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?

Thanks @D0v3Gr3y I haven’t seen that in my branch. Going tomorrow. It’s not vacuum packed like Lavazza or Lidls gold .Is it for espresso machines or cafetières?

Im with you OP. Lidl = you get what you pay for. Its disgusting!

Yanbu I did a weekly shop at aldi once after friends insisting how great it was. Didn't particularly save any money and we just didn't like their food

Just like @PaminaMozart I don't buy ready made stuff - not even from M&S; just don't like the gluppiness . Agree with her re Lidl meat, fish etc. Also Lidl's long-lived veg such as broccoli and cauliflower (also onions, potatoes, courgettes, peppers, aubergines etc etc are usually very good and cheap; ditto apples , plums, blueberries). (To the poster who fretted about strawberries in March not being good, that really, really is not surprsing.) Lidl's herbs are good and cheap too (about 60% the price of Morrisons, and just as good quality). Their nuts are top quality and cheap; their jams (especially Black Cherry, Raspberry - just stir it into plain yoghurt (big Lidl Greek-style pots are a bargain)- are very good indeed.) And very good real ground coffee.

For raw ingredients I find Lidl excellent for butter, yoghurt, cream, UK cheddar cheese and sometimes foreign cheeses (though not always for those). Lidl's plain extra virgin olive oil 750 ml is a bargain (it's from Spain, I believe).

Their frozen veg (petis pois, green bean) and frozen fruit (cherries, respberries etc) are also a bargain and good quality.

Says cafetière and filter. We use it in the Bialetti on the stove and it’s great. It’s mixed up with other blends and is often sold out so I stock up with a few packs when I see it.

Sorry but that’s a bit ignorant.

Will try it .I need it for my espresso machine.

A tin of Heinz beans was £1.40 at my local Tesco today. I couldn't believe it.

Home Bargains! couldn't believe how good they are for branded stuff, went to one yesterday and was amazed!

I never see how people get a full shop there
It's a bit shop there shop twice for me so I am cheaper sticking to tesco.

I do my shopping at Aldi mainly. I also go to Hone Bargains for toiletries and cleaning items, and Iceland for their choice of Pizzas and for a change of ready meals if we fancy one.

These are the things we've found we like:-

• cereals
• their 'posh' large bags of crisps
• their Lurpak copy is the best of all the supermarkets I think
• their baked beans are the only ones my DH didn't twig they weren't Heinz
• Mayo and ketchup are better than other supermarket own ones
• all butter scones
• triple cooked frozen chips
• salt and pepper fries
• skin on fries
• the posh frozen peas in the black bag
• good selection of yogurts which seems to always be improving
• their standard family size lasagne
• our Aldi always seems to always have decent sized jacket potatoes which is a rarity nowadays it seems (and a great idea for a cheap tea if you're looking to save money)
• their frozen sausages are on par with Walls (if you like that sort of thing, I appreciate they aren't great quality but we like them!)
• cod fishfingers
• roasting joints of beef (consistently better than Tesco in quality and a fair bit cheaper)

We don't like:-

• Aldi crumpets, one item I'm happy to pay for the branded Warburtpns (which Aldi also sell)
• I would like a bakery section for more choice of nice breads for sandwiches
• can't buy lentils order these in bulk on Amazon
• not a great choice of good quality pizzas (can you tell we like pizza?)

If you'd also like a tip, here's one. If you don't want one please ignore. I'm a full time working mum who also does all the shopping cooking and running around for after school activities. So time is limited during the week. So I tend to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday preparing food if we have time, not my idea of fun but otherwise we end up having lots of ready meals. Today I've made nice couscous cous and spinach salads for 3 days lunches at work, and made a veg and lentil chilli for the slow cooker that will do us meals for 3 evenings. Any left goes in the freezer. Other meals I do in the slow cooker are stews, beef chillies, bolognese, stews, casserole, curries, chicken and cashew. So my best tip is try a slow cooker. Then on Thursday we will have a 'something on toast or eggs' night, everyone picks whatever they want and makes it themselves. Friday is our busiest evening so it's jacket potato night, get it out the oven whenever you're home. These 2 meals work out pretty cost effective.

Personally I think the secret to saving money is cooking from scratch (unfortunately!), not using a lot of meat and using cheaper cuts of meat (which are ideal for the slow cooker), and not buying lots of snack foods, buying mainly unbranded.

@kitsuneghost it sure what you mean. When I first went to Aldi 2008 I couldn’t get everything but now I can. What is it you think you can’t get?

My local Aldi isn't huge so not as much choice as some, but i regularly buy washing/cleaning products - their own shampoos/conditioners & sanitary towels are good (3 teen girls here, gawd help me 😂) - kitchen towel, eggs, crisps & snacks, ice cream/desserts and condiments (really like their mustard). I pick up their decaff tea/coffee and flavoured water for my mum, and they're all very good.

I much prefer Tesco for fruit, veg, bread and vegetarian options (none of us eat meat), loo rolls and pet food. I think Waitrose Essentials range is very good too, really like their biscuits, baked beans, houmous and cereals.

For deodorant, soap, toothpaste etc Savers and Home Bargains are well worth a look.

Ours don't seem to have a very big range of grains, beans and pulses and the spice range is very poor.
Tea coffee is not good, also a poor toiletry selection
No rice cakes???

I do go in for their crisps and pizzas though

@kitsuneghost I buy their rice cakes- they do whole grain, corn or flavoured.

You’re right in spice , I buy that elsewhere but that’s the same with any supermarket- bottles too small .
I buy Gold label tea and green tea and peppermint tea at Aldi.
Instant coffee ( copy of the orange tin) and espresso recommended upthread. Great one in Lidl.
I buy lots of tinned beans and pulses at Aldi .

Maybe it just depends on your aldi
Ours only have flavoured rice cakes
No quinoa, no buckwheat, no black beans and. No ras el hanout.
Was in for crisps and pizza and thought I could just pick them up at the same time as I missed them at big shop but no sadly.
I am quite fussy with tea and coffee. Find all their herbal teas taste boxy.

What i do is every other week Aldi/lidl or Tesco, there are some things I won't buy from Aldi/lidl but stuff like pasta, rice, sauces, snack food etc is fine and cheaper than Tesco. I think overall Aldi is slightly better quality than Lidl but Lidl fruit and veg is usually better and for the stuff I buy Lidl is slightly cheaper

Aldi do a great steak.

I like Aldi for general stuff, including meat and Lidl for the eastern European food.

I choose to shop in Aldi if I'm doing an in person shop, despite a Sainsbury's being opposite the Aldi and us having the means to not care where we shop.

You'll save if you can steer clear of the processed food items.

I would have made a beef stew from the rump steak - cut in cubes, dip in flour, brown on a pan, add chopped onion, carrot, celery, garlic, beef stock cube, dash of wine or beer if you like, boiling water, parsley, SnP, worcestershire sauce; after boiling set to simmer for a few hours, stir occasionally, and place chopped potatoes over the stew to steam for the last 40 mins.

The advantage of meals like spaghetti bolognese or a stew is that your meat stretches further - you can bulk up sauces with veg. You could have a stew, casserole, or something like spaghetti bolognese or chili made with mince and beans two days running or more.

Sorry your child's father isn't paying any support for him. You sound as if you're determined to make it work for you and your son, with a great attitude.

They only do quinoa in pouches by the rice section , they are nice for lunches etc. Ours does black beans but no Buck wheat or bulgur but they’re not weekly buys for me so I can get most of my food shop then if I’m passing another shop I’ll pick those type of things up. I buy my spices at a whole food shop or in the world aisle in Morrisons which is near me. Far better value as we use so much.

Avoid doing a full roast every week, as they are expensive. depends on what you’re roasting.

I buy a large chicken and roast it on the Sunday. Make the leftovers into chicken pies and some kind of throw-it-together pasta dish over the next couple of days.

This isn’t a mumsnet mythical chicken, but as it’s just the OP and her DS a large chicken will go far.

Pies made from leftovers, in shop bought pastry and using the leftover gravy as part of the filling with the chicken. There’s only two of us as well, so I make four small pies so two end up in the freezer.

Last week Sainsbury’s had large whole chickens on nectar offer for £2.80 instead of the usual £5.50, so those are always worth looking out for.

I think things like quinoa will come though. I remember when they didn’t do skimmed milk or brown rice.

Aldi used to do quinoa, they stopped about 18 months ago. 🤷‍♀️

Fruit and veg , in Aldi/Lidl tend to be be pre packed. Hence a load of carrots, peppers, parsnips etc... all in a bag.

My husband and I can't get through a bag of veg in a week and Aldi/Lidl's fresh produce really doesn't last.

It's a false economy for us.

It really does last!!! I buy it every flippin week!!! 🙄