# Aldi: tell me what to try there **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 30, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261 "2020-10-30T03:04:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/21 "2020-10-31T17:39:08Z")
There’s a pretty active [Aldi subreddit](https://old.reddit.com/r/aldi/) and it’s super useful for learning about things I might have otherwise overloooked like [these chips](https://old.reddit.com/r/aldi/comments/jkdy0y/bought_more_specialty_chips_today_no_regrets_i/) or the [Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel knockoff](https://old.reddit.com/r/aldi/comments/jkdy0y/bought_more_specialty_chips_today_no_regrets_i/). It’s also helpful for reading about duds. Here’s one from yesterday about the [chicken pot pies](https://old.reddit.com/r/aldi/comments/jl92up/bremer_chicken_pot_pie_210/) and [another about onion rings](https://old.reddit.com/r/aldi/comments/jl5nfi/onion_rings_are_nasty/), both things that may have otherwise found their way into my cart. Other things I can recommend: - Most Priano products. That’s their ‘Italian’ brand. I particularly like the jarred Marinara sauce (not too sweet like some many others are), the green pesto (a bargain at ~$2), any frozen pasta & seafood bag (there’s a seafood spaghetti and a linguine with clams, both great), frozen ravioli. - [Burman’s dijon or brown mustards](https://www.instacart.com/products/20234343-burman-s-dijon-mustard-12-oz) - They’re like half the price as other stores and I’m certain it’s the same stuff inside. - Buona Beef tub. They’re $5.5 for 20 f.oz and enough for two very large or 3-4 regular sandwiches. - Frozen mussels are excellent, choose from garlic & wine, tomato or plain. - Take & bake pizzas - not frozen but refrigerated. - [Kirkwood Mediterranean chicken patties](https://www.reddit.com/r/aldi/comments/bjbddv/mediterranean_chicken_patties_are_back/) - strongly recommend, though I haven’t been able to find them my last few visits. Might be a summer-only product. There’s also a Mexicali variation that I haven’t tried yet but seem popular. > [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > parmesan-coated chicken tenders This is very good, AKA ‘green bag chicken.’ > [@Lumpy](#): > > Brookdale canned Corned Beef: cheaper than Hormel or other major name brands, just as good. While I haven’t tried it enough and over time to fully reject it, I’ll disagree. My trials with Aldi CB hash have been disappointing. That said, I wouldn’t doubt that their cans fall off the very same production lines as Hormel or Armour and I simply got statistically unlucky cans. > [@ekedolphin](#): > > “Red bag” chicken-- tastes like Chick-fil-A I can strongly uphold this recommendation. The RBC, like the GBC above, is quite good and perfectly sandwich sized. > [@Broomstick](#): > > About the only two things I won’t buy there unless I absolutely have to do so would be the toilet paper and facial tissues. I also had a bad experience with Aldi kitchen napkins. They basically resumed being pulp with the tiniest bit of moisture. I tried them again after someone questioned my experience and they did seem acceptable but life’s too short to experiment with dodgy paper products. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/22 "2020-10-31T19:11:58Z")
[quote=“jnglmassiv, post:21, topic:924261, full:true”] > [@Lumpy](#): > > Brookdale canned Corned Beef: cheaper than Hormel or other major name brands, just as good. While I haven’t tried it enough and over time to fully reject it, I’ll disagree. My trials with Aldi CB hash have been disappointing. [/quote] I was actually referring to the canned corned beef, not the hash. > [@](#): > > I also had a bad experience with Aldi kitchen napkins. They basically resumed being pulp with the tiniest bit of moisture. Maybe they’d be good as flushable wipes? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/23 "2020-10-31T19:53:22Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I was actually referring to the canned corned beef, not the hash. Ah, my mistake. I do like the Brookdale canned ham. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/24 "2020-11-01T05:08:39Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > Aldi North operates under the alias Trader Joe That’s an odd way of putting it; like saying McDonald’s once operated under the alias Chipotle. Aldi Nord stores in Europe are pretty much indistinguishable from Aldi Sud. But Aldi Nord also in 1979 bought Trader Joe’s—which look and operate nothing like Aldi stores—as a US diversification. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/25 "2020-11-01T18:27:47Z")
1979? Is that year correct? Because I thought I’d seen news on when the purchase happened, and I don’t think that either Aldi nor Trader Joe’s had much of a presence in 1979. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/26 "2020-11-01T22:26:00Z")
Huh, according to Wiki, Trader Joe’s was opened in 1967, and sold to the Aldi Nord fellow (Theo Albrecht) in 1979. Trader Joe (Coulombe) stayed on as CEO until the mid-80s, and he just passed away this year. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/27 "2020-11-02T01:03:33Z")
I can’t recall ever seeing a Trader Joe’s, even from the outside. Apparently there aren’t any in downstate Illinois. Aldis, on the other hand, are quite common. I think I heard they had a strategy of putting an Aldi’s near every Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/28 "2020-11-02T01:21:37Z")
Best price on 24-packs of bottled water. I really like their multi-grain sliced bread. Also, usually the best price for 1-lb. bags of walnuts and good value for bricks of cheese. Produce when on sale. I also like to get a few large paper grocery bags which are very useful around the house. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/29 "2020-11-02T01:35:26Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Aldis, on the other hand, are quite common. I think I heard they had a strategy of putting an Aldi’s near every Walmart. Walmart attaches its prices on many items to the nearest Aldi. Walmart milk is $1.29 or $1.19 a gallon by us to compete with Aldi. Eggs are 65 cents a dozen, same as Aldi. It goes on and on(bread is 69 cents a loaf). They match it as it goes up and down, though both stores have maintained the same low prices during Covid-19 quarantine, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/30 "2020-11-03T01:01:53Z")
Just got back from our maiden voyage and am checking out the hummus quartet: OK for packaged stuff, but we are fussy and usually make our own from scratch if we’re eating at home and not at a restaurant. They were out of 10 things from our 45-item order: lamb, chicken, most of the fancy cheeses I ordered, squeeze tubes of ginger and tomato paste, Norwegian crisp bread. They had all the staple items that I ordered for donation: reasonable sized packages of rice, dried beans, cereal, oatmeal, jelly. They had good deals on Muir Glen organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes, rosemary-infused olive oil, Italian herbs and cilantro stir-in herb pastes, Goose Island 312 and a Two Brothers beer, various cheap wine, and some snacks that I don’t normally buy (chips, etc.) but this week is going to be stressful so I indulged. We got a piece of salmon, too, which is nice because the Costco salmon simply comes in too large a quantity for us. And some staples: milk, salt, tea bags, etc. (We are well-stocked on dried beans in any case, or I would have bought some for us, too - I usually buy dried legumes at the Indian grocery store, but they don’t carry everything we normally buy - like no white, black, or pinto beans - so this could be a nice complement.) I guess we’ll see how it goes. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/31 "2020-11-03T01:24:04Z")
I’m done with grocery store hummus. Like you said, it’s just too easy to make a superior product at home. What was the lamb item in your cart? I don’t recall seeing lamb at Aldi before. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/32 "2020-11-03T01:52:51Z")
It was supposed to be an unseasoned butterflied leg of lamb. We can buy those at Costco, too, but can’t do curbside pickup at Costco. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/33 "2020-11-03T13:28:56Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > What was the lamb item in your cart? I don’t recall seeing lamb at Aldi before. At least around here (SoFL), Aldi is about the only source for lamb outside of the week before Easter. Their frozen boned legs/shanks are pretty good and reasonably priced. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/34 "2020-11-03T13:54:22Z")
Hardly. It was founded in 1967, sold to Albrecht in 1979, and as late as 1988 had as few as 19 stores. Between 1990 and 2001, they quintupled the number of stores in the chain, and today has upwards of 500 locations. So yeah, it DID grow up as an Aldi-style operation. And it’s emphasis is almost identical- limited choice, primarily house brand products. 80% of TJ’s products are store-brand items. They’re not the same stores, but they definitely share the same DNA with respect to the emphasis on house brands. TJ’s isn’t positioning as a lowest-cost provider for most things, or they’re in the position of being lowest-cost on expensive stuff. ---
**Author:** ![PackerMan2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/packerman2/32/2894_2.png) [@PackerMan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PackerMan2)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/35 "2020-11-03T19:07:52Z")
I have purchased this item before and was very pleased with it. Quality was good and the price was very reasonable. I would suggest you keep checking on future visits. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/36 "2020-11-04T01:25:00Z")
they are very healthy! remember TJ and Aldi are part of same company ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/37 "2020-11-04T05:07:48Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > TJ and Aldi are part of same company Aldi US and Trader Joe’s are completely unrelated. Aldi US is an expansion by Aldi Sud; Trader Joe’s is an investment by Aldi Nord. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/38 "2020-11-15T16:11:44Z")
:: bump :: What’s he quality of their spices like? Do they have a lot of turnover? How fresh are they? I buy most spices that we use frequently in large quantities at Indian or other ethnic grocery stores, but I just ran out of nutmeg and that seems like something that might be good to try there (we don’t use tons of it). ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/39 "2020-11-17T01:56:13Z")
I wouldn’t and that’s not a swipe at Aldi but at general grocery ground spices in general. Nutmeg, in particular, can last quite a while if intact. Get a couple whole nutmegs and microplane as needed. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261/40 "2020-11-17T02:03:30Z")
Yeah, with nutmeg I’d always go for whole nutmegs to be freshly grounded, and you don’t get those at Aldi, at least here in Germany. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldi-tell-me-what-to-try-there/924261.md?page=3)