Supermarket Aldi meat quality

#1

Do any of you shop your meat in Aldi? Aldi has got a bit of a bad rap it looks like online. But I find its affordable prices a life saver. I think the minced beef tastes wonderful, it’s not grassfed, but it’s affordable. I get 4 packs of minced beef and that doesn’t even last me through the entire week, even though I combine the beef with my pasture eggs. So I’ll be buying a couple more packs, I’m keen to try the minced lamb they sell as well. Lamb has such a delicious, distinct flavour, and Aldi’s lamb chops are really good, albeit small. But I’ve never tried their minced lamb before. Anyone tried Aldi’s minced lamb? Or any minced lamb?

My SO and I also buy pasture eggs and raw milk from our local grassfed farm. If my SO and I bought everything grassfed and free range, however, we would probably starve. Most of us can’t do it, but we do our best. Which is why it annoys me when keto/ketowore/carnivore promoters talk about the importance of eating everything grassfed (must think we’re rich like them). Aldi may not be perfect, but it has made a pledge to source fruit and vegetables, when in season, locally. And all the meat we buy is sourced from farms in Britain, with a limited budget I absolutely think Aldi and places like Lidl too, are just great for getting our hands on good, affordable meat. And to me the minced beaf in Aldi tastes really good, even if not grassfed or organic. I am not a connoisseur of food, merely trying to eat well for my health.

Where do you buy your meat and do you buy just grassfed, or grainfed, or a combination of both?

(Karen) #2

I shop whereever its cheap and even beyter if its marked down getting to its sell or use by date. I get a lot 9f meat from lidl which i actually prefer to aldi but that doesn’t mean o dont shop in aldi. I think lidl is cheaper and they mark their food down between 6.30 and 7pm so i presume aldi do something similar so perhaps you could ask them if there is a specific time they do their mark down. When they mark down in lidl it is usually 30% which all adds up when, if you are like me you are hunting steaks.

Not sure where you live but here in UK, up in East Midlands, we have a shop called The Company Shop and they sell close to date foid at mark down prices. The food is from major supermarkets including the upper crust waitrose, M&S and Sainsburys but also include aldi, lidl, tescos and acado. Then when the food is at its sell by it gets reduced even further. I picked up ribeyes in there today at £1.25 each. You have to get membership but that is easy and i nominated my friend today who is on housing benefit and we are now waiting for his card so he can shop there on his own. Hope this is helpful. Oh yhat shop also sells organic and grassfed but i still go for the cheapest meat cos i am a scrooge :wink:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

A lot of people on the forums do, as well as at the other chain owned by the same people, Lidl. You can do a forum search on the store names to find out what other people have said.

(KM) #4

Aldi in the US midwest does stock some chicken that’s “better” - that is, it’s organic or free range or has no added hormones. It’s more expensive than the standard stuff they’re selling, but still a better buy than getting the same quality from a standard supermarket. They also have organic ground beef - not sure if it’s grass fed. Again, more expensive than the baseline but cheaper than anywhere else for the same product.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

I believe Aldi and Lidl are job-lotters, meaning they sell the leftover products that wholesalers can’t sell in large lots. That means that what they sell and when is going to vary from place to place and over time.

#6

As you know, I don’t even want the animal I eat to able to live on grass… :smiley: Pigs aren’t grazers. So this “grassfed” hype doesn’t make sense in my diet.

My meat comes from tiny local supermarkets, LIDL and any other bigger supermarket chains and a little amount of it from the shop of the nearby pig farm.

My very rarely (not every month) ruminant meat comes from

  • Auchan (deer or if I think it okay enough, -50% beef) or LIDL (deer)
  • the not very close but not too far beef farm (usually beef but I got mutton and goat from it but it’s one chance per several years. they have beef multiple times a year, well that’s their main thing and summer camps. there is a few hours when one can order meat and that’s it for 1-2 months, more if not in the right place of the year).

I don’t really need to think about the quality as I either eat cheap meat or I eat carbs or I starve. But I do what I can. The beef farm beef has the exact same price as supermarket beef. The pig farm pork is a big more expensive but not by much and their smoked stuff can be cheaper and better (I don’t really understand their pricing but certain items are quite cheap and way better than anything I can get in supermarkets for similar price).
Now I do my best to lower the amount of my food, something I should have done ages ago anyway. That does good to my food costs.

My body is very resilient and handle cheap food well. I do watch what I eat, it’s not crap but fortunately the most important for my body that I eat very low-carb simple (typically one ingredient) food. Whatever I would do quality wise, eating carnivore seems to be better than ANY diet I could do with significantly more carbs.

Aldi is too expensive regarding meat so I never buy any meat there. They are wonderful at dairy prices though. At least here in Hungary. LIDL is similar except the pork with the price cap and deer when they have it. Those items I buy there but that’s it. The tiny village supermarkets have great prices lately and they are close…
And Auchan is big, has variety and often great prices. And buying 5kg pieces with just enough plastic around them? I like when it’s not a huge amount of plastic per kg. And anyway, it’s boring to handle those tiny 1.5kg slabs… I still didn’t get used to them so I roast ONE at a time and it lasts no time… Now I pair it with chicken though, it’s better. Supermarket chicken isn’t so great but it can be nice enough. It gives me protein, it’s tender so if it’s not completely tasteless, it’s good enough for me. Well it would be better to get animals living a semi-decent life but I really can’t afford to be that choosy. Even if I had the money, it’s hard to get very proper meat in big enough amounts and I don’t want to go to the city every time. Sigh.

I don’t even believe there is such a thing as minced lamb here but I never would buy mincemeat anyway. Lamb is almost impossible to find, sadly. I have eaten it like… 4 times in my life? That I remember… Maybe I should try it a tad harder but it’s really elusive.

Oh and my rabbit (we buy several per year) comes from the egg lady! Egg and rabbit, those are items I don’t buy in supermarkets ever. I need some standards left… And supermarket rabbit is too expensive and not proper eggs taste not so good anyway so it’s an easy decision.

#7

IDK about ALDI here but LIDL and every bigger supermarket has such a thing. About 4 times more expensive than “normal” chicken, WAY more expensive than the more substantial pork and it’s still not home-raised (the best) so it’s not for me. But it can be an option, yes.
Interesting that there is no difference if it’s beef and little if it’s pork (okay, it’s supermarket vs farm, not supermarket vs supermarket but still. but the one hypermarket that sells farm pork uses not so higher prices either. and game is cheaper than beef).

I don’t understand these prices, I am just glad meat is affordable for me. Actually, the cheapest food I can get as far as I know. Maybe not counting gluten but I don’t even want to eat seitan once a month let alone live on it, no matter how wonderfully tasty it is (I learned to make seitan after I started my carni times. oh well, my SO appreciates it here and there. and it’s my plan B).
Of course it’s not true for others who can get wonderfully satiated by cheap plants (well as far as plants are cheap after this crazy high inflation we got) but I am not one of them. I eat more plants, I need to eat more fat and protein from the right sources as well so my diet just get costlier. And soon my body starts to complain. I feel super lucky that my dietary direction is so very obvious… Makes decisions easier.

#8

By the way, I like LIDL’s pork with the price cap (fresh ham) because it’s a lean meat but with a cute lovely fat layer. The same item in the nearby supermarket is too lean. Sometimes it’s a very important thing when we decide what to buy… The right fat content is highly important for me. Even now when I am used to leaner pork. It still shouldn’t be too lean.
(LIDL is the only place where I saw light pork loin, oh my…)

#9

Hi Shinita, I can’t afford to buy grassfed muscle meats and I get minced beef because (1) For some peculiar reason beef is all my body wants right now (2) I eat a lot of meat, I go through a fairly large pack of minced beef a day and I’ve been getting 4 of them to make them last through the week, it doesn’t so will have to up it to 6 packs. I also eat 4 of my pasture eggs daily. Anyway, it’s only the organ meats I’m looking to get grassfed. And by buying minced beef instead of steaks I can then afford the grassfed organ meats to pair with the muscle meats or mince meats. And honestly, the minced beef with 20% fat, is simply delucious andvso versatile, I pair it with my eggs or make patties, and sprinkle with my favourite pink himalayan rock salt. I don’t know why my body just wants beef, my family thinks I’m nuts, but it just makes my body feel so good, like it’s got everything I need. Even though it’s conventional meat, not grassfed. Yes, we do the best we can. Very few of us could afford to buy everything grassfed, free range or organic, it’s just not the norm. But if the body says it likes it regardless then that’s a sign of good enough quality of the meat to me. Despite this odd beef phase, I’m going to get some minced lamb and see if I like it still. The lamb chops are good, but really small so not good value. My SO and I also shop at Lidl. Both Lidl and Aldi are great, I think, for affordable meat.

(Doug) #10

I like both of them - there’s a Lidl very close and in February they were giving $10 off purchases of $50 or more. Coupons came in the mail, but at the store the cashiers were scanning a ‘master sheet’ of coupons so everybody got the deal - no limit on the amount of times you checked out with $50 worth.

Never got any meat I didn’t like from Aldi or Lidl. Looking at all items, some are impressively cheap, and overall I think prices are very good. But you still have to watch things because they’ll sometimes stand out as being substantially higher than at other places. I’m not going to visit 5 stores in one day, but (neglecting transportation) I’d usually have to hit an Aldi, Walmart, Costco, Sam’s Club and Restaurant Depot to get the best price on everything.

#11

And it’s not just the price, different chains have different items and I am choosy enough not to be happy with just any if it comes to certain items (like sour cream. not any supermarkets has one that tastes good to me and all have multiple kinds, even small village supermarkets as it’s so vital to our cuisine).
I look up the sales before we go shopping (it takes a lot of time but I only do it once a month) and then we try not to go everywhere, 4 should be enough… I can’t just visit 1-2, sadly. Oh it’s tiring but I get plenty of nice stuff for a good price and it’s very occasional. And I keep the local supermarkets to buy things I run out quicker and the price is good…
I don’t even buy staples without sale most of the time as there are sales all the time, that’s neat. The local place has chicken legs and pork chuck on sale almost every weekend and for less than any supermarket in the city and I don’t experience a worse quality, I don’t even understand but I am glad.

(Allie) #12

I exist quite nicely on Aldi meats and eggs from my flock.

#13

I do fine on Aldi meat and like it and price is decent and also there is a Lidl but it is a far drive, one day I will get there :slight_smile: I eat whatever is cheapr and eat my fill of it, some cuts, yea had issues but also got that in expensive darn fancy azz cuts of meat too so? yea I like them and will continue to shop those stores definitely.

@Karen18, you said: i still go for the cheapest meat cos i am a scrooge :wink:

NOPE…we don’t scrooge thru life, we zc smile thruit HA, but we are frugal with our hard earned money that is not going as far nowadays :wink: :100::partying_face:

#14

Hi Allie, me too, I mean I don’t get eggs from my own flock, but I get them from the same local farm (within walking distance) where I get my grassfed milk and raw honey. I can thrive just fine on both Aldi and Lidl meats, I buy the minced meats, as they’re cheaper and I make my own patties now, they never look great, but they taste great.

(Allie) #15

Same here, I get the 20% fat mince and make into patties in the George Foreman grill a pack at a time. Four big patties each pack.

(Doug) #16

I like this approach. Plan your work and work your plan.

#17

I get the 20% too, it’s really good, all my body wants to eat now is beef, oddly. I sprinkle with salt and that’s it, delicious. I also like to pair the mince with my pasture eggs, 4 pasture eggs and half a pack of beef mince for my first meal leaves me full till evening. Then I use up the other half and make the patties. Have you ever tried the lamb mince? I am keen to try it and see if my body will like it, it only seems to want beef at the moment.

#18

I go to the local farm shop. I’ve done the numbers and the brisket is the cheapest I can buy anywhere. The bacon and sausage are a little dearer but what price do you put on health?

I can’t really afford th steak though. Rump only occasionally when I’m feeling posh.

I go to a different farm shop for my eggs which aren’t the cheapest but they’re competitive.

On average I’m guessing I spend an extra £10 max per week more than a mainstream supermarket.

I think it’s really important to support local farmers though so I see it as money towards healthy environmentally friendly farming and money out of the pockets of this who put profits before solving the worldwide obesity crisis. I think they’d just as soon grow meat on a laboratory if they could make a penny more profit.

#19

Hi MrRedFox, I feel it’s important to support local farms too, though it isn’t always possible. But my SO and I get our raw milk from a local grassfed farm as well as pasture eggs and raw honey. Well that honey especially was a good buy as it will last me ages. I plan to also get some grassfed organ meats from a grassfed farm butcher, but that is all I can do when it comes to supporting nearby farms. The muscle meats and other produce such as fruits and vegetables we get from Aldi or Lidl, Asda or Tesco. And the meat tastes great, I particularly like the 20% minced beef from Aldi, it is very affordable and because I can save on this, I can afford to buy grassfed organ meats. We all do what we can on this WOE and my golden rule is, if the body gives me the thumbs up, the meat is good enough quality for me🙂

(Allie) #20

No I haven’t, the price puts me off tbh. The beef is perfectly fine for me.

Eggs and sardines for breakfast, pound of mince made into patties for lunch, eggs in the evening if I feel the need. Oh and currently, peppers, lots of sweet peppers and they’re working really well for me too.