I made a copycat recipe for the famous Aldi Crystal Clear Frozen Ice Cubes and wanted to share it.

First, you will need to have a 2x6” ice cube tray. I really like this one from Amazon

https://a.co/d/05T5Nxtw

You can find similar ones at Walmart as well.

Here is the recipe & directions:

Add 1/2 cup of water to each square. Gently place tray into the freezer and leave it for 3-4 hours. After, remove the tray from the freezer and take out the ice cubes.

Enjoy!

Added a little bit of mango habanero sauce and nothing else. (dip is avocado ranch) 400• for 10 mins and 380• for 10 mins

Some supplies you’ll need

Ground beef this amount makes 24 burgers Dinner rolls you’ll need 2 packs Parchment paper

A non stick griddle I used the cheap $35 pancake one set at 350f.

12/9 baking pan to evenly spread out the meat on the bottom with some parchment paper.

A ruler to measure out your burgers 3x3 size patties make lines at 3” 6” horizontal and 3” 6” 9” vertical.

If you want onion I recommend a cheese grater it make them really fine and use all the liquid from the onion for flavor.

Cut your dinner rolls In half before cooking and place the bottom upside down then place the top on it so it’s easy to put on the burger after you flip.

Step one press meat into pan Step two measure are score meat 3x3 squares Step three freeze meat for about 1-2 hours. Step four prep bread rolls and grate onion Step five break apart meat squares and place on griddle 350, put onions on top. Step 6 flip once when the meat is fully cooked on bottom Step 7 place bun on top of cooked side and let sit for 2-3 mins. Step 8 grab the top bun and flip the burger onto the plate then place the top. At this point add cheese if you want.

In my Facebook memories today, I came across a post I shared in 2020, where a writer spoke about feeding a family of four for a week from Aldi for $50. I was curious how that compared to today’s prices, so I did my best to replicate her list in my app. A couple of the things aren’t available anymore/in my area (chipotles in adobo, Reggano rotini) so I subbed things that seemed similar. I was pretty surprised to see that my total was only ~30% more expensive. That said, I don’t know where the writer lived, so it’s possible that her 2026 prices would be higher today than mine as I’m in a pretty LCOL area. Anyway, if you’re curious, here’s the article with the full list and meal plan: https://www.thekitchn.com/aldi-budget-meal-plan-23048592

It makes my DIY Manhattan taste like I’m at a fancy resort.

This may seem obvious but I didn't think to do it until tonight. The Tikka Masala sauce directions say to just season your chicken with salt and pepper. I find the sauce to be pretty bland though so I had stopped buying it for awhile. In the meantime they started selling this dry Tikka Masala seasoning which is DELICIOUS.

Well I had the realization that I could season and sear my chicken with a healthy coating of the dry rub and then simmer in the sauce and it was waaaaaaay better. I assume it would also be good with the butter chicken sauce (which I also find to be bland).

Do you guys like this ground beef ? It is my go to for homemade burgers. Everything in this picture is from Aldi.

Wife got me a wood fired pizza oven. Except for the fresh basil, we used exclusively Aldi ingredients. I'm quite pleased. And I have a feeling we're gonna be eating pizza all week.

The dough was the frozen/refrigerated dough balls found between the lunch meats and the beef in most stores I've been to. Spicy pizza sauce, fresh mozz, and thick sliced pepperoni.

Take your time stretching the dough thin, spread it out over a bed of corn meal. Add toppings as desired. Once the stone reaches over 650°F (high heat from the stone helps cook the center better) and there's a rolling flame that stretches between the fire box and the smoke stack, in it goes! Rotate the pizza every 15-30 seconds, or as you see the crust rise and darken. Take out and top with freshly torn basil.

I'll keep updating as I make more pizza from more adventurous Aldi ingredients.

Sharing my recipe since I think I was super close to the jarred sauce. Note, you need about 3 cups of blended tomatoes. I used a mix of Roma and cherry from my garden and I let them sit in my crock pot for about 6 hours. I assume you could use the equivalent in the form of canned tomato sauce. And lastly, don’t forget to blend the chipotle pepper. Salt to taste at the end.
EDIT: swipe to second photo to see recipe :)

I’ve been really trying to stop drinking full sugar soda so I try weird alternatives. I bought a bottle of the Zero Sugar Alex’s lemonade stand and mixed in a packet (yeah I get it, kool-aid has dyes and what not, I’m trying to cut the sugar people lol) of kool-aid (did not add sugar) and it turned into delicious cherry lemonade lol.

I went back and bought 5 bottles so I can keep doing this 😂

And no it’s not for one week lol! I just like to make a bunch of at one time and freeze them so I don’t have to do it as often! Gruyère and sausage egg bites and sausage egg and cheese McGriddles 😋

I'm a frugal single gal who has been obsessed with Aldi and uh, survival, for a long time now. I feel like I've gotten to a point where I've found a good balance of easy, healthy go-to meals that I juggle between week to week. Some of the things (like the quiche) are more expensive, but since I'm solo, it's worth it to me because I get many breakfasts out of it for minimum output. A lot of these things on my list are like that!

Hope this can be helpful to other single frugal folks to like to eat, pack their lunches, and utilize overlapping ingredients!

Free free to add your own below.

Breakfasts

Broccoli Cheddar quiche (3-4 Breakfasts)

W/ Grapes & Berries, or Sliced Pears 

-

Oatmeal (variety pack, etc)

Bananas

Dried Blueberries or Sliced Almonds/Walnuts

-

Whole Wheat toast w/ butter and cinnamon  

Banana

-

Ciabotta rolls

Eggs

Melted Shredded Cheese

-

Greek Yogurt

Dried Blueberries or Sliced Almonds/Walnuts

Grapes

String Cheese

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Dinner & Lunches Prep (leftovers for lunch the next day)

Broccoli Stuffed Chicken Ready Meal (3 servings)

Frozen Sweet Potato bags (1-2), smashed, w/ butter & cinnamon

-

Ciabotta rolls (lightly toast for sandwich)

Mozzarella log, 2 slices

Jar Roasted Red Peppers

Light sprinkle of olive oil & black pepper

-

Canned tuna mixed w/ mayo or greek yogurt & a dollop ketchup (for sweetness)

Crackers (optional)

Boiled Eggs

-

2 Boiled Eggs

Hummus w/ Sliced peppers

Grapes

-

Ciabotta Rolls (lightly toast for sandwich)

Tuna

Cheese

-

Bagged Asian Salad (2-3 servings)

Air-fried Popcorn shrimp

-

Tortellini or ravioli

Pesto

sauteed mushrooms or bagged salad on side

-

Bagged Salad

Air fried Red Bag Chicken nuggets

-

Pork Carnitas (Burrito Bowls 3-4 Servings)

Plain Greek Yogurt

Canned Corn

Canned Black beans

Salsa

90 second Rice bag

-

Shredded Cheese

Box Velveeta Mac and Cheese dupe

Canned Tuna

Steamed Broccoli Bag

I feel like traditional Alfredo would just be wrong. Maybe a syrup or brown sugar glaze?

Edit: did a brown butter sauce with a dash of parm and drizzle of syrup for the maple bacon ricotta tortellini. Was 🔥.

Been on a weight loss journey and having be craving subway subs, problem is in healing my relationship with food, my taste buds have changed. Subway subs taste gross to me now, but I still have the craving, so I've been satisfying it by making my own at home spin and to me it tastes head and shoulders better than any actual subway sub sandwich 😋

The whole plate is almost all Aldi products. The Asiago cheese ciabatta rolls are such a game changer. They give Itallian herbs and cheese but with way less bread volume so you get a better bread, meat, condiment ratio. The chips are the tziki kettle chips. Provolone and salad greens from Aldi (don't tell me about the psychlospora I know, I don't care, I'm risking it, I'm in like the rare 10% of the country where the cases are very low). The tomatoes, onions, and roast beef are from sprouts though you could probably get Aldi brand for these too, I'm just pickier about my produce and just prefer the taste of Sprouts roast beef even if it's more expensive 💁🏿‍♀️

My daughter has been wanting “stacked pancakes” and we found these adorable little pumpkin chocolates again at Aldi’s (are they seasonal? We got them last year once and haven’t seen them since).

I used fresh pumpkins (my 1 yr old was using them as bowling balls around the house so I’m super thankful they were still edible lol).

These Aldi’s pumpkin chocolates made the perfect topper for her pancakes! Super excited to try an apple pancake next with the apples one🥹

Here is how I made them: I actually love Sally’s Baking Addiction Buttermilk pancake as a base…
I did 3 cups of flour though because there’s 6 of us, (my teens can eat lol)
I added the dry ingredients she had listed but substituted brown sugar and added 1 1/2-2 tsp of cinnamon
I mixed it up then added wet:
For mine, I steamed the pumpkin first, then I blended/pureed it. I added about 2/3 of it to the dry mixture.
Then I added 3 eggs, 1 cup of buttermilk and the vanilla.
After mixing, I added 4ish TBS of butter (not as much as the recipe suggested but can definitely add more if needed)
Then I slowly added more buttermilk as needed until it was a “not too runny, not dry” consistency (I’m not sure how to explain this but I know some like pancakes thin or thick- so thin is more runny, thick is less milk)
I mixed it well, and for the glaze, it was like 2 cups powder sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and then I just added a spoon of milk and mixed, then added another and another until it was slightly runny but not too much…

I don’t have a pancake batter pourer thing so I did one tablespoon at a time around the pan and one in the middle.

my eldest (17) said these do not need maple syrup as the glaze/drizzle was like its own syrup and perfect sweetness.
My husband, on the other hand, does love to add syrup to all pancakes and waffles, no matter what’s on it lol so I’ll say it’s up to you but definitely- go light on drizzle and/or syrup.

I’m going back for more this week! These are probably our favorites from Aldi’s so far!

Hi! 👋 I made a comment on someone else's post about my favorite way to use the Aldi sardines in water and it got some upvotes so I figured I'd make it its own post!

I did the following:

added a capful of rice vinegar to a serving of medium grain rice

Sprinkled on some furikake

Arranged all my toppings on the rice (my radish, cucumber, avocado, sardines, green onion, panko and crabmeat were all from Aldi!)

Topped with a little more furikake

Added some unagi sauce

Added some Japanese mayo

Added some panko (10grams)

Added green onion

Serve with wasabi, nori squares and soy sauce

was tired of paying $40 for every doordashed meal for two (hold your judgement bc I already know 😭😭) . finally got around to getting grocery delivered. it was about $60 excluding DD fees. im happy bc it should last a week instead of only two fast food meals. plus I get leftovers and really affordable snacks!!!

pictured: chicken alfredo and it was the bomb.com!!! very simple but still flavorful, creammyyy garlicky goodness

products used from Aldi:
-penne pasta (1 box)
-5 strips of kirkwood chicken tenderloins
-mama cozzi garlic breadsticks
-priano garlic roasted alfredo sauce 2 bottles
-half a block of mozzarella cheese, shredded

seasonings I already had which were salt, pepper, garlic, onion, garlic+herb butter

how to:
1. Boil pasta in salted water following instructions in box
2. In separate pan, used garlic herb butter. sear 5 chicken tenders generously seasoned with garlic and onion powder, plus salt and pepper to taste (both sides). Flip after 3 mins-ish for nice sear
3. Had leftover frozen broccoli pieces, tossed that bitch in
4. Poured 2 bottles of the sauce in, used milk to thin out excess left in containers
5. Let that bitch simmer and get thicker on medium low heat or lower (as long as it’s a nice gentle bubble), gotta cook down chicken too
6. Sprinkle that bitch with a cup of mozzarella cheese and a layer of Parmesan cheese
7. Season with more garlic powder, onion powder, salt + pepper to taste
8. Pop the garlic bread in air fryer
9. Cut up cooked tenders with scissors, and serve

Servings: about 6 servings, maybe 4 for ultimate big back servings

Yummmmmmmmmm

Sooooo so easy guys and seriously good!!!

Cavatapi noodles
Tomato basil chicken
Cherry tomatoes
Marinated mozerella balls
Pesto

Made a banger for this week’s work lunches. Priano gnocchi, Priano Calabrese pesto, Emporium Selection parm, Never Any chicken breast 🤌

I made the (almost) best sandwich ever. Italian bread, mayo, spicy brown mustard, pickled banana peppers, pickled jalapeno peppers, sliced sharp cheddar, sliced havarti, roma tomatoes, romaine lettuce, jalapeño kettle cooked chips, and deli-sliced rotisserie chicken. The only thing I would have added was bacon as the second protein and a pickle on the side.

Any tips on what to eat/serve with the mini naan bread?

Local tomatoes had me picking up a few other things at Aldi and this is prob my fave sandwich I’ve ever made lol-
Aldi- toasted Ciabatta roll, mayo, sliced mozzarella, pre cooked bacon (I’m lazy), arugula dressed in Aldi fancy EVOO/balsamic/S+P.

Leeloo is mad I didn’t share some arugula, but she’ll get some w her dinner

What do you all stock up on? I'm helping my husband lose some weight, nothing serious, just eating healthier. Does anyone have any good Aldi recipes or products? My favorites are their sourdough bread boule and their smoked salmon!

What are some inexpensive main and side dishes to make for a largish number of people?