Five Things I wish ALDI carried regularly (but they don't)
What products do you wish ALDI carried that you haven't been able to find there on a regular basis? I do love that ALDI has been expanding its variety, cleaning up a lot of its foods, and adding more natural and organic options -- but there are just a few more items I'd like to be able to pick up there on my regular weekly trips.
Five Products I Wish ALDI Would Carry
Salsa Verde
ALDI regularly stocks several different varieties of salsa, but only occasionally sells salsa verde as a limited time special buy. It's always seemed odd to me that they don't carry this basic kind of salsa, when they have several other varieties on the shelf. I use salsa verde all the time in recipes like pulled pork enchiladas verde, or in salsa pulled pork soup, or in easy cheesy chicken and rice, or in slow cooker salsa chicken... and hate having to run out to a different store for just one thing when I'm trying to pick up ingredients for dinner.
Balsamic and/or Red Wine Vinegar
ALDI has recently started carrying organic apple cider vinegar on a regular basis (how cool is that?!) in addition to the basic white vinegar they have always carried, but they still don't sell either balsamic or red wine vinegar on a regular basis. (They do sell balsamic once or twice a year as a special buy.) I'd like to see them rotate these other types of vinegars in as well, since I often use them when making my own salad dressing and in recipes.
No Sugar, No Palm Oil Almond Butter
I'm happy that ALDI now stocks an organic peanut butter that contains just peanuts and salt, and would also love to see an almond butter option without sugar & palm oil. (It doesn't even have to be organic, ALDI; I'm easy!) I buy my almond butter at Costco because it contains just roasted almonds or make my own from whole almonds, but would appreciate having the option of picking it up on a regular ALDI trip -- and sometimes would like to buy a smaller jar than you can get at Costco, lol.
Frozen fish that's not processed in China
Frozen fish at ALDI is usually a great price! I mean, like: How about 16 oz of wild caught pink salmon fillets for $3.79, great? It's pretty much all processed in China, however. I'd much rather pay a little more and avoid the China processing facilities.
(ALDI is far from the only offender, here. If you take a look at bags of frozen fish in general, a lot of the fish we get in other stores is also processed in China -- but it's something to be aware of.)
A wider variety of spices
ALDI devotes shelf space to a number of basic spices (and I love that they also carry organic spices at a decent price), but they could easily squeeze a few more in there. Cayenne & rosemary spring to mind as basic spices that I use all the time, but more variety in general would be fantastic. ALDI is generally a great place to pick up cooking basics, and a wider selection of spices & seasonings would really help them up their game. Note: They do carry a wider selection of holiday baking spices as a special buy once a year, but not these additional basics.
That's my list -- What else should ALDI carry?
What other items would you like to see ALDI carry that you don't regularly see on their shelves?
Buttermilk, I make homemade ranch all the time and pancakes etc and either have to go elsewhere or make cheater buttermilk.
Light Italian Salad Dressing
Hot Chocolate envelopes
They are both considered "seasonal"
So I guess I should stock up annually.
Why not use Hershey's cocoa and add the amount of sugar you desire?
I personally like Swiss Miss Simply cocoa a lot better. They put it on sale occasionally in the winter for $1 at Jewel, and it is fairly inexpensive at Target all the time. It does not have a lot of additives.
I would love to see chunky applesauce as a full-time item. The chunky tastes like apples, unlike the other applesauce. And nobody here likes to eat cinnamon applesauce, ever!
I love salmon but will NOT buy it at Aldi's. I think I saw that their garlic bulbs were also from China.
A lot of the garlic at Jewel and Valli produce is from China too. I try to buy it at the farmer's market when it is in season. I just saw some fresh organic garlic at the Evanston market on Saturday. I stock up on lots of garlic when the outdoor market closes the beginning of November, and when that runs out I get my garlic at Whole Foods. They have some organic garlic that comes from California that is usually under $1 for a huge head.
Costco has California garlic too -- the bulbs, the minced in the jar, and big bags of whole cloves.
My local Aldi doesn't carry pizza dough in a can! I've heard it exists though. I can usually supplement most of what I need at my regular (not even Super) Target or my regular grocery store Cub Foods in Minnesota where I buy most of my meat. I like their quality better after trying Aldi brand. We buy the organic beef at Aldi though as it's usually $3/lb less there and the skirt steak too.
Uh? In a can?!? Never heard of a such thing! Cool lol
Rotisserie chicken. Fastest and easiest dinner. Then boil the remainder for a lunch or dinner chicken soup.
They don't have room for a rotisserie in the store.
I miss our aldi carrying the packets of Italian dressing! I relied on those anytime I made a Italian beef sandwiches in the crockpot or pressure cooker! They still have the ranch packets, which are amazing too, but bring back the Italian!
Smoked salmon all year round
Gluten free bagels (theirs are awesome and only a special buy)
Gluten free General Tso's chicken (amazing and doesn't taste frozen)
I wish they'd take away more of the brand name stuff - it's never a good price and often theirs is better, with the exception of Cheerios.
Oh, the smoked salmon is great, I keep looking for it too!
Trader Joe's is supposed to have it all the time.
They do, but it's more expensive there -- and I'm at ALDI more often. 🙂
My Aldi in middle Tennessee carries smoked salmon all the time in the fridge section near the cheese. I too wish they carried salsa verde (I like the Kroger brand.) I also wish they had the sriracha ketchup all the time and not just a special buy. I like that they now have the jarred curry sauces all the time. (Instant pot "curry": Package of boneless skinless chicken thighs trimmed of fat, jar of Jalfrezi sauce, cubed potatoes, baby carrots, frozen peas. Cook on high pressure 6 minutes per pound of chicken, natural release 10 minutes, stir to shred up the chicken a bit and serve over rice.)
I want corn starch as a year round staple. They have many baking staples but this one.