What to avoid at Lidl

[GColdtimer]

Ok, have just analysed our finances and I am spending way too much at the supermarket. i need to menu plan and buy cheaper stuff. I have read loads of threads about what to buy but is there anything i should avoid? I am going to go this week. Sadly excited.

(and an can anyone tell me why it is so much cheaper?)

Branded british products will usually be more expensive so watch out.

Some fruit and veg is sometimes not as good but it's a lot better recently.

I can highly recommend the chilled large lasagne - really full flavoured and yummy.

Some of the cheap pasta sauces are good but some taste a bit - a lot of celery [puke]

things such as nappies could be good but be aware that absorbancy/fit might not be as good.

THe houmous is nasty. Buy chick peas and tahini and make your own.

I think the nappies are the best ones on the market.

The beans with sausages are well and truly minging, but the mackerel in tins is delish.

Potato salad - yummy and addictive but jam full of sugar!

Also, they do this packet of huge biscuits, red packaging with a picture of a princess on the front. They are LOVELY, with a nutella-like filling.

I had a thread on this last week! i did a big shop in Aldi/Lidl 9they are next door to each other) and managed to get everyhting apart from beansprouts and single cream.

So far we have had:
-lots of fruit and veg- all yummy except Lidl's pears which were very hard- hoping they ripen up.

• aldi mozzarella- niceer than morrisons
• lidl- serrano ham- yummy
• lidl diced beef in a curry- couldnt tell any differecne from that and morrisons
• milk- fine
• brown sliced bread- not quite as nice as our usual I must admit
• biscuits- yummy

oh and aldi had huge bags of dried fruit and nuts much cheaper than other supermarkets, good for us as DH is training for the London marathon and snacking on these a lot.

They are cheaper because of their "Stack em high,sell em cheap" policy.The average Lidl? Aldi is not prettified like other supermarkets,but the stuff is generally good quality.They are owned by German brothers.Weird,eh?

If you go to Aldi DO try their choc chip brioche loaf.I am currently addicted to this.Yum yum!

Lidl Vanilla ice cream (in the dark blue container that is almost loaf-of-bread sized) is delicious.

Dips - they are bland IMO

With out local one you have to pick your day to go for the fresh fruit & veg, on delivery days it's great - the rest of the time it's a bit sad looking.

The large bags of pasta in a sauce are cheap & tasty for a quick meal.

Be careful when buying fruit juices as half of them are sugar based nectar ones.

I don't know if they have improved them but a few years ago we tried Lidl's own sausages and they were utterly vile- even the cat refused them!
Aldi sausages however are very good quality.

lidl nappies are brilliant!
much better than any others i've tried, and a zillion times cheaper...
their wet wipes are good, too

Another Lidl thread here.

Thanks everyone. Looking forward to saving some money this week.

i avoid the meat in general, fuit lasts a lot longer and dried/packeted things are generaly great. my dads obsessed with the wierd things in jars but you need to be quite brave...

I often get sucked in by offers on fruit and veg and end up disappointed with quality - mangoes and avacadoes in particular are never very nice.

However, nappies are very good, as is their chocolate! They also do some really tasty part baked seeded rolls.

I like the hummous. Not much difference from other brands. A few years ago there was a salmonella outbreak in the factory that supplies hummous to all the supermarkets. It was off the selves at tesco waitrose and lidl.

I do 99% of my shopping there. The things I have tried and don't rate are the pesto and the washing powder/tablets. Most other stuff is fine. I have on occasion tried dome of the frozen ready meals/processed stuff and wasn't v impressed but that's probably the same anywhere.

Both the potato salads are fantastic. One with cremefraiche and another with yoghurt. Really addictive.