- Aldi's affordable prices are great for buying staples as well as a few fun, unique treats.
- My partner and I love the range of organic and local products the grocer sells.
- We tend to buy more packaged staples here, like sardines, mustard, and Swiss chocolate.
I'm an American baker who relocated to Switzerland to be with my partner.
Switzerland is well-known to travelers for its gorgeous mountains, skiing, and cheese. But living here is very expensive.
I do most of our shopping at Aldi because the prices and quality are great. Here's what I buy on a typical grocery run.
Marinated stuffed peppers are a great ready-made appetizer.
I love having something to snack on while I'm cooking dinner.
The cheese and herb stuffed peppers in olive oil are delicious and only 2.39 Swiss francs (CHF), or about $2.70.
Hard-boiled eggs, aka “picnic eggs,” are great for hiking lunches.
For an American, seeing hard-boiled eggs as a regular staple at grocery stores surprised me at first.
They're often painted in bright colors so you don't confuse them with raw eggs, and they've become our go-to easy lunch when we go on a weekend hike.
Eggs are definitely pricier here than in the US, a pack of four cost me about 4 CHF.
Ovomaltine is one of my beloved breakfast drinks.
Ovomaltine is a malty, slightly sweet powder that's typically added to milk.
Swiss kids tend to grow up on it, and I absolutely love the nostalgic drink. Sometimes I even buy ready-mixed bottles if I need a quick breakfast in the morning.
I found a 250-milliliter bottle at Aldi for about 2 CHF.
Swiss Chocolate is a no-brainer treat to buy at Aldi.
My sweet tooth is mostly drawn to chocolate — and of course, Swiss chocolate is some of the best.
Each bar of Munz chocolate is only 2 CHF, so I always keep some on hand. They're also great to have when I want to bake something chocolaty.
Rosti is a delicious breakfast or dinner.
Rosti is a Swiss national staple. It's essentially a giant hash brown that can be eaten in a variety of ways.
I love buying prepackaged rosti — which costs about 3 CHF at Aldi — because it cuts out the labor of shredding potatoes.
We usually eat it with a fried egg, sausage, or even melted cheese for a hearty meal.
I always buy a bag of salad mix for lazy dinners.
Our default don't-want-to-cook dinner is a large salad with bread and any other cold cuts from the fridge.
Each bagged salad costs about 2 CHF at Aldi, so it's easy to keep a few on hand.
We eat a lot of local Appenzeller cheese.
Swiss cheese is famous for good reason, and I love that Aldi sells so much regional cheese at good prices.
A 4.30 CHF block of Appenzeller is one of our favorites — we eat it with bread all the time.
Organic milk is an affordable staple.
I love that Aldi offers a range of local, organic products that aren't too expensive.
Since we go through a lot of milk in our house (mainly for coffee and baking), a 1.80 CHF liter of organic milk is a great deal.
You can't beat Aldi's prices on organic olive oil.
Getting a liter of organic olive oil for 10 CHF is a bargain here.
We always stock up — I just wish the store sold it in larger quantities.
Mixed olives are one of our favorite additions to big salads.
Almost every time we shop at Aldi, a bag or two of Mediterranean olives gets thrown into the basket.
They're so delicious — we add them to our salads or keep them around for snacking. And I think 2.25 CHF a pack is a great deal.
We buy a variety of mustards for dressings and sandwiches.
I put mustard on just about everything, so we go through it fast.
Aldi has a variety of flavors in large tubes for 3 CHF each.
It's nice to have a pack of sardines on hand.
My boyfriend loves sardines and often eats them on crusty bread with dinner.
The Atlantic sardines packed in oil that Aldi sells are a tasty protein source for just 2 CHF a tin.
Click to keep reading Aldi diaries like this one.
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