But I love Aldi. So many incredible deals and I find 50% off meat almost every time I go in there. Yesterday, 3-packs of split chicken breast were 50% off (about $3.75/pack) so I bought and cooked one and put three packs in the freezer. Those packs are about $8-$10 at HEB.

What food do you like at Aldi?

It might be easier to point out things I don't like at Aldi. Like, their brand of Velveeta is terrible. Pretty much most everything else they have is comparable or lower than Walmart and in some cases the quality is way better. I'm a big fan of the pre-marinated pork shoulder roasts, usually they're in 2-3 pound sizes. Not much difference in the "bbq" or "carnitas" flavor (the carnitas one is tangier/more vinegar I feel) but they're an easy way out of dinner...throw em in the crock pot and walk away.

Breakfast meats (rolls of sausage, packs of bacon) are way cheaper than regular stores and not much difference in quality. The "red bag chicken" really does taste just like chick fil a if you're into that. Their house brand ice cream is great and way cheaper than other store brands, even the "premium".

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I'm a big fan of the pre-marinated pork shoulder roasts, usually they're in 2-3 pound sizes.

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I bought one today.

I eat a meal or two off it (I'm solo so there's a lot to go around) and use the rest in jambalaya. Their meal in a box for jambalaya or red beans & rice or dirty rice are all cheap and good.

Big fan of Aldi except when it comes to the checkout line. There's usually a long line and only 1 cashier and the self bagging process slows everything down.

As far as their house brands go, I don't find any less quality in theirs as I do in HEB or Kroger.

I really like Aldi, but I always forget my bags.

The only Aldi I've been in was like a glorified gas station. I have to drive by it to get to HEB, it never occurs to me to stop there.

We love Aldi

Yeah we avoid things like where you can tell the difference but it's great for things like fruits and veggies, lunch meat, meat and fish, and frozen stuff.

Our Aldi does sometimes have long lines but they go by quick. People have learned to move it to the counters up front to do the bagging and not do it right there by the cashier.

I buy their frozen veggies. I think each back is anywhere from 20-50 cents cheaper per bag. Since I eat at least one bag a day, it adds up quick. I also always check to see what produce is on sale, as it can be a good bit off. Recently picked up several 1 pound bags of california dates for 2.99 each, which is a steal (normally 5+ per pound).

Their egg prices used to be phenomenal prior to the recent surge in prices. I remember buying eggs regularly for anywhere from 0.29-0.69 a dozen. Greek yogurt. Butter. Their hummus is pretty good. So is their soybean/blackbean based pasta (and much cheaper than other stores).

Their chocolates are pretty good. I always get the Moser Roth dark chocolate. Specifically the dark mint, sometimes the 70% dark. Baking supplies and spices are a good value. Their protein powder is also a pretty good deal in the current market.

Their hummus was tested to have the fewest amounts of heavy metals or something. It tastes pretty good, though not great. Good value though. Used to buy their bagged guacamole (similar to wholly guacamole), which was a steal at 2.99 for 16oz. But I haven't seen those bags lately. Their canned beans are also a good value.

Their frozen section has some good things. Ravioli. Ice cream (their Moosetracks is really good).

Vegetables are pretty average there.

Yup. Aldi is great for select things for sure. Ok on others and huge misses on the rest. It's worth exploring if you have one close but for the true "one and done" shopping trip it doesn't beat the rest. Or even close IMO.

IOW I think it is great to augment your shopping but nothing past that. That being said , I do wish one was near by where I live.

Yea, I love them, but just for select things. I like to browse their weekly sell ads - they have some great deals at times.

Yet another grocery option Corpus won't let in…….

We love Aldi.

As many have said, it's hit or miss...you just need to find the item that works for you. Some of our go-to items:

Lemonade (not from concentrate)
Sparkling water (as good as Pellegrino)
Italian Dry Salami (half the price of Boar's Head)

During Covid, the price of bacon skyrocketed. Oscar Mayer was $9.99 per pound at our local Kroger. Aldi's highest price was $4.50.

Eliminatus said:

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Yup. Aldi is great for select things for sure. Ok on others and huge misses on the rest. It's worth exploring if you have one close but for the true "one and done" shopping trip it doesn't beat the rest. Or even close IMO.

IOW I think it is great to augment your shopping but nothing past that. That being said , I do wish one was near by where I live.

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I guess I just don't want to augment my shopping. I want a one stop. If you can't compete with HEB overall, I'm not going to go to HEB for most things then Aldi for a couple other things.

Only exception would be for weeks where, for whatever reason, we just don't need a lot. But, in those cases, I go to Sprouts.

htxag09 said:

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Eliminatus said:

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Yup. Aldi is great for select things for sure. Ok on others and huge misses on the rest. It's worth exploring if you have one close but for the true "one and done" shopping trip it doesn't beat the rest. Or even close IMO.

IOW I think it is great to augment your shopping but nothing past that. That being said , I do wish one was near by where I live.

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I guess I just don't want to augment my shopping. I want a one stop. If you can't compete with HEB overall, I'm not going to go to HEB for most things then Aldi for a couple other things.

Only exception would be for weeks where, for whatever reason, we just don't need a lot. But, in those cases, I go to Sprouts.

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I am the cook in the house and used to cook up large meals. But we are empty nesters now and my office is 1/2 mile from Aldi. I can go in and grab asparagus, salmon and a pre-packaged salad in a couple minutes and be on my way in the time it takes me to park and walk into HEB.

Don't get me wrong, I still shop HEB, but only when my essentials are getting low.

And, some people like my mom don't care about their food costs, but I can tell you the cost of most items and the savings at Aldi is too great for me to pass up.

rlb28 said:

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htxag09 said:

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Eliminatus said:

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Yup. Aldi is great for select things for sure. Ok on others and huge misses on the rest. It's worth exploring if you have one close but for the true "one and done" shopping trip it doesn't beat the rest. Or even close IMO.

IOW I think it is great to augment your shopping but nothing past that. That being said , I do wish one was near by where I live.

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I guess I just don't want to augment my shopping. I want a one stop. If you can't compete with HEB overall, I'm not going to go to HEB for most things then Aldi for a couple other things.

Only exception would be for weeks where, for whatever reason, we just don't need a lot. But, in those cases, I go to Sprouts.

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I am the cook in the house and used to cook up large meals. But we are empty nesters now and my office is 1/2 mile from Aldi. I can go in and grab asparagus, salmon and a pre-packaged salad in a couple minutes and be on my way in the time it takes me to park and walk into HEB.

Don't get me wrong, I still shop HEB, but only when my essentials are getting low.

And, some people like my mom don't care about their food costs, but I can tell you the cost of most items and the savings at Aldi is too great for me to pass up.

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Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd wager you're in the minority when it comes to proximity to Aldi vs. HEB. And I get it in that case. That's why I go to Sprouts when we just need a couple or certain items. We have a Sprouts 1/2 a mile from the house.

I work next to Whole Foods. We don't do it often because it's cost prohibitive, but if we just need one thing for dinner I'll walk there and grab it before driving home.

But, from my house there are at least 4 or 5 HEBs that are closer to me than the closest Aldi.....

some of the cookies they have taste exactly the same as girl scout cookies for 20% of the price
some of the bread deals are good, like 4 pack of hamburger buns that HEB doesn't always have
random beer sales and some good deals on wine

agree. having said that, I can see HEB from my office window. LOL!

One new one for me.

I recently picked up their house brand of New York Aged White Cheddar Cheese. It was on par with Cabot...so much so, that I wonder if Cabot packs it for them.

Put me in the it's not worth the extra trip, it's like Fresh Plus for other neighborhood grocers, fine for an item or two but not going to fill my basket. The products are either serviceable and cheap or just cheap

We have switched from Kroger to Aldi since January, and it's cut my grocery bill from almost $200 per week to just $80 per week. I now buy whatever's on sale there, and craft recipes around it. We used to do the reverse - pick our recipes, then go to the store and get exactly the ingredients, and we were wasting a lot of food that way.

With Aldi, we get a whole basket of groceries for around $80, and then just figure out how to make meals with those ingredients. Sure, there's a lot of sacrifices, but it's also a lot of savings. We're eating more veggies and less carbs this way too. It also cut my beer consumption, since they don't sell the IPAs that I enjoy, so I just drink water instead.

My sister told me about the Flipp app and you can use it to scan grocery and other retail ad flyer/weekly specials. Works really good if you have larger regional/national chains, but not so much on the local/independents. I don't buy meat that's not on sale and I plan my meals around that

superunknown said:

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My sister told me about the Flipp app and you can use it to scan grocery and other retail ad flyer/weekly specials. Works really good if you have larger regional/national chains, but not so much on the local/independents. I don't buy meat that's not on sale and I plan my meals around that

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This is the way