Instead of “What To Buy At Aldi”, it would probably be more appropriate to title this “What I Buy (and don’t buy) at Aldi” because my preferences are just that…preferences. You might like something that I hated, and vice versa. But, many of you have asked for me to share my likes and dislikes at Aldi, so I’m posting a list for you. You have to be promise to not be crabby with me if you find you dislike a product I like, though. I will not be held liable. 
Happily, when you shop at Aldi you can buy with confidence because anything you buy at Aldi is double guaranteed. This means you can take back any product, get your money refunded, and get a replacement product with no hassle.
To make it easy for me to keep track of things, I’m going to assemble this list in an order that follows the layout of my store, at least for the most part.
Chocolate/Candy
Buy:
Everything. This is almost all name brand, but cheaper than other stores. Sonia is highly partial to the Happy Cola.
Don’t Buy:
N/A.
Snacks
Buy:
Pretzels, cheese crackers, animal crackers, whale crackers (like Goldfish crackers), graham crackers, nuts, and dried fruit. These snacks are all Aldi brand, but they’re really good! I don’t buy a lot of chips, but the ones we’ve tried have been good.
Don’t Buy:
Club/Ritz knock-offs, and saltines. I wouldn’t necessarily say you shouldn’t buy these, but you should know they’re not exactly like the real thing. My kids will eat them, but my husband and I aren’t fans.
Cereal/Grains
Buy:
Regular or Quick Oatmeal. It’s a great price, is fairly unprocessed, and produces very little trash. Love it.
Don’t Buy:
Cereal. The box or two we’ve tried has been good, but I can almost always beat Aldi’s cereal prices by watching sales and using coupons at Weis. If this is not the case in your area, you might want to give Aldi’s cereal a try.
Baking Ingredients
Buy:
Sugar, cooking oil, powdered sugar, and brown sugar.
Don’t Buy:
Unsweetened cocoa powder. I hated it, but I know some people love it. Chocolate is very much a preference thing. I also don’t buy my flour there because I must have Gold Medal unbleached (I’m picky about my flour!).
Dairy Products
Buy:
Milk, butter, cottage cheese, cheese blocks, cream cheese, and cream. The prices are excellent on all of these items. They usually have a good price on eggs, but I’m fortunate enough to buy them from a local blog reader, which means I don’t need to buy them at Aldi.
Don’t Buy:
The sour cream. I tried it twice, and both times it was grainy and soft. I buy this at Weis instead.
Produce
Buy:
Everything!
I know some people have had a terrible experience with the produce at Aldi, but I have to say that the produce at my Aldi has almost always been great. Often, it’s better than the produce at Weis, and it’s usually way cheaper. I buy bagged spinach, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers, zucchini, tomatoes (these do vary week to week…if they look bad I don’t buy them), pineapple, cucumbers, berries, melons, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, oranges, grapes, grapefruit (the grapefruit are SO good!) and pears.
Aldi’s produce is rarely organic, but it is often seasonal. For example, Aldi doesn’t carry raspberries and blueberries in the middle of winter, for example, and they don’t carry grapefruit in the summer. Strawberries, blueberries, and melons are usually only available when they’re in season (presumably because that’s when Aldi can get them cheaply) and grapefruit are available in the winter.
Honestly, I think my family eats more produce now that I shop at Aldi…a lot of produce that was prohibitively expensive at other grocery stores are now well within the affordable range for us, and organic or not, eating more produce can’t be a bad thing healthwise.
Don’t Buy:
N/A. I’ve not had a bad produce experience at Aldi thus far.
Canned/Jarred Foods
Buy:
I don’t buy a lot of this type of food, but I’ve liked everything I bought so far. I buy tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, mandarin oranges, black beans, canned peaches, and pumpkin when it’s available.
Don’t Buy:
N/A. I haven’t had a bad canned product yet.
Unrefrigerated Grocery Items
Buy:
Macaroni and cheese (I shamelessly feed this to my kids when my husband and I have the occasional date night!), flour tortillas, and pasta.
Don’t Buy:
Dried Tortellini. This was a temporarily stocked item, but it was terrible. I cooked it and cooked it and it wouldn’t soften.
Meat
Buy:
Lunch meat, pepperoni, and bacon. These are all good quality and they’re usually much cheaper than they are at a regular grocery store.
Don’t Buy:
Pretty much everything else. I say this not because the quality is so bad, but because the prices are usually not that great. I can almost always beat Aldi’s meat prices by watching sales at a regular grocery store.
Paper Products
Buy:
The upscale toilet paper and paper towels. These are well-priced and of good quality.
Don’t Buy:
The bargain-priced paper products. They work in a pinch, but they’re really not that great.
Toiletries
Buy:
Shampoo, makeup, toothpaste, and feminine supplies.
Don’t Buy:
I haven’t had a bad toiletry item from Aldi yet, but there are some items they just don’t carry, like easy-glide floss and gel deodorant.
Frozen Foods
Buy:
Fruit (strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, rasberries), OJ concentrate, corn, fish, ice cream novelties. Ooh, and the eclairs/cream puffs are tasty too.
Don’t Buy:
Ice cream (the quarts, not the novelties). It’s just not up to par in our opinion.
Beverages
Buy:
Sparkling juice. We buy this for special occasions, like Christmas, and Aldi’s sparkling juice is really good and really cheap. I’ve occasionally bought fruit juice there too and it’s been good.
Don’t Buy:
N/A. I haven’t bought any bad beverages, though admittedly my experience with this is limited, as I don’t buy a lot of juice or soda.
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So, there you have it! I should add that this list is not at all comprehensive…Aldi carries a LOT more items than the ones listed here, but most of them are just things that I don’t buy, like frozen dinners, frozen breakfasts, canned soups, snack cakes, prepared cookies, bread and rolls, sausage, bologna, coffee, refrigerated roll/biscuit/pie dough, breakfast tarts, granola bars, and oatmeal packets. These things might be tasty, but I don’t have any personal experience with them, so maybe my Aldi-shopping readers can report on the quality or lack thereof when it comes to these items.
Also, I’d be interested to hear what other Aldi shoppers love or hate, so please chime in! 
{ 112 comments… read them below or add one }
We love Aldi’s! As a general rule, we typically buy most everything except meat and some of the produce from Aldi. We like the fact that there are not so many choices and they have good quality items at very good prices. We can get in and out in less than an hour with enough groceries for 3-4 weeks! Saving us time and money.
I like most things at Aldi, but don’t care for the canned fruit and netiher do my kids. I’ve tried twice and have came to the same conclusion both times. On a positive note, I agree that their produce and dairy products are great! I got reduced fat sliced American cheese for lunches at a great price, $2.49 for 24oz. Raw spinach is a great price, almost half of what I would pay at Walmart most of the time.
I’ve replied with some of this before but…
Canned~ I like the corn (not creamed), beets, red & black beans, and usually use them in recipes. The price is good and if frozen or fresh isn’t an option it works.
Michigan – Meats ~ Most are good and if shopping wisely the prices are ok. Turkey tenderloins and ground turkey are much cheaper than the regular grocery stores.
New Jersey – Meats ~ Were often questionable.
Michigan – Produce ~ I bought once or twice and won’t buy any more. I find the produce in our store is same day use. I found a local produce store with great prices instead.
New Jersey – Produce ~ Was like your store. It wasn’t organic or of the best quality but it worked. If things were “ugly” you could cut it up and use it in a recipe.
Oh and to your gluten-free readers Aldi’s frozen Turkey Meatballs are GF. They are easy for a quick dinner option and taste good.
The rest of the things we eat from Aldi’s is like your list. Most of the things I avoid is purely out of personal taste.
Our Aldi’s in Trussville, Alabama has pretty great prices on meat. The produce is always excellent quality and we buy a ton of it. We’ve had good luck with everything we’ve bought there so far. The only dislike I’ve had so far was with the shredded cheese, which was okay and edible but a little bland.
I don’t think we have these stores anywhere in my neck of the woods, but I was curious, when you had bad experiences, did you return the items, or did you put them into your foodwaste? I am much more concious of my foodwastenow, thanks to this blog.
Yup, I returned most everything I hated. lol
Great article! We started shopping at Aldi’s about a year ago so my experience is somewhat limited compared to yours. I agree with a lot of the things you posted. We shop at an Aldi’s in Iowa.
Snacks: Their pretzals and chips (we have only bought chips twice) were really good. The chips tasted just like Doritos.
Produce: Had a bad experience with their apples once – just tasted horrible but everything else (blueberries, bananas, strawberries, cumcumbers, carrots) have been great. We had no problems with their apples before that so I think it was just a fluke.
Soup: Love their cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, tomoto soup, and Fit Active Brand of Chicken Broth.
I have tried their Chicken Noodle canned soup and I thought it was awful. It’s not something I have often, just when I am sick.
Cheese: All of the cheese we have tried there has been great. We have noticed no difference compared to other brands.
We have never bought meat, juice/pop, or toiletries from there so I can’t really comment on that. We try to buy everything from our grocery list from Aldi’s than head to Walmart to buy the rest (I just wrote about this on my blog earlier this month).
I was a bit of an Aldi’s snob before I tried it. Although it’s a different experience (paying for the cart, can only pay with debit/cash, bring your own bags or pay for bags, not a lot of vareity, the list can go on…) it’s worth a try. I can’t believe how much we save by shopping at Aldi’s.
I have had horrible experiences with the meat (particularly ground beef and whole hams) at Aldi. The ground beef is FULL of bone chips and fatty bits even when it’s supposed to be 93/7 and the ham tasted like plastic when I cooked it. To be fair, I tried these products multiple times at random intervals of time, and they were bad each time I tried them. Thank goodness for their money-back satisfaction guarantee!
Everything else I’ve tried from them has been excellent. Produce at my store is hit-or-miss – some weeks it’s in great shape, others I just leave it because it’s wilted or wrinkly. But you really can’t beat the milk, cheese, and other dairy prices…and of all the “discount stores” I’ve been to, they have the best yogurt. It isn’t grainy or weird in texture like the stuff from, say, Save-a-Lot.
The only things I’ve bought there that I would not buy again is the mac and cheese and fruit. My kids wouldn’t eat it, even though they didn’t know it wasn’t the blue box stuff. Our Aldi has great veggies but their fruit is not good. It all looks past its prime and the apples are soft (ok for baking though) and the bananas turn within a day. I think I did have a pineapple from there that was good though.
We’ve had great success with the ground beef, and the 93/7 is as cheap as the occasional sale price elsewhere. Also, we like the hummus and fresh salsa better than any name brands we’ve tried.
Thanks for the great list! We have an ALDI about 10 miles from our house and I’ve always thought about trying it sometime. Do you use coupons there and I’m curious if it’s cheaper to buy ALDI w/o coupons versus a different grocery store w/coupons. Do you know how the prices compare to Wal Mart?
I’ve done some comparision shopping between Aldi and Wal-mart and the prices are generally cheaper. (This is in Indianapolis, Indiana, so it might be different in your area.) It’s also considerably cheaper than Kroger (I haven’t compared to other local grocery stores).
In my experience, Aldi is WAY cheaper than Walmart. I am honestly not that impressed with a lot of Walmart’s prices.
They don’t use coupons. I am a couponer, and if you hit the right sale with coupons you can find get items cheaper elsewhere, but when they aren’t on sale or you don’t have the great coupon, Aldi is the place to go.
Chocolate/Candy: Completely agree with your assessment! I love Haribo gummis and they always have them for less than $1.00 at our Aldi. Everywhere else they cost significantly more. I have to say that the chocolate is outstanding. I have even used their chocolate bars as baking chocolate without a problem–and their are significantly cheaper than what I can get at my local Kroger or Wal-mart (I know, I know).
Snacks: We do buy quite a few chips and have only had a couple of ‘off’ bags of Dorito-style chips (they had almost zero flavor powder). The Frito-style chips are excellent as are the Cheeto-style puffs. We haven’t tried the crunchy Cheeto-style and I am not particularly fond of their potato chips. I love the Fit/Active microwave popcorn as well as the dried fruit (particularly the cranberries and the berry mix). My husband loves the salted peanuts.
Cereal/Grains: The oatmeal is definitely a good buy. I have tried the Cinnamon Toast Crunch-style cereal and it was quite good. We don’t eat much cereal, though.
Baking Ingredients: I buy ALL of my baking ingredients at Aldi. Even flour! But I’m not picky and have always had good results. The chocolate chips are good and I didn’t notice a difference with the cocoa powder (although, to be perfectly honest, I never use cocoa powder). I was a bit nervous about trying vegetable shortening and basic spices, but so far, so good. As a warning, the spices come in HUGE jars, however they are very cheap.
Dairy Products: Everything! I have to say that we love the Aldi sour cream. We buy the full fat version and have never had any complaints. I also think that their butter is almost always a fantastic deal. The milk is also significantly cheaper than what we can get anywhere else. And I completely agree on your cheese assessment. The cheese is awesome!
Produce: Our Aldi is hit and miss with produce. They sometimes have what we need, sometimes not. However, we always go to Aldi as the first stop on our grocery shopping trip so we can buy what we want there. We have found that at certain times of the week/day, the fruit flies can be really bad in the onion and potato section.
Canned/Jarred Foods: We buy the Fit/Active citrus and have liked the canned peaches. I think the tomato products are outstanding. Of course, there is some variation in what they carry, but we buy tomato sauce and paste as well as diced tomatoes at Aldi.
Unrefrigerated Grocery Items: I do NOT like the pasta (I’m VERY picky when it comes to pasta texture), although the egg noodles are perfectly good (and so much cheaper than the supermarket!). I also buy the rice and dried beans (though they rarely have anything but Great Northern and Pinto beans).
Meat: We buy the same things as you do. I do sometimes buy their whole frozen chickens. Our Kroger rarely puts whole chickens on sale for less than $0.79/lb, which is Aldi’s standard price.
Paper Products: I’m glad to hear that the paper products are good! I’m definitely going to give them a try. I have, in the past, been very particular about zip-top bags, but their sandwich and freezer bags are comparable to store brands elsewhere.
Toiletries: My husband tried the anti-dandruff shampoo and it didn’t work. We haven’t tried anything else.
Frozen Foods: Same as you. My husband likes the pizza rolls and french bread pizzas (he lived alone last summer and doesn’t like to cook…). We also really liked the Aldi orange juice. The Drumstick-style ice cream novelties are one of my favorite things. I did have a really nasty batch of coconut Mexican paletas last summer. They were just vile.
I must admit that I was initially reluctant to shop at Aldi. I was worried about the quality of so many off-brands. I have been blown away by how good almost everything is. I like that I don’t have to take bags to recycle every time I go grocery shopping (we still always have enough bags to use as trash bags, lunch bags, etc.. from our small trips to Wal-mart). We recently started purchasing a fabric tote from Aldi every time we went. Our plastic bags that we bought 18 months ago are starting to show their age and the new plastic bags just don’t look as sturdy.
My kids like the chocolate syrup, it tastes the same as hershey’s. And they have no complaints about any of the crackers, ritz style or otherwise. Though I am GF and have not tried them for the obvious reason. I use their flour, but sugar I can get at Woodmans cheaper, I wish aldi carried whole wheat flour. We also like their crunchy, Nature Valley knockoff, granola bars, they are up to a dollar a box cheaper. We didn’t like their spaghetti sauce, we are very picky about that one. We didn’t care for their salsa, it was ok, but not great, and we love our salsa.
Their cheese is good, but given that I live in WI, I can get better tasting local cheeses cheaper at woodman’s.
The produce by us is hit or miss, and often is cheaper elsewhere.
If I need diapers, theirs are the cheapest price per diaper I have ever found. Anywhere.
One great thing, ALDI has the cheapest soymilk I have ever seen (organic or otherwise), it tastes good, its made from whole soybeans, and is ORGANIC. $2.50 a half gallon in regular, vanilla and chocolate.
I have actually found cheaper soymilk at COSTCO. If you have a membership – there were 3 half gallons for less than $4!!! I have one child who outgrew his lactose allergy and another who hasn’t (Yet)….so I buy regular milk AND soymilk. I do really enjoy the Aldi experience and the only thing I haven’t liked was the soft tortillas, I just didn’t like the texture. But they didn’t taste wrong – my husband enjoyed them. I guess I am just a soft tortilla snob!
I love the entire Alid’s experience, from the quarter shopping cart to the bag-your-own groceries to the limited selection of products. It’s the ultimate modern-day simplicity shopping experience.
I love to buy produce, black beans, flour tortillas, black olives, old-fashioned oats, powdered milk, mandarin oranges, applesauce and just recently I tried the house brand of baked chips. They were better than Lays and were $2. A seasonal favorite of ours: the mint flavored Oreo knockoffs. These were superior to Oreos and I think I paid less than $1.50. I almost never buy packaged cookies but these were special.
I love shopping at Aldi! I buy many of the same things you do. I also buy their ground turkey – at my local “regular” store, it is typically $5-7/lb! Ridiculous! But at Aldi it is $2.50 for 19oz. An excellent deal and it has never once been sub-par. I can’t speak to the other meat because I don’t think I’ve ever tried any other kinds, but the turkey is great.
I am not a big sale-watcher/coupon clipper – I just can’t seem to find the time most weeks – so for me, Aldi’s cereal is a great deal. Most boxes are about $2-$2.50, and considering they last my husband and I about a week, it’s really inexpensive for us.
The produce is amazing – I too find that it is better quality than the stuff at the “regular” store.
There is so much more that I buy there, many weeks I am able to do 90% of my shopping there. There are a couple of things I’ve tried that haven’t been great (their L’oven fresh pizza crust – blech!) but for the most part I have not been disappointed!
If you have a food processor you can grind your own meat. (Also if you have a meat grinder, of course.) Cut the meat into chunks – maybe 2″, which is big for a chunk – then process using the metal “wing” blade (ie, not a disk), in short pulses. It goes a little easier if you add a touch of oil to the meat – maybe 1-2t. per lb. Experience will help you know how small to cut the chunks, how much to grind at a time, how much oil to use or if you need any at all.
If you do this, then you can buy cheap holiday turkeys. You don’t need to cut way close to the bone, and you can use the nice meaty scraps to make a rich turkey stock.
I started grinding my own meat after one too many well-documented stories about commercially ground meat. I don’t mind low-quality scraps, but there are so many other possible problems:
- meat deterioriates in relation to exposed surface area, ground meat is almost entirely surface area and so deteriorates (= goes bad) very quickly;
- most stores use old meat – meat that hasn’t sold – to make ground meat, so it’s more likely to go bad to begin with;
- stores have been known to illegally redate ground meat, increasing the risk (Food Lion was notorious for this but it’s not the only one) (Food Lion was the subject of 2-4 “60 Minutes” investigations)
- it’s almost unheard of for ground meat to contain the stated amount of fat (Nutrition Action Newsletter had several dozen packages from different stores tested)
- most stores mix scraps from a few different animals, industrial producers do so from thousands; in the unlikely event of tainted meat, this mixing makes it almost impossible to trace the taint.
I am about as unalarmist as one can get when it comes to food contamination – I’ll eat street food in almost any country in the world (current list includes Mexico, Burma, Rwanda, China, Haiti) – but I don’t buy ground meat from most stores.
We don’t have an Aldi where I live and that makes me very sad. When ,y kids were smaller, we lived close to one and I saved soooo much money shopping there. Glad for those of you who are blessed enough to live close to one. I do threaten to shop there when I go visit my in-laws, but I don’t think I would have enough room in my vehicle for my family to ride home.
Love your list! We like their bread (I do sometimes make my own in our 2 breadmakers but admit not often), it’s soft & even the whole grain is good.
Be careful buying frozen fish and canned mandarin oranges…all have been product of China. No telling what toxins are in the food.
I have been an Aldi shopper for over 15 years. I prefer to not buy some of the canned veggies. I have tried the meat. Through the years I have had times where I had to buy it there and then there were other times I could afford to buy it from other stores. We are happy with Aldi. I just go through this funk sometime where I want to shop at higher end stores, and then I realize that that does not work for our family.
I hate canned veggies from pretty much anywhere. lol
We don’t have an Aldi here in North Texas where I live. There are some in the Metroplex, about 130 miles from me, and I am NOT driving that far.
How would you go about finding out if they were planning (or force them to, lol) build one in our area? I am seeing that we MUST have an Aldi. It’s important for my wallet’s proper development.
I say write them and ask. It couldn’t hurt.
i buy almost everything at Aldi — and fill-in with other stores. we’ve had no issues with snacky items (flavored rice cakes, nuts, dried fruits, pretzels, etc.) — other than the potato chips being VERY salty. not always a bad things when you’re craving. hahaha…
we do not care for their cereal: it just seems to get very soggy very quickly.
i have used their flour, sugar and brown sugar. but… te chocolate chips were AWFUL. very chalky/grainy texture. i’ll splurge for my Hershey’s any day.
also… much of the Fit & Active is good. deli wraps, chicken/beef stock, etc. don’t see a big difference (from other boxed, that is — homemade is waaaaay better).
love the blog. keep the good stuff coming!
we did not care for the chocolate chips either….hershey’s all the way. But otherwise we buy also everything at Aldi. I have even been using a new menu plan services called e-meals.com and they have a Aldi menu option. We like alot of the Fit and Active items. One item we did not like….was the cheapest individually wrapped cheese slices. Didn’t taste like cheese to me. The rest of the cheese has been good. MY littlest loves the provolone.
p.s. we ALWAYS score on the produce. and… it outlasts any of the other options we have here by far. try it, ladies/gents!
Now you’re reminding me why we need to go to Aldi! Unless I find really fantastic coupons, which is rare, it’s really hard to beat their prices on nuts and dried fruit. They’re great quality and SO much cheaper!
My Aldi is of the terrible produce variety, though I might take a look at their grapefruit. It can get pretty pricey at Kroger. I’ve also had bad experiences with their frozen mahi mahi–there were tons of bones in there! Ick. It also didn’t taste very good. I’ve had good experiences with their frozen fruit (though it’s not much cheaper than the frozen fruit at Kroger when it’s on sale) and frozen novelties, also.
A question about the Gold Medal flour, Kristen: I bought three bags of it recently when it was on sale and I had coupons, and I’m eager to try it since you swear by it. Is it really the best flour out there for baking? We’ve been buying the Kroger brand organic, but it’s SO expensive, and I don’t see the point if Gold Medal is better! How do you really “tell” what flour is best?
I like it because it’s unbleached, and because it just seems to work better. Store brand flour almost always makes my dough heavy and not as tasty (that could be the bleach issue, though).
I should try my store-brand unbleached and see how it is.
My vote goes to Gold Medal Unbleached as well.
Unbleached is a clearly superior product. It’s less processed – bleaching is for cosmetic purposes only – and the bleaching process makes the flour less responsive to leaven. In short, products made with bleached flour come out denser than unbleached.
Gold Medal regularly tests as tasier and fresher than Pillsbury, although often the difference is subtle, to say the least. The trained tasters at Cook’s Illustrated can tell the difference, I can’t. But I trust their testing so unless Pillsbury is noticably cheaper I get Gold Medal.
BTW, my store has all Gold Medal flours on sale ($1.25/5 lbs, instead of the usual $2.35!). Maybe your store has it on sale also?
RE Pillsbury vs Gold Medal flour – I live in Minnesota. All my years in 4-H baking bread for county and state fairs, I won either blue or purple ribbons when using Pillsbury and the one year I used Gold Medal the loaf of white bread was heavy and did poorly. A few years ago my main shopping list was for Festival Foods or Cub Foods or Rainbow, with Aldi the few extras, as their choices were so limited. Today Aldi is the main list, and if I can’t get it there, I either have a short list for the other stores or skip it altogether. Shopping at one store is enough – I don’t like running here and there. I like everything there except the canned salmon, wrapped American Swiss slices (taste like plastic). The coffee is a great deal and tastes surprisingly good when strong – we mix it with a lesser amt. of Starbuck’s Sumatra. AWESOME!
I have been a loyal Aldi’s shopper since 1993. It is the #1 grocery store in Europe. I raised my 3 voracious teenagers on their chips and nacho products! I like all their products, but I have not bought processed meats. The only ham I’ve bought it the spiral cut ham, which was excellent. They have large t-bones that my dh loves. They do not accept coupons and mostly carry the Aldi’s brand. I love the hummus and salsa. The prices are so good I save more than half of what I pay at Walmart. I don’t use their paper products (picky me) or the fresh meats. I live an hour away and don’t want to transport the fresh meat for fear of spoilage. I like the whole shopping experience, bagging my own, bringing my own bags, and paying cash. Don’t forget the quarter for the basket (you get it back and you don’t run into carts in the parking lot).
As a child my mother always shopped at aldi’s and the experience turned me off to all things not name-brand. Of course this was fifteen years ago, and Aldi’s may have upped their standards, but I found all aldi-brand products tasted like chalk and were simply not up to par with name brands. To this day I shudder whenever anyone mentions shopping at Aldi’s… that’s how bad my experience was.
Their spiral sliced ham is the best! I started shopping there just for the ham and now I get lots of their other stuff too. I am particularly fond of their salads since those bags are usually $2.99 each in a grocery but only $.99 at Aldi. I like their cheese and the canned soups are just as good (if not tastier) than Campbell’s. The only thing I won’t buy there is milk. I did once and it just tasted weird. But I love shopping Aldi!
Yes, how do you tell how a flour is better? I am curious, as well, how to tell. I wish there was an Aldi located closer to me. The closest one is 80 miles away.
I have been shopping at Aldi since I started reading your blog a few months ago and I LOVE it! I usually find butter, milk, cheese, eggs, diapers, and wipes cheaper at BJ’s and buy meat wherever I find it on sale. Then I go to Aldi and buy everything else that I can. I feel like I’m stealing when I grab their crackers, cereal, large tubs of yogurt, sour cream, canned beans and tomatoes, and PRODUCE – love the produce!!! I usually have to fill in somewhere else for things they don’t have but it’s so worth it for the money I save. Thank you for the info!!!
I really need to start shopping at Aldi, especially since most everyone has had positive things to say about it. I’ve been putting it off since it’s about 10 miles from my house versus the grocery stores that are in a 3-5 mile radius. I’m interested in Aldi for my basics, especially dry goods and dairy. I’m nervous about the produce; it seems to be hit or miss. We’ll see (if I ever get up the courage to go!).
Some people asked about flour and I’m with Kristen on only buying Gold Medal Unbleached. I buy it for two reasons: 1) I prefer unbleached flour for baking (especially breads) because for some reason it just produces better tasting bread and 2) I can usually find two brands of unbleached flour, King Arthur and Gold Medal, but Gold Medal is significantly cheaper and more likely to be on sale. I don’t know what Kristen’s reasons are but those are mine.
Regarding the meat, just wanted to put in a plug for our local Aldi. I’ve been there when the manager has been walking around the store with soon-to-expire meat in his hand giving it away for free. You don’t see this in your local mega-store! Agree about the prices, but the quality is very good.
I shop for my family of 10 and I would be lost without Aldi. Even still, there are a few items we don’t like. I don’t buy cottage cheese, bacon or lunch meat there. I also don’t like any of the bread products.
Sometimes in the summer, the milk will spoil within a couple of days of buying it. That has happened a for a few years so I have gotten out of the habit of buying milk there.
I love the turkey Bacon!
I agree with you on the Ritz (Aldi brand) crackers. They aren’t very good and the graham crackers with cinnamon in their brand isn’t as good either. Their small individual pizzas are good too for a quick meal sometimes. But, I’m like you and love 99% of their items but have to watch prices on a lot of things.
Can anyone suggest a store similar to Aldi’s in Toronto Ontario Canada?
I haven’t been to Toronto but in Windsor I haven’t found anything exactly the same. I will ask my friends in the Windsor and London area and see if they know of something. Overall the prices you pay for groceries are crazy outrageous compared to what we’re paying. I often ship legal things over the border to help out a friend.
I don’t think we have anything really comparable to Aldi, but I would say that the closest thing is No Frills, or Price Chopper or Food Basics. No Frills is associated with Loblaws, Price Chopper with Sobey’s and Food Basics with Metro. They carry the exact same brands but are cheaper because they follow the same principles as Aldi, like .25$ for carts, no baggers, limited grocery items.
I get the Aldi flyer in my inbox, and things seem so much cheaper, not only food products but they carry all kinds of housewares too. I think it would be awesome though if we did have an Aldi here in Toronto!
Wish we had an Aldi in California..
One other thing I forgot to mention, not specifically about Aldi, but I swear by the Forever Bags, which can be purchased at Walmart for $5 where I live. So, if I happen to buy a lot of produce at Aldi, it really does make it last about three times as long!
I just moved into the Aldi area and I like it so far. It could never be my sole grocery store but it’s good for certain things. I got a Dole pineapple for $1.50 this week. Last week they were $2 and I thought that was a good deal. It’s pretty easy to tell if the produce is good or not so I just don’t buy the bad stuff (there were some really overripe eggplant recently). Everything I’ve tried has been good (large bunches of broccoli crowns for $1.50, avocados for $.79, bananas for .$39/lb). We’ve liked the cheese (pre-shredded cheddar & mozzarella).
I really wish my Aldi’s was as nice as yours. The Aldi’s here is incredibly small and doesn’t carry regular stock items you may need. The produce there is horrible, if they actually have what they advertise, it is often already bad in the store or will go bad within a day or two at home. Yes, last time I went to Aldi’s all I wanted was milk, cream, and bananas. They only carried the milk and I thought maybe I will just get a different fruit and the clementines and the pineapples they had literally squished when you touched them. Luckily we have a Cub Foods in our area and they have pretty good prices and now they double coupons.
Diapers, diapers, DIAPERS! Cheapest in town, and never any leaks or any other problems! We’ve tried ALL the brands available, believe me, and Aldi
has our very faves.
Like ‘em better than any national brand…..and MUCH cheaper. Pretty sure they’re made by the same manufacturer as a boxed brand at Wal-Mart—but are less exp. at Aldi!
There are LOTS of other things we like buying there, too.
The disposable ladies razors are not good. They work ok for legs but area more sensitive or soft is horrible and painful…like a dull razor.
We have Aldi in the UK (and Lidl, which is similar and rumoured to be run by the owner of Aldis estranged brother…) but it sounds like they carry different products according to country. We have the same basics, but no tortillas, black beans, salsa or the same variety of crackers.
I buy tinned tomatoes, sugar, some produce, olive oil (did very well in a UK taste test), cereal (I’m also trying to reduce the amount of cereal we eat, even though I’m boring and only buy plain, uncoated cereal. Our Aldi doesn’t have porridge oats), and sometimes frozen pizza to keep in the freezer for emergencies. They’re about $2.
We shop at your local Aldi and love it. In fact it is the main place we get our groceries. The only thing I haven’t liked there is their Cheerios. Some of them are really hard and stuck together. All the other cereal has been okay for us though. I’m a little upset about the milk prices soaring all of a sudden. We decided to start buying our milk across the street at BJs which for some reason has a better price. I am curious to know where you get your eggs. A local blogger? Thanks so much for your great blog! Love it!
Yep, I buy them from a local reader who has a few chickens. He’s only got a few, so he doesn’t have enough to sell to a bunch of people, but I am the lucky recipient of two dozen every two weeks or so.
i’ve had lots of bad experiences with their bananas…they always go from green to brown without ever being yellow! so i stopped buying them. and their cheerios knock off is not good.
but i love aldi!
You know, I’ve noticed that too. It’s so weird.
Aldi has the BEST animal crackers ever.
All Aldi’s I find are not created the same. The one I used to go to when I lived in Pa was horrid. Dirty,the cashiers sloppy in appearance and the store never seemed to carry what was advertised.
The Aldi’s here in Florida are much better. I usually do not pick up produce at Aldi’s because I have an abundance of farmers markets to choose from. Most of the products I have used from Aldi’s I liked. There were a couple of times the fish wasn’t up to par and the peanuts were stale but on the whole it is a good place to shop.
I have to say the fit and active brand is pretty good. A about a month or so back they had a sale going on fit and active waffles and well while not a huge waffle eater I was in the mood so I picked up a box. Awesome and now I cannot find them again.
I don’t think there is a Tortellini that ever cooks soft ever.
However…their ground Turkey is a great deal at $2.49 each.
and its a bit more than a pound.
I do like their corn flakes a lot.
As I do like their baking and pancake mix.
And their produce is a great buy.
Anything Light & Fit is generally good as well.
My dad is borderline diabetic and he can have their
plain L&F yogurt. Their flavoured ones are
comparable to Yoplait.
Otherwise, I do keep track of what I buy according to if
anything has MSG. Alot of their products have it.
just started aldi’s again since i found your site. i tried it years ago & wasn’t thrilled. now i started like 2 months ago & i love it. the oranges are fabulous & zucchini, yum! i buy quite a bit there now
No Aldi’s in Austin….is it really much cheaper than WalMart? I buy all my staples at WalMart and my produce and perishables at HEB, a Texas chain, or at Sprouts.
I’m still an avid Walmart fan and didn’t find Aldi’s products to be significantly cheaper than Walmart’s (although there were exceptions like almonds and spinach). It has other benefits that Walmart doesn’t have (is small, easy to navigate, the simplicity of the options makes the shopping experience quick) but the inevitable downsides are that they are small and won’t have specific items you may need and almost requires a second trip to another grocery store. Hope that helps you prevent coveting an Aldi
Thanks, Lynnessa!
Thank you for the great post and discussion Kristen! I recently tried Aldi due to your recommendation and so this listing came in very handy. I’m a pretty picky consumer and was pleasantly suprised by their face wash and shampoo. The face wash is very gentle, easily gets all my makeup off, and doesn’t dry out my skin. I also love that they carry dry roasted almonds at a great price. We bought a kitchen cart there and was disappointed to find it broken in several pieces when we opened it at home. They took it back cheerfully and allowed us to inspect each of their boxes to ensure quality before we took the replacement home. Their customer service was great!
I am making a conscious effort, for environmental reasons, to shop local. So I have organic fruit and vegetables delivered to my door, buy my meat and bread from local retailers and have joined a food co-op for groceries. However I’ve found it impossible to manage without supermarkets, although I’m working on it, and our local Aldi is one of the shops I visit. I mainly buy tinned and packet goods but I do invariably pick up a few favourites from the cold meat and dairy sections. I like to know where my meat has come from and have been disappointed in their bread so I don’t buy either of these. My main gripe is the same as with all supermarkets, that is the excessive use of non-recyclable packaging. Our Aldi doesn’t have a deli counter and all the fruit and vegetables are bagged.
I like a bargain as much as the next person but I do believe that we have a responsibility to try to buy food that has been produced sustainably. I’d rather seek out cheaper foods and cut back on quantity than quality.
I think I am a little late on this comment but I used to work for our local Aldi until I got pregnant with our first and I decided to be a stay at home mom (now we are on baby #3). I have grown up on Aldi food and find it good. I wanted to tell everyone that I know for a fact that all the tomato products come from Red Gold, all of the Cheese comes from Kraft and the Mac and Cheese is also Kraft. The frozen dinners are Banquet and the chicken (not 100% on this one) comes from Tyson. The candles and room sprays come from Glade. I know this because when I would unload the trucks the “name brand” food would be in the truck too. When we placed orders we would contact those company’s to place orders. And every now and again the “name brand” is accidentally packed in the Aldi boxes and sent to the store. Most everything is “name brand” food just in a different package. When I first started working there I couldn’t believe it. Some people pay three times the amount for the same food.
I buy a lot of my meat and fish at Aldi and haven’t had a problem with the quality. In fact we just ate the last bit of turkey ham (turkey cured with ham spices) in chili tonight for dinner. I like their ground turkey – the price can’t be beat. Same thing with their chicken breasts.
The only canned food we usually buy is the canned tomatoes and tomato sauce. Both are good, especially the diced tomatoes with jalapenos if you want a little kick in your meal.
I used the dried fruit and oatmeal to make my own granola cereal. I’ve had very bad experience with Aldi produce spoiling quickly after I get it home from the store. As a rule, I don’t buy their produce.
Their mozzarella cheese–comes in a ball–is wonderful. Very soft and creamy. And their toilet paper is very reasonably priced and better in value and quality than the major grocery store brands.
Thanks for the list! Aldi is now opening stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth region and after hearing so much about them I’ll have to check it out.
Thanks so much for your post. I just went to the new Aldi in town for the first time. It was pretty good. I wouldn’t buy meat there (I prefer to buy animal products as the local butcher/farmers’ market or not at all) but the produce was really decent. Two things in particular: organic soymilk (my daughter’s favorite) and also automatic dishwasher detergent that was free of phosphates and chlorine and packaged in a cardboard box (as opposed to plastic). I’ve been looking all over for this product at a decent price!
I love Aldi. We’ve shopped there for years and saved a TON of money. One week, I happened to be in Wal-Mart and decided to shop there. I figured if I bought the store brands maybe I wouldn’t spend too much. NOT! I spent almost twice what I would have spent at Aldi. Never again….. I am back to being a faithful Aldi customer. We like all the products sold there. Occasionally I find a stem in the green beans, but I just pick it out. No big deal. I love their spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese. I buy a lot of the frozen chicken breasts. My dogs love the pet chews. I USED to get great pantyhose there….discontinued
Long live Aldi!!
Are there shredded cheese and cheese slices (provolne, cheddar, etc.) any good? I am grilling burgers and want to try their cheese slices. Also, making quesadillas and want to know if the shredded cheese is any good. Thanks in advance.
I love ALDI for multiple reasons! It reminds me of when my dad was stationed in Germany(when I was young) and multiple shopping experiences with my late grandmother. I find everything I have tried to be comparable if not better than national brands at ridiculously lower prices. My favorite ALDI brand items thus far: crunchy cheetos, doritos, every cereal(particularly cocoa{more chocolaty than cocoa krispies} and fruity crisp rice{doesn’t leave that weird filmy taste in your mouth like fruity pebbles}),pop tarts(they have unfrosted strawberry!), coffee(superb, has wonderful aroma, a full bodied flavoring and not too bitter), mac and cheese, and hamburger helper(my only suggestion is to reduce suggested water by 1/4 cup what the instructions state). I’ve enjoyed their canned fruits, marinara sauces, frozen pizzas and baking goods as well. My next venture will be the health and beauty aids after having read this article and its comments.
I’ve had bad luck with the dishwashing detergent, but I think that might be it. We do buy all our cereal here (our other stores don’t have fantastic deals, usually, even with couponing, and even then it’s a whole other grocery store stop, and that’s not worth it to me), and we’ve had great luck with the half-gallons of ice cream. I also REALLY like the orange mac and cheese in a box – and it’s only 35 cents! (Yes, I prefer the fake-cheese mac and cheese.)
We just got Aldi in Texas and we were so thrilled. We have been able to cut a lot of our grocery spending just by switching to Aldi. I hated their pizza rolls but my hubby liked them enough to eat them. I prefer Totino’s. I also didn’t care for their jarred pickles. But everything else we have tried from Aldi has been a winner with our family. Including dog food for 4 dogs, we spend about $80-90 every two weeks for our family of 3. I still hit our Central Market and Whole Foods Market for fruit and fresh veggies if I can’t get to the farmer’s market. But even then I am spending less than before. I started buying more local produce and what is in season and that means less money spent. On average we spend about $125-150 every two weeks for food.
The fresh beef and pork have a bitter taste to them. can’t figure out why
I’m a new Aldi’s shopper and the prices are pretty impressive. The 80/20 ground beef was definitely the best I’ve ever had and a great price too! Potato chips were excellent and very cheap. Only disappointments so far were the cereal, and the milk I bought was all curdled inside the lid. Our store is small and clean – very limited choices, but you can get in and out very quickly. Just remember your quarter for the cart and bring your own bags!
Which cereal? Just curious. I’ve loved all the ones I have tried.
I have shopped at Aldi’s. I buy the sour cream, as I feel it sets up better in my cheeseballs than does name brand at double the price! My Aldi’s GIVES away fruit and veggies if they are going to go bad, so that it doesn’t go bad. They do the same with the bread, if it is after expire date, they just give it away!
We also get canned tuna and salmon at Aldi. Often their wild-caught frozen fish is a really good price, too. (And, being that it’s wild-caught, it should have any more toxins than any other wild-caught fish, regardless of what country it’s packaged in.)
I like the choc. chips just as well as Nestle ones from the regular supermarket – and these have real vanilla in them, whereas the standard brand ones at the supermarket have “vanillin” instead. (Yuck)
I shop sometimes in Aldi for European chocolate & frozen berries. But this time I purchased small food processor.
Used only once to chop 2 boiled eggs & next time when I tried to do it again that it was already broken…
I don’t know if I can return this product to the store for the money refund…
I have been an Aldi shopper for 3 years. I absolutely love it! I am not a picky eater at all so everything Aldi’s has appeals to me. I am a big snacker and you cannot beat the prices on all of the snack/junk foods they have. The first aisle in Aldi’s is where I spend the most of my money. The Fit n Active Cereal Bar in Blueberry are delicious and cheap. The name brand is Special K and at Walmart are close to $4-$5 a box.
I will say that the Fit n Acive brand is what had always kept me an Aldi’s shopper. It is perfect for someone like me who likes to snack a lot.
I do have to fill in at another store which varies between WalMart and Hy Vee.
I’ve had an on-again/off-again, love-hate relationship with Aldi for years. Love the prices and convenience. Strongly dislike running the gauntlet of chips and sweets, walking thru the door. I’d shop Aldi more often if they had a larger, better selection of healthier foods. I try to get in and out quickly, for basics, to avoid poor impulse purchases. On the flip side, the compact store and simple selections make Aldi an excellent source for quick, affordable grocery shopping – if you are diciplined. (It’s tough. They they offer very unique and interesting items.) I do have deeper concerns about Aldi’s country of orgin labeling. I like to know where my food comes from – eg Millville cereals. The labeling is vague. (If anyone knows, please comment.) Considering Aldi’s overall low prices, I’d say nine out of ten (90%) products purchased meets/exceeds expectations. (Funny, when an Aldi product is bad, it’s a really WEIRD bad. As in, “YUCK! – I will never buy THIS again!” bad.) But, some good things worth trying – L’Oven Fresh Cinnamon Raisin Bagels; Millville Bran Flakes; Kirkwood frozen chicken breasts. (When not on sale elsewhere.) Aldi’s dairy/cheese, fresh/canned veg., Mexican foods, basic $2.49 coffee, jams, and other staples are well worth trying at least once. Mamma Cozzi’s extra cheese pizza, about $2.29 ea, is very similar to Tombstone’s. Aldi’s Winking Owl wine, $2.69 per bottle, is not bad either, for a budget wine. Taste is hit or miss. Depends on the year, variety and vintner bottling it. Not sure but vendors may vary, year to year.
I have also noticed that the bananas from Aldi sometimes age too quickly, however, when this happens, I just peel them, slice them up, and place them in Tupperware to freeze.
Once frozen, I place them in the food processor and process until it’s the same consistency of ice cream. It’s amazing and highly recommended!
I found this creation at the following website: http://iowagirleats.com/2010/03/15/one-ingredient-must-have-dessert/
I love ice cream but not bananas. I heard of this recipe on pinterest and wish so badly I liked bananas after reading it
So much healthier!!
Omg!!! Aldi is the best thing ever!! I cater and buy alot of my food there, like the pasta and sauce which is excellent, all the cheese is top quality, and they have specialty cheeses which are excellent as well, not to mention so cheaply priced!! my husband loves the soup, the ne chowder and chickem dumpling tastes home matheres one coffee I bought that I swear is starbucks, the veggie juice tastes like v8 the cat litter is easy to scoop and my cat doesnt mind it! Oh! The home made pizzas are awesome! Gotta say, never had bad experience and everything is higj quality! Try the hazelnut candy bars and wafers yummmmm!!
I loved the sour cream! I agree the ice cream isn’t that great, neither is the personal pizzas.
I wasn’t crazy about the coffee…..
I’m surprised that so many people said not to buy Aldi ice cream, my family actually really likes it and when I want Rocky Road I ONLY buy it at Aldi because they have the marshmallows instead of marshmallow cream in it.
I agree Elizabeth! I haven’t had the rocky road but any other flavor has been exceptionally good! The Drumsticks are delicious!
I bought 4 loppers and one garden scissor for trimming hedge
from ALDI
all tools except one were junk working with them
few hours – one tool also damaged my hand.
Its cheaper and safer to buy one good tool in real hardware shop.
Aldi’s is key to living well within a budget without sacrificing quality, as most reviewers seem to feel. They keep improving. Of course, spices, bleach, condiments and coffee are unbelievably low. It is important to stock up on their “seasonal” specials, such as pesto sauce, balsamic vinegar, or german mustards, etc., where quality is off the charts and prices are rock bottom. Supermarkets here are retaliating a bit, like with milk, but to little avail. Now, Walmart is even higher priced, dramatically increasing their tomato products which used to be cheaper. Now just dry drink mixes like ice tea, which Aldi no longer has, and whole grain pasta, which Aldi’s seldom has in a choice of shapes, are the only reason to go….and to buy Fabulosa and light bulbs and shavers. My last holdout was that I love Tide and it gets Consumer Reports ™ great ratings over everything else. Aldi’s new Tandril Premium is the equivalent of Tide at one half the price, even with specials and coupons. I would compare their water softener salt to Morton’s, also. These really help the budget conscious also. They now have pretty much covered the landscape with wine varietals. With their European heritage they do a pretty good job for half the price or less of lame supermarket wines, esp. the Winking Owl Shiraz. Actually, however, many of the varietals would be much better and cheaper in Europe than their California sources, almost reaching good with more character. This surprises me. They are just experts at targeting the high volume, higher margins items that the supermarkets have convinced us are not. And you can buy Best Seasons-like salad dressing mix and canned Chinese vegetables from the Payless brand and you’re totally covered.
I want to feed my lab puppy (cooked) ground turkey (with brown rice and grated carrots), but my husband says it’s too expensive, even at Sam’s. Is it pretty cheap at Aldi’s? Has anyone tried Aldi’s ground turkey?
I haven’t tried it myself, but I know I’ve heard from several other people that like it.
I’ve had the ground turkey in a roll and its very good! My kids even ate it and they are very picky.
I am a stereotypical broke college student- and Aldi is a lifesaver! Unless there is something I absolutely need (for a specific recipe, for instance) that I can’t find, I never go grocery shopping anywhere else. The dried fruit, pita chips, and fruit/cereal bars are my favorite snacks. I’ve started baking quite a bit- and I buy all of my baking supplies there. I buy soymilk (I wish they had almond milk), butter, cheese, sour cream, yogurt (its great- and so much more affordable for a girl on a budget!), and anything else I may need from week to week. I recently found off-brand ‘Laughing Cow’ spreadable cheese, which has since become one of my favorite snacks. The only type of meat that I’ll buy there is Fit & Active ground beef and chicken breast- but that’s probably the only meat I would buy anywhere (since that’s really the only meat I know how to cook!). The lunch meat isn’t my favorite- but its edible, and I don’t buy it regularly so it works for me. I love their produce section! I only buy what I know that I’ll eat- because it doesn’t last as long as what you might buy from other stores, but that’s not an issue for me. All of their fruit is great- and recently my local Aldi has really expanded its veggie selection (I’ve been getting asparagus and squash). Their frozen pizzas (again, stereotypical college student!) are just as good as name brand- and so much cheaper. The frozen food selection is hit-or-miss, you never know what they’ll have from week to week. They sometimes have a fantastic veggie-pesto pizza, but then again sometimes they don’t. I found green bean fries one time, but they haven’t had them since. Overall, Aldi allows me to eat like I would at home on my college-student-budget. I will continue to shope there, even when I am a real-life-grown-up- and especially when I have kids!
As far as dairy goes-
Their skim milk is disgusting. It tastes like iron or some sort of metal taste. I’ve not had any problem with the sour cream though.
MUENSTER CHEESE! I think I would go to Aldi’s for this even if I didn’t want anything else there! But I do want MANY things there.
What I have not been pleased with are NON-FOOD items: food processor which broke after one use. I got the pesto made and then took it back for a full refund.
I agree with you on the meat, but I do buy ground turkey in the frozen section to mix with my ground beef from other sources in meatballs, chilis, etc.
I am a picky shopper and love there butter. You can’t get any better anywhere it is good. Cost only 1.89 a pound it make the best fudge ever. I like there bake items but sometimes find better deals on flour etc at Walmart. I am good at buying fresh for less. I have to be because of my diet. It is salt free and hard to shop no matter where I am.
My kids love the yogurt in a long type package. I freeze them and they are frozen yogurt popsicles! The whipped yogurt in cups is very tasty as is the smoked cheeses. The refrigerated hazlenut creamer is wonderful as are any of the glazed nuts. The glazed pecans heated up taste just like the expensive roasted ones at the mall.
One thing I didn’t like was the shells n cheese. It had a very odd flavor.
I later tried the Greek yogurt by Friendly Farms. It was plain with blueberry on bottom. I do not like it at all. I am used to the texture and taste of Oikos Greek yogurt. FF was thin almost water, light on taste and the blueberries were totally tasteless.
Thanks! I just learned about Aldis and looking forward to trying it out. Your comments both pro and con are really helpful.
I do not buy any produce that has been shrink wrapped. I found that even though the bell peppers were priced less than Kroger, the heat from the shrink wrap damaged the peppers.
I do buy their pineapples when they have them. They are $1 less than elsewhere.
I bought their trash bags in a pinch and WOW- I’ll never – ever pay through the nose for the name brand again. They are the tall kitchen 13 gal four flap bags. Very strong – I heart them
Has anyone bought sugar from aldi only to find it to have a bitter taste?
I bought a bag back in June or July and the taste of the sugar was quite bitter, as if salt had been added to the bag. I had stopped buying sugar from there until last week. I figured I would try it again, maybe the other bag had been from a bad batch, but lo and behold this new bag of sugar also had a bitter taste to it..
I love the Aldi frosted mini wheat cereal. I actually like it better than Kellogg’s. I also love their peanuts, kettle cooked potato chips, regular potato chips, the Fit & Active fruit strips, EVOO, and black olives. I haven’t any any bad experiences with cheeses. In fact, I’ve had some great cheese from Aldi. I really like their “fresh” pizzas. They aren’t are good as from a pizza restaurant but for at home they are good. They are better and cheaper than the ones as Walmart. The only bad experiences I have had were from a bag of beef jerky that tasted bad and then I realized it was full of mold. I returned it and got my money back. I also tried a container of ham in the deli meat section. I hated the taste of it and won’t get any deli meats again. I bought a bag of frozen chicken breasts that was disappointing. The chicken really shrank, which I assume was because they must pump it full of water before they freeze it. It wasn’t a good deal once the chicken was cooked. I’ll stick to my local grocer for fresh chicken breasts from now on.
Hi: based on all the comments I tried my local Aldi this week and it was great. I totally agree about the diapers they are great no leaks and so far the lining has not irritated the baby’s skin. Packaged salad is crispy and my 6 yr. old loves the gummy bears. I still had to run to Wegman’s for catfood but the litter works for my picky kitty. I’ll continue going there. I saved $$$$.
The powdered “kool-aid” (Aldi calls it “Mix-aid”) is really good. I can’t tell the difference from the name brand.
The only issue I have found with the produce is that it goes bad more quickly. My family usually eats it fast enough, though, as long as I don’t buy too much at once.
Produce is hit or miss and goes bad quickly I find, so eat it fast. Kettle chips are great. And their cheeses, like the asiago, parmesean and ricotta are wonderful and cheap. Just tried their version of a Digorno Pizza and I thought it was better. LOVE their Fit and Active products…especially the fudge ice cream bars! I will shop there for items I don’t find cheaper through sales or coupons at Meijer. Their garbage bags are comparible to Glade, their toilet paper to Scott brand. I find that if the packaging is similiar to a name brand, quality is not far off the mark –I’ve even wondered if the companies have allowed them to sell their products cheaper under the Aldi brand.
You’ve got to get their paper towels – just like Bounty you can select a size – but cheaper, love it. And their liquid fabric softener. Smells good and gets the laundry nice and soft. Cheesecake sampler is really yummy, ginger ale is good and my kids just love love love the corndogs and seasoned fries. I’ m so glad I found both this blog and Aldis.