12 Under-$5 Aldi Meals For A Cheap Dinner

Dollar Tree dinners may be trending on TikTok, but Aldi shouldn't be overlooked as a source of cheap, yet tasty, meals. Our favorite budget-priced grocer keeps things straightforward with smaller stores, a mix of private-label and name-brand products, and certain DIY aspects like packing your own groceries in BYO bags. (You'll also have to return your own cart to get your 25-cent deposit back.) This allows the store to offer a large selection of low-cost items ranging from everyday staples to ready-to-eat meals.

This list contains a selection of dinner ideas that can be made using items purchased at Aldi. In all cases, the main items themselves are either under $5 or, in one case, just a few pennies over. In some instances, however, your dish will certainly taste better if you already have certain seasonings or condiments at home or are willing to drop a few more bucks to pick them up at Aldi. (The chain does, after all, sell everything you need.) There are also a few instances where you may need to purchase a larger quantity, such as a bag of onions; Aldi, unfortunately, does not sell these singly. For example, a 3-pound bag of Aldi's yellow onions is currently priced at $1.89 at my store (prices may vary) and may contain six or more onions, so the actual price per onion is about 32 cents.

Aldi offers a wide variety of raviolis, all at different price points. None of them is what you'd call a budget-buster, but the cheapest variety of all – Priano ricotta and spinach ravioli — costs just $1.89 for an 8.8-ounce bag. Pair it with a jar of Reggano marinara pasta sauce ($1.85 for 24 ounces), and you're all set for dinner for under $4. If you add about a third of a 7-ounce bag of Emporium Selection shredded parmesan for $1.35, your total will top $5 by a whopping 9 cents, but you'll likely have leftovers of both sauce and cheese.

Apart from the occasional bird flu outbreak, the incredible edible egg is usually one of the cheaper sources of protein. A dozen large Goldhen-brand eggs are about $1.85 at Aldi, and with the addition of a $1.98 block of Happy Farms mild or sharp cheddar, you've got yourself the makings of an omelet. If you want to turn it into a real protein-packed powerhouse, stir in a pouch of Northern Catch tuna. This product is available in original, lemon pepper, or sweet and spicy for 89 cents, while herb and garlic, hickory-smoked, or ranch will run you 95 cents.

A slightly more upscale version of a fishy omelet can be yours with the purchase of a package of Specially Selected cold-smoked Atlantic salmon ($4.29 for 3 ounces). When blended with cream cheese, it makes a delicious two-ingredient dip, but for dinner (or brunch), it's amazing when stirred into scrambled eggs. Keeping under $5 assumes you've already got some eggs at home, as well as some bread for accompanying toast, but if your cupboard is bare, the aforementioned carton of $1.85 eggs means that a two-egg scramble really costs just 31 cents, while two slices of toast made from an $1.65 loaf of L'Oven Fresh split-top wheat bread would be about 17 cents.

For a souper-simple salad, all you need to do is open a can of soup and pair it with a pre-made salad. Some of Aldi's most budget-friendly options for the former are the Chef's Cupboard steak and potato and chicken pot pie soups, both priced at $1.09. If you combine either one with a $3.19 Little Salad Bar chef, chicken caesar, or Santa Fe-style salad bowl (these come complete with dressing), you'll not only have a light, healthy dinner, but change back from a fiver.

Once upon a long-ago time, elementary school kids (at least the ones in my elementary school) were taught that pizza was the perfect food-pyramid meal, since even without additional toppings, it contains starch (crust), vegetable (tomato sauce), and protein (cheese). Well, with our grown-up understanding of nutrition, we may not be able to claim it as health food, but it does make a satisfying (and very tasty) dinner. And cheap, too, at least if you buy it from Aldi. Mama Cozzi's original thin-crust cheese, pepperoni, sausage, meat lovers, and supreme pizzas are all priced at just $3.09.

This quick and easy dinner starts with a heat-and-eat calzone from Mama Cozzi's Pizza Kitchen. These are available in four cheese, pepperoni, Philly cheese steak, and buffalo chicken, all priced at $2.65. To accompany the main course, a hearty Park Street Deli side salad (either chickpea or black bean). These salads cost $2.55 per tub — and yes, math geniuses, the total amounts to $5.20. By using the rounding-down principle, though, the combo still counts as a $5(ish) dinner.

The laziest way to make homemade chili starts with just two ingredients: jarred salsa and canned beans. If you go with a 24-ouncer of Casa Mamita mild or medium chunky salsa ($2.75) and two cans of Dakota's Pride chili beans (95 cents each), your grand total will be a whopping $4.65. (Cheese, crackers, sour cream, and tortilla chips are all optional, but highly recommended if you have them at home or can spare an extra few bucks to buy them at Aldi.)

If you do make that lazy chili and have leftovers, here's an excellent idea for a second dinner: Spoon it over the top of a baked potato. Five pounds of baking potatoes cost $3.75 at Aldi, and a bag may contain about 15 potatoes, making your per-dinner cost just 25 cents per spud. Even if you need to use store-bought chili, Brookdale original chili with beans is priced at $2.19 per 15-ounce can. If you're feeling extravagant, you could also spring for a $1.89 8-ounce brick of Happy Farms sharp or mild cheddar to shred over the top.

Instant ramen has long been a staple of penny-pinchers, but with just a few bucks' worth of ingredients, you can transform a plain bowl of noodles in broth into a gourmet ramen bowl. Aldi's cheapest cup of noodles comes from Chef's Cupboard and is available in a choice of beef and chicken for $1.39 a piece. Add a soft-boiled egg (15 cents, based on Aldi's price of $1.85 per dozen), sliced green onions, ($1.25 per bunch), Happy Farms pepper jack cheese ($1.85 per eight-ounce brick), and any seasonings or condiments you may have that play well with ramen such as garlic powder, crushed red pepper, sriracha, fish sauce, or sesame oil.

One of my favorite easy Aldi meals starts with Specially Selected frozen mussels ($2.75 per 1-pound package). I love to mix the mussels in tomato garlic sauce with spaghetti, which I also buy from Aldi, of course. (A two-pound box of Reggano spaghetti is $2.09.) Sometimes, however, I change it up a bit and use the mussels in garlic butter sauce, although with the latter, I may be more inclined to swap out the pasta for a $2.05 Specially Selected take-and-bake baguette.

Aldi's Never Any! chicken sausage is not only healthy, but it's also quite affordable — only $3.29 per 12-ounce package, whether you opt for mild Italian, spinach and feta, or tomato and basil. Admittedly, adding a $1.89 3-pound bag of yellow onions and a $2.49 three-pack of multi-colored bell peppers will take you a few bucks over budget. If you consider that you only need to fry up one onion out of the six or so you'll be buying, though, as well as just a single pepper, this knocks the price-per-add-on down to a mere 31 cents for the former and 83 cents for the latter for a total of $4.43.

Homemade black bean soup needn't be time-consuming, difficult, nor expensive if you start with a 95-cent can of Dakota's Pride black beans and a $1.39 carton of Chef's cupboard chicken broth. Add a sautéed onion (31 cents, as already established) and a squeeze of lime (69 cents each, based on Aldi's price of $2.75 per one-pound bag of limes). These are the essentials, although you can also season your soup with salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, canned chipotles, hot sauce, or whatever else you've got in the cupboard.