If your budget is getting hit hard every month with your grocery bill, it’s time to look at alternatives for your shopping. Aldi offers great quality at a lower price than most other stores. While this weekly meal plan focuses on dinner, you can easily add breakfast and lunch options and stay within your budget. Let’s take a look at the dinner menu first.
Meal #1: Spaghetti & Meatballs with a Green Salad
This is a quick and easy meal that everyone loves. You can buy ground beef for meatballs or make vegetarian “meatless” meatballs with roasted eggplant and white beans. Regardless of which option you choose, spaghetti, ready-made sauce, ground beef or eggplant and beans, and a head of lettuce will be about $6.
Meal #2: Chicken Fried Rice
Make your favorite take-out for less than picking it up or having it delivered. Make your fried rice with chicken leg quarters that you cook and shred for about $0.89/lb. Add in $1.232 for rice (you’ll have plenty left over for another meal as well) and $1.19 for a 16 oz bag of frozen veggies and you’ve made dinner for less than $5.
Meal #3: Turkey Nachos with Salsa, Avocado, and Black Beans
Cook half a package of ground turkey, saving the other half for turkey chili. You can also use half a bag of tortilla chips for nachos, saving the rest to have with turkey chili. Top your chips with turkey, black beans, and cheese. Put it under the broiler for 5-10 minutes and enjoy. If you’d prefer, make potato nachos by slicing and baking russet potatoes then topping with turkey and beans. Depending on which option you choose, dinner should be about $5-$7.
Meal #4: Slow Cooker Balsamic Maple Pork with a Green Salad
Marinade a pork tenderloin in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt and brown sugar overnight, poking holes in the meat to allow it to absorb the marinade. In the morning, put it in your slow cooker on low and let it cook all day. You won’t even need sauce because it’s so flavorful. The pork roast averages about $1.99/lb at Aldi so depending on how much you purchase then add a head of lettuce for salad, this meal should cost about $5.
Meal #5: Hamburgers and Potato Wedges with Green Salad
What could be easier than hamburger patties and potato wedges? With ground beef ($2.99/lb), buns ($0.89), potatoes (5 lbs for $1.99), and a head of lettuce ($1.19) you can make this meal for about $7 with plenty of potatoes left over for another meal.
Meal #6: Turkey Chili with Tortilla Chips and Carrots
Make this easy turkey chili recipe by adding everything to your slow cooker and letting dinner cook itself. Ground turkey is about $3.232/lb and you’ll use half for this recipe. Add in crushed tomatoes ($0.95) and two cans of black beans ($0.59) along with a bag of tortilla chips ($1.19) and baby carrots ($0.79). This dinner costs about $6 and you should have plenty left over for lunch the next day.
Meal #7: BLT’s with Carrots and Celery
BLT’s are both delicious and easy. A pound of bacon is about $3.79 and you can use it for sandwiches, add it to your hamburgers, or enjoy it for breakfast. Add in your produce and a loaf of bread, this meal is about $6.
This meal plan comes in at just under $50 for a week’s worth of dinners. If you’re looking to add breakfast, lunch, or snacks to your plan and stay within your budget, Aldi has some great ideas for you.
