13 Items to Always Buy At Aldi

Recently I was asked to share what I buy at Aldi. I could immediately rattle off about a dozen or so items. So below I’m sharing 13 items that are always a great buy at Aldi as well as 10 of my personal favorites, and a short list of items I skip.

Before we start, a quick note. Sure, you’re not going to get exotic buys from Aldi but when it comes to average groceries, they offer really competitive prices. And their organic buys are great. Never been to Aldi? Be sure to check out my post 5 Things You Need to Know Before Going to Aldi.

Grab that cart quarter and let’s go to Aldi! Not sure why you need the quarter? Click here.

13 Amazing Aldi Buys

In Season Fruit and Veggies - Aldi’s seasonal fruit deals are great. In the Winter you’ll enjoy deals on their fresh navel oranges. Around Easter, whole pineapples are on sale. You get the idea. While the produce section is smaller than many grocery stores, it tends to have staples and rotates through items as they are in season so the quality and freshness is quite good. Bananas, kiwis, and mangoes are usually available all year long at good prices. There are also great deals on seasonal veggies. After our Farmer’s Market is over, I usually stock up on fall and winter squashes every time they are on sale at Aldi. Bonus: the organic salad mixes are really good and are available year round.
Cheese. It’s a running joke with my friends that if you stop in to Aldi, you make a bee-line to the specialty cheese section first. From aged English cheddar to stilton and creamy blue, the specialty cheeses are amazing. And, Aldi is a great place to build a charcuterie board. Look for an end cap right now highlighting them, they just had one at my local Aldi and it was delightful.
Chips and Pretzels. The prices on snacks are great. We haven’t tried too many, but we do get their corn tortilla chips ($0.99 a bag) and pretzels all the time. You can also find some brands in the snack aisle, like Cheese Its and Gold Fish.
Pro Tip: In the snack aisle they have a generic version of Girl Scout cookies. So good, so affordable, and available all year long.
Salsa. The jars of salsa and cowboy caviar are delicious. You can get an organic salsa for less than $2 a jar. That’s crazy!
Baking Items. The prices on baking goods are such a great deal. Flour is just over a dollar. Baking soda and baking powder are less than a dollar. Organic, Fair Trade raw cane sugar is an option, if that’s your style. Don’t skip the baking aisle!
Sourdough Bread. I don’t buy a lot of bread or baked goods in grocery stores. We have fantastic bakers at our Farmer’s Market and in our town, so, I haven’t tried many of these items at Aldi. That said, when there’s no Farmer’s Market we do enjoy the Aldi sourdough sandwich bread (which comes in both a round and rectangular loaf). Bonus: it keeps in the fridge for weeks and makes a really good grilled cheese sandwich. We do use the Aldi hot dog and hamburger rolls during grilling season and give them a thumbs up.
(Organic) Dairy and Eggs. Great prices on both organic options and standard buys.
Oats. Both the steel cut oats (sometimes available in organic) and their bulk size old-fashioned rolled oats are affordable and great quality.
Organic Canned Beans. The star of this show are the organic black beans which sell for less than $1 a can.
Organic Meat and Meat Sales - I have to start with the caveat that we purchase most of our meat through Butcher Box (use this link to get a $15 credit when signing up for Butcher Box!) . However, when Aldi has a sale price, it can be a great deal. They’re really expanding their organic meat selections and improving their options. I’ve really enjoyed the flavor and quality of both their organic chicken and ground beef.
Pro Tip: Look for $1 or $2 off stickers on meat. I don’t often see them on the weekends, more so on a mid-week trip, but always check. They’ll put these on meat that needs to be sold before the next truck comes in. This is a great way to stock your freezer, just check the sell-by date and freeze it the same day you buy it. If you’re not happy with the meat when you unwrap it, Aldi’s return policy both refunds your money and replaces the item.
Night Cream. As seen on my IG stories, I love the Lacura Night Cream. It costs less than $5 and has both CoQ10 and Retinol. It’s not too heavy and smells good.
Plastic Goods. Plastic silverware, paper plates, party napkins, and even sandwich bags. They are durable and affordable. I recently noticed a new line of compostable utensils and cups that I’m curious to try.
Organic, Fair Trade Coffee. Our favorite is the blend from Peru. Aldi doesn’t have an in-store grinder for their Whole Bean offering, so check what type of coffee you are buying if you don’t have a grinder at home.

Bonus: 10 Wandering Hearth Aldi Favorites

In the list above I tried to stay broad because there are so many good finds. Here are a few very specific items I love to buy at Aldi.

Low Sugar Cranberry Juice
Organic Chicken Stock
Specialty Imported Pasta
Thick Cut Pepper Bacon
Specialty Olive Oil
Spätzle (seasonal)
German Holiday cookies (seasonal)
Wrapping paper, gift bags, cards and tape (seasonal)
Dryer Sheets
Small Boxes of Tissues
Want to hear even more? Check out my story highlights for Aldi on Instagram.

Over the years I’ve purchased several of the Crofton brand kitchen items as well including these stackable bowls (we use these all the time for soup bars or baked potato bars, they’re the perfect size for toppings), the red colander in the background, and even my cast iron braiser.

5 Items to Skip

Fresh flowers. Unlike Trader Joe’s the flower selection is minimal.
Garlic. The garlic they offer is from China. I can get local, organic garlic so I skip this one.
Take and Bake Pizza. We didn’t think it was super tasty and prefer some of their frozen pizza and flatbread selections instead.
Frozen seafood. I haven’t much cared for their frozen seafood. That could be because I purchase most of our meat and seafood from Butcher Box (use this link to get a $15 credit when signing up for Butcher Box!) and that’s a tough comparison point. Aldi did start carrying fresh fish within the last year.
Dried Beans. There’s nothing wrong with their dried beans and I’ll get them in a pinch but I am typically using dried heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo.