Shopping at Aldi for a Month: What I Bought, Loved & Would Skip!

This post was requested by Carrie from Curly Crafty Mom!

They have been working on our first Aldi store since last year, so I was excited when it finally opened up in July! While I wasn’t one of the first 200 people there to get freebie bags filled with goodies (the first person was there at 1 AM!), I did venture there the following week!

I really love how spacious the store is and the massive amount of cheese in their cooler that I haven’t even scratched the surface of, but my heart wants to try it all! Carrie had such a fun idea about sharing all the Aldi things and I’ve really enjoyed putting this one together, so I hope you will enjoy reading it!

So you know the drill! Grab your coffee (or fave beverage!) and let’s take a look at my first month of Aldi shopping!

Week 1 My First Aldi Trip

My very first trip was a speedy one! Kyle already knew he liked the chicken and maple sticks (similar to Chomps), so I decided to grab those and a shopping bag for the next trip. I really loved browsing through the store and was excited to come back another time for more things!

I picked up:

• Chicken & Maple Snack Sticks — $5.49
• An Aldi reusable shopping bag — $0.99

I didn’t save the receipt for this one, but was able to look up the prices online and add them here. I am not sure if I’ll eventually need a second bag, but so far I’ve been able to pile all the things in my Out of the Ocean Bag!

Week 2 Aldi Grocery Haul — $44.78

I wanted to see if I could save a little money by shopping for some regular things I’d normally buy at our Walmart or Kroger. Cauliflower rice is now a staple in our house (if you season it well, it’s actually very good with meals!) and it is by far cheaper at Aldi. I can’t tell the difference in texture or taste either from other stores! I picked up the frozen mixed vegetables to add in Kyle’s famous vegetable soup and it was still the best, so I think frozen veggies are a win at this point.

The birria beef roast was my first Aldi splurge, but I read rave reviews on Facebook groups I follow. I wanted to make birria tacos this week and goodness, it was divine! I only added a cup of beef broth in the crockpot with this roast, put it on low for 8 hours, and it was fall-apart tender and so tasty. Highly recommend if you already know you like birria meat!

Here’s what I bought:

• Supreme Pizza — $2.99
• (2) Frozen mixed vegetables — $1.96
• Birria Beef Roast — $15.73
• Riced Cauliflower — $1.79
• Grapes — $3.01
• Quick Oats — $3.99
• Chicken & Maple Sticks — $5.49
• Gallon Freezer Bags — $1.85
• Honeycrisp apples — $4.85
• Beefsteak Tomatoes — $2.99

Total: $44.78

I somehow got addicted to the chicken and maple sticks I bought for Kyle the previous week, so I had to add them on my grocery list again because I was eating them all, haha! I always buy the Walmart Great Value Freezer Bags and go through a ton of them (I know that’s bad!), so I picked up the Aldi brand because it’s much cheaper and I love them! I haven’t tried the oats yet to report on those, but will let you know when I do!

You can’t really see it in the photo, but I picked up a supreme pizza this trip. While I would say it isn’t as good as DiGiorno thin crust pizza, that’s our favorite frozen pizza, it is probably comparable to a Jack’s frozen pizza if you’ve had those. Definitely good for the money, but not going to the best tasting pizza you’ve had.

Week 3 Aldi Grocery Haul — $21.46

I primarily went this time for bananas and honeycrisp apples for Kyle, he always takes them for his golf on the weekends. They were out of bananas, so I just picked up the apples and of course, couldn’t leave without trying some new snacks! The pretzel and cheese snacks are comparable to the Sargento ones and I loved them! I’m very much a snack girl and can easily pair this with some bread and fruit for a quick lunch or dinner.

I picked up:

• Hint of Lime Tortilla Chips — $2.15
• Popcorn Shrimp — $5.99
• Mexicali Dip — $2.99
• Pretzel and Cheese Snacks — $2.49
• French Bread Pizza — $2.99
• Honeycrisp apples — $4.85

Total: $21.46

Kyle ate the pizza breads and said they were good, and we both loved the shrimp made in the air fryer! The only thing I was missing was cocktail sauce and they didn’t have any at our Aldi. I didn’t see any online either, so maybe they don’t sell that or tartar sauce. I really enjoyed the mexicali dip, but it is a little spicy. I made the mistake of buying this with the hint of lime tortilla chips so it was kind of too spicy together, but I’d definitely get it with the regular tortilla chips another time!

Week 4 Aldi Grocery Haul — $46.32

You can see some repeats here! I don’t think I mentioned this one of the other weeks, but their red grapes were delicious and was so happy to find them with green stems. Did you know the green stems mean they’re really fresh? I’ve probably been buying the brown ones for far too long and not realizing that’s why they went bad so fast.

I finally scored the everything sourdough bread this trip! I was on the lookout for it during the previous weeks, but my Aldi didn’t have it in stock. This bread is another item that has a ton of rave reviews in the Facebook groups and I can see why – it’s easily my favorite thing I’ve got there! I did listen to people who said it goes bad very quickly if you don’t refrigerate/freeze it, so I put it in the fridge and it’s still good a week later (but also, it’s almost gone because I keep eating it!).

This week’s haul included:

• Grapes — $3.65
• Bananas — $1.14
• Everything Sourdough Bread— $3.49
• Pretzel and Cheese Snacks — $2.49
• Chicken & Maple Sticks — $5.49
• Popcorn Shrimp — $5.99
• Salt and Pepper Brisket — $22.58
• Cream Cheese — $1.49

Total: $46.32

The Salt and Pepper Brisket was the most expensive item I’ve purchased at Aldi so far, but it was really good! I’ve actually never bought brisket before, but Kyle wanted to try this protein-heavy brisket macaroni and cheese recipe in the crockpot. The only thing that wasn’t much fun was that I had to trim all the fat off the brisket and there was a ton of that! I know it adds flavor though, so don’t let that turn you away, it just wasn’t ideal for my scenario since I was trying to make it as lean as possible. I also took the advice from one of the Facebook groups to remove most of the salt and pepper seasoning because it was way too peppery.

Oh, I used the cream cheese for a crab dip recipe and it was very comparable to Philadelphia Cream Cheese. I’d definitely buy it again!

What I Loved (And Bought on Repeat!)

I know I mentioned some of the repeats through this post, but wanted a quick place for you to come straight to the good stuff or if you’re short on time and skipped here!

Chicken & Maple Snack Sticks

These were my first Aldi purchase and obviously it wasn’t the last time I bought them! I love these so much, they’re very soft and delicious, and make a great quick snack or an addition to lunch.

Everything Sourdough Bread

My very favorite thing I’ve purchased from Aldi so far! This WILL be a repeat buy going forward. I just still have it in my fridge, so I want to wait until it’s completely gone or at least only maybe a slice or two left before getting it again. I’ve had this as a grilled cheese and as toast with butter, it’s just perfect.

Fresh Fruit

As I mentioned before, Kyle always takes fruit with him to the golf course so this will definitely continue to be on the Aldi grocery list. I always heard that Aldi has the best produce and so far, I’m agreeing!

Pretzel and Cheese Snacks

These snacks are so handy! I love that they’re much cheaper than name-brand versions and the different types of cheese are really good with the pretzels. They also have a variety of these types of small snack packs to choose from too, but I’m kind of hooked on these at the moment.

Popcorn Shrimp

I have always loved shrimp, so I was excited to try these and so happy that they’re delicious! I put them in our air fryer for 8 minutes at 375 (your air fryer timing/temperature may be different) and they come out perfectly crispy.

What I’d Skip Going Forward

While I’m so happy to report that there wasn’t anything I bought that I would say tasted bad, there were some items that just weren’t good enough for me to buy again.

Hint of Lime Tortilla Chips

I made the mistake of buying these hint of lime chips with an already sort of spicy dip, so it was a bit much for me. But honestly, the chips themselves are just too zesty for me even after eating them separately. They taste yummy though, so if you like extra lime/zesty chips, these will be for you! I will grab the regular tortilla chips next time I want some.

Mexicali Dip

My view is probably a bit skewed since I had the zesty chips with this, but the dip itself is still a bit spicy for me! It does taste really good, but I think the jalapenos in it really give it a spicy kick and I’d rather have something a bit more mellow. I’ve been eyeing the street corn dip, so we will see how that goes!

Salt and Pepper Brisket

This brisket was very good in our mac and cheese recipe, but was a little too much work with cutting off so much fat. I know that would vary from brisket-to-brisket, but I would rather have a plain option anyway because there was so much pepper on it that I was trying to wipe most of it off. So this is just a personal preference thing, not that the brisket itself is bad!

How to Prepare a Grocery List to Aldi

I’m sure there are a million groups, blogs, or articles online about Aldi finds, but I wanted to share with you the specific ones I’m using and what I do to prepare my grocery list. There’s a method to my madness and I don’t walk into a grocery store without a list…that doesn’t mean I don’t add in a few extra things though, haha!

Browse Facebook groups for honest reviews

I’ve found these two groups to be super helpful: Aldi Nerd Community RECIPE GROUP!!! and ALDI Aisle of Shame Community. I like to scroll through them for just a few minutes to see what people are buying or regretting buying. The cool thing about these groups are that you can use the search bar if there’s a specific product you want to find posts for. I did this with the birria roast before purchasing it and it was very helpful to see all of the reviews in one place – and they were all rave reviews, so I knew I wanted to give it a whirl!

P.S. If you’re like me and don’t love your Facebook feed being swarmed with these posts all of the time, you can turn off notifications for the group but still be able to go visit it when you’re ready to browse. Also, some groups you don’t have to be a member of to still view their posts.

Do a Quick Meal Plan Before List-Making

It truly depends on what you’re visiting Aldi for, but if you’re like me and trying to see where you can incorporate Aldi items into your regular grocery budget, it really helps to jot down what meals or snacks you’ll want for the week. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but this can be really helpful for making sure you’re getting enough food to last until you’re ready to go back and of course to know which items you truly need for your recipes.

Also, note the items that you won’t be purchasing from Aldi that you’ll still need to pick up elsewhere. I don’t think I could ever exclusively buy all of our things at Aldi sadly, so I make sure to add the other items I need on their own apps, like Walmart or Kroger.

Add Items to Cart on Aldi’s Website

While you can purchase your groceries online and pickup later, I actually just use the cart feature to make my grocery list (then I tick things off the list as I go through the store so I don’t forget anything). I do this at other stores too, it makes it so easy for me! It’s not only helpful to keep track of your grocery list, but it’s especially helpful to look items up online to see the prices! Since I’m new to Aldi, I’ve been comparing the prices of things I buy with other stores nearby me, like Walmart and Kroger. Sometimes Walmart is cheaper on items, and rarely is Kroger cheaper unless it’s a digital coupon situation – but I always check! One of my main reasons for going to Aldi is to save some money where I can since grocery prices are through the roof, so I find this really handy.

One of the things I’ve noticed is that if you’re wanting to buy name-brand (Little Debbie, Chomps, etc.), those items will probably be a little pricier at Aldi. I’m sure it’s to encourage you to buy from the Aldi brand instead, but if you’re set on those name-brand items, you’re likely to find them cheaper at another store.

Don’t Forget Your Grocery List!

How many times have we done that? Oops! That’s why I do the add-to-cart method because I always have my cell phone with me, so then I just pull up the website or app while I’m shopping. Note: You do run the risk of getting some dirty looks from people thinking you’re texting while going through the store, haha! I check the box next to the item as I’m going through the store so I know I’m not forgetting anything. The Aldi website is also super nice in that it actually separates your items into sections in the store, such as ‘canned fruit’ or ‘MCU cooler’ which is where the little pretzel snack packs are at my store.

P.S. Also Don’t Forget Your Quarter & Bag(s)!

Aldi is a little different when it comes to shopping carts. You insert a quarter into the slot connected to your cart, then it releases it for you to use. You can get your quarter back by returning the cart and connecting the little chain from your cart to the next one. If you need a laugh, I couldn’t figure how to connect my cart to the other one the first two times I went and finally watched a YouTube video on it. Send help, I really really need it!!

They also don’t have plastic shopping bags like other stores, but do sell their own bags cheap or you could bring your own reusable shopping bag elsewhere. So be sure to bring one along if you’re picking up more than a couple of things. They also scan your items at the speed of light, so I’ve found it easier to just pay for my groceries and get out of everyone’s way before I start putting the groceries into my bag!

That’s a wrap on my shopping at Aldi for a month post, sweet friends! I hope you enjoyed going through all the things I bought and what I’d buy again versus what I’d skip. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and please let me know if you shop at Aldi and the things you enjoy buying there!