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?

People love to hate on Aldi but honestly have never had an issue that I haven't also experienced at Tesco or Sainsbury's tbh - and half the stuff comes from the same bloody factory let's be honest......

A lot of Aldi's products are better than branded IMO - actual Pringles are so thin and bland, Aldi ones are much better, their chocolate is fab, Sainsbury's coleslaw is horrible in comparison to Aldi's specially selected..... So many others I can't think of right now!

There's quite a few things from Aldi/Lidl i like, and find cheaper. Aldi lime and coconut rice pouches, Aldi's white lasagne sauce, both better than uncle bens/dolmio etc. Lidl's spinach and pine nut pasta salad is better than anywhere else, even sainsburys etc. Lidls bakery also does some great fresh bread, the pretzel cheese rolls are amazing. I don't buy their fruit/veg, but the pre packed sandwiches and sushi are my go to lunches. I LOVE how Lidl have a flavour of the week, with Italian week, Spanish, German, Aisian etc on rotation, so many of the snacks and cheeses, filled pastas etc are so lovely. They do some incredible frozen desserts and ice creams in the flavour of the week.
Lidl is probably my favourite of all food shops, though i get my fruit, veg, and most meat from Tesco or Asda, i do like Lidl's frozen and fresh prawns.

Some ideas for cheapish meals we tend to do

(Assuming we do a roast, which we do once a week)

Leftover roast meat "hash" with potatoes, bacon and onions: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/pytt-y-panna-little-pieces-in-a-pan/

Some kind of bean dish with chickpeas or butter beans. Either as a saucy dish in which case we'll have bread with it to mop up the nice sauce. Or vegetarian burrito bowls with rice

Spag bolognese, carbonara sort of stuff

Some sort of meat in the slow cooker plus mash and corn

Thank you all for taking the time to post xx I am writing all these tips down..its hard when you are on your own and trying to make ends meet! My son is so easy to feed..he likes pasta/chicken/veg etc. I feel guilty making him quick meals during the week (I work 9-5 mon-fri) a couple of week ago we baked pies at the weekend (corned beef, potato and onions and mince and onions) he made some sausage rolls. They lasted a few suppers. I also have a slow cooker so make quick ready for us when we get home meals. I am making a note of everything you blooming lovely people have suggested xx

Thank you xxx

Search online for good egg fried rice and nice but cheap pasta sauce recipes. I generally fry off an onion, garlic, dried oregano and some lardons in olive oil and then add a tin of tomatoes( Aldi ones are great, tinned cherry tins if feeling fancy). Reduce and top with a sprinkling of Parmesan.Aldi Parmesan slabs will go a long way with 2 of you and a bottle of their olive oil will last you ages.

Broccoli macaroni cheese is v cheap. The coop recipe on line is good. Lentil dahl is v cheap with veg and naan. Frozen fruit and veg are your friend. Porridge is cheap with a handful of frozen fruit and peanut butter on toast filling for breakfast. There are good leftover chicken curry recipes online. Toad in the hole is easy and cheap with onion gravy and frozen peas/ veg. Their fishgingers are good and cheap with mash and beans. I do one frozen product meal a week and bump up the veg. Their nuts are v cheap. Flapjack and banana loaf are good and cheap for lunchboxes and their crisps are fine. Their nuggets and Cornettos are good and cheap for a Saturday night treat for kids.

I take leftovers for my lunch. Freeze bread or use sandwich thins wraps for kids. I buy Aldi ham twice a week and never had a problem with it. A couple of cherry toms and baby cucumber gets veg up. Cream cheese on bagels with chives is nice and cheap. Grow your own chives, basil etc.

After a while you will honestly not want to spend Tesco/ Sainsbury prices.

"quick" meals aren't necessarily bad meals though, what you've mentioned above sounds pretty good/healthy. Sounds like your little fella is a great/ non fussy eater too. Keep doing what you're doing imo 😀

@Bewilderedallthetine I'm sure you're doing your best.

Another tip, that you have kind of already discovered with your pies/SRs, is batch cooking. The mince part of Spag Bol/Chilli or
Chicken Curry/Stew can be made in bulk (in your slow cooker) and frozen in batches, and then you just have to defrost a portion or two and cook the pasta/rice to go along with it (or even just wraps with chili). Cottage Pie or Lasagne could also be made on a larger scale and portioned. Homemade Fritatta is quite easy and quick to make too (lots of recipes online).

My kids like the you split pots too. You can get Colgate toothpaste for a pound in Aldi, their cheapest looroll, caddy bags, bin bags etc are fine.

Also the idea that food in sainsburys or Tesco is better makes me laugh- if it was M&S you might have a point/ but you’re just paying more for the same product.

Lidl food there's always something lacking,I do like the malt loaf though.

The yogurts are good. The bakery section is usually good value and good quality. I like the pineapple cottage cheese best. The bratwurst are worth a try. Eggs are usually good value. I like the quality of the meat in Lidl- I usually get the rib eye steak. We are eating less meat generally. If you like fish try the salmon wellington.

This is brilliant xx thank you so much xxx

Do all our shopping at Aldi. Never have bad food. Rarely eat steak but when we do it’s the aged one that has won awards. DH cooks it perfectly. Oven chips are absolutely fine- we like the skin on fries and never had watery beans .OP I would add that we are both pretty good cooks and know what good quality ingredients taste like. Most of our shopping is fresh veg, fruit, meat and fish with tinned extras and some frozen berries and veg. We don’t buy ready meals. We are just back from a break in U.K. where none of the ‘gastro’ pub food we ate came close to what we make from good old Aldi!

Thank you xx I am going to do this xx..I am so Pleased I posted on here xx

I've price checked and for what we buy Tesco is actually cheaper than Aldi and Lidl, albeit by about 50p for a big shop. I don't find them much different in quality really, my only tip is to stock up when the better offers are on if you can afford to and if you can store it.

Thank you so much xxx

Aldi sells something , I like it then they withdraw it

Their vegan fish bites are good , the vegan fish fillets ok , but cannot get the bites now
DS likes their pizzas (Carlos)

I don't like the veg , worst potatoes ever
Bakery is good

Three of us are vegetarian and DS doesn't eat red meat so I have no idea what that is like .
Their household products are good ( and many have the Leaping Bunny )

I got rump steak in Aldi today, was a bit over £3. No idea why it’s £10 in Lidl. Aldi steak is always nice. I’d make my own chips or have a baked sweet potato.

Your blaming the ingredients when your meal choice was steak with bakes beans? 🤔

There are three different branches of Aldi that I use on occasion, and the meat I’ve bought from all of them has been of very good quality, I’d say better than Tesco or Sainsbury’s.

We've stopped buying wraps and flat breads completely and have saved a lot there. They are soooo easy and quick to make and taste much nicer that way too! I also want to start using the potato peelings for crisps but need a minute to have a play.

These cheap shops are fine for one brand cereals etc. but meat is crap from them.

You get what you pay for.

We prepare steak by rubbing with oil and salt and pepper then cook steak on a high heat in a griddle pan, just a few minutes each side and then rest. Perfect .

We tend not to do meat and dairy from Lidl and Aldi as we have found the quality is very varied.. had a bad experience with some very sketchy chicken from the former which we ended up having to throw out. Love our local Lidl for stuff like pasta, cereal, breadsticks etc though - quality is fine and the cost saving is significant. What with the cost of living we tend to get different things from different shops based on price and quality - meat from butchers, rice/spices/pulses from the Asian grocery store etc - rather than doing one big shop in Sainsbury's for everything like we would have done a few years ago