Aldi Favorites

 Hi! Happy freaking Friday! I am so excited to be sharing my Aldi favorites with you guys today!!!

I started shopping at Aldi consistently when I was in college. It was the cheapest option available to me, and I actually enjoyed how quick my shopping trips could be since the store was so small! It was love at first sight....😍 I've been shopping there ever since! 

We do the large majority of our grocery shopping at Aldi and I have actually visited many locations in the Milwaukee area. An Aldi mini-tour you could say! Lol. Aldi's are mostly the same, but I have found some that are newer or more recently renovated (they've been slowly updating the ones in my area) have a larger selection and I prefer the layout. Some of the newest ones even have a fresh bakery section! We love to stop and get a donut when we find one of those, lol. The Aldi's in our area do Instacart pickup, which has been new to us 2020, but now that we've started grocery pickup we may never go back. Well, at least partially! 

I have had really good experiences with Aldi. I find most of their products to be great, and some are absolutely spectacular! They don't have the largest selection so you can't always find specialty ingredients and the produce selection can be somewhat limited. And, I would also recommend you shop seasonally to get the best possible produce. Don't expect to buy a good strawberry from *any* store in Wisconsin in January, lol. But, Aldi has some of my all-time favorite products. 

Specialty Selected Sourdough Bread is so good it wins awards! No, seriously! We buy a loaf every time we go to the store. It's my favorite to use for toast, sandwiches, paninis, and even prepared into croutons. It's flexible to use and the sourdough taste is delicious. If you're worried about finishing the whole loaf, I've found the bread freezes and defrosts extremely well! 

Aged Reserve White Cheddar Cheese is another "buy every time" item in our house! This cheese is so flavorful, but not too smelly or funky like a blue cheese. It's tangy and although it's an "extra-sharp" cheddar, its still mild enough to pair with all kinds of crackers and fruits. It also melts perfectly on a grilled cheese! And it's another award winner - this time the 2013 US Cheese Championship gold medal. Aldi has an incredible cheese selection, and it changes seasonally(!), so it's definitely an aisle you should check out every trip. Especially if you love to make/eat charcuterie boards! 

Mama Cozzi's Four Cheese Rising Crust pizza. Omg. This pizza!! We much prefer this to a "name" brand like Digiorno. It is sooooo good. The pizza is flavorful and the crust has great texture. Also, its usually like $3 near me, while "name" brand pizzas that are comparable are double the price! If you like frozen pizza (who doesn't???) you have to try this. We literally ate this last night!

Grain Free Cookie Bites are such a delightful, sweet bite! They are date-based and kind of remind me  of a Larabar, but in cookie form. The worst part about these is that you only get like 8 in the package and they disappear much too quickly. Lol. My favorite flavor is the chocolate, but they have caramel and double chocolate, too. 

Pumpkin Pasta Sauce. Ooookay. We gotta take a minute to talk about this. I debated if I should include seasonal items in this list, because they can sometimes be hard to find (if you've ever heard of their cheese advent calendars, those are gone within hours of being released!). But. This sauce! In my family, we look for it every year. I say "we" because it is truly a group effort! My sister and I keep an eye out during every Aldi trip in September and October to try to get some of this special sauce. It's creamy, pumpkin-y, slightly sweet, and soo incredibly flavorful. Sometimes jarred pasta sauce can be really bland, or pumpkin versions get too earthy, but this is the total opposite! It's a festive, flavorful, fall hug in a bowl. If you can ever snag some, be sure to get 2. Or 3!

Moser Roth dark chocolate bars. Yum! These bars come in quite a few different flavors and I think the chocolate is pretty good quality! I've also baked with these and they work so well. As you can see I have a good selection in my cabinet! Haha. Each package actually contains 5 individual pieces, so I like that it's easy to share or reseal. Or not! 

Brioche hamburger/hot dog buns. These are rich and buttery and soooo fluffy! It totally elevates your grilling experience - having these for dinner always makes me feel so fancy. 

I have loved the Simply Nature Honey Oat Bread! We've tried a few other flavors in this line (they have a sprouted grain and seeded version) that are so also great, but this is our fave for sure. It reminds of the Brownberry Oatnut bread which I grew up eating and love, but it has relatively few ingredients for a store-bought bread, which is something I try to look for!  

I also love to pick up a Synergy Kombucha, Perfect Bars, and their Simply Nature Creamy Peanut Butter. These aren't Aldi-specific products (you can buy all-natural creamy peanut butter at nearly every grocery store), but I love that they are sold there!!

So, if you can't tell, I'm a long-time Aldi superfan!! Their baking ingredients are awesome and super affordable, The grains and cereals are consistent with your favorite "name" brands. The cheese selection is amazing!! The pesto, the meatless hot dogs, the nuts, the ice cream pints....we even love the toilet paper (the purple 12-pack Strong and Plush is just like Charmin, lol. Bet you weren't expecting a toilet paper review!). And they are even slowly adding more and more vegetarian/vegan products. I even love the "Aisle of Shame"....we've gotten some great home goods like kitchen tools, holiday socks, and even a rolling cart. If you've never shopped at Aldi and you have them in your area, you will have to give it a try! 

What are your favorite Aldi products??? Seriously, I would love to test out what you love the most!