Here’s your easy weekly ALDI meal plan for the week of 4/1/18: Pick up everything on the shopping list below, then start cooking on Sunday!
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On the “Almost” All ALDI front…
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But back to this week’s ALDI meal plan…
Let’s get ready to make six complete dinners for a family of four, just $60.00 out the door! Hope you find the free ALDI meal plans useful.
ALDI meal planning week of 4/1/18 – 4/7/18
I’m assuming here that you already have pantry basics like cooking oil, condiments, and spices. 🙂 *** Read through the recipes before you shop to make sure you have the necessary pantry staples on hand.
Six Easy Dinners from ALDI for $60.00
ALDI meal plan — Start cooking 4/1/18
- Sunday: Ham for Easter! Serve spiral sliced ham — either heat according to package directions, use your own favorite recipe, or cook it up in the Crock-Pot, your choice. Enjoy with baked potatoes, crescent rolls, roasted Brussels sprouts, and oven-roasted asparagus (toss on a sheet pan with olive oil, sea salt, and a little crushed red pepper and roast at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or so, depending on thickness — just put in the oven for the last ten minutes or so as you are roasting the sprouts and baking the potatoes). After carving the ham, use the ham bone to make a batch of broth overnight per the directions in Monday’s leftover ham soup recipe.
- Monday: Leftover ham soup with kale, potatoes, and white beans (use russet potatoes instead of yellow), along with the baguette.
- Tuesday: Gochujang veggie bowls with egg drop soup (use four eggs if you like, one per person) and oranges. On those veggie bowls: Double the mushrooms to 16 oz and use a little more soy sauce + Gochujang when sauteing those — simply because they’re so good I had wished my bowl was more mushroom-y. 😉
- Wednesday: Cheesy ham & broccoli rice skillet (use leftover ham, instead of ham steak), plus red grapes, and carrots + celery sticks with hummus.
- Thursday: Baked dry rub chicken drumsticks (use 2.5 lbs). Also chop rest of the broccoli into florets, steam it, and top with the last of your cheddar cheese, plus slice up the pineapple.
- Friday: Sheet pan Gochujang chicken drumsticks (substitute roughly chopped russet potatoes for little ones; use the other 2.5 lbs drumsticks). On the side, have oranges, plus make a salad with the rest of the chopped kale and top it with sliced hard boiled eggs. Note: To help mellow out the kale for salad, place it in a large bowl, add a little olive oil and a pinch of salt, then knead them around gently with your hands for a couple of minutes until they soften slightly.
- Saturday: Leftovers, family pizza night (ALDI sells a nice big take-and-bake pizza), eat out, or date night.
ALDI shopping list — Shop through 3/31/18
Dairy & refrigerated
Dozen Goldhen large eggs, $.78
Bake House Creations crescent rolls, $.89
8 oz Happy Farms block cheddar, $1.79
Little Salad Bar hummus, $1.99
Grocery
Specially Selected French baguette, $1.69
Cook House Korean style Gochujang sauce, $1.99
Fusia soy sauce, $1.29
3 lbs Earthly Grains long grain white rice, $1.29
Two 32 oz boxes SimplyNature organic chicken broth, $2.98
Three 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes and/or diced tomatoes with garlic & basil, $2.07
2 cans Dakota’s Pride Cannellini beans, $1.38
Meat
9 lb spiral sliced Appleton Farms half ham, $8.55
5 lbs chicken drumsticks, $3.95
Produce
Pineapple, $1.29
4 lb navel oranges, $2.49
5 oz SimplyNature organic baby spinach, $2.49
12 oz SimplyNature organic chopped kale, $3.49
Two bags 16 oz Brussels sprouts, $2.58
16 oz baby carrots, $.99
Two packs 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, $3.78
16 oz broccoli crowns, $1.69
1 lb asparagus, $1.49
One bunch green onions, $.89
1 lb red grapes, $1.19
3 lb yellow onions, $1.69
3 heads garlic, $1.19
16 oz green beans, $.99
Celery, $1.29
One medium sweet potato, about $.60 (sold at $.49 per lb in my ad this week)
10 lb russet potatoes, $1.99
That comes to $60.76.
Or, maybe less… 🙂 These meals will likely run you even less if you supplement this week’s ALDI purchases with clearance meat you already have in your freezer, pantry staples you picked up on sale, produce you already have on hand, and/or sale produce from your local produce market. Let me know if you give it a try!
*** Download this week’s shopping list in Word format so that you can edit and add in your own meal ideas, remove items you already have on hand, change regional pricing to match your own store, etc. *** The day(s) next to each item show which meals use each ingredient, so that you can easily see what to delete from the shopping list if you’re skipping a night.
Things to know about the ALDI meal plans
A couple of notes
- I try not to repeat main dish recipes more often than once a month, but you will see favorite easy recipes come up again in these weekly ALDI meal plans as the same meats and produce items come up again on sale. Part of the fun of meal planning lies in mixing old stand-bys with something new each week.
- If one or more of these recipes isn’t to your taste, or if you have other ingredients to use, you can adapt the recipes in this ALDI meal plan to your family’s preferences — or just use the ideas here to supplement your own meal planning. See: Pantry staples to stock up on and how to modify a meal plan for your family.
** Ad markets and dates
This week’s ALDI meal plan reflects prices from the current week’s ad (running 3/25-3/31 in Sunday ad markets, and 3/28-4/3 in Wednesday ad markets). Non-advertised prices were collected on 3/28/18 at my local store in the Chicago suburbs, but non-advertised prices and produce deals *may vary* by location & region. In either ad market, shop any time through Saturday and start cooking on Sunday 4/1/18.
Stay in the ALDI meal planning loop
- Browse all of the weekly ALDI meal plans here *** note: prices may have changed since originally posted.
- If you find this meal plan useful, why not share it with your friends on Facebook so they can save money with ALDI meal planning as well?
- While you’re over on Facebook (if you enjoy deals in general) please come join us in the Hot Deals Facebook group! 🙂
Happy ALDI shopping and cooking this week, everyone!
Useful resources for meal planning + ALDI shopping
Before we get started this week, here are a few resources to help you out with your meal planning and ALDI shopping:
- Come join us in the Almost All ALDI Facebook group for recipes, meal planning ideas, ALDI food finds, and more.
- How fun are these brand new ALDI themed t-shirts I have for you guys? Check out my just-launched Amazon storefront, and browse several tees that show our mutual ALDI love.
- Pick up a pack of meal prep containers & pack up any dinner leftovers for easy weekday lunches!
- Cute & handy ALDI quarter keepers.
- Check out my Amazon shop for some of my favorite useful items for your own meal planning. Also useful: Two pack insulated grab bag totes, or two pack clip to cart bags.
- Almost All ALDI, the eBook.
You can also access your current regional ALDI ad here.
Lauren
Saturday 31st of March 2018
Rachel,
My Aldi didn’t have the Cook House Korean style Gochujang sauce, can you think of anything off hand that I can use instead and it still be as good??
rachel
Saturday 31st of March 2018
It's similar to Sriracha but a little richer and smokier, and the one at ALDI is more like a little thicker sauce. You might try using Sriracha but a little less of it, and adding a little honey as well -- but please note that I haven't tried it specifically that way, so no guarantees. :)
Jamie
Friday 30th of March 2018
This is freakin awesome! Thanks Rachel!
rachel
Saturday 31st of March 2018
Enjoy! :)
Cassie
Thursday 29th of March 2018
Rachel, I can not thank you enough for these meals!!! I didn’t have an Aldi until we moved to SC about 2 yrs ago and it’s been the best thing !!! I try to follow your shopping list and meals every week when I make my shopping trip!!!
rachel
Saturday 31st of March 2018
Thanks! And I don't think I could ever move too far away from an ALDI, now. ;)