5 Must-Have Aldi Food Items For First-Time Shoppers

If you're planning your first visit to Aldi, the most important thing to keep in mind (besides having to bring your own bags and a quarter to unlock a cart) is that a lot of the items that everyone raves about are only seasonal or may come and go sporadically. Themed weeks are among the best times to shop for global goodies. You'll want to check out Aldi's center aisles for weekly special buys on household goods, pet supplies, toys, and even food products. Holidays are also fun, especially if you're a fan of holiday-themed cheeses such as Halloween pumpkins and skulls or Easter eggs and chicks. If you're not shopping at the right time, though, there's no guarantee of finding any specific limited-time offer. 

Because the store introduces new items every week, last week's specials may disappear to provide necessary shelf space. Fortunately, Aldi's not just a place for serendipity shoppers. While its attention-getting special items may be in constant rotation, much of what the store offers consists of standard produce, meat, dairy, frozen foods, and pantry items that are offered all through the year.

The following is an abbreviated list of our favorite cart fillers. While it was hard to choose just a few, we finally settled on one long-lasting salad staple, one easy entree, a couple of treats, and a fan-favorite budget beverage. Not only are these items always available, but none of them will put much of a dent in your wallet.

While packaged greens may not be the most exciting item in the produce aisle, they're a building block for making stupendous salads. Aldi's Simply Nature brand offers four salad mixes that come in plastic clamshell containers. Organic baby spinach, organic arugula with spinach, and organic mixed greens are all available in a 5-ounce size, while organic spring mix comes in a 16-ounce package. While that may seem like a lot of greens, it's worth it if you're a daily salad eater since the plastic containers can keep the greens in good shape for a week or more. (Aldi also offers bagged salad mixes in smaller sizes, but the lettuce in these is quicker to wilt.)

The most surprising thing about these salad greens, however, is even though they're labeled as organic, they're less expensive than similar salad greens sold at other grocery stores. While your mileage may vary depending on where you're located and when you're reading this, as of August 2024 Simply Nature organic greens are priced at $3.19 for 5 ounces and $5.39 for 16 ounces at Aldis in and around Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For comparative purposes, similar salad greens at local Kroger affiliate Pick 'n Save are selling for $3.89 and $5.99. Okay, so the savings aren't super-dramatic — only about 20% in the first instance and just over 10% in the second — but if you eat a lot of salad (and you should, it's healthy!), it all adds up.

Aldi's frozen seafood section may be small, but it covers the essentials: multiple sizes of shrimp, naked and breaded fish filets, and even frozen sushi. One of the best buys in the bunch, though, is frozen mussels in the shell. These come in three varieties (plain, garlic butter, and tomato garlic) and cost just $3.65 for a 16-ounce package. (Again with the disclaimer that this applies to Aldis in Milwaukee as of August 2024 — this will be the case with all future mentions of price throughout the article).

The plain mussels are great if you've already got a go-to mussel recipe or two. With the saucy mussels, all you'll need is a package of pasta (Aldi also sells this staple, of course). As the pasta cooks, you can microwave the mussels in a matter of minutes since there's no need to thaw them. If you toss the mussels and sauce with the pasta (about half a pound per package), you'll have a low-effort dinner that legitimately tastes like something you might pay $20+ for in a restaurant.

While Aldi is based out of Germany, for the most part its store-brand products in the U.S. are similar (or identical) to standard American brands, and for good reason. Many of them are manufactured domestically, and possibly in the same facilities that produce some big-name brands: Millville cereals, for example, are rumored to be made by Post, while Stonemill spices seem to share McCormick's production line. One place Aldi's roots really show, though, is in its chocolate selection. Moser Roth, which is Aldi's premium brand, and Choceur, the less-expensive brand, are both imported from Europe.

Of all the different chocolate products offered by Aldi, the Choceur bars are the true bargain buy. The plain milk and dark chocolate ones, priced at $1.65 for 5.29 ounces, are great for baking or melting, and both bars also come with almonds for the same price. Mini bars perfect for portion control are available in plain milk and dark chocolate as well as white chocolate and milk chocolate hazelnut crunch. These cost $2.19 for a five-pack of 1.4-ounce bars. They and the larger bars run 31 cents an ounce. While it may cost less than half the price of a Hershey bar, the chocolate is far more flavorful. Choceur's smooth, creamy texture is comparable to that of a higher-end brand like Lindt or Ghirardelli, making it an affordable luxury even when we're pinching our pennies so hard we've got Lincoln's face imprinted on our fingers.

Aldi's ice cream brands Belmont and Sundae Shoppe are both said to be made by a private-label supplier called House of Flavors, so there's no connection with big-name brand Ben & Jerry's. Still, the Sundae Shoppe premium pints seem meant to mimic the higher-priced product, right down to the colorful labels and whimsical flavor names. Make Fudge, Not War! contains chocolate ice cream and brownie chunks, similar to Chocolate Fudge Brownie. Thank You Cherry Much! consists of cherry ice cream with cherries and chocolate chunks, just like Cherry Garcia. And then there's Brookie Dough, which combines vanilla and chocolate with brownie chunks and cookie dough — clearly an homage to Half Baked.

Needless to say, Aldi's knockoffs, priced at $3.65, are quite a bit cheaper than the full-priced competitor, which can sell for over $6 if it's not on sale. The taste is pretty darn close and in some cases, maybe a little bit better. The only quibble we have with Sundae Shoppe is the much smaller selection. While Aldi will occasionally introduce a new limited-time flavor such as My Peanut Butter Half (a much better name than Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup) and Swirlin' Strawberry (practically identical to B&J's Strawberry Cheesecake), how much fun would it be to see Sundae Shoppe versions of Chunky Monkey, Phish Food, or New York Super Fudge Chunk?

Not all Aldi stores offer beer and wine, but the ones that do tend to have a small but decent wine even if it is noticeably lacking in rare and special vintages meant for the connoisseur's palate. (The same could be said of any grocery store, honestly.) If you just want something cheap and drinkable, though, Winking Owl — Aldi's answer to Trader Joe's Four Buck Chuck — may be one of the best wines you'll find for under $5 per bottle.

Winking Owl is made by Gallo, a company that also includes higher-end labels such as Maso Canali, Mount Peak, Rombauer, and Wirra Wirra under its umbrella. It comes in a dozen different varieties: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, shiraz, sweet red, red blend, sangria, chardonnay, moscato, pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, white blend, and white zinfandel. On the whole, the wines tend to be fairly well-rated. They have a sufficiently large fan base that Aldi even produced a Winking Owl Christmas ornament one year. Even if you don't care to drink Winking Owl wines by the glass, these budget bottles are excellent for sangria, wine cocktails, and cooking (check out this list of cheap wine recipes).