May 4, 2017 (Updated March 13, 2023)

Dinner Favorites from ALDI

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

26 comments

Thank you to ALDI for sponsoring this post!

Hey friends! On Sunday night, I had the pleasure of attending a special dinner: a multi-course feast with fellow bloggers at local DC fave Mintwood Place, hosted by and featuring food and wine from ALDI! IMG_1332

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 Have you guys heard of ALDI before? It’s a grocery store that believes that you shouldn’t have to spend a lot of money to enjoy quality food. I was first introduced to ALDI at Blog Brulee, the RD blogger workshop I’ve spoken at previously; they were the wine sponsor for the event one of the years and we were all so impressed with how delicious and affordable their wine was! (They have a really good Prosecco – the Grandi Mori Valdobbbiadene Prosecco – that’s only $8.99, and I’m also a fan of their $4.99 (!) Sayanca Malbec!) I’ve also been impressed with how affordable their organic food is. We asked them on Sunday night how they keep their prices so low compared to other stores, especially for organic food, and they said it’s because they have very low operations costs compared to other grocery retailers. Basically, you bag your own food (and bring your own reusable bags), get and return your own cart (they make sure you bring it back by requiring a quarter deposit to take the cart – you get it back when you leave), etc. – so you are just paying for the food/wine, not for a ton of associated services. Interesting! IMG_0931 Their stores are also 90% exclusive private label ALDI brands, which helps save their shoppers money. I especially love their SimplyNature line, which features many organic items, as well as foods free of artificial colors, flavors and unnecessary enhancers. SimplyNature products range from pantry staples, such as cereal, honey, fruit bars and pasta sauce, to fresh items like bread, milk, kale, salad mixes and yogurt. They also have a whole liveGfree line, which offers gluten-free items ranging from snacks to granola bars, baking mixes, bread, pastas, and more. I like their liveGfree Sea Salt Multiseed Crackers! It was fun sampling more of their fresh food at dinner on Sunday; every course we had was made using ALDI ingredients! We started with some appetizers, a wine and cheese course, and then moved into a multi-course dinner feast. We definitely did not go home hungry, that’s for sure! Rather than sharing pictures of everything we ate, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite ALDI items that were featured throughout the evening. Enjoy! 1) Specially Selected Aged Reserved White Cheddar. We started the evening with a wine and cheese pairing, and this white cheddar was PHENOMENAL. Only $2.49, too, which is a great deal. IMG_0941 2) Happy Farms Preferred Goat Cheese Yep, #1 and #2 are both cheeses. You guys know I love my cheese! This goat cheese, on the left on the cheese board below, was only $1.99 and sooooo delicious – really creamy! It went well with the sweet Riesling. IMG_0937 3) Pickled Deviled Eggs, featuring SimplyNature Organic Cage-Free Eggs ($3.49) How beautiful are these pickled deviled eggs that we enjoyed as an appetizer?! The pink color comes from beets! IMG_0927 4) Fresh Atlantic Salmon One of our dinner courses was a crispy salmon with herbaceous fregola and mushrooms. The salmon was especially delicious, and only $7.79/lb which is great for fresh salmon! IMG_0953 5) SimplyNature Organic Grass-Fed Ground Beef ($5.29/lb) This beef was featured in one of our last courses, an insanely delicious Tagliatelle Bolognese with Pecorino cheese. Soooo good. You guys know I’m all about organic, grass-fed dairy and beef – better omega 3 to omega 6 ratio! IMG_0959 What a fun night! I was sitting across from my friend Julie from PBFingers – I hadn’t seen her in WAY too long and we had the best time catching up over such a yummy meal. 🙂 julie PBfingers I will leave you with a photo of the dessert – it has the ALDI logo on top! So creative. 🙂 IMG_1345 Have you ever shopped at ALDI? Here’s a link to the store locator if you want to find one near you!
- anne

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26 comments
  • Angela
    ALDI is awesome! I do 90% of my grocery shopping there. Their prices have cut my food budget almost in half and I am eating more whole/organic foods. Great place! If they could just get plantain chips and riced cauliflower....
    Reply
    • Anne
      Haha, hopefully they'll see this request! :)
      Reply
  • Amber @ Madden Wellness Counseling
    I love Aldi,too, but wish they would also get on board with Kroger or Amazon with curbside or home grocery delivery! I rarely step foot in a grocery store anymore and just can't fathom giving up this luxury now!!
    Reply
    • Anne
      That's a good thought - I wonder if they have any plans to do so or not!
      Reply
  • Kori
    I LOVE LOVE LOVE Aldi! I shop there basically weekly, and because their prices are so low, we can afford to eat so well. Their aged white cheddar, eggs, organic milk, almond milk, etc. are staples in our home. What a dream to attend this event!
    Reply
  • Mary
    Wow, carts only cost 25 cents? What a deal!
    Reply
    • Anne
      Actually, 0 cents, because you get your quarter back - it's just to ensure you actually return them properly/don't leave them in the parking lot I guess?!
      Reply
  • Sarah
    Sadly, no ALDI here in Colorado. I've been in the stores elsewhere and they really are fun. The shopping cart coin reminds me our time living in Europe.
    Reply
  • Marina @ A Dancer's Live-It
    Aldi is amazing, their produce is the cheapest I've ever seen! Definitely need to go to Mintwood Place too. :) You and Julie look gorgeous! Can't wait to move to DC!
    Reply
  • Ingrid
    LOVE Aldi. My favorite thing is the packets of tuna, but I recently picked up some Mediterranean Salmon from the "fancy" case of things that come and go and it was amazing. We don't have wine at ours (ALDI, bring your wine to Missouri, please!), but that would be even better!
    Reply
  • Amy @ Thoroughly Nourished Life
    We love Aldi here in Australia and it's where I do about 75% of my grocery shopping! The stores are nice and small and not overwhelming :) Oh and I always walk out feeling like I've just stolen from them because the prices are so cheap and the food is so good! The beef sold here in Australia is local to our state as well - love knowing our farmers are being supported. Go Aldi! And please bring your wine to my local store!
    Reply
    • Anne
      Nice! I didn't realize ALDI was in Australia, too!
      Reply
  • Julie
    Lidl is coming to the DMV area and will blow aldi out of the water in terms of quality and affordability.
    Reply
  • Erin @ burdenfreecaregiving.com
    This is such a fun post with a very creative dinner theme. We have a new Aldi and I was curious about their meat. You have answered that question and more. Please keep bringing us more fun finds like this one.
    Reply
    • Anne
      Glad you enjoyed it!
      Reply
  • Karin Carmack
    I love Aldi's! I tell everyone...you need to go there at least three times. First time, you are like this place sucks (too much figuring shit out with the quarter, bags etc...too much drama), second time you get used to it a bit and are like...not bad. Third time...damn they have good prices and I like having control. Ok, a few tips, if you have not gotten their salted dark chocolate caramels...you seriously need to, incredible! Also, their frozen Mahi Mahi is awesome (not fishy at all), and finally I really like their Havarti cheese. Anyway, yes I really like Aldi :) Oh, the one we have here in Richmond, I just bought 6 outdoor solar lights for $10.00. Steal of the day :)
    Reply
    • Anne
      They actually gave us a gift bag with a few of their best items and the salted dark chocolate caramels were in there!! They were sooooo good, I hadn't had them before! I'll check out the Mahi Mahi and Havarti too! I didn't know they had solar lights... that's a really good tip!
      Reply
  • Brighid
    Another Aldi fan here too! I wish they sold wine in our local stores but they don't. Like others said, I do a ton of shopping there. Dairy milk is $1.49/gallon here and we're down to about 3-4 gallons a week. It saves a ton of money!
    Reply
  • Kris S
    Ha that's cool, I've only seen them in Europe, I think they're a German company?? Cool that they're in the US!
    Reply
  • Chiara
    I used to shop at ALDI when I was studying abroad in Glasgow and I am so extremely glad I am not broke anymore and I can afford food at decent supermarkets. Aldi was not high quality. It was cheap, really really cheap and the quality reflected the low prices.
    Reply
  • Heidi
    I really dislike Aldi stores which is a shame because there is one within a few minutes walk from my apartment!
    Reply
  • Halley
    I love Aldi! We do 90 percent of our grocery shopping there and I am always amazed at how much it helps our budget :)
    Reply
  • Christine
    Working in agriculture, I'm concerned with several aspects of Aldi's practices. In the past, they've incorrectly claimed certain quality labels for their products when the beef or other meat cuts have not actually been what is printed on the label. And not all of the price savings are coming from minimal overhead. If you're paying $1.59 for milk, imagine what the already beleaguered dairy farmers are making. If we want to build in sustainability, quality, and safety in local and national production, we need to examine the value chains and not preach about buying high-quality products of excellent value but then shop at stores that undercut farm and agricultural production.
    Reply