Aldi Supermarkets

For those who don't know Aldi is a supermarket that has a lot of their own brand items. Their stores are not as big as other supermarkets and they only carry a limited selection of items. A lot of the items are very well priced and very tasty. I thought I'd keep a list of what was good and what wasn't.

Be sure to bring a quarter with you because you have to put a quarter in to get a shopping cart, but you get that back when you return the cart. You might also want to bring some bags, as they don't give you bags. You can also hunt around the store for empty boxes. If you want to make a one time purchase of some bags and reuse them later, I believe they're 11 cents each.

I'll start sticking the latest reviews on the top of the list and dating them.

December 2, 2011:

Aldi's Grandessa Signature Quattro Formaggio - I posted the review in a separate post of it's own it was so good! See it HERE.

November 29, 2011:

Alfredo Sauce - I don't think I really like this type of sauce in the first place, but even my Girlfriend didn't like this. It has a funky aftertaste.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese - Nice dark orange color, very good flavor. It's not overly sweet like you would think. $1.69 a tub. I'd buy this again. Limited edition, so it only comes around in fall.

Salsa Fiesta Diced Tomatoes - Not sure what spices they have in it, but it tastes incredible. I don't remember everything I've used it for, but one dish I made was that ground up sausage that I pan fried, these tomatoes on top, and then I topped it with fried pierogies that were cooked with sauteed onions and butter. I then baked it all to heat. These are great on everything.

Apple Cider - My Girlfriend said it was the best apple cider she's ever had. I thought it was the worst. It doesn't taste like all the other ones, that's for sure. I think it tastes fake, kind of funky. She thinks it tastes really fresh. She thought it tasted like cinnamon, but there's none listed on the ingredients, so my thoughts are not to listen to her. The best part was the price.. $2.99 for a gallon. For name brand cider I'd expect to get a half gallon for that price (or more). Mixed opinions mean you should proceed with caution. The price is right, but regardless I don't think I'll be back for more.

Stuffed Peppers - These were 4 to a box for $4.99. Remove from box, peel back film slightly, bake for 55 minutes. They were filled with meat, rice, and had tomato sauce. They came out perfect, nice and soft. They box claims zesty sauce, but in reality it was average. Not super flavorful, but not bad either. I thought they were great for the price. I added a little black pepper on mine and some sweet paprika.

Older Reviews:

Mama Cozzi's French Bread Pizza - $1.99 - Great price. Taste is okay, but not as good as a Stouffer's brand. Don't bother with the microwave method. They come out all gummy. There's a reason why Stouffer's doesn't list microwave on their package is because it just don't work well. I tried Pepperoni flavor and also Garlic Bread Pizza. I didn't realize the garlic bread one has no sauce, it's basically just garlic bread, but is flavorful at least. Have bought these again.

They also make round ones for 99 cents. They're just as good as the ones you get in the supermarkets for similar price.

Mama Cozzi's Mexican Taco Pizza - $2.99 - Really good price. Thin crust. Love, love, love the taste. Have been back a few times to buy again.

Grandessa Salsa - Four flavors I think, Sweet Onion, Santa Fe Southwest, Jalapeno, and Original I believe. $1.99 - I had the first two flavors so far. Really good price and flavor. In a normal supermarket I would expect to pay $3.99 or higher ($1.99 or $2.99 on sale), but at Aldi's this is $1.99 every day.

Cheese Slices - $1.99 - They've got white and yellow American and Swiss. Never saw Swiss slices before. Pretty good flavor, could be a little more "swissy". Great price for 16 slices.

Bologna and Beef Hotdogs - $1.99 - I forget the name of their brands on these. They seemed to go bad pretty fast. The bologna got kind of white. The hotdogs I never even tried. The package had white spots on the inside. Won't be buying either of these again. Girlfriend and her Daughter have eaten the bologna a few times, so it must be edible, but I won't touch them.

Alright, so I went against my word and bought the Bologna again. What can I say I was in the mood for a fried bologna sandwich. The bologna had an alright taste, fried, but I didn't really care for it right out of the package. It had a texture or taste I didn't totally like. When frying the bologna it shrinks more than other brands.

For this one I'd rather spend a little more and get a better product.

Cinnamon Pull-aparts - $1.99 - Really flavorful and sweet sticky cinnamon bread. Rip top off, stick upside down on plate, microwave 2 minutes and 45 seconds, eat. I believe there's 12 or 16 in the package. They're the size of smaller dinner rolls. Have bought a few times since.

Bagels - $1.89 for 6 bagels I believe. Come in a few flavors such as Original, Onion, Cinnamon Raisin, maybe more.. Great price and similar in taste to what you'd pay more for in a normal supermarket.

Canned Vegetables - These are just as good or better than your supermarket brand. Prices vary, but from what I can see just about everything is cheaper. Some stuff I pay 60 something cents a can. They only carry a limited selection.. corn, green beans, asparagus, diced tomatoes, potatoes, etc. The diced tomatoes are 55 cents a can. I usually get petite diced, but for this price I can't refuse.

Canned Fruits - We usually pick up tropical fruit salad in light syrup or extra light. 79 cents a can for about 15 ounces or so. They have a few other kinds of fruit, which seem like good prices also, but I've never compared.

Canned Pasta - Similar to chef Boyrdee or your supermarket brand, but cheaper. Spaghetti and Meatballs, Ravioli, etc. I don't eat these, but the other two in my house do. They like them and they run about 15 to 18 cents cheaper. I know the spaghetti and meatballs is 59 cents a can, while just spaghetti is cheaper.

Instant Mashed Potatoes - These are really good and really cheap. Depending on flavor, as low as 59 cents for 2 pouches. Flavors are great.. Southwest Chipotle, Sundried Tomato, etc. I bought one of every flavor they had! They also have some scalloped potatoes and au gratin for good prices too. I'm not fond of the Sundried Tomato, but that's probably a personal preference and nothing to do with the product.

Mama Cozzi's Mexican Lasagna - $8.99, weighs like 3 pounds, takes over an hour to cook, and tastes awesome. Onions, peppers, tomatoes, beef, sauce, cheese, etc. Would definitely buy again. Make some side dish or two and you have enough to feed a bunch of people.

Avacados - 3 for $2.29. That's 76 cents each. Great price. Normally I get avacados for 99 cents up to $1.50 each. Sometimes on sale cheaper, but Aldi's is still cheaper than the sales.

Hot Sauce - 99 cents for a huge bottle. Same as Tobasco sauce pretty much, but double the size (maybe larger) and cheaper.

White Bread - 79 cents a loaf. Equal to the stuff you'd find in a supermarket for 99 cents.

Ready to Serve Bacon - Original or Maple flavored.. just microwave 5 to 10 seconds a slice and it's done. Great flavor. $1.99 for 15 slices. I buy this often. I read another blog where someone didn't think the flavor was too strong. Maybe he should try another package. All of the ones I've had so far were good.

Cheddar Nuggets - Haven't tried these since I don't really eat chicken, but for $2.49 they were a good price and we've bought them again.

Jalapeno and Cheese Burgers, and Bacon and Cheddar - 6 burgers for $5.99. Great flavor and price. Whole package is about 2 pounds, so the burgers are decent sized. You can see the cheese in them.

Buttermilk Biscuits - Same as the other brands you'd find in a supermarket in the frozen section, but 38 cents! Much cheaper.

Saltine Crackers - Just like Nabisco or similar brand, but cheaper. 79 cents. We buy these often.

Peanut Butter and Cheese Crackers - 99 cents for 8 packs of 4 crackers each. Good deal.

Tastes Like Butter - Just like the "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spread, same size, but 99 cents. A lot of people I know get this on a regular basis.

Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad - This was a seasonal item. They have potato salad, chicken salad, coleslaw, etc, but this was not next to them... a little bit down. It was more money also. I don't eat chicken, but the Girlfriend loved it. She said it was really good and we kept buying it. This is the only one she likes out of them all.

Cheese Puffs - 99 cents for a huge bag. Great deal.

Hamburgers - 12 quarter pound burgers for $5.99 (3 pounds total). Great price. If you were to buy 3 pounds of meat separately it would be more.

Dirty Rice, Jambalaya, and one more I can't remember - I've had the Jambalaya so far and liked it. Really flavorful. I fried up some cheddar brats and added it.

Mexican Hot Picante Chorizo  - I tried Chorizo twice in my life. I hated it. It's like a Mexican pork sausage, but both times it had nasty fatty pieces in it. They tasted horrible. Aldi's brand was awesome!

The chorizo comes in a 15 oz pack of two for $2.29. I always get hot picante, but they have regular also. At a Mexican store I paid $5.25 for 16 oz and it was horrible. I ended up throwing out the food I cooked. The Aldi's chorizo is kind of like a paste, so once you put it in a frying pan and mash it up it comes out perfect. So far I've used it to make chili and in Aldi's Lasagna Skillet dinner.

Lasagna Skillet Dinner - Just add browned ground beef and water I believe. Only 89 cents and I loved it. So far I've made it three times.. once with beef, once with Aldi's Mexican Chorizo, once with Aldi's Hot & Spicy Breakfast Sausage.

Flavored Cream Cheese - $1.39 for 8 ounces. Great price. I've tried Mixed Berry and Honey Nut. They were both awesome and I'd get them again. This was very smooth and easy to spread.

Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls - What more can I say.. huge cinnamon rolls with an orange glaze sauce. The sauce is what made them unique and super tasty. $1.99 for 6 or 8 rolls. I forget how many.

1000 Count 4-Pack Bathroom Toilet Paper  - If you don't buy your toilet paper in bulk or on sale, you don't usually find it close to the 50 cents price mark. This is just like Scott brand, but cheaper. Walmart brand has 4 rolls of similar for about $2.69. Aldi is $2.29.

Ciabatta Rolls - 6 rolls for $1.99. I've bought these a few times. They're topped with cheese (can't remember if they were garlic also). Good with olive tapenade on top also.

Mac N Cheese Bites - Pretty good for $1.99. Nice little snack to microwave.

Pizza Rolls - These are cheaper than the Totino's you'd get in the supermarket, and almost as good if you ask me. In this brand I prefer cheese flavor over Totino's, but in the Sausage or Pepperoni ones, I prefer the Totino's flavor. I keep buying these because the price is much better. I think $2.49 for 40.

Applesauce - Comes in regular, cinnamon, or chunky raspberry. $1.49. Liked all flavors.

Split Pea Soup & Harvest Potato Soup - These came in a large can. I wouldn't buy either of them again. I opened the split pea first, since I was already making potato for dinner. It had a runny consistency and I didn't really like the color. Just didn't look appetizing. After dumping that, I opened up the potato. To my surprise, it looked almost the same. I heated it up and took one spoonful. Eew!

French Onion Soup - This came in a small pouch. Enough for a bowl full. You can microwave it or empty it into a pot and cook it on the stove. Microwave took less than 2 minutes. It has a lot of onions in it. The flavor isn't that great. It's basically onion flavored broth and I understand that's what onion soup is, but a good soup will have multiple layers of flavor.

Choceur Coffee Dusted Truffles - Trader Joe's stopped making their truffles because they couldn't sell them at the price point they wanted, I believe. I miss them and these are just like them, only coffee dusted. Smooth and creamy. Nice powdery outside.