This one-week $50 ALDI meal plan lets you get everything you need at one store! Use this Aldi budget meal planner to enjoy yummy family-friendly recipes like the Best Burgers Ever and Baked Potato Nachos, plus plenty of fresh veggies, so you can feel good about feeding your family on a budget.
Here at Crumbs, we’re all about eating real food on a budget. I encourage you to do things like shop in bulk, consider NOT using coupons, and use tricks to save on meat at the store.
But sometimes it’s not HOW you shop, but WHERE you shop that makes the biggest difference. Shopping at the wrong store might be a reason you’re NOT saving money on food!
Case in point – check out my side-by-side comparisons of ALDI vs. Costco, and ALDI vs. Walmart!
Knowing how to shop strategically to slash your grocery budget comes with years of experience (or you can get there faster by taking my course!).
But as you build your shopping experience, you can “hack” your strategy by creating a meal plan that lets you buy everything you need from one store. Not just any store though – a store that is known for their low prices…like ALDI.
Psst! If you think shopping for deals means spending all day driving all over town, you’re wrong! Let me teach you how to shop quickly, and still get everything you need. Enrollment for my course Grocery Budget Bootcamp opens just a few times each year, and graduates save anywhere from $200 – $300 in the first month alone! Enrollment is currently closed, but you can join my FREE 5-day Crush Inflation Challenge and start saving money on groceries tomorrow!
BUDGET MEAL PLANNER ALDI
It’s also no secret that I’m a big advocate of meal planning. I have TONS of free meal plans on the blog. But would you believe that I’ve never specifically made a budget meal planner Aldi style?
Let’s change that. Today, our focus is on a week of Aldi dinner ideas.
ONE WEEK ALDI BUDGET MEAL PLAN
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
- 100% real food recipes that are simple, straightforward, and family-friendly.
- Easy family recipes that are quick to make and all of them can be made in under an hour.
- A few store-bought items for things I typically make from scratch (like hamburger buns and spaghetti sauce). Feel free to make these things from scratch if you prefer.
- One week of Aldi dinner ideas that comes in right at $50 for a family of four!
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED:
- Spices, salt and pepper, olive oil, and vinegar. None of these Aldi recipes call for enormous amounts of these things, and you probably already have these pantry staples.
- Flour. Ordinarily, I’d include this, especially if we were doing a lot of baking. But this week, we’re skipping the baking, and you only need a couple of tablespoons for the meatballs. Most pantries have some sort of flour, but if you don’t, I’d ask a neighbor, or use a substitute like oats or breadcrumbs!
- Precautions for food allergies. My family is blessed to not have food allergies, so I don’t plan for them in my meal plans. However, ALDI has a fantastic gluten-free line of foods (and this ALDI meal plan is mostly gluten-free already), and if you’re dairy-free you’re used to subbing anyway. With a few tweaks, I think this ALDI meal plan would work in most food allergy families too.
NO BREAKFAST OR LUNCHES?
This meal plan doesn’t include breakfast or lunches because, in my experience, most families have personal preferences on what they eat for breakfast and lunch.
Have no fear though – I have NO DOUBT the ingredients you buy for this meal plan will provide extras you can use to cover breakfasts and/or lunches. Here’s why:
- Every main dish in this Aldi budget meal planner is something I make frequently with my family. Every single one of them covers dinner for the four of us AND enough for at least one leftover lunch (usually two).
- Use the “Bonus Meal Ideas” section at the bottom to create your own breakfast and lunch menu. Those are just some ideas to get started, but they’re there to help you use the ingredients you’re already buying!
- If you still don’t think this is enough food to cover breakfast AND lunches, buy a bag of apples and a container of oatmeal. Make apple cinnamon oatmeal or granola for breakfast and you’ll still keep your total bill under $55.
$50 ALDI Meal Plan
Sign up to get instant access to my $50 ALDI Meal Plan, complete with recipes and shopping list!ALDI MEAL PLAN PRICES
Prices for this Aldi meal plan have been updated as of March 2024. They were taken from an Aldi location outside of Atlanta just before publishing. The total cost in your area may be different!! I highly suggest…
- Shopping from your pantry first and substituting with as many things as possible where necessary to keep your Aldi shopping list as short as possible.
- Use your price book to find the rock-bottom prices in your area.
- Look at other stores like Walmart and Costco! I did side-by-side cost comparisons of ALDI vs. Walmart and ALDI vs. Costco and you might be surprised at what I found out!
- Remember, you’ll likely have extras of some ingredients! Use the Bonus Aldi Meal Ideas section below for ideas on additional recipes to make.
ONE WEEK ALDI MEAL PLAN: WHAT TO BUY
The goal with any of my meal plans is to buy as little food as possible, use everything you buy, and do both without sacrificing taste or quality.
Without further ado, then, here’s what you’re buying for this free Aldi meal plan:
MEAT
- Ground Beef 80/20, $3.99/lb: You’ll need two pounds of this to cover hamburgers and meatballs. My recipe for meatballs makes A LOT of meatballs, and we always have leftovers. Save the extras for a lunch or freeze them for a future dinner.
- Bacon, $3.79/lb: One pound of bacon is getting split between the Baked Potato Nachos and BLT’s. Be sure to save the bacon grease for cooking – it’s great for adding bacon flavor to just about anything (try it in my Caramelized Onions and Swiss Chard recipe)!
- Chicken Leg Quarters, $0.89/lb: You need about 1 ¼ pounds of chicken leg quarters to equal 4 cups of shredded chicken. You’ll use this chicken in the Southwestern Chicken Chopped Salad and Chicken Fried Rice. Depending on your package, you might have extra chicken for lunches, or to freeze for a future dinner!
MEAT TOTAL: $12.66
COLD CASE
- Cheddar Cheese, $1.79/8 oz: You need 12 ounces for this meal plan, so you’ll end up with an extra 4 ounces of cheddar cheese by the end of the week. Personally, I’d shred it and freeze it in 2-ounce portions – that’s the perfect amount to use in a taco bar!
- Eggs, $1.29/dozen: This meal plan only calls for 2 eggs, so you’ll have several left over. Save them for the following week, use them for breakfast, or use the “Bonus Meal Ideas” below for more ideas!
- Sour Cream, $1.69/16 oz: Sour cream is a topping for Tortilla Soup and Baked Potato Nachos, but you can also add it to your Southwestern Chicken Chopped Salad too. If you serve spaghetti and meatballs at the end of the week, add leftover sour cream to the sauce for a fun twist on pasta night!
- Frozen Veggies, $1.19/16 oz: You’ll need one bag of mixed vegetables for Chicken Fried Rice, and one bag of corn for Southwestern Chicken Chopped Salad and Tortilla Soup. You could use fresh for the fried rice, but this is a shortcut to help you save time without sacrificing quality!
COLD CASE TOTAL: $8.94
PANTRY
- Black Beans, 59¢/15 oz: You need one can of black beans for this Aldi menu, which will get split between Tortilla Soup and Southwestern Chopped Salad. Be sure to drain them well and rinse them twice to avoid gas!
- Garbanzo Beans, 59¢/15 oz: Just like the black beans, you need one can to split for two meals this week.
Note: If you decide to cook dry beans instead, you can shave off a few cents per “can.” See the math when I compared dry vs canned beans! Plus, it’s SUPER easy to make beans in the Instant Pot, portion them out, and stick the extras in the freezer for future meals.
- Chicken Broth, $1.89/32 oz: I normally make a big batch of chicken broth using leftover chicken bones, but since not everyone does that, I put chicken broth on the shopping list. You need the entire quart for Tortilla Soup. If you prefer your soup to have more liquid, add some water without sacrificing the flavor.
- Ranch Dressing, $.89/16 oz: This is something else I personally typically make from scratch (here’s the recipe), but this might not be the case for everyone. We’re having salad 4 nights this week AND we’re using the dressing for dipping one night. If you have family members who are liberal with dressing, make sure they don’t go overboard too early in the week!
- Rice, $1.29/2 lbs: You only need 2 cups of cooked rice for one meal this week, so you’re definitely going to have leftovers with this purchase. That’s fine though, because rice stores well AND is a perfect side dish to almost any meal!
- Soy Sauce, $1.49/10 oz: Soy sauce is a staple in Chicken Fried Rice, and while you won’t use the entire jar, fried rice isn’t the same without it! Lucky for us, soy sauce won’t go bad sitting on the pantry shelf.
- Spaghetti Pasta, $1.45/2 lbs: You really only need 8 ounces for the Spaghetti and Meatballs this week, but you could bump it up to a full pound and still have enough spaghetti leftover for another meal!
- Spaghetti Sauce, $.99/24 oz: I normally make my own spaghetti sauce. Whether I go all out for Hearty Spaghetti Sauce or keep it minimal with a 15-Minute Sauce, it’s just something I prefer to make myself. In case you don’t, it’s something to buy on this week’s Aldi run for Spaghetti and Meatballs. Fortunately, it’s very affordable!
- Sunflower Seeds, $1.99/10.5 oz: Sunflower seeds might not seem that important, but I like the crunch they add to salads. And since we’re having several salads this week, this isn’t something to skip!
- Canned Diced Tomatoes, 87¢/15 oz: We need one can of diced tomatoes for Tortilla Soup. If you find a variety that’s fire-roasted or has added chiles, pick it up for a fun twist on this delicious recipe!
PANTRY TOTAL: $12.04
PRODUCE
- Avocado, $1.59/each: This isn’t cheap for one avocado, but I’m including it because it’s a healthy fat for us. It also helps to make Southwestern Chicken Chopped Salad feel more like a meal, than “just” a salad.
- Carrots, $.99/lb: You need carrots throughout the meal plan this week, including the Spinach Salad, Green Salad, and Tortilla Soup. Figure out how many carrots are going in each dish, and you won’t have any leftover!
- Cucumber, 49¢/each: We’re splurging on a cucumber to help bulk up the green salads this week. While this is a great deal right now, I’d pay up to $1 for one cucumber if necessary.
- Garlic, 5 cloves: 79¢/6 oz: Not every ALDI has fresh garlic, so I went with the jarred minced garlic this time around. You’ll use it in the Tortilla Soup and Chicken Fried Rice. Feel free to use extra if you like a lot of garlic!
- Grape Tomatoes, $2.49/pint: These are the highlights of the salads this week, and cutting the tomatoes in half stretches them out a bit further than if you used them whole.
- Green Onions, $.79/bunch: The green part of the onion is great in Tortilla Soup and Baked Potato Nachos, but don’t let the white part go to waste! I suggest adding any extra to the hamburgers. You can also chop and freeze extra green onions and add them to soup or stir fry in the future for extra flavor.
- Iceberg Lettuce, $1.19/head: Any variety of lettuce will work in the meal plan, but I chose iceberg because it was on sale this week. If you find another variety or a pre-packaged mix that gives you just as much and costs less, feel free to go that route instead! You’ll want two heads of lettuce or two bags of salad mix.
- Onions, $1.79/2 lbs: You only need one yellow onion this week for Tortilla Soup and the Green Salads, but you can also slice one up for Hamburgers and BLTs too.
- Potatoes, $1.99/5 lbs: Russet potatoes are inexpensive year-round, so we’re using them in Baked Potato Nachos and as a side dish for the burgers. If you have extras, feel free to make Crispy Potato Wedges with the BLTs too!
- Spinach, $2.49/5 oz: Spinach is not cheap, but it’s very nutritious and a nice alternative to a typical Green Salad. My ALDI only had pre-packaged organic spinach, so your cost might be less depending on what your store offers.
- Tomato, $1.49/16 oz: You need one tomato in this meal plan, for Baked Potato Nachos and BLTs. My ALDI doesn’t sell large slicing tomatoes individually, so you might have extras. Use the Bonus Meal Ideas section below for ways to use them up!
PRODUCE TOTAL: $17.28
TOTAL FOR ONE WEEK ALDI MEAL PLAN: $50.92
Not too shabby, eh? We’re coming in right at our target $50 budget with these Aldi recipes!
ONE WEEK ALDI MEAL PLAN: DINNERS
- Hamburgers // Potato Wedges // Green Salad
- Spaghetti and Meatballs // Green Salad
- Southwestern Chicken Chopped Salad
- Tortilla Soup
- Chicken Fried Rice
- Baked Potato Nachos // Spinach Salad
- BLTs // Veggie Sticks // Ranch Dip
Get these meal plan exclusive Aldi recipes, along with a printable grocery list (so you can head right to the store), right here!
$50 ALDI Meal Plan
Sign up to get instant access to my $50 ALDI Meal Plan, complete with recipes and shopping list!ADDITIONAL CHEAP ALDI MEALS
As you can see from the items above, you’ll have a few leftover ingredients from your shopping trip. Here are some bonus cheap Aldi meals to use it all up, so nothing goes to waste!
- Beef & Cheddar Omelets (using leftover meatballs, cheddar cheese and eggs)
- Rice Pudding (using rice)
- Veggie Fried Rice (uses extra rice, eggs, soy sauce, and any leftover vegetables)
- Savory Pasta with Onions, Bacon, and Greens (uses extra spaghetti and onions)
- Caramelized Onions and Swiss Chard (uses extra onion and leftover bacon grease)
- Mashed Potatoes (uses extra potatoes)
- Oven-Roasted Hashbrowns and Scrambled Eggs (uses extra potatoes, onions, and eggs)
- 15-Minute Tomato Soup (uses extra tomatoes)
- Cheddar Garlic Toast (uses extra cheese and bread)
For more tips for shopping at Aldi, check out my Ultimate Guide to Shopping at Aldi here. And if you’re looking for more Aldi meal plans, check out our NEW Aldi Meal Plan #2 here!
Do you have any inexpensive meal ideas you can shop for at ALDI? Or ideas for using up the leftover ingredients? Share your ideas in the comments below!
Jamie S
Hi! I’m so excited about the meal plan! For some reason the meal plan will not go to my email… I checked spam and nothing. Can you help?
Thank you!
Jamie
Jamie S
Ahhh sorry it just went through! Guess I was being impatient! 🙂
Katelyn
Help! Do I add sour cream to the tortilla soup while it’s cooking? How much? The recipe doesn’t specify.
Tiffany
No – it’s a topping!
Angela Stewart
One of my inexpensive meal ideas is my own take on Pasta Carbonara. I use bacon, angel hair pasta, light cream, an egg and frozen peas. If I dont have bacon on hand I get Real Bacon Pieces or just buy a few slices from the deli.
Grammyprepper
One thing I have never bought at Aldi’s is meat. I am curious to see what you, Tiffany, and fellow readers have to say about the quality of their meats. I know you have to really look at their produce closely. I have no issue at all with their ‘staples’, boxed and canned goods.
Kristen
We have organic meat at our Aldi, which is what I purchase. It’s a little pricier but worth it in my opinion.
Rebecca
Love the $50/week meal plan! More please!
Jackie
I will not buy Aldis chicken as the brand they carry, Kirkwood, has been accused of horrible abuse to their chickens. Please consider humane certified meat!!
Tara Mitchell
I can’t download your meal plan. I am getting an error message when I try to submit my email addy.
Tiffany
Hi Tara! Can you tell me what error you’re getting? All issues have been resolved – or so I thought!
Mary
Thank you I got the link, now on my way to Aldi
Valerie
This is great, thanks! Any plans for creating a vegetarian or vegan meal plan from Aldi? 🙂
Tiffany
Ooh… maybe? 😉
Christine Lund-Molfese
The vegan plan is a great idea! I have two daughters who decided on their own to do the research and became vegan after. Our family tries our best to eat food that is humane, and stick to my $650/food budget! It’s tough, though, unless you cut out the animal products – then it’s a lot of quinoa, hummus, black beans, and humane certified eggs. We eat meat like three times a week from Lucky’s Market, (which is based in CO); they do not carry factory farmed meats.
Marcie
Can the meatballs be cooked in a slow cooker with spaghetti sauce or do you suggest pre-baking them?
Tiffany
Hi Marcie! I’d cook them as directed in the recipe – it’s only 15 minutes. I’m not sure they’d hold up in a slow cooker for a long period of time.
Karin
Thanks for this meal plan! It looks really fun to try. Many of our Aldi prices here in central florida are a little higher than yours and I think I’ll need to up the portion sizes (my husband and son are big eaters) but this should still be very affordable compared to what I usually spend.
Kristen
Not at all the healthiest meal, but we make potatoe hamburger soup and we always make blueberry muffins to eat with it. Something my mom use to make when I was growing up.
Sliced potatoes (you can peel or keep the skins on) -add as many or as little as you’d like
Enough water to cover and boil til tender
Add cooked hamburger: again add as much or as little as you’d like
1-2 cans of cream of chicken soup
(Add more to taste if you want to make a huge batch)
Add it all together and stir! The longer you cook it, the thicker it will be. Add salt and pepper to taste and eat with warm blueberry muffins. Aldi’s muffin mix is our favorite
mangomama
I have tried this twice but am not getting the recipes or the plan. (Clicked on Download twice). Any ideas? thank you.
Tiffany
Mangomama – when you click the link, do you see a pop-up?
mangomama
Yes– it told me to enter an email address and my name which I did (twice) but no email came to me and no links. Thanks for looking into it!
Tiffany
Of course Mangomama! I show that it was delivered – can you check your spam folder maybe?
mangomama
It was not there. 🙁
April Castaneda
I’ve already bought the items for this meal plan, but I’m having the same problem. I entered several emails but it hasn’t been sent to me.
Tiffany
April – can you email me? tiffany (at) dontwastethecrumbs (dot) com
Amanda
I am so jealous of this Aldi you speak off. I don’t live in the US, so I have never seen prices this cheap. Chicken legs are $5/lb and eggs are never less than 1.99/dozen. I am lucky if canned beans go on sale for $0.99/15 Oz can.The meal plan looks really good, so I am going to give it a try!
Tiffany
Even if you don’t have an ALDI, I think the plan would still be fairly inexpensive. Enjoy Amanda!
Susan
Please keep going with the weekly Aldi meal plans.
This is a wonderful idea!
It would really help the family budget to only spend $50 each week.
Tiffany
Will do Susan!!
Dana Baker
Tiffany, I can’t seem to get this recipe list to download. Is there any way you could email it to me please?
Jackie
Are there links to the recipes?
Jessica
How do I get the recipes, now that I have all the ingridients?
Tina
Thanks for the great meal plan! Are the pantry and meat items from Aldi’s what you would consider “real food?” Are the meats pastured? Does the salad dressings and spaghetti sauce have all whole food ingredients? I have never been to Aldi’s. I think I assumed it was a low end store with cheap food. The prices you quote are fantastic!
Tiffany
Hi Tina! Yes, I’d consider pantry and meat items from ALDI real food. The meat isn’t pastured, but I consider that a quality of real food, not necessarily an identification of real food… if that make sense. Like, “beef” is real food. “Grass-fed” would be a quality of the beef, but that doesn’t make it real food. “Beef” is real food, on its own.
I’ve read almost every bottle and container in ALDI, and 99% of them contain whole foods without nasty preservatives. I’d recommend reading the labels before buying, just in case, but by far and large, ALDI has a great selection of real food!
Tina
I guess real food isn’t the right term. I am happy to here that the pantry items are healthy. I am looking forward to shopping there. Thanks for all of your hard work. By the way, your 15 Minute Alfredo sauce it excellent!
Tiffany
Thanks for the compliment Tina!!
Beth
They sell 100% organic grass-fed ground beef (usually in stock). Every now and then they will have organic grass-fed roasts ($7.99/lb). That goes fast so I watch the fliers.
Meagan
Aldi is my Meca. More plans please!
Tiffany
LOL – Will do!
AnnaKathryn
Also, did you mean to create links to the meal idea recipes? They don’t seem to be working.
Erica
I was wondering the same thing. Love the meal plan but am missing the links to the recipes. I’m a huge aldi fan and shop there along with the traditional grocery store each week. Would love to see the links added! The only link that I saw was for the meatballs in the text of the post.
Tiffany
Erica and AnnaKathryn – I’ve got that loaded for you now. A download that has all the recipes and a printable shopping list can be downloaded with one click. Sorry for the delay!!
Larissa
The link doesn’t seem to be working again. Could I get a copy?
Tiffany
Can you send me an email Larissa? Thanks!
Jaclyn
Could u please email me the recipes too? [email protected]
Katie
Can I get the recipes sent to me please
Beth
I can’t seem to get the recipes either. I just shopped today. Could you send me the link? Thanks so much! This looks awesome! bjauhola @proctor.k12.mn.us
AnnaKathryn
This is such a great meal plan! We moved to a new city a couple months ago and now Aldi is an hour away; I really miss shopping there and our budget has missed it too. On the flip side, Costco is only 15 minutes away now, so I’ve been shopping there. I think by next month, I will have finally finished restocking my pantry and freezer from the move and the Costco trips won’t be as expensive anymore!
Hope you all stayed safe during the hurricane!
Vanessa Coleman
WOW! 🕺 I finally found someone who’s as excited about Aldi’s these as I am! There’s hardly a week that goes by that I asked people where they shop for groceries… My husband and I moved to Georgia 12 years ago, and I still go to Publix and Kroger and now Sprouts for certain items. But I always start at Aldi’s, and I buy the majority of my groceries there. The quality is beyond compare! And after seeing a public television special about Aldi’s long after I started shopping there, it truly helps me to appreciate the quality of the products. Thank you so much for this page. I will definitely be using it!
Tiffany
You’re most welcome Vanessa!!
samnjoeysgrama
I was told by my husband that I am not allowed to go to Costco without an adult. They never let me leave until I spend at least $200, usually $300. I still prefer Aldi’s. I don’t get in as much trouble.
Tiffany
LOL!!
Frances quinn
I love aldis and would love to get your meal plan but it won’t download to my email