Aldi/lidl food!

[Bewilderedallthetine]

I shop in Tesco's/Morrisons supermarkets. My workmates keep going on and said shop at lidl/aldi as it is so much cheaper. There is just me and my young son, so today I got our dinner from there (lidl). I bought Rump steak, oven chips and beans (we usually have a roast on Sunday and a fry up on monday) but fancyed a change. the rump was about 10 pounds, chips 2.00 and beans about 50p (ish) ..the steak was so so tough, chips all different sizes so some were more done than the others, beans with watery thin sauce. Can anyone really eat this stuff! I really need to cut down on our shopping costs but this was terrible! Have you any tips for shopping for nice food cheaperly?

I think steak is largely down to how you cook it.

My dad shops at Aldi and his food seems ok.

Can anyone really eat this stuff

Yes, really.

Tips for next time, buy a decent steak, make your own chips (cheaper and far nicer) and buy the brand of beans you like because a tin of beans is not going to break the bank. For your essentials such as toilet paper, washing powder, rice, pasta etc etc buy those at aldi because they're cheaper and are all the same. But for nice stuff just buy the brands you like. For example I will only buy decent Pesto I don't care if its £3 instead of £1.50 but I save £10 a tub on my washing powder by using aldis own brand.

We shop at Lidl but buy meat from Tesco

I actually don’t think the steak at Lidl is very good (or cheap). Steak isn’t the item you’ll get the savings on.

Aldi is fine - I've got one near my house so pop in for bits - cheap and nice things to be found - whipped feta, Cornish salted butter, Aldi pringles, decent wine - my daughter number 2 likes their steak - I don't eat meat so can't really comment but all 3 like their McDonalds rip offs - also their social media is brilliant!

I don't buy much meat in Lidl but I think their fruit is much better than other supermarkets. I also like their fish

I buy a lot of stuff from Lidl. Their salad, fruit and veg is fine and so is their bakery. I buy their own brand butter Danpak and it’s just as good as Lurpak. I buy their 28p dried spaghetti, which is absolutely great. I get my meat from our butchers.

Aldi beans are good.

Meat like steak from Aldi is great. I don't know about Lidl because I haven't shopped there.

Chickens can be a bit more hit and miss. But I think that is true for everywhere, you can often pick up bad chickens these days.

Rump steak I always though was fairly tough anyway. The sirloin I have had from Aldi is fantastic.

Alsi are probably less good on vegetables, but are trying to get better.

No issue with aldi or Lidl
Have noticed meat in all supermarkets is pretty rubbish- so occasional treat I go to a butchers. As for different size chips- get a grip!

I never understand why anyone buys rump steak. A rump roast is half price just now in Tesco ( about six quid a kilo) slice it yourself and voila steaks for under a fiver. I’d personally have a baked potato with steak, or do a baked potato mash and have loaded potato skins the following day, big bag for £1.69 at Aldi and sugar snaps for 69p in the cheap for a week veg section. Possibly knock up a sauce with blue cheese and chestnut mushrooms.

If you want to cut costs you need to consider what you eat as well as where you shop.

Lidl has excellent meat, I've also never spent £10 for 2 steaks, I suspect it was down to the cooking. Their chips are about £1.50 a bag but that's enough for 4-6 adults.

Thank you x I did the steak on a really low setting. I will get the pasta/rice and washing powder from there, my sons dad has just stopped paying support for him so things are so tight! I work full time and during the week we have quick suppers (fish fingers/beef burgers/ pizzas / chicken legs etc) I like to make a nice Saturday lunch (chops/veg) and Sunday lunch ehich is meat roast and veg, yorkshire puddings)to make up for the crap I make during the week :( I just need my shopping bill to be a little bit cheaper :( I am trying to save a little bit on shopping as everything is so expensive.

I wouldn't shop at either of them as a full shop. I've got the odd bits but I would never do my full food shop there. I would rather pay more in Tesco for better food. Don't have either local so very rarely would I go there.

Lidl isn't as comparatively cheaper as it used to be. I do sometimes enjoy the different 'country' themed ranges they have in and the bakery in our local one is decent. We don't have that many other options where we live (that don't involve a boat journey!), Tesco, Coop, Lidl, tiny Asda and some local shops.

Depending on how much meat you eat OP it may be worth having a look at your local butchers instead. We personally always found the meat from Aldi to be just not great, even chicken breasts you buy a pack from there and half of it can be the veins/fatty bits. My husband eats quite a lot of different meats (in a week he will have chicken breast, steak, sausages, bacon, mince) so a few months ago now we had a look at the local butchers and they actually do like “meat bundle” things each week which have some chicken breast, some mince, some steak etc so it works perfectly for us and is the same price if not cheaper than buying it all from Aldi- and it is all really nice meat! But obviously whether that would work for you will depend on how much meat you need because the better deals are on the bigger bundles x

I did a shop at Lidl last week instead of Tesco and in comparison the quality from Lidl was awful. The roast chicken was thin. The potatoes were pretty much all bad inside and the two types of berries I bought went mouldy within two days. It was cheaper than Tesco but nowhere near as good.

Thank you..lots of tips on here, I will look at the veg and jacket potatoes etc. I really need to try more things. I have also got the cod fishcakes for next week and they look good.

Its just so hard making your money stretch!

Make own chips.
Buy Lidl’s own brands ‘Batts’ for sauces. The ketchup, Mayo and salad cream tastes the same as Heinz, Helmans etc.
Newgate brand beans taste the same as Heinz.
Meal plan and prep for the week to avoid waste.
Avoid doing a full roast every week, as they are expensive.
Buy frozen veg, and incorporate it into your week night meals.

Try Aldi. It's much better quality than Lidl.

I do all my shopping at Aldi with no issues
The only thing I go to Sainsburys for is Wagamama salad dressing and their crinkle cut gherkins but everything else is Aldi

Also the Aldi skin on fries are lovely, their baked beans are fine

Deli, wine is in my opinion as good at Aldi, sometimes better, than elsewhere.
Dried goods, eggs, tins of pulses, toms, oils etc, you’ll get them cheaper and not tell much difference.
Meat - I try and use it quickly and it won’t be as good as a butcher
veg, definitely goes off faster than elsewhere but ok
crisps, cereals are fine but my kids would prefer branded in most cases
Laundry etc is ok. Branded better but not noticeably so.
pizzas are fine - don’t buy much pre made

Thats my verdict of over a decade shopping at Aldi. I’ve saved enough that it’s worth me mainly shopping there.