Makes Aldi's Smash Burger Special?

I'll try to answer this without writing an entire sonnet, but truly, the Cattlemen's Ranch Smashed Burgers at Aldi might be one of my favorite freezer finds of all time. The burgers are preportioned and separated by wax paper in the package, making it easy to cook just one for yourself or throw them all on the grill to feed a crowd.

The burgers are also made with nothing but all-natural ground beef, so you can customize them to your liking, whether you're going for something classic with melty cheese and bacon or trying something new like a caprese-style burger or one topped with pineapple pico de gallo.

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Is Aldi's Smash Burger a Good Value for the Money?

Is Beyoncé the greatest living entertainer of our time? The answer to that is a resounding yes. Although the price has jumped a bit from $7.99 a year ago to its current price of $9.99 per box, it's hard to overstate how much of a steal this is.

Each box contains eight hefty ¼-pound all-natural beef burgers with no additives, fillers or extra ingredients. That works out to about $1.25 per patty, which beats the cost of buying ground meat and making your own burgers by a mile. On average, a pound of ground beef today costs about $6.90, and if we're following the same math of four ounces per patty, you could only make about four smash burgers (not to mention the extra cost of buying toppings).

So, yes, Aldi's Cattlemen's Ranch Smashed Burgers are a certifiable steal, and at that price, you might want to grab two boxes.

How To Cook Aldi's Cattlemen's Ranch Smashed Burgers

The beauty of this ready-to-go freezer find from Aldi is that you can cook your burger in a variety of ways, making it perfect to keep in your freezer for any occasion. According to the box, thawing these burgers isn't recommended, as it can affect the burger's overall texture, so you'll want to cook from frozen. Prep is as simple as choosing your cooking method, gathering your toppings and letting the heat do the rest.

You can fire up the grill and toss the burgers on straight from the freezer, cook yours diner-style on a griddle or in a frying pan, or set them under the broiler until they're cooked to your liking. Personally, I chose to make mine in a cast-iron skillet set to medium. I seasoned my burger with salt and pepper, and then cooked each side for about six minutes.

After cooking was complete, I placed the burger on a toasted brioche bun and topped it with caramelized onions, sliced Campari tomatoes, pickles, fresh serrano peppers, homemade kimchi and Bitchin' Sauce x Yellowbird's new habanero flavor to really round out the heat. It was transcendent. From start to finish, it took about 20 minutes total to have dinner on the table.

Aldi's Cattlemen's Ranch Smashed Burgers Review: My Honest Thoughts

If you couldn't already tell, I absolutely loved these burgers. Not only are they an incredible value for the money, but they take virtually no time to whip up. No mixing meat by hand or smashing your own burgers-simply take them out of the freezer and throw them on the grill. That's it!

Beyond how easy they are to make, what impressed me most was the actual quality of the burgers. Unlike typical frozen burger patties, Aldi's Cattlemen's Ranch Smashed Burgers are beefy in a way that actually tastes fresh.

They were so good, in fact, that I admittedly ate a burger every day for three days straight after trying them for the first time. That being said, smash burger purists might say that these burgers are a bit thicker than the paper-thin Midwest staple, complete with the traditional lacy meat skirt, but I say tomato, tomahto. We'll settle for this diamond of a freezer find from Aldi any day. It's the kind of staple that we'll keep stocked in our freezer year-round.

4 Tips for Making Aldi Smash Burgers

For a better smash burger, try these tips.

1. Use a burger press

Although you could definitely make these without one, a burger press helps to ensure your patty gets more direct contact with your cooking surface, resulting in a beautifully crisp golden exterior. It's the secret to getting that texture that smash burgers are known for.

It also prevents the burger from cupping in the middle, which can create a pocket of steam that can make your burger softer.

2. Keep seasonings simple

When it comes to seasoning, you can pretty much flavor these patties however you want, but a simple salt and pepper blend allows the beefy flavor of the meat to really shine. Let your toppings drive the flavor bus instead.

That being said, we recommend seasoning these pretty liberally because the only ingredient is beef with no additional flavorings.

3. Experiment with toppings

Speaking of toppings, we say, "Do it up." Sure, the standard toppings would work great here, but why not swap lettuce for kimchi or layer on caramelized onions and gruyère cheese for a riff on French onion soup?

You could stick to ketchup and mustard, or go for something with a little more pizzazz, like smoked tomato mayo. The flavor journey is totally up to you.

4. Double (or triple) it up

Because these patties are so thin, you can stack them to your heart's content. Why settle for just one patty when you can make your own triple stack piled high on a toasted bun? The key is to make sure to evenly distribute the toppings between layers so you get some of everything in each bite.

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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 3:43 PM.