Buy – Mayonnaise
The popular condiment can get pretty pricey. Aldi offers Burman’s mayonnaise which is tasty and very affordable. A jar containing 887 ml of mayo is just $1.89.
Buy Mayonnaise
Buy – Pure Maple Syrup
Adding maple syrup to pancakes is a must, and the delicious sap adds depth of flavor while baking and cooking other items as well. Real maple syrup can get very pricey, but Aldi offers a discount option. According to Good Housekeeping, the syrup is “not overwhelmingly sweet” with “rich, complex notes of floral, roasted grain, and Christmas spices.” Sounds great to us!
Buy Pure Maple Syrup
Skip – Aldi Cereals
While Aldi does have a wide selection of cereal knock-offs, you’re better off buying the real thing. The taste and quality just aren’t the same, and according to Forbes: “You can often find better deals on name-brand cereals at your local store when combining coupons and sales.”
Skip Aldi Cereals
Skip – Aldi Soda
Aldi sells a selection of both name brand sodas and also Aldi varieties of the same favorite drinks. The knock-offs are quite disappointing, with mediocre flavor that just doesn’t hold up to the name brands. But don’t rush to grab the name brand options here either, make sure to check the price since it tends to fluctuate and can even be sold for the same price of other supermarkets.
Skip Aldi Soda
Buy – Gluten-Free Products
A raised awareness in gluten intolerances has led to many GF-products being introduced to the market. As such, many of these products tend to get pretty pricey. You’ll be happy to know that Aldi offers a fantastic selection of GF products at a very fair price. What’s more, they actually taste good too!
Buy Gluten Free Products
Skip – Fresh Produce
Fresh produce at Aldi is quite the mixed bag, so maybe you shouldn’t skip buying it here altogether but rather proceed with caution. Inspect the products thoroughly before buying, especially boxed berries that can hide moldy ones on the bottom. You can find good deals, just do your due diligence to make sure you’re not buying perished produce.
Skip Fresh Produce
Skip – Aldi Zipper-Top Bags
The plastic zipper top bags sold at Aldi are very affordable, but their quality doesn’t stand up to the name brand options available. According to housekeeping blogger Frugally Blonde, ” Aldi ziplock bags have a plastic smell to them that I just can’t get past. The idea of putting my food in there grosses me out. They really aren’t that good of a deal either.”
Skip Aldi Zipper Top Bags
Buy – Wine
Looking for a great wine with a price that won’t break the bank? Aldi has got you covered. They carry a great selection of affordable wines that are all $10 or less. According to The Guardian, the best option is the Exquisite Collection Limoux Chardonnay. The wines at Aldi are great quality and are a total bargain.
Buy Wine
Buy – German Beer
For those who prefer beer to wine, Aldi has got a great selection of these too. It’s not too surprising, after all, it is a German brand. The selection is not huge, but the beers they carry are high quality and very moderately priced. According to a reviewer on Kiplinger: “Its six-packs of Broegel Bock Beer go for $6.99, not bad for an imported beer. Brewed in Belgium, this bock scores a 3.8 on a scale of 5 as rated by Beer Advocate.”
Buy German Beer
Skip – Frozen Sushi
In general, sushi offered at grocery stores is not going to be the best quality. The next worst thing you could do is buy frozen sushi. As Aldi Nerd at Cheapism.com says: “If I lived somewhere rural where sushi joints were few and far between and I had a serious hankering for it, I may buy this. But I live less than a mile from a really delicious sushi restaurant and the frozen Fusia just doesn’t compare.”
Skip Frozen Sushi
Buy – Speciality Cheeses
Speciality cheeses are very delicious, but are frequently exorbitantly priced. Aldi comes to the rescue once again. They have a fantastic selection of specialty cheese with many flavor options and the best part is that they are not expensive, ranging from $2-$5! One Reddit user shared: “I really like the specially selected roasted garlic cheese wedge. There are a few varieties in the box, but that one is my favorite. The vintage aged white cheddar is good too.”
Buy Speciality Cheeses
Skip – Small Appliances
Aldi also sells affordable versions of small kitchen and home appliances. These are also very hit or miss, and usually the quality of these appliances is not the best. One Reddit user shared: “I bought the Ambiano single-serve coffee pot to replace a Keurig that died. WORST COFFEEPOT EVER! From the beginning, it blew out the k-cup (many different brands) and had coffee grounds over counter, cup and coffee machine every time.” Make sure to do your research before buying these.
Skip Small Appliances
Skip – Cheap Coffee
Coffee is an essential part of many people’s day, but great quality coffee can really be very expensive. However, it’s important to know that Aldi’s cheapest coffee option, Daily Basics brand, which is just 17 cents per ounce, is just not good quality. You can even find coffee at a similar price at other grocery stores that just tastes way better.
Skip Cheap Coffee
Buy – Spices
Something you should always buy from Aldi is spices and spice mixes. The Stonemill brand is great with quality that is comparable to name brands at a fraction of the price, at just 95 per container. Your best bet is to stock up on spices while at Aldi, since these are really an incredible deal.
Buy Spices
Buy – Canned Goods
Aldi has a wide selection of canned goods and they are all very fairly priced, so these are also a good to stock up on. You can fully supply your pantry with all the basics (and more!) at a fraction of the price of other supermarkets. Their selection includes canned soup, vegetables, applesauce, and more.
Buy Canned Goods
Skip – Meat
While Aldi has very affordable meat, fish, and chicken, the biggest drawback is that these are often not of the best quality. You can even find better tasting meat for similar prices at other shops. One Reddit user shared: “The meat is a miss for me. Since they never have a sale, I can almost always get better prices from the draw sales at major chain supermarkets.”
Skip Meat
Skip – Toiletries
There is a wide selection of toiletries that are available at Aldi, ranging from shampoo, to deodorant, to razors. While these might seem like a great deal, more often than not they aren’t. According to Cheapism.com, you can find better products for less at Target. They shared: “For instance, we saw that a liter-size bottle of Aldi’s Dentiguard mouthwash was 10 cents more than Target’s store brand, Up & Up. Throw in Target’s better selection, frequent sales, and REDcard discounts, and it makes more sense to stock up there.”
Skip Toiletries
Buy – Baking Products
For avid bakers, it is actually a great idea to stock up on baking staples at Aldi. The store has flour, brown sugar, pure cane sugar all from its private label Baker’s Corner brand, which sells these products for half the price of the same products at other supermarkets.
Buy Baking Products
Buy – Bread
Aldi has a seriously impressive selection of breads, and their prices are hard to beat. They offer everything including bagels, baguettes, bagged bread, and more. Kiplinger shared: “You can snag a 20-ounce loaf of Aldi’s L’oven Fresh white bread for just 85 cents. That same size loaf of bread at Walmart sells for 88 cents under the Great Value store brand. Giant was offering a 22-ounce loaf of its store-brand white bread for $1.89.”
Buy Bread
Buy – European Sweets
Due to Aldi’s German roots, the franchise offers European chocolates and candies at incredible prices. While other stores may mark these up because they’re from Europe, Aldi sells them for incredible prices. Hip2Save shared: “Aldi dark chocolate is my crack. $1.99 for a decadent large 4.4 oz bar has made me an official junkie.”
Buy European Sweets
Skip – Chips
Everyone loves a good potato chip and they’re great to have in the pantry for times when you’re having a salty craving. Unfortunately, Aldi’s selection of chips from Clancy’s just doesn’t hold up to more iconic brands like Lay’s. While they are inexpensive, Aldi chips just don’t taste as good.
Skip Chips
Skip – Butter
Butter is a kitchen staple that will always be needed, which is why it is so important to have it on hand all the time. There are several low-cost options at Aldi, but you’re better off paying a bit more for better quality butter. While less expensive is more tempting, you’ll be happier with the pricier kind. Kerrygold is a great option.
Skip Butter
Buy – Milk
When it comes to milk, there’s just no beating Aldi. Walmart sells a gallon of its Great Value brand milk for $2.53, while Giant sells a gallon on milk for $3.29, Aldi’s Friendly Farms milk brand sells for $2.48 per gallon. For families that go through a lot of milk, that is a massive price difference.
Buy Milk
Buy – Raspberry Lemon Spiked Lemonade
Each month, Aldi offers up “Aldi Finds,” which is limited time products. In the summer, Aldi offers raspberry lemon spiked lemonade, which is absolutely delicious. The best part is that six-packs of 12 oz. cans are just $6.99. These are so tasty and will get a nice buzz going, without having to pay a lot of money.
Buy Raspberry Lemon Spiked Lemonade
Skip – Kitty Litter
For those who need to keep a supply of kitty litter handy, it may be tempting to go for the kind sold at Aldi, since it is so inexpensive. However, the quality is not at the same level of other brands, and you should really go for quality in this case. Aldi Reviewer shared:“This new Heart to Tail formula is still dusty, although maybe slightly less so than the old Fine Feline litter.”
Skip Kitty Litter
Skip – Mini Bear Grahams
Although Aldi’s Benton’s Kids brand Mini Bear Grahams may look similar to the brand name Teddy Grahams, these just don’t stack up to the real deal, flavor-wise. The same goes for other knock-off snack items. According to a Reddit user: “I bought their generic Goldfish crackers (penguins) and knock-off Teddy Grahams and they were completely inedible.”
Skip Mini Bear Grahams
Skip – Paper Towels And Toilet Paper
While you might think that stocking up on toilet paper and paper towels at Aldi is a good idea, but you might be surprised that this is not the case. Though the quality is okay, the price is not that great. As stated by Kiplinger: “Once you stack frequent shopper discounts or manufacturer coupons on top of those low prices, the big chains sometimes come out ahead.”
Skip Paper Towels And Toilet Paper
Buy – Frozen Fruits
For those who love stocking up on frozen fruits for smoothies and other healthy desserts, they’ll be happy to hear that there is a great selection of frozen fruits at Aldi for amazing prices. According to Mashable: “They’re very easy to use over cereal or to defrost and eat plain, contain plenty of that fiber we were talking about, and taste just as fresh and sweet as the real deal.”
Buy Frozen Fruits
Buy – Take-And-Bake Pizza
One item at Aldi that certainly does not get enough attention is the Mama Cozi’s take-and-bake pizzas. They costs between $4-$6.99 and they are a fantastic option since they’re cheap and huge, coming in at 16 inches. According to The Kitchn: “Unlike most frozen pizzas, these once-frozen-now-refrigerated pizzas don’t taste like freezer-burned cardboard. The toppings really cover every inch and they taste pretty close to fresh.”
Buy Take And Bake Pizza
Skip – Yogurt
Another hit or miss product found at Aldi is the yogurt. The problem is that their off-brand option is just not that great. There is a whole Reddit thread that just deals with yogurts sold by Aldi. One user said: “I have tried the yogurt at Aldi and I wasn’t a fan, I didn’t like the kids “gogurt” replica either, it tasted too sweet. I prefer the Chobani Greek yogurt over Aldi’s.”
Skip Yogurt
Skip – Clothing
Something else you’ll find at the “Aldi Finds” section sometimes is a variety of clothing. These are very inexpensive, but sometimes that comes at the cost of the quality. According to Aldi Reviewer: “The tricky thing about almost all of Aldi’s adult clothing is that it comes packaged in cardboard or, in the case of these pajamas, in neatly folded ribbon-tied packages. It can be difficult to know what you’re getting because you can’t easily hold a shirt up to examine the dimensions.”
Skip Clothing
Buy – Peanut Butter
Peanut butter is a pantry staple since really, who doesn’t love peanut butter? Aldi has a great selection that includes Peanut Delight Creamy Peanut Butter, Peanut Delight Natural Creamy Peanut Butter Spread, and Simply Nature Organic Creamy Peanut Butter. According to Aldi Reviewer: “All of the different varieties of Aldi peanut butter are good at what they do, whether you want a budget standard peanut butter or a minimally processed organic spread.”
Buy Peanut Butter
Buy – Funnel Cake Mix
Funnel cake is a beloved carnival treat, and it’s easy to understand why. Aldi’s Baker’s Corner Funnel Cakes Pitcher and Mix has become a cult favorite, and for good reason. It brings the fun carnival dessert to your home and make it super easy and fun to make. Best of all, the final result is absolutely delicious.
Buy Funnel Cake Mix
Buy – Seasonal Items
The seasonal section at Aldi will have surprisingly great options available at very affordable prices. During summertime, they offer good quality camping essentials, while during the holidays, you can find delicious candy and cookies for very fair prices.
Buy Seasonal Items
Buy – Salsa
Whether you’re using salsa in a recipe or just dipping your favorite chips, the sauce is always good to have on hand. Aldi brand Casa Mamita Salsa holds up great flavor-wise and is super affordable. Plain salsa is just $1.49 and special varieties are $1.99.
Buy Salsa
Buy – Tortilla Chips
Of course, you can’t have salsa without tortilla chips. According to MoneysavingMom: “We can’t tell one bit of difference between ALDI tortilla chips and any other store brand or even brand name of tortilla chips. Plus, we love the $1.19 regular price tag!”
Buy Tortilla Chips
Buy – Chocolate Chips
Chocolate chips are a wonderful addition to countless baked goods, but they can sometimes really add up. Some bags sell for $4 or more! Aldi has delicious chocolate chips that stand up to Nestle, for just $1.79 per bag. Best of all, they have several varieties available, all for the same price.
Buy Chocolate Chips
Buy – Coconut Oil
Coconut oil has become quite popular lately as a healthier oil option for cooking, baking, and also beauty. Many jars of coconut oil can get extremely expensive, but Aldi comes to the rescue here once again. A jar of organic coconut oil sells for $4.49 at Aldi.
Buy Coconut Oil
Buy – Olive Oil
Another healthy oil option is olive oil, which can be used for cooking or topping a salad as a great source of healthy fat. Again, good quality olive oil can get crazy expensive. Aldi has options for both regular and organic olive oil that is both delicious and affordable.
Buy Olive Oil
Buy – Sugar
Another baking and cooking staple that’s important to have on hand at all times is sugar. Aldi has regular sugar, cane sugar, powdered sugar and light brown sugar for very good prices. These prices beat the other supermarkets and the product has the same level of quality.
Buy Sugar