Don't make the same mistake I made.
Simple Recipes / Getty Images
I first learned about the meat chopper back in 2018. I wrote an article about unusual kitchen gadgets and posted it on Facebook, asking my friends to share their favorite tools they use and can't live without.
At the time, there was a lot of enthusiasm about the meat chopper, but I dismissed the goofy-looking gadget as just a gimmick.
Six years later, I finally I purchased one and my only regret is not getting it sooner. It makes shredding minced meat quicker and easier, which makes weekday dinner prep a breeze. When I saw the Crofton Meat Chopper on sale at ALDI I knew I had to share it.
It's strange that it took me six years to buy this product, as it comes to mind every time I prepare minced meat or sausage. In looking back at my Facebook posts in preparation for writing this article, I noticed that several other friends had commented that they also had the product and loved it.
The original poster, Amanda, admitted that she's “generally very skeptical of products that only have one purpose,” but added that this Pampered Chef mix and chop tool is “absolutely great for shredding ground meat” and that she uses it all the time. “It's the only gimmick I have in my kitchen, but it's so useful.”
She's right, and I could have saved myself a lot of time and stress if I'd listened to her in 2018. The Pampered Chef Mix N Chop retails for $34.99 on Amazon, while the ALDI Crofton Chopper retails for just $3.99.
Simple Recipe / Photo Illustration: Wanda Abraham / Available at:
Why we love this meat chopper
This meat chopper has become my favorite tool for quickly shredding and evenly browning ground meat or sausages (something I eat a lot), making meal prep that much faster and easier.
One of the biggest attractions of a meat chopper is its ability to break up and distribute ground meat evenly throughout the pan. Most people would use a spatula with one main blade or “blade” for this task. With a chopper, you have five blades to quickly break up large chunks or chunks, ensuring your meat browns and cooks evenly.
This is handy for handling several pounds of meat. Previously, using just a spatula would have strained my arms. I made chicken tacos for the neighbors before I got this tool, and even just grilling the meat required reinforcement.
The entire chopper is dishwasher safe, minimizing gaps for food to get caught in and making cleaning a breeze. I usually give it a quick rinse under the tap and then run it through a regular dishwasher, ready for next use.
Simple Recipes / Photography: Jen Causey / Food Styling: Emily Neighbors-Hall / Prop Styling: Lindsay Lower
Other ways to use this tool
ALDI calls it a “meat chopper” because it outshines other tools when preparing meat, but this little tool is great for more than just meat. As per Amanda's recommendation, I used it to chop up large quantities of cooked potatoes, chickpeas, beans, egg salad, and even some veggies that I had started to cook and wanted to cut into smaller pieces. It's easy to grip and has a thumb rest, making it easy to use for leverage when the pan is full.
All in all, the ALDI Crofton Meat Chopper is a deceptively quirky product that lives up to its hype. It's a well-designed, genius invention that makes cooking faster and easier than ever before, and at just $3.99, it's a great deal. But even if I had to pay $34.99 to buy it again, I probably would. And because it's an ALDI find, it'll sell fast. So don't wait like me and regret not buying it sooner.
Read the original article on Simply Recipes.
