WHAT ARE THE FOODS YOU MUST TRY IN ALDI
Do you remember when Aldi and Lidl first came to Ireland? It was so exciting? There was a frisson of excitement, “some of their stuff is actually nice” we would whisper to others in the know. Roll on 10 years and we’re all shopping at the German Twins. And interestingly enough, we’ve all developed this fun habit of hopping between the two. Because while, yes they are budget operators, they are now a lot pricier than they’ve ever been.
As I don’t have kids, I’ve admittedly a lot more time to shop around for bargains. I’m also guided, here, by the fact that Presence PR looks after Aldi, which means that when they send me a press release, I pay attention. Yes, Sinead Ryan, who co-founded the company, is a Friend (capital F intended), but simply I trust her taste, and I know she only pushes the really good stuff. Add to that, where I live, Aldi and Lidl are across the road from each other and this means that it is quite easy to move between the two.
I put a thread out on Twitter last year asking people what would they recommend someone who doesn’t normally shop in Aldi should buy and the responses came back with all your favourites. The food you buy regularly, but also the great stuff that you only want to eat a little off at a time.
So inspired by this thread and Presence PR’s Aislinn O’Toole smart and user friendly press releases, I have decided to put that advice and inspiration into a blog post. My wish for this post is that it brings you much joy at discovering something new and delicious.
While, Aldi sells a great range of budget alcohol, I would never be finished with this post if I included all your booze recommendations. So instead I’m going to direct you to two people who know and love great drink. The first one is Tom Doorley. Tom is the official wine ambassador for Aldi and a fine job he does too. I know he gets a huge amount of queries online (the joys of being a famous writer on Twitter) and he graciously answers everyone again and again. Following his advice has landed some beautiful bargains on my table. The other person I like to follow for wine is Melanie May. She writes about it with great passion and makes it accessible somehow. I’ve often found myself jotting down notes for the next time I’m in the shops after watching her Insta stories.
Finally, I know I normally talk about small food producers, Irish food and artisanal products but in fact, you will also find these throughout Aldi. Some of their home-brand products are made by the same producers that might otherwise make something more boutique. They also have an Irish producer accelerator program called Grow With Aldi which brings you a new wave of small Irish products two or three times a year. Anything from that range tends to be really great quality and I encourage you to support that as best as you can.
I’ve organised the list as per their click and collect website but also more or less as it is in the shops so you could find them easily there should you be this way inclined. But sure have a good root around in the whole post and I’m sure you’ll find something new for you to try and hopefully like!
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
- Mini peppers (great for stuffing)
- Organic veg
- Wild mushrooms
MEAT & POULTRY
- Black Angus steaks from Specially Selected, the premium home brand (special shout out to the rib-eye)
- Duck breasts and whole ducks
- Free-range chicken
- Minted lamb steaks
CHILLED
- Aromatic duck pancakes
- Belgian chocolate/ Sicilian mousse desserts
- Brie and camembert when they are on special
- Chicken Liver Parfait
- Creamy coleslaw
- Duleen Yogurt
- Extra mature cheddar
- Falafels & beetroot falafels
- Feta cheese
- French Torchon ham
- Fresh orange juice
- Fresh pasta from Specially Selected
- Fresh pesto
- Greek yogurt
- Haloumi
- Hummus (all versions of it)
- Irish apple juice
- Irish lamb sausages
- Italian-herb sliced ham
- Kanturk pudding slices and rings
- Leek and bacon stuffed mushrooms
- Mexican Style Flat Breads
- Mozzarella (the West Cork one if possible)
- Olives (special mention to the big fat green olives and the kalamatas)
- Pizza bases
- Potato salad
- Raw marinated prawns in Louisiana bbq sauce
- Salmon fishcakes stuffed with bearnaise sauce inside them
- Skyr yogurt
- Smoked mackerel
- Smoked pancetta
- Smoked pastrami
- Southern fried chicken thigh burgers
- Spicy breaded boneless chicken thighs
- Sushi
- Truffle salami
- Veggie Burgers
- Wall’s chips
- Yogurts from Specially Selected (the lemon curd one got so many mentions)
FOOD PRESS (THEY CALL IT A CUPBOARD)
- Almond butter
- Almond thin biscuits
- Baked beans (with several mentions for the reduced sugar ones)
- Balsamic glaze
- Balsamic vinegar
- Chia and oat crispreads
- Chocolate enrobed cookies
- Chocolate Hazelnut bars
- Chocolate Spirals (wee Nutella delivery systems)
- Cornichons
- Dijon mustard
- Divine biscuits
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Foodie market palm oil free peanut butter
- Gourmet black pepper crackers
- Grangran Foods Lemon marmalade with ginger and cardamom
- Honeycomb rocky road bites
- Ice-cream waffle cones (with chocolate on top)
- Infused olive oils
- Jalapeno relish
- Jalapeno tuna
- Marshmallow brownie bomb mini bites
- Multi-pack popcorn
- Nut bars with dark chocolate coating and peanut butter
- Rapeseed oil
- Roasted peppers (in a jar)
- Rosemary crackers from Specially Selected
- Salted pretzel chocolate bar
- Seafood seasoning grinder
- Sea salt & Cracked black pepper from Specially Selected
- Spuddies (home brand crisps) are apparently very close to Tayto
- Sweet and Salty popcorn
- Super nutty granola
- Velo coffee
BAKERY
- Atlantic wheaten bread
- Blaas by Walsh’s
- Bread muffins
- Brioche burger buns
- Brioche loaf
- Grinder extra large white bread slices
- Part baked olive ciabatta bread.
DRINKS
- Raspberry lemonade
FROZEN
- Cauliflower cheese in a bag
- Chopped herbs, garlic and chili
- Falafel burgers
- Hash browns
- Maris Piper chips
- Paella in a bag
- Pains au Chocolat
- Raw king prawns
- Rice/ quinoa/ veggies mix frozen bags
- Smoked Haddock fishcakes
- Sweet potato fries
- Vegan chicken burgers
- Vegan sausage rolls
- Vienetta on a stick
HEALTH & BEAUTY
- Apple shampoo & conditioner
- Biodegradable make-up remover wipes
- Hot cloth cleanser
- Le Mara face serum
- Le Mara facial oil
HOUSEHOLD
- Bergamot fragrance pearls for the washing machine
- Biodegradable bin bags
- Dish cloths
- Fresh cut flowers
- Hotel Collection candles
- Hotel Collection hand-wash
- Magnum Premium dishwasher capsules
- Shea butter toilet rolls
2 Comments
katia my one MUST buy is the Pulled pork with bbq sauce. its a thing of beauty. I gave one to BOD and he posted his love of it…and sales went through the roof!!!
Consider it bought, I’ll pop in to my local Aldi tomorrow. If it’s good enough for BOD….
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