Beginner gluten-free Tips for hoping at Aldi

I never got around to my 24 hour Aldi Challenge but in the long run, I really couldn’t. Our local Aldi doesn’t have all the nice stuff that other Aldi’s have at least as far as gluten-free food is concerned. But because of that, I have learned many important tips for shopping gluten-free at Aldi so that anyone can do it.

1. Check the prices: Just because you think something is cheaper at Aldi, doesn’t mean that it is. The Shells and Cheese, and their gluten-free “Hot Pockets” are usually a great price. But check the gluten-free pretzels. Now that Snyder’s and Handover have their own gluten-free chips pretzels in other stores, I’ve realized that the better price would be Snyder’s and Handover would be tons cheaper.

2. Always check to see if the item is gluten-free: It’s easy to tell if Aldi’s products are gluten-free. They either will have one or two things on the box or container a certified gluten-free symbol or say that they’re gluten-free on it. Usually, if the item is in the gluten-free section, which isn’t an entirely huge section the item will be gluten-free.

3. Once you know what stuff Aldi sells to make a meal plan: If you can make a meal plan for foods you can get at Aldi and both at your local stores. It’ll make becoming gluten-free easier. It’ll even be a lot cheaper than just picking up random items off the shelf and hoping that you actually made a meal.

4. If it’s your first time trying something new from Aldi, only by one package: The only time that this rule doesn’t apply is if you live far away and you think you might like an item. But because I’m almost next door to our local Aldi store, I usually only buy one package of whatever it may be so that if I don’t like the product I won’t eat it again. Sometimes the gluten-free equivalent of an item is not as good as the regular version, even when it comes to Aldi’s.

5. Always look at seasonal items: Seasonal items at Aldi, especially during Celiac month have some interesting items sometimes. In some of the Facebook groups I’m in, people would post photos of cheesecakes, donuts, and even gluten-free pizzas. That they found. I’d run to my local Aldi, hoping that they’d be carrying exactly what I wanted when it came to vegetarian and gluten-free stuff during Celiac month. Just to be let down. But every store is different, it doesn’t hurt to check and see if your store sells something different than other people are advertising.

6. Join gluten-free and celiac groups online: Facebook has tons of gluten-free and celiac-friendly groups. If you need help finding any message me through my blog’s Facebook page, and I’ll try to help you. Being in online groups with people with gluten intolerance, gluten allergies and celiacs gives you a leg up about what is being sold at Aldi or anywhere else online. You don’t even have to be left out in the dark when it comes to going gluten-free.

Reader question: Do you have any tips for shopping at Aldi that I forgot?