diff --git a/src/material-experimental/mdc-menu/menu.scss b/src/material-experimental/mdc-menu/menu.scss
index 178fc2419999..59ed142be4f0 100644
--- a/src/material-experimental/mdc-menu/menu.scss
+++ b/src/material-experimental/mdc-menu/menu.scss
@@ -66,6 +66,13 @@ mat-menu {
   $height-config: map.get(mdc-list-variables.$one-line-item-density-config, height);
   min-height: map.get($height-config, default);
 
+  // If the MDC list is loaded after the menu, this gets overwritten which breaks the text
+  // alignment. Ideally we'd wrap all the MDC mixins above with this selector, but the increased
+  // specificity breaks some internal overrides.
+  &.mdc-list-item {
+    align-items: center;
+  }
+
   &[disabled] {
     cursor: default;
 
@@ -107,6 +114,10 @@ mat-menu {
     white-space: normal;
   }
 
+  &.mat-mdc-menu-item-submenu-trigger {
+    @include mat.private-menu-common-item-submenu-trigger(mdc-list-variables.$side-padding);
+  }
+
   @include cdk.high-contrast(active, off) {
     $outline-width: 1px;
 
@@ -122,10 +133,6 @@ mat-menu {
   }
 }
 
-.mat-mdc-menu-item-submenu-trigger {
-  @include mat.private-menu-common-item-submenu-trigger(mdc-list-variables.$side-padding);
-}
-
 .mat-mdc-menu-submenu-icon {
   @include mat.private-menu-common-item-submenu-icon(mdc-list-variables.$side-padding);
 }