The 12 Best Things to Buy at Aldi

I love Aldi! Who else is with me? Aldi is one of the best places for a frugal shopper to buy groceries. I’ve been shopping there regularly for the past year since we’ve moved closer to an Aldi. Through lots of price comparison and shopping trips, I’ve finally compiled my list of the dozen absolute best things to buy at Aldi. 

I should share that although I love Aldi, I do regularly shop at Meijer and Kroger. I shop the sales at Kroger and Meijer to save a lot of money! Aldi has better every day low prices but the sales at Kroger and Meijer top many Aldi prices. I don’t mind grocery shopping and I like finding a good deal, so in this season of our life, I shop at multiple stores.

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Aldi is a great place for low prices every day. It’s not a big store so you can get in and get out very quickly. If you are stretched on time and don’t want to worry about watching sales or finding coupons – shop at Aldi. You will save money shopping at Aldi. Plus, you can still use the Ibotta app when you shop at Aldi to make some money back on your already low prices! 

Knowing that I shop around (and that Kroger in Fort Wayne has amazing dairy prices and sales), here is my list of what I almost always buy at Aldi. There are other Aldi things that I buy on occasion but this is my list of the absolute best deals at Aldi.  

1.Rolled oats

Aldi is where I always buy my oats. Whether you need quick oats or old fashioned (or both), Aldi has the best price that I have found on oats. Now that I finally have a homemade granola recipe I love, I always have oats from Aldi in my pantry.

2. Flour and Sugar

I do a lot of baking, including baking my own homemade bread. Aldi has the lowest prices on flour and sugar. When the holidays come, I can buy sugar cheaper at the grocery store so I always watch for those specials. For the rest of the year, I buy my sugar and flour at Aldi.

3. Baking Goods – Cocoa powder, oil, etc.

Aldi has great prices on all their baking goods. I usually buy my canola oil, cocoa powder and cooking spray here. This is always where I buy my brown sugar and powdered sugar. Really, the baking aisle is one of my favorite aisles at Aldi.

4. Spices

I used to buy my spices at an Amish bulk food store but the prices at Aldi are just as good – if not better on some particular spices. Aldi doesn’t have all of your spices but for the 15 spices they sell, you can’t beat the $1.19 price tag! 

5. Cream cheese

Even though cream cheese often goes on sale at Kroger, it can’t compete with Aldi’s low price. Our Aldi has cream cheese for only $0.79 everyday. I always have cream cheese in my fridge for baking so Aldi wins again.

6. Canned beans

Black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans…if you need canned beans, Aldi is a great place to buy them. I like to keep canned beans on hand for soups and other recipes. Black beans, especially, are a great deal at $0.59 a can.

7. Canned pumpkin

Aldi has the best price on canned pumpkin that I have ever found. When this seasonal item comes back in stock, I buy at least a case (probably more) so I can bake our favorite chocolate chip pumpkin bread all year. I have noticed that the larger cans are available more regularly at Aldi now but the regular size cans still seem to be a seasonal item that is stocked October and November.

8. Pepperoni

My son and husband like to snack on pepperoni. Not only is Aldi’s pepperoni reasonably priced but we actually prefer the Aldi flavor to the name brand Hormel. Plus, the Aldi brand is less greasy than other brands we have tried.

9. Olive oil

I have started cooking more with olive oil in recent years. Once again, Aldi has the lowest price I have found on olive oil. A glass jar of olive oil lasts me for a couple of months and then I make sure to buy more at Aldi.

10. Tortilla chips

Since Kroger raised the price on their tortilla chips, I have started buying our tortilla chips at Aldi. We always have tortilla chips in our pantry for eating with salsa and making nachos. The Clancy tortilla chips are very good and I love that they are priced under $1! We also buy Clancy potato chips. They are all priced very reasonably and taste just as good as the name brand chips which cost twice as much.

11. Fresh vegetables

Produce can be a little tricky at Aldi. Still, Produce is what gets me in the door at Aldi every week. 

I like their apples but rarely buy other fruit produce. I feel the fruit can be hit or miss on freshness and never seems to last as long as other stores. I did buy 24 pints of blueberries at Aldi for $0.99 this year and they were some of the best blueberries I have ever tasted. I made blueberry jam and froze many of them for baking. We ate several pints too. Nathan and I love blueberries!

I do like most fresh vegetables at Aldi. I like to buy fresh broccoli and fresh cauliflower at Aldi, as well as zucchini. These are always priced lower than the grocery stores.

12. Take and bake pizza

This has been a more recent discovery but we really like the Aldi take and bake pizzas that you can buy in the refrigerated section. The pizzas are absolutely huge because one pizza doesn’t even fit on my pizza stone. They are very generous with the meats and other toppings. For right at $6, you get a delicious pizza that beats the price of Pizza Hut or Papa Johns any day!

For all the things that I like about Aldi, I will admit there are a couple things I don’t buy at Aldi. Here are 3 of the things I don’t buy at Aldi.

1. Fresh meat

I have not been impressed by the prices on Aldi meat. I can always find better deals on meat at Kroger and Meijer. I think the quality of the meat is better, too. My husband likes some of the Aldi brats but for fresh meat, I buy it elsewhere.

2. Name brand food items

This should go without saying but I’m saying it anyway. I don’t buy any of the name brand food items at Aldi. Aldi is known for low prices on their brands and higher prices on name brands. If I want to buy name brand products, I’m going to watch for sales and buy them at Kroger or Meijer. When I shop at Aldi, I stick to buying their brand to save money. 

3. Kitchen appliance special deals

Aldi has an aisle of special deals each week. I always check out what is there. I don’t buy much but have found some good deals on shelves and organizing bins on occasion. I have learned (from many other people) to avoid purchasing the kitchen appliances that are part of the special deals. They just don’t seem to hold up as well as name brand appliances. Once again, Aldi is great at their brand of food items but not so great (in my opinion) on the larger appliances.

There you have it, Aldi friends and shoppers. This is my list of the top dozen things I always buy at Aldi. Do you shop at Aldi? If so, what are your favorite things to buy at Aldi? I’d love to hear your list!

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12 Comments

  1. I love Aldi especially the 85% Moser Roth chocolate bars. My husband goes for the Nathans hot dogs.
    We like the produce. I believe they have a greenhouse in VA not too far from where we live.

    1. Aldi does have good chocolate bars! I don’t buy them often, but they are a great deal – and absolutely delicious. Good to know about the greenhouse, too!

  2. Three things I would add to that list that we always buy:

    1. Block cheese – It’s always under $2 which is rare even on sale at the other stores.
    2. Wine – You can get wine for $2.89 a bottle. Nuff said
    3. Half and Half – A quart of this is about half the price you’ll pay anywhere else, and it’s a lot better for you than the powdered stuff.

    1. ALdi does have great prices on cheese – and their wine! Of course! I’m a big fan of the Winking Owl wines. They taste just as good as the more expensive varieties! I haven’t tried their half and half, since I don’t drink coffee, but that is good to know it’s a great price. I’ll keep that in mind for baking!

  3. I really like their tomato sauce, diced fire roasted tomatoes, and tomato paste. I also buy canned beans there, but since they have recently renovated, they have gone up .10/can.
    I don’t know if our store has a higher turn over, but I am always very happy with the produce I buy from Aldi and tend to buy a lot of it there.
    I also like the frozen, wild salmon.
    They also just started carrying their own bean chips which are very delicious. They are a much better price than beanitos (the name brand). We can’t eat corn, so when we want chips/salsa, we use the bean chips.
    We also can’t eat gluten and their gluten free products are pretty good and fairly priced. We stick with the pasta, dry spaghetti, pretzels, frozen pizza, and boxed brownie mix.
    I like their organic apple sauce as well and think it is fairly priced.
    I could go on and on, but I love Aldi! 🙂

    1. I haven’t tried their fire roasted tomatoes yet, but I love all of Aldi’s other tomato products too! I’m glad your produce is good, Sara. I will have to try the bean chips. A friend of mine can only eat those as well, so I like to have some on hand for her. Oh, and yes! Organic unsweetened applesauce! That definitely makes my list. I buy it a couple times a month. Love it! Glad to meet another Aldi shopper who loves the deals, too! 🙂

    1. Of course! Love Aldi wine prices! I just finished a bottle of Winking Owl Moscato and thought again, this is every bit as good as the more expensive bottles of wine. Another Aldi win! 🙂

  4. I used to shop at Aldi more when I lived closer to one. Now that I live so far from one we have to make a special trip to “town” to get to an Aldi. So when we do go we usually buy 4 or 5 of the items we like: garbage bags, freezer bags, sandwich bags, and cheese. I usually get my flour at the neighborhood store when they put it on sale for $1 a bag and will buy quite a bit to stock up. Did you know that you can get spices at Fred’s Dollar Store (if you have one) for only $1 that’s where i usually buy mine since I live down the street from a Fred’s and 45 mins from Aldi. I miss shopping there more but it’s not worth the distance it costs me to go there unless I am already in that area (which I’m usually not). I live less than 2 miles from Kroger and about 4 from my neighborhood store (just this past weekend they had Wright’s bacon $3.99 a pack). I totally agree about meat at aldi never a good thing to buy there Kroger can always beat their prices when you buy from the sales!

    1. Excellent points, Rebecca. I haven’t tried Aldi’s garbage bags or freezer bags yet, but will have to try them. I agree completely that stockpiling at Aldi, and shopping the big sales at Kroger, can save you lots of money. Love all the deals you find! We don’t have a Fred’s dollar store but I love that idea, too. Thanks for sharing your Aldi favorites!

  5. Hi! Great post. We are a GF family and I love Aldi.

    If you eat grass fed organic ground beef, Aldi’s is amazing. The price is the cheapest around, for me in PA. I also like their organic chicken breasts, too.

    1. I agree, Shannon. Aldi is amazing! I have a friend who also eats gluten free and buys many of the Aldi gf products. I love how reasonable their prices are! Happy Aldi shopping!

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