When an ALDI discount grocery store opened up in our area, I decided to compare some prices and check out various products. I came up with a Top 20 list of my favorites products, plus a couple other lists that I hope others will find helpful as well. In general, from what I’ve found, ALDI’s groceries are much lower in price than foods from our “regular” supermarket, and cheaper by far if compared to smaller grocery stores. Other stores can sometimes have sales that are better than ALDI’s regular prices, especially if you combine with coupons, but then again, ALDI actually run weekly sales as well, and these prices are outstanding! I think some of ALDI’s products are not only inexpensive, but downright better than their counterparts from other stores!
If you happen to have a Trader Joe’s near you (known for products with healthier ingredients), check out this post on reviews of, and ingredients in their beauty products! The ingredients are looked at in light of chemicals to avoid, and how safe these products seem to be compared to those from regular super markets. ALDI and Trader Joe’s have different owners but from the same family.
One thing to be aware of is that ALDI is a smaller grocery store; some of their products are available only at certain times, so if a product is all of a sudden no longer available, you may very well find it again at a later time. They simply cannot stock all of their items at all times.
The lists you’ll find in this post are as follows:
My Favorite, Top 20 ALDI Products
Organic Foods
Gluten Free Foods
Some Products I Stay Away From
Other Favorites, by Other People
Regarding the belief that you have to pay for the shopping cart, let me enlighten you: You do not pay to use the cart, you just put in a quarter as a deposit that you get back when you return the cart. It helps ALDI keep their prices down since they don’t have to hire cart pushers. This system saves you money and is actually common practice in Europe.
Reading labels, I have been pleased to see that ALDI’s products have greatly improved over the years and many of their products now contain better ingredients and less additives than their brand-name counterparts! ALDI seems to be making a real effort in offering healthier foods! I avoided ALDI for a few years because I didn’t like what I saw in their ingredient lists, but at this point I’ve seen such a positive change that I’m going back to shop there on a regular basis.
ALDI now carry a lot of organic products, some of them USDA approved! With low prices in addition, that’s really awesome! Look for a list of some of their organic products directly under my Top 20 list. Otherwise there are also a lot of foods that are all natural, even if they aren’t organic.
I even found one Fair Trade product, coffee, and I read somewhere that they sometimes also carry Fair Trade tea, but that it’s a hit and miss.
ALDI is also making recycling efforts, and some items have a small, green recycling label on them with information in that regard. In addition, ALDI has a double-back guarantee on their products and will replace your item plus your money back if you’re not satisfied with it. I’ve been very happy with their products for the most part.
My Favorite, Top 20 ALDI Products
These are some of my favorite products from ALDI, both because of low prices, and also quality wise. I’m sure my list will become longer soon as I continue to discover new, great products! Here’s my list, in no specific order:
1. Spices – Among the cheapest I have found anywhere, by far! (Costco and Sam’s Club have excellent prices as well.) ALDI’s spices are of great quality, I purchase them ALL THE TIME as we use a LOT of spices! I wrote a post earlier on saving money on inexpensive spices (link), ALDI spices included. You get so much more at ALDI, and for far less money! See picture below, ALDI’s brand on the left.
2. Fresh produce of all kinds, including potatoes, is much cheaper here and I have also found it to be very fresh at our store. Broccoli comes tops-only in packages and is still cheaper! Wow! LOVE IT! Some items, such as peaches, may be a bit smaller than I’m used to, but it still is a better purchase and I’ve been VERY happy with their produce overall.
3. Chocolate: Out-of-this-world delicious!! Their European chocolates are for the most part high quality, and (with the exception of their white chocolate) melt very well for dipping desserts! I use Baker’s baking chocolate when I need white chocolate for melting; it melts very nicely and but is found at regular super markets, not at ALDI. Check out my previous post on ALDI chocolates; here’s a link.
4. Chocolate chips – Inexpensive, and when I taste tested side by side, to me they tasted better than Hershey’s or Nestle’s.
5. Cookies The cookies are in general very tasty. The kid in me especially loves the animal crackers! Yum!
6. Peanut butter: Although we don’t buy the Jif style peanut butter very often, when we do, ALDI brand tastes great and is very cheap.
7. “Nutella” type spread: To us, this is more like the brand we were used to from Norway (called Nugati), which is by far the best, we think. So we very much prefer ALDI’s “Nutella” over the “real” Nutella. My kids and I actually did a side-by-side comparison, testing Aldi’s, Nutella, and a third brand, and we all concluded that the ALDI brand was the best. The flavor was a little bit nuttier, for one thing.
8. Milk -We have been very happy with their milk. Good price, although on occasion I can get it cheaper on sale elsewhere.
9. Eggs -Eggs are great as well. Gotta love their prices!
10. Butter -Great quality, unbelievable price around Christmas time or other holidays! The quality is great and during winter months it’s sometimes priced so low that I stock up and freeze. The prices are lower during big holidays as the demand is higher, or so I was told.
11. Canned tuna -Inexpensive and good. Seems like there is a bit less tuna per can, but it is still a good price.
12. Canned beans: -Wow! Dirt cheap! Even the organic cans are cheaper at ALDI’s than the non-organic beans at our “regular” supermarket! Great Northern and Pinto is what I’ve tried so far, as well as refried beans. The dry, bagged beans look fine as well, and have a low price, but I haven’t tried those yet.
13. Canned corn -Canned vegetables are very inexpensive. The corn is yummy, and no sugar added (compared to a different brand that I saw elsewhere, which contained sugar!! What in the world???) ALDI’s corn is a clean product. I did not care for the canned green beans though. They were much too thick around and very seedy. I haven’t tried the other canned veggies, we use mostly frozen. I just saw recently that they have cheap frozen veggies, so I’ll have to buy some and see how they are.
14. Macaroni and Cheese: Dirt cheap! There are several different styles and now even organic ones without the additives or synthetics colors. My son, who is the Mac ‘n Cheese King of our neighborhood, tried the one pictured below, only available at certain times and also without synthetic colors, and he was so surprised when it turned out that this brand was not only “just as good” as Kraft, but actually much better! I tasted it too, and was impressed! The noodles were the normal, big macaroni size, and the cheese tasted more “real.” My son, the king, wants the this kind from now on, whenever available.
15. Breads: There is especially one loaf that we really enjoy; 100% whole wheat, pictured below. It’s like the “fancy,” more expensive breads in the supermarket bread isles, that have more substance and are usually of better quality than your ordinary whole wheat bread. Only this ALDI bread is very inexpensive and of great quality ingredient-wise as far as I can tell. No corn syrup. Here’s the picture:
16. Pasta: All of the pasta’s I’ve tried so far have been wonderful!! I don’t see the need to pay extra for spaghetti.
17. Marinara sauce, organic or regular: Great price, we love it! And for this price we can definitely afford to buy organic.
18. Muesli cereal: Organic, great price, very tasty and good quality product! I sprinkle a bit into my yogurt for a snack, or I’ll add a bunch of soaked chia seeds in addition to lots of muesli and have it for lunch. Contains several different grains and dried fruits. ETA: Unfortunately I have not seen this product for a long time now, and I miss it.
19. Tortilla chips / Corn chips: I love their corn chips, and they’re so cheap!
20. Organic salsa: Love it!!! Delicious, great quality, and such low price! It tastes so much better than Pace and the like, there’s really no comparison!
Organic Foods
Here are some of the organic foods that I have found, although please keep in mind that ALDI keeps adding new, organic foods all the time so since my last update there could be lots more added! But for now:
Salsa, corn chips, sweet potato chips, vegetable chips, energy bars, granola bars, cereal, quinoa, honey, agave nectar, coconut oil, coffee, juice, milk, soy milk, apple sauce, preserves, canned beans, canned tomatoes, soup, chicken broth, marinara sauce, pasta, mayonnaise, fresh produce, and refrigerated packaged lettuces. And, at times, grass-fed ground beef!
At the time of writing this post, most of ALDI’s organics can be found under the following two labels: a yellow USDA and a green label with a brown leaf; see the next two pictures. Just be aware that not all of the foods under green labels are organics; some say simply “All Natural” on them but are not actually organic.
Gluten Free Foods
Of gluten free alternatives (not counting foods that are naturally gluten free), here are some of the foods I have seen:
Granola bars, granola cereal, cookies, crackers, baking mixes, bread, pasta, macaroni and cheese, and refrigerated pancakes; and from the frozen section I found pizza, lasagna, chicken nuggets, ravioli, and filled sandwiches / pouches.
This is what the gluten-free labels look like; it’s a bit hard to see in this picture, but there’s the picture of the head of a wheat stalk in it:
Some Products I Stay Away From
-but not necessarily always…
Sundae Ice cream -There are two main brands; one is comparable to other ice cream brands, while the other one (Sundae Shoppe) contains pretty junky ingredients. So we buy that brand only on occasion. The ice cream cones and bars are OK, and the ice cream sandwiches are good too, now. The sandwiches used to be smaller and skinnier than other brands and also looked very cheap. However, I purchased a box recently to check if that was still the case, and was surprised to see that they have improved by leaps and bounds! They look nice and still taste good too.
Breaded Fish -Unless something has changed in the last couple of years, don’t buy this product. We found it to be mostly bread and very little fish. Just a skinny, mushy little sliver inside the breading. But that’s a few years back, so hopefully it improved.
Liquid dish soap -I tried it many years ago and it seemed watered down, so I haven’t purchased any of their soaps since. It is possible that it has improved since then as well, though. If you have tried it and like it, please comment and let me know!
“Ritz” type crackers -We weren’t too happy with these; they were just OK, kinda lame, not quite the same as the brand name.
Brand name soft drinks: They actually carry 2-liter Coca Cola brand and other name brand drinks, but these are expensive and can usually be found at better prices elsewhere.
Cat food: When I checked the ingredients lists, I found it to be of very low quality with the first (three, I think?) ingredients being by-products and several after that being fillers. Since cats need meat, there isn’t really anything in it that they can live on. Survive for a while, sure, but they won’t stay healthy for long, so it’s a no for me. I don’t know much about what dogs need, but I’m thinking it’s about the same there, too. Hopefully they have made some changes for the better since last time I checked. There have been so many improvements otherwise, so I wouldn’t be surprised. I encourage you to go check for yourself!
Other Favorites, by Other People
Here’s a list of items that were suggested to me by others who shop at ALDI’s, along with their comments; just keep in mind that these are not my comments and the products were not necessarily tested by me personally:
1. SNACKS
Tortilla chips
Snacky type things
Chips of all kinds (Terese’s comment: I think they lack flavor.)
Ritz-style crackers
Treats
Chocolate
Specialty salsa
Pudding
Graham crackers
Home style chocolate chip cookies are good – pretty basic ingredients
2. PRODUCE; fresh, dried, or canned
Bananas
Watermelon or berries in season
Canned goods
Their “fancy green beans” are the haricot verts from Trader Joe’s, but cheaper
Dried apricots
Artichoke hearts
Black and green olives
Pickled jalapeno slices
Maraschino cherries
Potatoes -good and dirt cheap
3. BAKING
Cocoa
Coconut
Pecans
Walnuts
Baking chips, both peanut butter and chocolate chips
Pam-like cooking spray
Canola or veggie oil
Olive oil
Aluminum foil
Nuts
Wine is cheap enough that you don’t feel bad cooking with it ($3/bottle)
Syrup
Sugar
4. BREADS
Boxed cereal
Oats
Bread
5. DINNER
Pasta
Pasta sauce
Macaroni noodles
Refried beans
Taco seasoning
Frozen pizza pockets
Butterball turkey
Frozen fish is a good buy
Rice
Mac’n cheese
Tuna
6. DAIRY
Cheese and butter -high quality and cheap
Milk
Buttermilk
Eggs
Sour cream
Cream cheese
Gouda
Parmesan
Prepared frozen strudel is yummy
7. MISC.
Paper towels
Napkins
I hope this post helped you get a better idea of products you might like from ALDI, and that you’ll be able to stretch your grocery budget and save yourself some cash. A discount grocery store that offers natural and organic products, gluten free, and even Fair Trade, is a store to check out! Great food for less money, how awesome! Soon you might have your own ALDI favorites, and I hope you’ll comment below to let me know what that might be and deals you have found!
An Aldi just opened in our area too and we are loving it. There are several items we rarely find in our other small-town grocery stores, such as French baguettes (they freeze and reheat very nicely), the cheap European chocolate, and cheese. Today I discovered butter cheese, a favorite from overseas that I have never seen here. I’m only slightly ashamed to say I’ve semi-hidden it from my family. We’ll see if they find it before I can finish the package myself.
I also like the ready-made chicken salad for occasional special lunches. Greek yogurt prices are good. Coffee is definitely cheaper.
And there’s just the overall atmosphere, which is much nicer and brighter than the other discount grocery stores in our area. In comparison, I’m getting upscale food at discount prices. It’s a win-win.
Thanks so much for such good tips! I’ve never heard of butter cheese, now I want to try it. There are still a lot of products I have not purchased yet, so I’m sure my list of favorites will continue to grow for a while. 🙂 And I do like the atmosphere as well, and the workers there are so friendly, at least at the two stores that I use (in two different areas of our town.)
ETA: I tried the butter cheese, butter kase, it is really yummy and I’ll be back for more! Very soft and smooth, creamy consistency and mild but flavorful. Yep, will buy again!! Thanks for the suggestion!
Prices r unbeatable. Product is better then 99 percent of brand names……
Very helpful…thank you!
You’re welcome!
Just found your site while looking for ratings on Aldi products. Thanks for the very helpful list of great products and products to avoid. I agree with almost everything you listed. The exceptions: My family likes the Savoritz crackers even better than Ritz, and they are much cheaper. They are huge Nutella fans and they HATED the BerryHill brand hazelnut spread. I ended up having to use it in a recipe because they refused to use it as a spread. The taste was good, but we found it too thick/solid to use as a spread. Maybe we’re just used to the spreadability of Nutella. They also are not fans of the peanut butter–they say it tastes “off” and “cheap.” I tried it and concurred, so I used it for peanut butter cookies. The Choceur brand chocolates USED to be fantastic and were made in Germany. We noticed a significant decline in quality within the past year and, sure enough, they are no longer made in Germany. Now they are made in Spain. I won’t buy them again.
A few of my favorites that you did not mention:
Pierogies (although they have been harder to find lately)
German roasted ground coffee. Comes in a vacuum packed brick. Very good quality, smooth and mild. It reminds me of Lavazza for much less money.
Granola.
Aunt Maple’s Pancake mix – Surprisingly good quality for a product you just mix with water to make pancakes. My family loves it!
Boulder freezer bags and sandwich bags. Cheap and as good as the national brands.
All dairy products — cheap and generally very good quality.
Hummus
Frozen eclairs or cream puffs. Really cheap for a big tub and dangerously good.
Give them a try! I think you’ll like them.
I wanted to mention that Aldi has a wonderful return policy where if you are not happy with an item you can return it for a full refund. (It used to be 110%, but I’m not sure that is still the case).
Wow! I LOVE your comment, both that you give your opinion on the products I like and didn’t like, and also adding your own favorites! I think that will be so useful to my other readers! Thank you very much!
Their return policy works. My Mom (mistakenly) picked up one of those Big Muffins, which were marked Blue-Berry and Chocolate Chip. Note: Aldis puts popular variety items paired up in Same box, so pay attention.
She wanted Blue-Berry, but got home with Chocolate Chip. In short, I took them back just thinking they’d swap it, but not Only did they swap them, no questions asked, they gave me the money back.!!
I was so Impressed, that I make it a point to shop there first before I go to WallyWorld.
Seems they Actually Do, honor their guarantee. A Lost Art, that pleasantly surprised us both, especially because it was mostly her fault. Courtesy, another word that comes to mind. So Thank You, Aldi’s. For taking care of our Seniors.
That’s wonderful!! Glad to hear it!
I just bought 3 different Moser Roth and Choceur candy bars 2 days ago and they are all made in Germany and I think I saw another kind that was made in Belgium, didn’t see any made in Spain though.
I LOVE our local Aldi and do the majority of our shopping there. I shop there first, and anything I couldn’t find I get somewhere else, and I’ve been shopping there for so long I usually know what I’m not going to find. I’ve never had anything there that I was disappointed in! Some of our favorites:
-ANY of the organic products (coconut oil, chicken/beef broth, pastas and sauces, beans, salad mix, whole yogurt for my toddler, etc)
– hummus and salsa
– cheese! Delicious and the prices are SO much better!
-Tuscan Garden brand black olives, Ranch dressing, croutons
-frozen extra fine green beans and corn
-greek yogurt
-specialty items (if you see them and you think you’ll like them, snatch them up! It might be a LONG time before you see them again!)
-the peanut butter and pretzel trail mix
We’re pretty picky about meat, but have been pleased with the selection of good quality chicken and beef, and the Fit & Active brand ground turkey and turkey Italian sausage has been great. Their Never Any! brand of deli meat is good, too.
Thank you so much for your input and adding your favorites!
Here’s another one for me: ground beef! Great price and we have been very happy with the quality.
We love Aldi’s frozen cauliflower cheese! Usually make our own, but a friend raved about this product and she was right! Just shake the contents into a baking dish and bake for about 40 minutes. Yummy! It’s open frozen so you can cook as much / little as you need. The only problem is- it disappears off the shelves for the summer. Why??!!
It’s weird but we haven’t loved the canned veggies. The corn, green beans and peas. However the canned beets and carrots are good. I don’t care for the sour cream, weird consistency. Some things that are wonderful, the instant rice tastes just like Minute Rice. The non instant rice is great too. The organic chicken and beef broth are delicious. We love the chips but not so much the crackers (Ritz style). The chocolate bars, so yummy. My husband is crazy about the toffee ice cream bars. They taste identical to Health ice cream bars. The butter is great. I whip it up with a little veggie oil to make spreadable butter. Very good taste. The ready to bake pizzas are excellent. Such a time saver. Wonderful prices on lettuce, cauliflower, peppers and other produce. The ground beef tastes fine but it’s very tough when you try to fry it into crumbles for recipes. There are so many more items at Aldi that I do like versus what I don’t like. It probably saves about 1/3 compared to regular grocery store prices. I don’t like having to rush through the checkout and the employees at my Aldi’s really aren’t very friendly. But who cares. The money savings is great!
Thank you for your input on these different items! It’s always helpful to see what others think of various products. Regarding the consistency of the sour cream, I think it’s been diluted a little bit with milk, so it’s not as thick and creamy as pure sour cream. I prefer Daisy brand myself, which is not sold at Aldi’s. I love how you can get cheap organic products there, so nice!
Have you ever had a REAL sour cream?)) I use to collect it from sour milk at my grandma’s.. (You put the raw milk in the jar, on the table and you wait for few days until it sours, then you collect the top part(which would be cream that soured) It’s pretty thin!! It’s never naturally thick! It’s just can’t be, unless you add thickening agent into it, like all of the local brands do.
and no! you can’t possibly add sweet milk to sour cream to make it thinner ))
Actually, I have. 🙂 We used to have a source of clean, raw milk and I would take the cream collected on top of the milk, and let that sit on the counter. The cream I collected would either be thin or thick, depending on how many days the milk had been sitting unstirred. The cream would continue to collect on top and thicken more and more as the days went by and I would use some of this cream to make butter or sour cream. Or we’d shake it into the milk and drink it.
It’s been so long now, but I believe I used a little bit of sour cream from the store as a starter, then let it sit for a day or two on the counter. Mine got fairly thick. But not quite as thick as store brands, but certainly not thin. After a few months I was no longer able to get it to set “right”, it ended up having a slimy consistency and I could never figure out why. So I stopped making it at that point.
Regarding the commercially made sour cream, Daisy brand (full fat) says: “Ingredients: Cultured cream” Nothing else. So I’m not sure why you’re saying it can never be thick unless you add thickening agents, like all local brands do? Is the key word “local”? Maybe it isn’t available where you live? Or are you saying they add ingredients they don’t list? I don’t believe that’s legal, so that’s hard for me to believe. Not sure I understand what you’re saying, feel free to clarify. 🙂
The reason I said I believe Aldi’s sour cream has been thinned with milk, is that this is what I gathered when I looked at the ingredients list of the Aldi sour cream. It does not contain only cultured cream and it seems they had added milk to it for one thing. I’ll try to remember to check again next time I go.
OK, double checked the sour cream ingredients from ALDI: “Cultured pasteurized cream and milk with natural enzymes.” So that’s how I drew the conclusion that it’s a bit thinner due to milk added.
I also enjoy shopping for value at Aldi. Just a quick note on the Stonemill Essentials spices though; they may contain traces of milk, wheat, and soy (states on the bottle) and I have stopped buying them due to my gluten intolerant daughter always having a reaction when I use them in preparing foods.
The recently offered ‘Simply Nature’ organic brand does not have this warning on the label, however, organic does not necessarily mean that allergens are not present.
Good information, thank you for sharing! I too have to cook gluten free from time to time, so that’s nice to know!
We actually used to LOVE the Sundae Shoppe ice cream because it was creamy and never got hard to scoop even if forgotten for a month or 2, but they’ve changed the recipe sometime since last summer and now it’s “crystal-ly” even fresh, not creamy at all, watery when melted, and no longer contains vanilla extract or vanillin, only “artifical flavors”. We always sAve the buckets as we cook in bulk aND they come in hAndy for leftovers so i compared the ingredients after ha Ving some wit the new package design. It’s” also no longer 5qts, but 4.5, and no longer says product of USA on the label. Up until this summer this was an awesome product despite your review, now it is very much cheapened.
Other than that, I agree with most of your post. We shop around a lot and some things like Italian sausage and baby carrots we go to aldis especiallyvfor as their prices can rarely be beat, but some others mentioned are cheaper or better quality at places like Dollar Tree and Big Lots. Our favorites for those stores for reference are DT’s frozen pepper/onion blend, black olives, large cans of diced tomatoes, Jenny O turkey bacon, 16oz jars of jalapenos, pantry packaged milk “emergency milk” as we call it, and packaged gnocchis all fAR cheaped bUT of same quality as big grocery stores. From Big Lots especially we go for coconut oil which we use for popcorn a lot, it’s about 1/4 the price of walmart etc. I also have to mention that canned veggies, other than healthy harvest fire roasted diced tomatoes from aldis, are a better value at Walmart for their double luck brand, 48cents a can for any I’ve looked for. If you’re lucky enough to live near an Amish or Mennonite community, check their stores for seasonings and popcorn kernels, both of which we get great prices and ultra fresh from ours locally ($.71 a lb for giant popping corn for example) they may have other items for good prices you enjoy too, and you can 99% bet it’s all organic and freshly made, also any bread or wheat products may be (especially near larger Amish communities)non-GMO though it won’t be advertised as such. Non-GMO wheat products have much less gluten in them or at least are much less likely to cause flare ups for gluten sensitive people. Large Amish communities are the only areas left in this country with even a chance of being unmodified due to the rampant cross-pollination over the decades since GMO was introduced. Wind carries the germ for miles so if grown here commercially even from “non-GMO seed” it isn’t by the end except these isolated areas that have been such for decades. Sorry I’m rambling lol.
One other good aldis product to note: their flatbreads, comparable to Flat Outs brand. Great value and nutrient comparatively. The special buy pizzas are good price too for a variety. I will disagree on Greek yogurt though, we buy only plain unsweetened 32oz containers and nutritionally and economically Great Value brand (wm) is much better, like $1 less per container better and with more protein and less sugar (which in yogurts case is lactose or added, both of which we keep to a minimum when possible in a cheese loving, sweet-toothed household lol) The higher protein lower sugar is what makes it Greek in the first place due to the straining of the solids (protein) from liquids (dissolved sugars) so the further from normal yogurt macro-nutritionally you can get, the better the quality for greek.
Thank you very much for all of your great input! I appreciate it!
My husband is a big fan of Aldi’s Greek yogurt. I don’t like it because it has a chalky taste to me. Ingredients list modified food starch. So, I buy what I like at Walmart or Woodman’s, a local business. Just like shopping at any grocery store, you MUST read the label.
Also, keep in mind, Aldi stock only 1000 items at a time, so seasonal items and limited items are rotated through out the year. One store may stock wines and beers and another may not (limited liquor licenses).
Good to know! Thank you!
Are you going to stock “cheese bread” sticks? My grandson loved them and they have not been available in my local Aldi’s
I have never tried them myself. There are many products at Aldi that are either seasonal only, or they are available only on occasion.
Regarding products you haven’t liked, I agree whole-heartedly with the negative review of the breaded fish. I bought it to make fish tacos and there was so much breading, it was like a bread taco – not good and not sure how, or if, I’ll use the rest.
I do really like the dish soap though and find it to be a much better quality than other discount dish soaps. I’ve also appreciated the seasonal scents like rosemary, pumpkin spice, etc.
Otherwise, my top/favorite products include the fair trade coffee, wine and baby arugula! I also think the “Potato Puffs” are better than tots for my once-a-year Tater Tot Hotdish splurge.
Ah, very good to hear that the dish soap is better now! I’ll have to give it a second chance then! Too bad the breaded fish has not improved. Maybe one of these days…. And thank you for adding the other products that you like, that’s very helpful for other readers as well! I really appreciate your comment!
I just started looking at Aldi and had no idea what a gold mine this store is. I love your list its a big help deciding what is good to buy and what is not. Very helpful and i really appreciate it. The only thing I have to say is I disagree about the cat food statement. I have had cats my entire life and i have to say that information may not be that accurate.. I bought into the same marketing tricks and bought cat food made of “Meat” etc etc opposed to by products like what we would consider “Low quality meat” thinking I wouldn’t eat that trash why would i feed it to my cat. Well I realized that yep.. I’m not a cat.. My cat shortly started having urinary problems.. It was very very foul smelling compared to normal cat urine or his odor. I took him to the vet and the veterinarian told me that those marketing ploys are not exactly true.. There is a reason why you find a majority of cat manufacturers who use by products(by products = organs and various other things) in their cat food. Just because its not something you or I would deem as something we would eat… Cats are carnivores and a majority of what cats eat in the wild are the organs not the plain meat and that is because the organs are the highest source of nutrition in the animal than the leg meat or so on. The veterinarian explained it to me that your best bet is to stick to cat food that the companies spend millions in research not millions in marketing.. needless to say with in days of switching him back to proper nutrition as directed by my veterinarian it has gone away and never came back. I do realize I can cough this up to cats being finicky eaters and could be the case switching the food around but i did not switch him back to the same food and doesn’t mean the veterinarian’s information is any less correct. She did have a lot of sound logic in her information though.
Again thanks for the great information!! Take care!
Thank you very much for that input, I really appreciate it! It’s hard to know what to believe sometimes, with all the marketing and view point, philosophy etc. both regarding pets and humans. It is really good to hear from both sides, so thank you very much for your comment!
Thank you so much I love Aldi, the biggest surprises for me when I shop there are :the final cost after doing all my shopping even without being careful and indulge the final cost is much cheaper , including Walmart by far.
The quality and the surprises , imported products etc .
Their smoked salmon is from Norway is delicious and cheap , dare you to find something even close in he supermarkets regardless of the cost .
If you ever see a “Cuban pizza ” imported from Germany is fantastic , best I have ever tried.
If I ever want to indulge in specialty cheeses I will go to Aldi, imported and local cheeses are great , experiment , try your favorite.
Some Mexican products like the tostada chips you just find in Mexican stores or the chorizo or Valentina sauce or queso fresco but Aldo has them regularly . Is not just the cost is the flavor and quality , thanks Aldi.
I have bought great non food items there , cabinets, toys etc very cheap and good.
Sebastian
Thank you very much, I appreciate your input!
got a “Fit and Active” pasta entree and some veg burgers at Aldis yesterday. They are as good as any other brand and less than 50% of the price.
How nice!!
Love Aldis. Favorites are Brioche buns, they r delicious. Ground turkey is the best, my husband now likes turkey burgers better than beef burgers Love the different cheeses especially the creamy havarti will keep trying different products. I am always surprised when they total my bill ?
Thank you for your input! I too love the Brioche buns, they’re so soft and delicious!
I love the winking owl Moscato. It’s better than the $10 a bottle I used to drink. It’s so fun to surprise people with, the tell them I only spent $3 .
I was just there yesterday and didn’t notice that they had moscato in the Winking Owl brand. Darn it! Looks like I’ll be headed back. LOL!!! Can’t beat that price!
Good for you, you’ll be going back! You might find another thing or two, seems like there’s always more to discover.
Hi
I stumbled across this site whilst looking for whether Aldi sold Borax,the wonders of the Internet hey,lol,so after staying to read a while I learned a few things,we have an Aldi that opened up several months ago just down the road from my home,and I stopped in for a quick window shop and wasn’t all that impressed by their prices,so I’ve never been back,after reading these comments,I’m going to try it out again as it may have improved as a result of similar reactions locally,and it did strike as strange as a visit to do some shopping at an Aldi store whilst holidaying interstate during Christmas time,I found the pricing mainly competitive to other major supermarkets.
I do love my store, especially now the last couple of years. They have improved so much and have a lot of high quality products now. Yet the prices stay low. More and more people in my area are discovering Aldi, and loving it.
I’m looking for Hartz Kase, from the Northern part of Germany, Hartz. Is it possible to have it shipped to US??
I don’t know. You may want to contact a supplier to ask.
I love the red cabbage with apples in a jar. My local ALDI’s never sold it and staff never heard of it. A friend bought me a jar from a store in MI, but I am not sure which one. I know it is seasonal but it lasts a while as a preserve. The brand is Deutche Kuche. Sauerkraut cones in a similar jar and can be found in Dearborn Heights, MI store.
The mac and cheese microwave cups are great-standby for me if I forget my lunch.
Occasional values on Salmon & other fish are items I look for.
I sent Aldi’s customer service an e mail today about locating the red cabbage product.
Thank you Brenda!
Lately they’ve been selling three types of raw milk imported Swiss cheeses: Gruyere, emmental, and a third I had never seen elsewhere before, and they’re all great- I hope they keep selling them!
I’ve gotten some really good Italian and Spanish red wines for 5-6 bucks- unbeatable! They come and go, though.
The frozen ahi tuna is a super deal if you live anywhere outside of Hawaii, and it makes great poke!
When available, organic berries are usually a good price. Boxed organic lettuce mixes are a great price, and usually fresher than jewel.
For anyone able to also shop at Trader Joe’s, I would recommend buying all nut products there, as their quality blows Aldi’s out of the water. For example, at TJ’s an 8oz bag of wonderful pecans is $4.49, whereas a bag of raw pecans (probably larger, definitely a bit cheaper) tasted so absolutely like nothing, even after toasting, that I fed them to the birds. A 16oz jar of almond butter available in 6 varieties, with the only ingredients being almonds, with or without salt, at TJ’s is $5.99. The one choice of almond butter at aldi is 12oz for $4.99, and contains added sugar and palm oil.
Wow, I didn’t know about the nuts, and I do live near a Trader Joes, so I’ll have to keep that in mind. Interesting to hear about the other products as well. Although it can be a bummer that some items are only found on occasion, it does make for a fun treasure hunt every time. You just never know what you’re gonna find! And I have seen that some of those items do come back eventually, which is so exciting and I stock up while I can. The cheese Butterkase is one of them. It is SO creamy and yummy!
Another item I have found now, is dried mango. My, it’s like eating candy!! It does have a thin sugar coating on the outside, but the rest is so good for you and absolutely delicious. And I don’t even like dried fruit very much, so I’m very happy to have discovered this.
I absolutely loved their brand, ritz like crackers and they changed the recipe and now they are horrible. Same with their parmesan couscous. It used to be so good and now they changed the recipe and it smells bad! But I have to say I LOVE Aldi and I shop there all the time!
That’s too bad, it’s always a bummer when they change something that works. Like their white chocolate that used to be the perfect melting chocolate, but not anymore. But they do have so many wonderful products, so it won’t keep me from coming back! 🙂
Love Aldi, unfortunately my very favorites are usually special purchases, so I load up.
I thought I would never ditch my Cascade until… my husband bought REEVA automatic dishwashing gel, lemon scent. He took a huge chance doing that but for literally a couple bucks, he gambled and won!
I love it, a lot! It’s better than the Cascade 1) lower chlorine odor 2) less streaking and spotting 3) no need to add any rinse agent to the dishwasher 4) we have hard, well water, so all of this important. Always got sore buying dishwasher detergent ; now it’s not so bad. Excellent product.
That’s really good to know! Thank you for adding the details on why you like it, that’s very helpful. Thanks for commenting!
I would really like to recommend the Friendly Farms Coconut milk. At 80 calories per cup, it is still the best coconut milk I have ever tasted. I am allergic to dairy, soy and almond milk. This is creamy with a excellent flavor. I can enjoy my favorite cereal again.
That’s great! It sure must be difficult to have such limited options, so it’s nice when you find something you can have that you also enjoy! Thank you for sharing your find with the rest of us! I’m sure there are others who will be happy to know.
Loved your article.I have been an Aldi shopper for over 30 years.My granddaughter and husband have been diagnosed with cancer this year.I now only buy organic everything.I have been lucky to find many items at Aldi.Please remember that cancer is in are food.I hope people start realizing this before they are in our shoes.Read the labels and stop buying food with chemicals.
I am so sorry, how difficult and sad this must be for you! I appreciate your thoughts, and hopefully manufacturers will become more careful with what they add as they see more people becoming more aware and more selective. I wish you all the very best! God bless you!