Free ALDI Meal Plan week of 3/5/23

Welcome to your free ALDI meal plan for the week of 3/5/23! This week we’re cooking up everything from a most delicious cheddar jalapeño pull apart bread to comforting three bean & lentil chili — plus, so much more.

Welcome back to meal planning, and welcome back to less stressful family dinners! Our weekly ALDI menu plans have everything you need, including all of the easy recipes and a printable shopping list (or easy add-to-Instacart) for six complete dinners for four, $70 out the door. Bring your family together around home-cooked meals, and save time & money in the process.

Be sure to sign up to receive a weekly email alert about each new plan.

You can use any meal plan as an easy starting point, too. Modify your own family’s dinners around what’s in stock (or on sale) in your area, what’s on hand in your pantry, and/or special dietary needs and preferences.

Free ALDI meal plan week of 3/5/23 – 3/11/23

Cook along with us for the answer to the never-ending question: What’s for dinner?

*** Subscribe to our weekly ALDI meal plans here ***

Before jumping straight into this week’s menu, let’s talk briefly about new ALDI Finds & updates.

St. Patrick’s Day foods & seafood!

ALDI Finds for the week of 3/1/23 include St. Patrick’s Day foods, Lenten seafood, a spin mop starter set, and more!

*** All of my favorite ALDI Finds of the week, here. ***

Check out this week’s picks (and pix), and let me know what you want to Find.

Lastly, here’s what’s new on the Amazon front:

Last week’s fun & weird Amazon finds include some simply hysterical reviews on the classic Hutzler banana slicer, and so much more.
This HUGE list of HUNDREDS of subscribe & save filler items is updated every Thursday.

But with no further ado, here’s your ALDI meal plan for the week of 3/5/23. *** Be sure to sign up for our weekly emails, so that you never miss a new one.

ALDI Meal Planning week of 3/5/23 – 3/11/23

Pick up everything on the shopping list below, then start cooking on Sunday. As always, six complete dinners for four, $70 out the door.

*** Print your meal plan summary + grocery shopping list below this week’s detailed plan, in Word, .rtf, or PDF format. ***
I’m assuming that you have on hand some pantry basics like cooking oil, condiments, and spices. Read through the recipes before you shop, to make sure that you have the necessary pantry staples on hand for this week’s ALDI menu plan. *** The printable shopping list includes a separate section of needed basics for the week.

Six easy dinners from ALDI for $70

ALDI Meal Plan — start cooking 3/5/23

Sunday

Vegetarian three bean + lentil chili topped with shredded cheddar (plus a little chopped jalapeño, if desired)
Copycat Trader Joe’s cheddar jalapeño pull-apart bread
Cut up the mangoes on the side

Monday

Zucchini Spanish rice burrito bowls — Substitute trimmed chicken tenderloins for chicken breast, but note that these may cook through in the skillet a little more quickly
Half of the bag of oranges

Tuesday

Sheet pan smoky Parmesan chicken tenders & veggies
Cups of leftover chili from Sunday

Wednesday

Oven baked chicken thighs & rice
Carrots need butter & thyme (cut up regular carrots into sticks, instead of using baby carrots)

Thursday

Cheesy smoked sausage & rice skillet (use cheddar brats, whichever color bell pepper you have left, & the rest of the shredded cheddar), topped with sliced jalapeño if desired
Roasted broccoli with Parmesan, using shredded Parmesan to taste, instead of grated

Friday

Easy artichoke mushroom pasta
Serve with the salad kit, and
The rest of the bag of oranges

Saturday

Leftovers, family pizza night (ALDI sells nice big take-and-bake deli pizzas), carryout, mix it up!

ALDI Shopping List — Shop through 3/4/23

*** Check below this grocery list for Easy One-Stop Instacart Shopping, as well as an editable easy-print version.

Dairy & refrigerated

1 can Bake House Creations jumbo flaky biscuits, $1.69
16 oz Happy Farms shredded mild cheddar cheese, $3.99
Emporium Selection shredded Parmesan, $2.49

Grocery

24 oz Casa Mamita medium salsa, $2.29
3 lbs Earthly Grains long grain white rice, $2.29
12 oz jar Tuscan Garden marinated artichokes, $2.69
32 oz box Simply Nature organic chicken broth, $1.89
32 oz box Simply Nature organic vegetable broth, $1.89
12 oz Reggano farfalle, $.95
16 oz Dakota’s Pride green lentils, $1.29
2 cans of Happy Harvest whole kernel corn, $1.18
Can of Dakota’s Pride great northern beans, $.71
Can of Dakota’s Pride dark red kidney beans, $.79
Can of Dakota’s Pride black beans, $.79
Can of Happy Harvest fire roasted diced tomatoes, $1.09
Can of Happy Harvest diced tomatoes, $.79
2 cans of Happy Harvest tomato paste, $1.38
28 oz can Happy Harvest crushed tomatoes, $1.29

Meat

Parkview cheddar brats, $3.49
3.5 lbs chicken tenderloin, $8.02
2 lbs bone-in chicken thighs, $4.58

Produce

3 lb bag cara cara oranges, $2.99
2 mangoes, $1.98
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, $1.99
8 oz white mushrooms, $1.89
1.25 lbs broccoli crowns, $2.36
2 lbs carrots, $1.89
Little Salad Bar sunflower chopped salad kit, $2.99
3 lbs yellow onions, $2.19
3 heads garlic, $1.49
1.25 lb pack of zucchini, $1.61
8 oz jalapeño peppers, $.89
3 pack multi-colored bell peppers, $2.79

That comes to: $70.63

Or, maybe less…! These meals can run 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 have on hand, and/or sale produce from your local fruit market.

Shop this week’s meal plan with Instacart

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Easy-peasy: *** Add this week’s grocery list to your Instacart. ***

IMPORTANT! READ BEFORE CHECKING OUT:

You’ll need to check your pantry for staples not included in this Instacart list. *** See needed pantry staples, below.
The list feature doesn’t allow me to add multiples of a single item or to change the weight of items, and the meat special buys don’t usually show up. So: Before adding the list to your cart, change the following
1. The special buy sale family packs of chicken tenderloin aren’t showing up, so if these are also in your ad, add a note to your shopper to get you close to a 3.5 lb pack. (If not, add the regularly priced chicken tenderloin or substitute chicken breast.)
2. Make a note you want around a 2 lb pack of bone-in chicken thighs, since I can’t change the weight for you.
3. Change these quantities: Canned corn to two, tomato paste to two, and mangoes to two.
4. On the pre-packed veggies, make a note to your shopper that you want around 1.25 lbs broccoli crowns, and 1.25 lbs zucchini.

Please use the add your list to Instacart feature at your own risk, and always double checking your cart against the grocery list above. Also note that Instacart prices are higher than in store, so your total will be higher than shown in the above grocery list.

** Pantry staples to check for before shopping: Olive oil, butter, brown sugar, unsweetened baking cocoa, garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, Italian seasoning, parsley, basil, thyme, cayenne, seasoned salt, crushed red pepper, sea salt, salt, black pepper

Printable ALDI meal plan & grocery list

Print this week’s meal plan:

*** Download this week’s printable ALDI shopping list and meal plan in Word format, or:
- Download in .rtf format
- Download in PDF format
If you don’t have Word, try opening this in Google Docs or Wordpad.

Edit and add in your own meal ideas, remove items you have on hand, and/or change regional pricing to match your own store. *** Day(s) next to each item in the printable shopping list show which nights use each ingredient, so that you can easily see what to delete if you’re skipping a night or modifying.

Things to know about these 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 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 up, 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 & dates

This week’s ALDI meal plan reflects prices from the current week’s ad (running 2/26-3/4 in Sunday ad markets, and 3/1-3/7 in Wednesday ad markets). Non-advertised prices are from my local store in the Chicago suburbs. Prices and produce deals *can vary* by location & region. In either ad market, shop any time through Saturday and start cooking on Sunday 3/5/23.

Stay in the meal planning loop

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Happy ALDI shopping & cooking this week! 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?