Foods You Can Buy At Aldi Under $1, Ranked Worst To Best

Who doesn't love bargains that ring up for under a dollar, especially now that dollar store prices have risen to a dollar and a quarter? Aldi understands the instant appeal of these finds and shares with its customers a treasure trove of eats and treats that can be had with the kind of money that jingles. It's not just a few things here and there, either; if you know where to look, you can find a fantastic array of enticing items that cost the same as four Aldi cart rentals. There may be many things customers can't stand about Aldi, but budget-friendly buys isn't one of them.

Which Aldi items at the dollar price point are your best selections? It varies by taste and interest, of course. But if you're in the market for some inexpensive goodies and there's an Aldi in your area, the items in this handy list are a great place to start looking and represent some of your finest options for spending four quarters to get one incredible deal. If you're prone to believing false things about Aldi regarding the quality of the chain's lowest-priced buys and have been disappointed in the past, this ranking should help set you straight for future shopping excursions.

My omnivore tasters — also known as my adult-aged kids — helped me stick to my non-meat-eating ways by sampling Brookdale Vienna Sausages. They remembered these mini-wieners from their childhood, though they were never a regular part of our shopping life. The big draw was always the miniature size, which made the sausages fun finger food that kids could handle easily. It was a fun snack once in a while, though for anyone eating Vienna sausage on the regular, having an 85 cent option could mean weekly savings.

Learning the base ingredient for these cocktail-size dogs is mechanically separated chicken is enough to tell me they are the highest quality no matter what brand creates them. My kids agreed that while they might have enjoyed them when their palates were less developed, they're just kind of gross now. This would likely be true for any version of this oddly long-lived foodstuff. The good news is, these taste just like Vienna sausages ... which is also the bad news. Do with this information what you will; hopefully it eases your Aldi anxiety if you're a fan of this questionable cocktail food on the search for a cheaper alternative. As for me, knowing these snack dogs taste as cheap as their price helps me place them at the bottom of the bag.

If you're looking for a more affordable version of the Kraft blue box, you might think Aldi has you covered with its Cheese Club Macaroni and Cheese. At 65 cents per box, it's an under-dollar hero you'd love to stock up on as handy meal-makers when more involved dinners aren't in the cards. The price certainly beats the dollar-and-change cost for the brand-name deal, but if the quality doesn't match, is it really worth paying less to put food that's also less satisfying on the table? You should be able to depend on such familiar fare to be middling at worst and fairly tasty at best.

Sadly, you're not likely to like being a member of Cheese Club. I was encouraged finding the same elbow noodles and cheese packet in this box as I'd find in any other analog of the classic concoction. But while the noodles are nifty, the finished cheese sauce is disappointing — loose and watery, with a flavor that only resembles cheese sauce in passing. It was one of the blandest pasta dishes I've ever tasted. I only made it through a few bites before I threw paprika in the bowl to add something with flavor. This isn't one of the Aldi products that are better than the originals. If you're good with having to jazz up what should be a presumably ready-to-roll boxed food, you might be in luck. Otherwise, steer clear.

It's safe to say tuna fans would be receptive to having a favorable alternative at a fair price at Aldi. Northern Catch offers chunk light tuna in either oil or water for 95 cents per 5-ounce can, a direct competitor with Kroger brand for 89 cents, Walmart's Great Value for 88 cents, and StarKist for a whopping $1.29 per can. If you're not compelled to swim too far out of your way, you could have a viable choice at your nearest Aldi, but prepare to be underwhelmed — or whelmed, at best.

There's nothing out of the ordinary under the lid here — chunks of tuna in water that need a little coercion to become an edible consistency. My omnivores jumped in to help me with a taste test, adding a little mayonnaise and some pickles to give it flavor beyond the usual tuna fishiness. Safe to say from their looks and shrugs that they weren't overly impressed with what they tasted. With a slightly lower price available at other chains, this less-than-a-buck-buy isn't a necessity.

If you can find cans of diced tomatoes anywhere, by all means, snatch them up. The least expensive store banner cans I can ever find come in at $1 or more, which Aldi beats with its 99 cent 14.5-ounce cans of Happy Harvest Diced Tomatoes. There are a few varieties available to give home cooks options in the kitchen; Aldi offers fire-roasted and Italian-seasoned cans that ramp up the flavor for a little more money. To keep with the under-a-dollar conquest, I stuck with plain-old diced tomatoes to see if they held up.

The results were decidedly "meh." Though there's nothing notably bad about Happy Harvest Diced Tomatoes, the citric acid included in the can gives them more tartness than brightness. This may be unavoidable since citric acid is used as a preservative, but it also seems like it might be there to cover up less than optimal flavor in subpar tomatoes. It's difficult to tell since it all blends together and while I would use these in a recipe with additional flavoring, they would not be my first pick as an out-of-the-can ingredient.

Tiny tins of tomato sauce are great to have on hand to liven up soups or stews, or just to decorate noodles for a quick and simple supper dish. Aldi attempts to aid home cooks with Happy Harvest Tomato Sauce in an 8-ounce can for 55 cents, which is right in line with other store brands and gives shoppers a highly workable price. Should you load up your cart with these diminutive cans to get the jump on future dinners without shocking your debit card into financial distress?

You can or you can't, and you'll be okay either way. Happy Harvest Tomato Sauce isn't the worst tomato sauce I've ever tasted, though it does have an odd flavor that keeps it from being a simple pour over for pasta or rice. Perhaps this is due to the natural flavoring listed on the label among the bell pepper, garlic, onions, and spices. What exactly are these natural flavorings? They don't add a natural essence but give it more of an artificial flavor, which just doesn't seem necessary with all of the other tasty tidbits included. So while I might grab this one in a pinch, I'm more likely to shop for better known brands and pay slightly more for the quality I know and trust.

Green beans are such a standard in American dining, it's almost impossible to think a food producer could go wrong simply salting and canning these simple veggies. As straightforward as this bean should be, Aldi's Happy Harvest offers a 14.5-ounce can for 69 cents that clips a bit off the price without needing a coupon or a sale flyer. Can you depend on the product if the lower price makes it an enticing buy, even if it's such a mid-level pick as green beans?

Yes, and no. The green beans in the can are certainly soft enough to be considered fully presentable without any extra preparation if you wanted to include them in a three bean salad or some other cold dish. They would also heat up easily as a side for Thanksgiving or just a simple family dinner. But there's not a whole lot to promote this purchase as far as the flavor of the beans themselves; it's neutral and green as it should be with nothing special in the growing or the presentation to make it feel like anything more than a bargain food. This is neither good nor bad, simply true, which is why these green beans fall at the center point of the ranking.

There are a few pasta options in Aldi's under-a-buck basket, so I zeroed in on Reggano, which aligns more with my usual shopping habits. Pasta is a regular occurrence in my kitchen, so a viable stand-in for name brands is always welcome. My location had farfalle (bowties) and rotini when I was shopping, so I grabbed the rotini and took it for a test boil.

In fine Italian fashion, Reggano offers a quality noodle with a tight twist and great texture that held up perfectly well under the makeshift creamy garlic sauce and cucumbers I tossed in. This is one I would definitely buy in multiples to have on hand when the itch for pasta strikes. Other store brands are often over the $1 mark even when on sale, which makes this Aldi find a starchy steal. If you're looking to make a first-time trip to Aldi for must-by items, this pasta is a great place to start. But be alert: Though the boxed version of Reggano is priced at $1.09 for 16 ounces, I was able to locate a bagged version priced at 98 cents, which doesn't appear on the company website. You may have to make a visit to see if your location has it too.

With Friendly Farms yogurt, Aldi takes its under-a-dollar pricing structure to the dairy case, giving mindful eaters a probiotic-rich take on a breakfast and lunch favorite. The range of flavors available mirrors other grocery stores, with peach, cherry, and strawberry playing starring roles. Though I'm 99.99% dairy-free, I know a decent yogurt when I taste one. I opted to try peach, since it can be a tricky flavor to recreate in yogurt form; some brands take it in a more tart direction, though I prefer a sweeter version. I had my fingers crossed that Aldi could pull it off.

Lo and behold, the low-cost grocer came through. This is a supremely creamy yogurt, possibly helped in part by the inclusion of carrageenan in the recipe. There's also fruit juice and annatto used for natural coloring. The peach flavor is juicy and bright and comes shining through easily and the texture is pre-stirred, not that there's any real fruit at the bottom of the cup or anywhere in it but there's minimal separation between solid and liquid to make that weird little pool that sometimes appears at the top of yogurt. Though it's a small-ish 6-ounce cup, at 65 cents it's a solid challenger to other store-brand yogurts from Walmart and Whole Foods for yogurt lovers hoping to extend their grocery funds.

Black beans can ring up at the top of the grocery shopping hierarchy, even in the most generic forms available. Dakota's Pride Black Beans help defray rising costs with an Aldi-specific purchase that drops the price per can to 95 cents. That's a mighty savings for anyone feeding a hungry family when brands like S&W and Goya can cost well over a dollar, but is it worth grabbing this bargain buy when taste and texture are on the line?

It certainly is. Dakota's Pride rises to the occasion with black beans that are soft enough to eat straight out of the can, perfect for filling tacos or burritos, or using in any sort of salad that needs a little protein and texture. There's no seasoning on these legumes, which means they have an entirely neutral taste, unlike some brands that either include light seasoning or use beans with a more intrusive flavor. It means they're a blank slate that you can spruce up any way you like as soon as you crack the lid. This is another pantry staple that I would be pleased to keep in multiples to avoid unnecessary trips to the store.

A little dessert for under a dollar is an indulgence just about everyone can afford. With Baker's Corner Instant Pudding in the kitchen for 99 cents, all it takes is a little milk of your choice (except soy, which will keep the pudding from setting, per the label) and a quick shake or two-minute whisking and five minutes in the fridge. The result should be silky sweetness similar to Jell-O pudding and its signature store label counterparts — or at least that's the theory. More than any of the other foods on the list, I was hopeful that this one would prove to be a prime purchase, a quick and simple pre-strategized dessert I could have in the cabinet for when the urge for something sweet hits and I'm too lazy to go to any more trouble than making instant pudding. It happens a lot.

I'm pleased to report that Baker's Corner gets instant vanilla pudding right. The finished dessert is smooth, not gelatinous as sometimes happens with instant pudding mix. I went with vanilla, which tastes marshmallowy, a definite plus in my book. It boasts no artificial sweeteners or high-fructose corn syrup, which is a relief for anyone avoiding those alternatives to actual sugar. And since there is no dairy in the dry ingredients, it doesn't even need to be adapted to be a vegan friendly food beyond choosing to use plant-based milk. Without question, it's a worthy replacement for the pricier pudding brands.

Garbanzo beans are a Swiss Army-style canned food that can be used in a nearly endless list of creations both savory and sweet. Being able to grab a can like Dakota's Pride at Aldi for 89 cents can stretch a grocery budget to incredible lengths. If you're a protein-forward eater looking for non-meat alternatives to keep your macros in line, you'll need a problem-solving product that doesn't drain you financially just to load you up on muscle-building nutrients. Aldi helps get you there without cutting corners, a great achievement in the world of canned veggies.

Aldi rings up an affordable winner with this can of chickpea goodness. I'm usually pretty wary of generic or store label garbanzo beans; they can be a bit undercooked and waxy when they come out of the can, which makes them difficult to use — and unpleasant to chew (I'm looking at you, Great Value). But Dakota's Pride has the formula down pat, with earthy garbanzos that are tender and fresh tasting without requiring extra softening in the pot. I can easily imagine these beans making excellent mashed sandwich spreads and being blitzed into creamy hummus, as well as holding their own in any recipe that calls for whole beans. It's an A-plus purchase for the money-conscious Aldi shopper to take advantage of.

There's no debating the value of having canned corn as part of your regular pantry collection, whether you use it as an ingredient in a larger creation or serve it as a familiar side dish. Aldi makes it easy to keep canned corn on hand with its Happy Harvest home brand. At 69 cents per 15.25-ounce can, it's less than half the price of national brands and cheaper than even store brands from the larger grocery chains. But flavor and freshness are just as important, and easy-to-afford canned corn needs to deliver on the table, not just in the budget.

The sweet surprise provided by Happy Harvest is sure to translate into happy shoppers and even happier eaters. These kernels are brightly colored, crisp, and sweet — and even a little buttery, though there's no butter or seasonings other than salt listed on the label. I would absolutely buy up a bunch of these first-rate cans to have on hand for any cooking occasion that might arise. I might even make up a few new culinary inventions just to have an excuse to put it on the table. But you don't need excuses or clever cooking projects to add Happy Harvest Sweet Corn to your shopping list. Price and quality are enough to justify the purchase.

Because almost all of the items at Aldi priced below the dollar mark are canned and dried goods, I chose a selection that represented the types of food most commonly found in this category: beans, tomatoes, corn, pasta, and potted or shelf-stable meats. The inclusion of the pudding mix and yogurt gave me a bit of a range to work with, though each item has its own function and personality, which made it challenging to compare them apples to apples, so to speak. Instead, I gauged overall qualities like taste, texture, and freshness based on other canned items in the category I've encountered, then created a hierarchy of what I liked and what I didn't based on this greater comparison. It was a one-bite taste test for everything, though I did finish whole bowls of the pasta and mac and cheese.

Something else of interest that came about as a result of this sampling: The canned vegetables are all part of a simple vegetarian chili recipe that can combine everything in a single pot with rice, broth, and seasonings. This is excellent news for home cooks hoping to create a workable dinner that serves multiple eaters for under $10.