Best food to buy at Aldi's

[charming23]

I buy a lot of stuff from there. I love their dairy products, milk, cheese, cream cheese, and sour cream are staples in our house. Their hot dogs are also very good as well as the frozen chicken breasts (3lb bag for $5.49 here).

The only things I have not cared for are their regular loaf bread (buns are fine) and boxed potatoes. Also our produce is hit or miss depending on which store I go to (we have three in our area).

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I recently posted here on my huge "stock up" trip to Aldi's with a long list of what I purchased.. I've shopped at Aldi's since they first came to our area of NY - probably a good 15 years ago or so..

The only thing I have not cared for was their potato chips - but I see now that the packaging looks different (perhaps they changed suppliers?) - so the next trip, I'll pick up a bag and see what how they taste..

The most important thing I wanted to mention to you though is to save your receipt.. Reason being, if there is anything that you don't like - or aren't satisfied with - they will refund your money - with no questions asked - even if you return a whole cart full..

Good luck - and have fun!

Try the baked potato chips, better for you and oh so flavorful.

 

[leight]

Cheese and dairy products other than milk are great by me- we just don't buy gallons- and walgreen's has it for cheaper.

I like to try something new at least each month as it is not my main grocery shopping. Each week I spend about $20 at Aldi's and $50-60 at my Publix with coupons/bogos works well for me. I love their produce at my main store(tried a different one twice now and it is just not as good) which has the best prices around.

I really like their crackers-wheat thins,triscuit & graham crackers are great and wonderfully priced. DD loves that I have the grahams in our pantry so they can pull out the s'more maker(new at a garage sale for $2- had Kohl's price tag of $39.99) and they like the chocolate there as well. I do buy chocolate bars on sale and freeze them and find the german chocolate doesn't defrost as well tho.

Haven't liked the pasta or mac n cheese-but I haven't spent more than $0.17 on a box of pasta since I started couponing so I only tried the pasta once last year. I did like their spicy arrabiata sauce tho.

Baking items are great as fill ins between sales at my grocery store. Eggs are usually on par with sales and I get them there if Walgreen's doesn't have $.99 eggs. My kids also really like their break n bake sugar cookies- I stock up and freeze after a holiday when they have the decorated ones on clearance.

The frozen rise n bake pizza is a second choice to Digiorno but I get it occaisonally. Their ice cream is great and they always have a nice assortment of frozen novelty items. Dh & dd#2 love their cheese cake. I haven't liked their frozen beef items- steaks or burgers but their chicken seems ok. I've heard good things about the fish but my family doesn't eat it so i haven't personally tried anything other than the shrimp or stuffed clams both of which were great. The Bremer prepared meals are good but I prefer the Hormel items which are better. The turkey tenderloin was good and I liked their cornish game hens. I've heard great things about their hams but I didn't host easter or christmas this year so haven't tried it.

Chips- don't really like the reg chips-any flavor. They are so much more salty than other brands but the cheese curls, tortillas and baked chips are great. My kids don't really like any of their snack items- prefer l'il debbies and since the prices are so comparable -I stick with l'il debbies when I get them. They did like the cereals except the corn pops which got stale and stuck together here in FL so quickly I won't get them again.

I also like their Merlot and reisling(not sweet) and haven't tried the malbec but I have it at home.

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

ALDI is pretty far from us, so I don't get to go very often. When I get the chance to go I always get their frozen popcorn chicken, frozen cheese raviolis, and frozen chocolate covered cream puffs. The popcorn chicken is nice to have on hand for the little ones as a quick dinner, the raviolis are great with a nice sauce and salad, and the cream puffs are soooo good and look very pretty along side a few ripe strawberries. I have tried their staples and baking items-no complaints. Dairy is fine, bagged salad, Pillsbury-like items-all good. ALDI is really very reasonable. I think their products are as good as any other. Sometimes it can take awhile to "get over" the generic box and what not, but it's all fine, I think.

 

[D&DDisney]

I just tried their frozen corn & peas and they are DELICIOUS! It says super sweet on the lable and it reall is.

I buy...
Cinnamon French Toast sticks are the best! Very soft and lots of cinnamon.
Canned fruits are very good
Milk
Eggs
Egg Rolls - very good!
Fabric Softner

 

[elcodfish]

I have yet to try anything at Aldi that I wouldn't eat. Some things are better than others, but I think you get that anywhere. Cereal, baking supplies, eggs, milk, juice, steak, frozen chicken breast, rolls, root beet, diet cola, salad dressings, tuna, cheese, all the staples are great. Produce is so much cheaper than other stores. I have 5 cats and I actually really like the liter.

 

[LuvMickey36]

With ds food allergies I don't buy any packaged/processed foods or frozen meals. So my shopping needs are limited. The only things I have ever had that I won't buy again is the tuna fish and loose nuts (not cleaned well, a lot of bitter ones). The produce is hit or miss. Yes, the prices are great, but if they are on the way out the door then it's not worth it. I don't buy meat there, I can find what I need/want on sale or markdown at bilo. Milk is only about 5cents less that the bilo so unless I am going to Aldi, I get it @ bilo or walmart. I hit the Aldi about 2x per month. The nearest one is about 15 min away. If I am not going that way then I skip it. I don't feel like I am saving much if I spend part of my savings on gas.

 

[bowne90]

I shop at Aldi's about once a month. I pick up some of my basics there like milk, sour cream, brown sugar, powdered sugar, sugar, and canned soup (cream of mushroom/chicken). We like their pretzels, tortilla chips, granola bars and flour tortilla shells too. You can find some pretty good deals there and they have some name brand items occassionally too. I would say that you would have to try it to see if you like it or not. I haven't really found anything that we didn't like, but I know that some people have.

 

[pickinp]

Aldi's is owned by the same parent company as Trader Joes, and I know at least one of the brands that they sell (Kirkwood Farms) is the same 'generic' brand that Costco sells. The cream puffs at Aldi's are to die for!!

 

[mrspaha]

I buy just about all of our staples there, and really like everything we've tried. I've noticed the quality of their produce seems to have really improved in the last 6 mos or so, and I buy quite a bit there. They do have weekly specials on produce -- for the past few weeks strawberries have been .99/lb container, and they have been absolutely delicious. Their bananas are .44'lb here (just recently increased from .39), but sometimes I really have to go through all the boxes to find a good bunch -- they're bagged and pre-weighed and priced, so you can't break off 1 or 2 bad bananas off the bunch like you can at the supermarket.

A few items that haven't been mentioned that I always buy are yogurt--.35 ea, but they only have the basic flavors--love the strawberry-banana; and we love their microwave popcorn. IMO, it's better than Orville or PopSecret - it's 1.49 for a box of 6.

I don't buy any red meat there, For those I shop the sales at the major supermarket chains.

 

[Owlpost23]

Love Aldi! Went today-we eat a big fruit bowl in the morning,so I go weekly.I got 2# of bananas,two small combo pizzas,a bag of granny smith apples,2# of strawberries,a bag of their cheese puffs(tasty!) 3 pineapples,two tomatoes,a bag of oranges,and sliced swiss cheese.Total bill-19.98! Love them!

 

[humalexis]

I used to go more often and would get some produce but like others have posted it can be hit or miss. I don't buy their hamburger or steaks because I have never seen any that looks too good. We like a lot of their frozen items. I like their version of the skinny cow ice cream sandwiches! Yummy and much cheaper. They usually have cheap but good baking supplies. I use pumpkin alot and during thanksgiving season I stock up on cans because no one can beat their price.

During grilling season I like to get buns for big gatherings and their eggs and egg beaters are also good.

OP, just go in and take a look around. They have a lot and most is pretty good.

 

[C.Ann]

Try the baked potato chips, better for you and oh so flavorful.

Thanks! I'll give them a try - when I make another trip to stock up on my evaporated milk; produce; dairy items; and some additional baking supplies..

The only kind of chips I have cared for in the past 10 years or so are the Lay's Classic.. Do they taste anything like that? If so, that would be a good savings - unless I have coupons when the major markets are running a really good sale on Lay's chips..

When I finally finish doing my deep cleaning here and get into my serious baking mode, I'm going to need lots of different kinds of fruit/berries and the prices at Aldi's just can't be beat - for the most part..

 

[4forWDW]

Do you have to take your own bags? I thought I had read on another thread that you did. Also, do they take checks?
I really want to give them a try since I have heard so many good things and I really need to get a handle on our grocery spending.
TIA
Amy

 

[mickey grandmom]

Aldi does not take checks or credit cards. You can use a debit card. You do need to bring bags or buy them there. But you can get boxes there just like at Sam's Club. You will need a quarter to get a shopping basket,but you will get it back when you return the cart. I like just about all of Aldi's products. I've only had a few things I didn't like. Aldi does have a guarante that if you do not like a product you will get your money back. I bought a rice cooker from them and it soon stopped heating. No problem. I called the manufactuer and never had a smoother customer service process. They just sent me a new one.

 

[4forWDW]

mickey grandmom - thanks for the info!

 

[LIFERBABE]

I went last Saturday.

They had mangoes .29 each!! Strawberries have been great the past couple of weeks. This morning I had a Mango/Strawberry smoothie

If I dont like something I put it in my shopping bag and next trip I return it. The return policy encourages me to try new things. So far I've returned very few items. The Dorito-style chips we did not like, I had a jar of alfredo that the lid was popped on, and I did not like the Milk Chocolate bars.

I was told to save the packaging to return at our local stores. I keep all my receipts in the shopping bag, but they havent required them for returns.

My youngest DS figured out for the Microwave Popcorn, you cannot use the "Popcorn" button on the micro. It says it in the directions, which older DS did not read and kept burning the popcorn. If you use the timer, it works great!

Milk has gone up from .99 cent to $1.79 and eggs are anywhere from .47 to .99 cent depending on the store.

 

[hannah_03]

Love Aldi

The only things I don't buy from there are:

laundry/dishwasher detergents
sliced cheese (never tried it, kids are picky about it) shredded is fine
trash bags
body wash/shampoo/conditioner/deodorant/toothpaste
household cleaning products

They have the best ham steaks....thick and tasty, jmho

I just bought some popcorn for the first time last week and was pleased with it.
Oh and the frozen lasagnas are really good, two of them cost less than one large one at Walmart.

The last trip I spent $59 and bought a weeks worth of groceries for four (including chips/snacks). Typically between Aldi and Walmart I spend $80/week for everything.

 

[teacup princess]

Love: yogurt, cereal, spaghetti sauce, take and bake pizza, chicken salad, chilled coffee drinks, raisen bread, fruit cups, cheese, frozen veggies, ice cream treats, baking supplies, nuts, bananas, and strawberries, some veggies

Don't care for: chips, cleaning supplies, dishwash detergent, meats, and grapes (seem to go bad really quick)

 

[yesiamcrazy]

I like almost everything I've bought at Aldi's. We once got some flavored peanuts that my husband wanted and didn't like. At the time I had forgotten about their return policy and we threw them away. At our aldi most of the produce is still pretty green. Not a big deal, I still buy it but I have to wait a while to eat it.