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 also shop at Tesco and the odd time will pop to Aldi for a few extra bargains, I couldn’t do my full shop there because they just don’t have everything I want. I find the fruit and veg generally good, crackers, alcohol and extra bits okay. I’m not a fan of Lidl at all, I’ve shopped there the odd time but really just not a fan of it. I don’t think Aldi or Lidl are that much cheaper than Tesco anymore either.

Aldi meat is fab. Try the pork fillet op. £3-£4 but so versatile. We sometimes roast it in foil after browning in a pan then slice into medallions and serve as a roast or we slice it thickly first then marinate in herbs and oil and spices before griddle pan or bbq. Serve it with Mediterranean dishes or stuff into pitas with roasted veg.
We buy the chicken thighs and marinade them before roasting. Serve with homemade coleslaw using their red cabbage and carrots and a baked potato.

This only works with higher quality steak such as new York strip, rib eye or sirloin, etc. Rump steak is little more than fancy stewing beef - though one can stir fry it if sliced thin.

This sounds delicious xx thank you so much for this xx

I find if you take steak out of fridge let it get up to room temp,high heat frying pan,then rest it comes out tender.

Thank you all so much xx Lots of tips on here for low cost meals. I am printing all of this info off. The advice you get on mumsnet is second to none! I now know I have been cooking rump steak incorrectly 😥. I am going to make a stew during the week in my slow cooker also. (Using frozen veg etc) xx

I buy the pork fillet from Aldi quite often, made Terkyaki pork yesterday and it was delicious. Skin and boneless chicken thighs are good as is the Serloin steak. The only meat we dislike is the ready made meatballs but their mince is good.
I went at opening time today and got 30% off a pork fillet and salmon steaks which are in the freezer.
We find the beans in the blue can 42p the best, I used to buy M & S but changed to these.
I don't use a slow cooker but use an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker and cooks food quickly and tasty.

I have no issues with Aldi, but I honestly don't think it's that cheap nowadays, not like it used to be. We shop at Tesco , I've tried doing the weekly shop at Aldi but I didn't save any money and I also couldn't get everything I needed.

We don't shop often at Lidl as its not close enough, but I do like their bakery products!

Could you try cooking in bulk to reduce costs. I know it's not exciting eating the same meal over a few nights, but if you made a big batch of chilli or spag bol it would stretch over 2 or 3 nights. It saves time and money when money is tight .

I had Aldi beef today and it was delicious. Much nicer than the Sainsburys beef I had a couple of weeks ago.

The meat can be hit and miss in Aldi & Lidl. It can also be hit and miss in Tesco, Morrisons, M&S, Waitrose etc.

I pop in my local lidls often to have a browse. Every time I have bought fruit and veg it goes off really quick and is often bad inside.

Last visit I bought a ready made lasagna from the deluxe range. It was awful, and I'm not massively fussy. It was watery, greasy, and flavourless.

We eat from Aldi/Lidl a lot and we're precious about our food. The baked beans aren't good, I agree. But we've never had a bad steak. I don't know about the chips because we don't buy them. However the frozen convenience meals we have tried have been great.

Sorry Sirloin steak🙂. Also their packs of flavored rice are nice and 2 mins zapped plus you can add cooked veg to it.

I agree with the posters who struggle to do a full shop at Lidl- I do find they are very good for basics and deli type food though e.g cheese, bread, tins of pulses. OH thinks the chicken and salmon are good. Washing powder etc is good value

I don't find the fruit and veg lasts long so I use the local greengrocer for these

There are a few types of beans there. We buy the blue can- fine. Don’t eat them often though.
Happy for the Aldi haters to continue. Leave it less busy for me!😉

Aldi and Lidl aren't the same; bakery much better in Lidl but for good food 'dupes' Aldi wins every time. Great fruit and veg, interesting veggie options. And yes, Aldi absolutely great for all laundry/cleaning/shampoos etc.

We do all our shopping at Lidl, it's not in any way terrible.
The beans are nicer than Heinz imo, but I think most Heinz stuff is overrated (the tomato soup especially!)

The best 'none butcher shop' steaks are Tesco. Never had a bad one yet.

I'm a former Waitrose shopper, but since a Lidl opened in my town a few years ago I've become a solid convert.

What I would say though...

• I'm a foodie and cook everything from scratch.
• Never buy convenience food or ready made meals.
• I've never had issues with their meat, fish or seafood.

-I'm careful when I choose vegetables as quality can be variable.

• Their cleaning products are absolutely fine.

I shop at Lidl 99% of the time. I have two men in my house and they seem to hoover up whatever food is cooked in one sitting so I have no choice. Having said that, it is rare that I find Lidl food unpalatable. I generally try to stay clear of their frozen ready meals as they are quite poor in quality, albeit cheap but the raw ingredients and staples are actually pretty decent.
I cook a lot of stew-type meals with frozen chicken breast or frozen white fish and I like their 5% minced beef for chilli.
The equivalent shop in Morrisons is at least 20% more expensive and I can't say I find the quality any better.

I shop at Aldi & Sainsburys, not a big meat eater but I find a lot of their produce good and reasonably priced. If there's just the two of you, they have some great freezer stuff that will cut the cost down. Pizzas, meat, breaded chicken etc. There are some good meal plans on here/ other sites that might be beneficial for you. I find grocery shopping much cheaper than going into the shop. This way, you can meal plan, budget and compare prices with other shops.

If you have time to shop selectively you get to know which shops are good prices for selected items.

I go to Lidl about once a week or fortnight for a few things that are better value than Sainsbury's and to see if there are any household or clothing offers - my sister buys electric kettles there as they have a three-year guarantee and I got some good quality liner socks on offer recently.

Apples, chocolate bars, unsalted nuts such as almonds and brazils are good value and good quality. It's 40p cheaper than Sainsbury's for a pack of 6 apples - Granny Smiths - and Aldi's are usually around the same price as Lidl but occasionally may be 10p dearer. Lidl pitta bread - I buy the wholemeal but they also do white - is the same price as Sainsbury's own brand - at 50p.

A bottle of bleach in Lidl is 60p compared with 70p in Sainsbury's. That's for the smaller size 750cl. The bigger bottle (2l) is probably even better value. Aldi's is dearer than either.

Cheese - slabs of cheddar is more expensive in Lidl and Aldi than Sainsbury's own brand cheddar which is the best value of any supermarket that I know of. About £1 cheaper per kilo.

White vinegar is also a great price in Sainsbury's at 40p. They don't usually have the white in Aldi but on the rare occasion they do, it's maybe 5p cheaper. Don't know about Lidl.

Vegetables and salads, such as broccoli, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, are usually (but not all always) cheaper in Aldi than Sainsbury's and you have to check the quality. The same applies to lemons, garlic, avocado.

Aldi’s half pork/half beef mince is great for chilli or bolognaise. Frozen white fish is great- I do a fish curry with it using spices, coconut oil and coconut milk. Or I do a tomato fish stew with olives and chilli and serve with bulgur wheat or cous cous . My only issue with Aldi is that they DON’T do cous cous anymore or expresso coffee. I go to Lidl for that.

They do do Espresso coffee, I get a couple of bags of the coffee below a week to use in my stove top Bialetti. Don’t notice not having Lavazza which is double the price anymore. It’s popular though.

What do you mean you did the steak on a low setting? Rump steak you should fry on a relatively high heat, how did you cook it?

She grilled it…..