Your favourite food items at Aldi?

[Bookaholic73]

I’m trying to cut my food bill in half.
We are a family of 4 (3 adults and a 16 year old) and at the moment we spend £500-£600 a month on food.

I’ve been advised to shop at Aldi, so what would you recommend, and what would you stay away from?

@Emma10702

I spend a similar amount op. I’ve noticed it’s getting more expensive recently. This thread is really useful thanks.

Glad it’s not just me! I could easily spend more too, so I really need to get it under control.

most of their stuff is absolutely fine, but things i really like in particular are their Java ground coffee, blackcurrant conserve, and their veggie pasties in the freezer. Their thick and creamy yoghurts are REALLY good too

Loads of good stuff as already listed. Unlike other posters I've not had a problem with fresh fruit and veg.
Instead I'll list the few things we don't find up to standard!
I dislike their mayonaise, gloopy consistency. Tinned tuna always seems a bit fluffy, rather than good chucks. Shower gels are watery compared to branded. Kids cartons are mainly full of sweetener and my kids hate the taste. Bread is better toasted than not. We get a top up shop at Sainsbury's once a month for these branded bits.
Other than that, aldi for everything and we've gone from spending £160 a week, to £110

Found some sausage patties in there last week and we decided to try homemade McMuffins, wow, amazing as a one off treat.

The fillet steak is ace. Fresh pizza dough, chicken thigh burgers, Greek yog, we far prefer Aldi over Lidl for food.

There's this marbled, chocolate brioche in a tin ..........I've had to stop dp from buying it but I'd rip into the gooey loveliness and before I knew it the whole tin would be gone.

I’m another one who thinks their fruit and veg goes off quickly. Although I have found their varies from store to store.

We like most things, crisps, snacks etc are much cheaper. My 2 love their ‘Pringles’ at the moment which are about 70p!

Cheese, butter, cooked meats, bacon, sausage, chicken, beef, pork steaks, stir fry kits, pasta sauces, pizzas, garlic bread, stock pots, rice, savoury rice, curry sauces (especially good), ice creams, cereals - all enjoyed in this house.

Their vegan stuff is all first class.

I used to have issues with fresh fruit and veg going off quickly or being bad but recently I haven't found that to be the case.
Their cheeses are really good, as are things like crisps, the diary fine chocolate is really good. There isn't anything in particular I don't like!

We spend a similar amount Op for three adults and one teen.

We do use Aldi but also another supermarket because I can be a bit sniffy about some things.

Our recommendations are mostly what others have said.

Mature cheddar, prefer that to big brands
Steak is good but not like the butchers
Pringles don't taste like the real thing but they're ok
Natural Greek yoghurt in the bucket is lovely
Skinless, boneless chicken thighs are great but go off quickly
5% mince beef is excellent
The pizzas are ok for 60p or whatever they are, love the sweet chilli one
Melt in the middle fish cakes are lovely and so are the salmon ones
If you use soya milk stick with your usual brand, theirs is vile
Norpak butter is ok but it's not lurpak
Their 2ply loo roll is perfectly fine
Food waste bags are so much cheaper
Shaving gel really good
The razors with packs of blades are brilliant
Wine is perfectly acceptable
Their loaves in paper bags are nice

There's probably loads more but as I said, we can't do an entire weeks shop from there.

I should say that the new barista style decaf coffee is SO much better (IMO). I'm not sure why I thought back to the old one!

We have just had two fillet steaks delivered from m&s/Ocado at £16. That’s four pounds cheaper approx than Aldi and there is not one jot of difference. Only convenience that made us spend up.

The cheese is brill, Parmesan, maasdam, goats cheese, Roquefort, all lovely.

Their Pringle equivalent are nicer with more flavouring.

Aldi do a really nice tomato & pancetta jar it has a black label on it’s good to make meatballs with.

Hash browns are ok.

I do miss some of the other branded products from the big shops like Asda. You do adapt though and the money you will save in Aldi is so worth it.

The thing I don’t rate are there microwave meals. Tesco & M&S are better by far. I usually get my nicer bits from here.

And their lime block English wine, now gone, sadly was the best wine I’ve had in ages. In fact their wine is outstanding generally. The odd duffer but on the whole great.

Thanks for the help, confusednorthener

Moneysavingexpert have a page listing dupes vs named expensive items. Speaking of the middle isle, their beauty ranges are great stand alone items, but they do dupes of Liz Earle, Nars, Benefit mascara, designer perfumes etc. Their latest perfume specials were dupes of La Vie Est Belle, 212 (I think..) and can't remember the other one..perhaps Marc Jacobs Daisy? Point is, always check the middle rows out IMO

Oh yes, Aldi do a copy of the Co-Op's luxury salt and chardonnay vinegar crisps. Me and Dh devoured the pack between us before we realised the bag was anywhere near empty. So so nice.

@W3dontdoduvets

Found some sausage patties in there last week and we decided to try homemade McMuffins, wow, amazing as a one off treat.

The fillet steak is ace. Fresh pizza dough, chicken thigh burgers, Greek yog, we far prefer Aldi over Lidl for food.

Ooh yes I'd forgotten about the sausage patties. Those and the frozen fajita mix are the staple lunch diet of my 16 year old dustbin son

When I started going to Aldi from Tesco I didn't tell any of my family. Continued serving up their meals - they didn't even notice! Made me realise that it waste that was being snobby about Aldi. Two years on and I try everything - Aldi is really good!

Aldi is great, I don't think there's anything I wouldn't try from there. Particularly like their cheese, cold meat, yoghurt, sausages.
Frozen stuff is good - love the spicy chicken wings and the skin on fries are amazing.

Good for rice, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sometimes their fruit is really good. I also buy their nuts and seeds (was recommended the linseeds sprinkled on cereal for peri-menopause and have had no problems yet, touch wood!). Wasn't keen on their soups. A lot of their sweet stuff has palm fat in so need to check.

The Chinese duck pancake kits are brilliant- as good as any restaurant and significantly cheaper than the other supermarkets

Thought of another thing that is really tasty, their frozen sweet potato fries, they're so good.

I've not tried the smoked haddock, but I do buy Aldi salmon and cod. The cod is approx £2.75 for 2 fillets, compared to £4 at Tesco. It's just as nice but I find Tesco fillets to be thicker, the Aldi ones are thinner. I prefer thinner as they pan fry in a few minutes. We had the frozen raw king prawns yesterday and they were lovely

I really like their bananas! I am normally more on the banana hater side and eat them just because they're good for you, but they don't seem to be kept too cold and bashed about like many other places.

Another vote for Aromatic Crispy Duck, easily as good as Marks or Waitrose and much cheaper.

@Sixtonskip

Oohhh I get those cheese things too. They are indeed lovely!