I love shopping at Aldi because it’s one of the easiest ways to save money on groceries, so I thought I’d put together a list of 30 things to buy at Aldi. Well, technically, this list includes over 30 items – and I have a feeling it’ll keep growing over time as I discover new favorites and through your suggestions!
This isn’t an all inclusive list and may vary from store to store (as can the quality of the produce at Aldi, unfortunately), but rather, items that were a good deal at the time I took this shopping trip. Please feel free to add your “must buy” suggestions in the comments, as well as the items you think we’re best to steer clear of while shopping at Aldi!
If you’re curious, we also found some serious cost savings at Lidl. Find out about the 30 things to buy at Lidl. I was really shocked at how much money I saved. Our local store is a little bit out of the way, but it was well worth the trip.
We used a Grocery Store Comparison Printable to keep track of the costs for similar products amongst the local stores. I had thought that my neighborhood store was the most expensive, but after writing it all out, I was wrong. After using this printable, I changed my grocery shopping habits and saved money!
P.S – If you haven’t shopped at Aldi yet, be sure to bring a quarter for the shopping cart and bring along some reusable bags (or purchase some inside for about 10¢ each). Just a couple things I wish I would’ve known before I went to Aldi for the first time! 🙂
Dairy
Aldi beats out just about every local competitor on dairy prices. I’ve found the best deals to be milk, eggs and shredded cheese, with shredded cheese being the best deal overall in the dairy section when compared to other local stores.
- Cream Cheese
- Feta Cheese
- Eggs
- Milk
- Shredded Cheese (1 lb. bags)
Produce
I could have easily listed the entire produce section, because Aldi typically has the best deal on produce overall. Unfortunately, I’ve heard that the quality of the produce can vary from store to store, but if your local Aldi has quality produce, it can be a reliable way to stretch your grocery budget!
- Bell Peppers (2 pack)
- Onions
- Mushrooms
- Squash
- Tomatoes
- Apples
Meat and Seafood
Meat is the one section where I think Aldi can be hit or miss. While I don’t think they always offer the best prices on beef, chicken is reliably inexpensive. In seafood, the best buys are salmon and tilapia.
- Frozen Chicken Breast
- Fresh Chicken Thighs/Drumsticks
- Pork Tenderloin
- Cornish hen
- Tilapia
- Salmon
Pantry Items
I’m lumping all “inner aisle” items into this section. My favorite buys in this section are almost anything from their line of organic products, as well as the maple syrup and dried beans.
- Organic Pasta Sauce
- White Rice
- Dried Beans (4 lb. bag was the best deal at my location)
- Sazon (I’m always asked where to purchase this, and Aldi has a great deal on sazon!)
- Canned Tomatoes
- Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Olive Oil
- Baking Chocolate
- Raisins
- Peanut Butter
- Nuts
- Crackers
- Freezer Bags
- Maple Syrup
- Oats
- Organic honey
- Organic salsa
What are your favorite deals to buy at Aldi? How do the prices compare to other stores in your area? Please share your tips in the comments below!
Make sure to check out these other great posts on saving money at our favorite grocery stores!
30 Things to Buy at Lidl-such a great store to pick up some savings on your grocery budget! Lidl, like Aldie, keeps a good amount of their inventory the same, they do tend to mix it up a bit so make sure to check out what they have on special!
23 Things to Buy at Trader Joes-now this is one place that changes it out seasonally so this list is based on a regular visit! Try to take your time and really look to compare as their inventory is far superior and yet costs so much less!
Hi!
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
I love Aldi’s. I can’t think of a single thing I have bought there that I wouldn’t buy again. But one thing I didn’t see mentioned was the chocolate. My husband and I really like their Choceur chocolate bars, which are from Germany. I believe we tried another brand also that we liked, but I can’t remember the name.
Where do you live? Most of those prices look high! They are building an Also in our nearby town, so I haven’t shopped there yet. I’m really curious to try it, although I wonder how good they can be in such a tiny building….
I´m living in the “Motherland” of ALDI, in Germany.
As a european I´m wondering about the problems with the beef. You don´t want chemicals in the wrapping but hormons for faster raising in the beef is allowed ? And also feeded with GM-corn? Raised with cancer-causing roundup?
The most products at ALDI Germany are produced by the same producer of brands. For Example on Monday the company produce in Germany very popular “Tempo” tissues in the original wrapping and on Tuesday the same tissue is packet in the ALDI wrapping. The same is it with diaries like joghurt or cream cheese or even with soda pops.
And I don´t think tha ALDI changes it´s ways to purchase their products in the US.
My Mom & Dad swear by Aldi’s and if I go, I go. Their milk is fine. Think the yogurt tastes funny, so we started making our own. Will not buy their produce – swear I get it home looking fine and two days later it is a moldy mess. Tried the snacks for the kids and ended up throwing them away because no one would eat them. Cereal is okay – we generally get the BIG bags of the MOM cereals and spend way less money for way better tasting when it is on sale. I swear every time we try anything Fit & Active, someone in the house ends up with a headache from something in it. I’ll stick to making our own or shopping at the local Scratch & Dent store. It doesn’t save us money if we don’t eat it and have to throw it away.
I love my aldis. We have 3 of them. Milk can be about for 2.59. Where can you get that? I get baked goods,sugar chocolate chips, cereal. I tried most of everything. Won’t do the Mac and cheese and the Alfredo sauce are not good. I bought real pop tarts for 50 cents once, bought 8 boxes. My sister is always asking me to bring her stuff. She lives 2 hours away and there are no aldis there.
I love the vegetables at Aldi (they definitely go bad if I don’t eat in reasonable time). I’ve never found a better price for cauliflower or onions. I don’t always have a good experience with their fresh fruit however. Apples and oranges are ok, but when I’ve tried strawberries or peaches, I feel like they spoil too quickly. I love to stock up on bananas which I freeze to use for smoothies. I also love their frozen fruit – much less expensive than even the generic brands at my “regular” grocery store and they have an organic option. I also buy all my toilet paper, tissues and paper towels at Aldi. I love that they’re adding healthier options all the time.
It is probably easier for me to say what I will NOT buy at Aldi since I do most of our shopping there 🙂 Seriously, though, I have never purchased red meat there – haven’t even tried it so can’t really say what it is like. We have a local butcher shop we go to for meat in bulk.
BUT I can say that the marinated turkey breast tenderloins – the Fit and Active brand Aldi carries – are divine! So good! We’ll through them on an open grate over a campfire on camping trips – cook them at home all the time too. I’ve purchased their frozen chicken wings and frozen whole chickens from time to time with no complaint. And their pork sausage seems to be fine too.
Produce is hit and miss but I usually cannot beat the prices of those weekly loss leaders! I get all my baking supplies, all the spices/herbs they carry, oh just a TON of things.
Can’t report on the snacks too much as we don’t really get most of them – but the Fruit Gummy Snacks taste good to me and my son! We eat their tortilla chips and potato chips regularly too.
In general, just so thankful to have an Aldi close by!
Yes those turkey breasts are AMAZING! Also love their marinated Pork Loin. Wowza.
I LOVE shopping at Aldi. Since we started shopping there more regularly, I have cut our food budget by almost 1/3. It’s GREAT! I don’t buy a lot of meat there, but I usually buy a large package of ground beef (4+ lbs.) because it’s really the best price I can find anywhere, even better than Sam’s, at least in our area. I also buy their Greek yogurt, we like vanilla for parfaits but we also buy the original for smoothies and to replace sour cream. In our area, Aldi has been carrying different kinds of the “Nature’s Path” granola at a fantastic price, so we usually buy that, too. Along with a lot of things you already mentioned in your list, we love shopping there! A word to the wise though, as far as the frozen fish is concerned… I would look at the label more closely to make sure of the origin. A quick google search should give you enough information to form your own opinions so I won’t say anything else about it. Great post! Thanks for sharing!!
They have the double money back guarantee too which is always nice!
I buy snack items such as pretzels and snack bars. Husband likes their cottage cheese, vanilla Greek yogurt, and egg substitute. I do buy produce but sometimes the quality is great and other times it’s not. I do like their plastic wrap and trash bags a lot.
Thanks for sharing, Dawn!
Produce- I try to buy only what is seasonal. The quality of this produce is usually better.
Clearance Items – I have found some great deals on household items at the end of the season.
Meat – I don’t like the quality
Fresh Salsa – Look in the specialty refrigerator case.
Frozen Juice – Price is lowest around
Fresh flowers – great price when I want to treat myself
I have been shopping at Aldis for about 26 years now! 🙂 I started before it was fashionable to be thrifty LOL
The items I buy at Aldis are – tortilla and potato chips, microwave popcorn, salsa, oil, sugar, flour, tartar and shrimp sauces, ketchup, mixed nuts, coffee, apple juice, orange juice, mango juice, milk, eggs, cream cheese, margarine tubs, grated cheese, bags of lettuce/salad, produce, pancake mix, syrup, jelly, baking supplies, mayonnaise, cream of mushroom soup, canned veggies, chili beans, refried beans, tostada shells, tortillas, taco mix, chili mix, egg noodles, pepperoni, instant rice, block cheese, guacamole, sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, frozen fish & chicken, shrimp, frozen meatballs, take and bake pizza, turkeys, hams.
Thank you for the detailed list! Lots of goodies in there I didn’t think about. 🙂
I purchase their spices, minced garlic and chips at Aldi. The chips are comparable to Lay’s potato chips for a fraction of the price for a large bag. Also, you have to try their sorbet pints for $1.99 (way cheaper than Häagen-Dazs and just as delicious )
I’ll have to try their sorbet pints soon! We love some of their chips especially the veggie sticks!
ALDI here in Tn is not that much, there Eggs are 99. bread is only 89. Oats is $1.49 and so much more, is less then what up posted. here in TN, i can go in there with only $30.00 and come out with a lot of thing. that why we go there all the time. thank you for posting.
I NEVER buy produce at Aldi.. maybe this is a regional issue. But it never spoils. Never. How can produce sit out for days, even weeks, without spoiling? Meat eaters should take care buying meat the comes in trays with flat plastic wrap over the top, which is mostly for red meat. Packers pump air with certain chemicals in it to keep it looking pink. I don’t want meat with chemicals. I also am a fastidious label reader at aldi – most of the other meat products have additives that turn me off.
I love their cereal – so much cheaper than national brands with no difference in taste. Oddly, it’s the opposite with their snack goods. Aldi’s just can’t compare to national brands. Disposable products like TP and Kleenex are a favorite. buy of mine. I’m also impressed by how many organic and preservative free items they are adding to their line as well. I also buy basic baking goods (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, powdered sugar and brown sugar) at Aldi which saves a ton since I do a lot of home baking.
I’m sorry to hear that about the produce at your Aldi. My Aldi has amazing produce, and it will go bad if you don’t eat it. It doesn’t go bad any faster than other store produce, though. The prices are so good, too. My Aldi has weekly produce picks, where the produce is priced even cheaper than the normal Aldi prices. Maybe you should make a complaint to corporate about your Aldi, maybe they will fix it!
That’s so strange! It must be a regional issue, because the produce I buy at my Aldi “behaves” like the produce we purchase from other local stores. I never knew about the meat trays containing chemicals! I thought that was just there to absorb any juices that would develop!
I have trouble finding produce that isn’t spoiled at my Aldi. If it’s in the foam tray with the plastic wrap, I don’t buy it because you can’t see the other side of the produce. Usually always spoiled.
I used to work for a different major grocery store while in college. Although I didn’t work directly with the Butcher shop, my union was associated with their’s, they told me after purchasing meat (if it’s not freshly butchered) as soon as I got home re-wrap it (portion it out too is helpful). If I wasn’t going to cook it within the next 2-3 days freeze it, throw away that little pad in the bottom immediately. Most importantly DO NOT just toss your meats, chicken, etc. into the freezer as is from the grocery store! It’s not just a matter of being freezer burned or spoiling faster, but if a professional Butcher does it this was at his home, I follow his advice still in mine, no matter where I shop!
It sounds like you’ve been getting your information from a Vegan site that is trying to discourage people eating meat. If they pumped air and chemicals as you claim into a plastic wrapped container the plastic wrap would be bulged.
My only dissatisfaction with ALDI is their produce. Like any other store if the ALDI you happen to shop at doesn’t sell a lot of produce the quality will be low just as it would in any Kroger Store that doesn’t move a lot of produce.
I love how much I save shopping at ALDI, especially on meat and dairy.
I buy flour tortillas, taco seasoning, canned vegetables (especially the very early small peas), cat litter, trash bags and steak sauce. When they have their Little Salad Bar brand guacamole I buy it, better than the Wholly Guacamole brand. Their zipper bags are better than the brand name that keep splitting down the side when you open them.
Love their zipper bags! Thanks for the suggestions!
Aldis. I have had great shopping experiences at each store and I like the way they treat their employees.
They have their own Gluten Free foods, which I love. Its not a choice for me, I have to be gluten free for health reasons not a fad diet. Never had problems with any produce or meats – do prefer fresh meat counter as frozen not always GF. We purchase the dairy (yay) and almond coffee creamers which are much lower in sugar. We purchase the frozen ducks, pork and shrimp which are all better priced than other local grocers. AT Christmas time, we purchase treats for stockings and trays/ boxes of German chocolates for friends at wonderful prices + quality!
We just got our own local store and are very happy!
Hooray! Their Gluten Free products–Live Free–are great! Celiac in the family, so we are delighted. Best part is that Aldi GF foods are about HALF the cost of other stores. We like their white bread better than the pricey brands other stores carry. The brownie mix is sensational!
I too love the GF products more than the ones that are more expensive