10 Family-Sized Meals You Can Make For $10 Or Less At Aldi

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

We get it: The economy seems to be in constant fluctuation, and the sheer cost of feeding a family can feel overwhelming no matter what. Plus, it's impossible to track the time and effort required to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a family (not to mention snacks and desserts). If you're like us, you might be tempted to cook the same pasta dish over and over again because it is cheap and universally appealing. But even if your kids don't get tired of it, you might soon find yourself craving another dish. To help you put together a meal plan that actually excites you, we've scoured Aldi's website to find the best deals on nourishing and delicious products.

Aldi is one of the most affordable grocery stores in the United States, and this is not the first time we've expounded upon its budget-friendly products (there are plenty of great products under $1). In this article, we will recommend family-sized meals that you can easily make for $10 or less at Aldi. We prioritized budget-friendly ingredients, but where possible, we still selected flavorful, nourishing foods.

Although the average American family size is three people, we considered it to be four for this article. After all, who's going to complain about leftovers? Some recipes can be made for less than $10 total, though a few will require a slightly higher upfront investment (for instance, you won't use an entire 42-ounce package of oats to make breakfast for four people). Finally, we priced items using the online listings from our local Aldi. All prices are current to the time of publication, and prices will vary across stores.

Oatmeal is chock-full of healthy carbohydrates, fiber, and protein, and in our experience, most kids will reliably eat a bowl of it without pitching a fit. Our recipe for fresh pear overnight oats is as flavorful as it is convenient. Not only does it require less than $10 to make, but it can also be made with less than 10 ingredients and in less than 10 minutes. Overnight oats can be eaten cold or reheated the next morning in the microwave or on the stovetop.

First up, you'll need to buy a 42-ounce package of Millville quick oats for about $4.29. While you could make overnight oats with water, we suggest using milk instead for a creamier and more flavorful result. A 62-fluid ounce carton of Friendly Farms vanilla unsweetened almond milk cost us only $2.49 at Aldi, and it's what we recommend for the pear overnight oats. Next up, raisins are a popular way to add texture to overnight oats; when soaked overnight, they become irresistibly juicy. A 20-ounce package of Southern Grove California Raisins contains 14 servings and cost us only $4.79.

After combining these ingredients, you could stop and allow your family to customize their bowls as per their preferences the following morning. Fresh fruit is key for elevating the textural and nutritional value of oatmeal. To feed four people, our recipe requires only 2 bananas and 3 pears, totaling about $1.50. Finally, a few spices can go a long way. If you have cinnamon already on hand, you won't need to account for it in your prices.

Homemade scones can be difficult to perfect. Mix the dough with too much enthusiasm or use too little cream or butter, and you might be pulling bricks of flour out of the oven. If you don't have the time or bandwidth to experiment with techniques and ingredients, allow Specially Selected, one of Aldi's private label brands, to carry most of the burden for you. Depending on when you walk into your local Aldi, you might find a different version of Specially Selected scones available. For example, in early November, we found a box of Specially Selected premium gingerbread scones for $4.99, but word on the street is that the popular cranberry orange mini scones and blueberry mini scones are set to release later this month. Historically, these products have cost within $1 of one another.

Boxes of mini scones contain 12 ready-to-bake scones per package, while the gingerbread and pumpkin scones available earlier this month were sold in boxes of eight. Count on each family member eating one or two scones, but you might allot as many as three scones for hungry teenagers. While the gingerbread and pumpkin scones were accompanied by frosting, the upcoming mini scones are sold naked. To dress them up, you might consider purchasing a 15-ounce container of Countryside Creamery light spreadable butter for around $3.75. Plus, an 18-ounce jar of Berryhill sweet orange marmalade can complement the flavor of any of the scones mentioned for just $2.75.

Fruits and yogurt are usually among the first few foods that parents feed to their babies. Both options are easily digestible, flavorful, and packed with vitamins and minerals. The passion young children have for the two foods will typically last for years, if not for a lifetime. Need proof? Just look at the abundance of yogurt products designed for children, including Go-GURT and Danimals. However, such products are often infused with sugar and only sold in single-serving packages. For a homemade breakfast that will satisfy and nourish the whole family, start making fruit and yogurt parfaits.

With a simple blueprint of fruit, yogurt, and perhaps granola, parfaits are endlessly customizable. We suggest starting with a 32-ounce container of Friendly Farms nonfat plain yogurt, which we found for $2.75 at Aldi. It contains about five servings per tub, perfect for one family-sized meal. You can add honey or sugar as desired to sweeten the yogurt, though you might not need any after incorporating other add-ins.

An 11½-ounce box of Simply Nature pumpkin seed and flax granola cereal can be purchased for $2.65. Each box contains six servings, and this crunchy treat is brimming with protein and fiber. Meanwhile, a 24-ounce bag of Season's Choice frozen blueberries might go for $3.95, and you'll surely end up with leftover blueberries for future recipes. Alternatively, you could buy fresh fruit for a smaller upfront investment (and some would argue better texture), but there's no denying that frozen berries are economical while still doing the trick.

Finally, if you are looking for a savory recipe to get your family started off on the right foot, throw together a handful of breakfast burritos. This is another breakfast item with plenty of room for improvisation. Though breakfast burritos are commonly prepared with meats like sausage and bacon, this is not always the case. Beans, tempeh, and tofu are just a few of the plant-based ingredients that you might reach for when making vegetarian or vegan breakfast burritos.

Of course, unless you are making your own tortillas from scratch, they are the one product that is non-negotiable. Even so, you will be presented with plenty of options from which to choose at Aldi. We found an 8-count bag of Pueblo Lindo large burrito flour tortillas for just $2.35. If you want more flavor, though, you might go for L'oven Fresh spinach herb wraps or L'oven Fresh sun-dried tomato wraps, both of which include six wraps per package for $2.59 each.

Other common ingredients in breakfast burritos include eggs, cheese, and salsa. Egg shortages may have made headlines earlier this year, but at the moment, you don't have to worry about unreasonable prices when shopping for eggs at Aldi. We found one dozen grade A large white eggs from Goldhen for $2.59. We were also delighted to find a 15-ounce jar of Casa Mamita salsa con queso for $2.45. This product can provide just the right amount of saucy texture to a breakfast burrito while also lending a rich, slightly spicy flavor.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are at the top of our list when it comes to comfort food. You can't go wrong with two slices of buttered bread paired with a sharp, tangy cheese. Lured by the divine aroma, your family members will trickle into the kitchen as you cook grilled cheese sandwiches without you even having to ask. If you'd rather not stand at the stove for half an hour toasting sandwiches individually, pull out a large griddle like the Lodge reversible cast iron griddle. It fits over two burners and can house multiple servings at once.

Grilled cheese sandwiches can be made multiple times throughout the week without you having to return to the grocery store. Hard cheeses typically last 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator once opened, while salted butter can survive as long as three months under the same conditions. Bread may have a shorter shelf life at room temperature (perhaps up to a week), but you can always refrigerate it or freeze it.

Plan this meal for a weekend because grilled cheese sandwiches are best fresh off the griddle, perhaps alongside a salad or soup. When made with just three ingredients, this meal is also cheap. We found a 20-ounce loaf of L'oven Fresh honey wheat bread to cost $1.95, an 8-ounce block of Happy Farms mild cheddar cheese to cost just $1.99, and a 1 pound package of Countryside Creamery salted butter sticks to cost $3.75. With your leftover budget, consider adding more substance, flavor, and texture to your grilled cheese sandwiches with ingredients like cranberry sauce, honey, and caramelized onions.

Don't have the patience to carefully wash salad greens and grate carrots? Next time you visit Aldi, add a 12-ounce bag of garden salad from Little Salad Bar to your cart. It costs just $1.89, but can feed four to five people as a main course when amped up with other toppings. Iceberg lettuce and red cabbage also join forces in this ready-to-eat blend. Alternatively, grab one of Little Salad Bar's salad kits, such as the sunflower chopped salad kit, the Southwest chopped salad kit, or the sweet kale chopped salad kit. They all range from 10 to 12 ounces and cost between $3 to $4.

Salad kits come with dressings curated as per the ingredients. Naturally, an Asian sesame dressing would not complement tortilla strips and Mexican cheese nearly as well as it does wonton strips and green onions. If you grab a bag of salad greens without dressing, though, we recommend purchasing a 12-fluid ounce bottle of Specially Selected garlic balsamic vinaigrette for $2.99. It's made with a relatively short list of simple ingredients like canola oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, dried basil, and dried oregano.

To make this a complete meal, you'll want to add some protein and jazz up the textures of your salad. One butternut squash can easily top four bowls of salad, and it will likely cost between $2 to $3 at Aldi, depending on weight. You can steam the squash or roast it with olive oil in the oven. Finally, for protein, reach for a 6-ounce bag of roasted pepitas. It will cost about $2.55 and lend a satisfying crunchiness to each forkful.

Here's another sandwich idea, but this one is more transportable in case you need to pack the sandwiches for a picnic or add them to lunchboxes. BLT sandwiches — which primarily consist of bacon, lettuce, and tomato — enjoy their time in the spotlight each summer when tomatoes are in season, but that's no reason not to enjoy them year round. After all, the supermarket boom during the 20th century is partly responsible for BLTs' superstar status. Without tomatoes being so accessible, even in the dead of winter, BLTs might not be as affordable as they are today.

Indeed, if you're shopping at Aldi, you can make four BLT sandwiches for $10 or less. Despite not making it into the acronym, bread is indispensable. You could go with a 20-ounce loaf of L'oven Fresh white bread (we found it for $1.39), but springing for a loaf of sourdough will amp up the flavors of your lunch. Next up: Bacon. A 2.1 ounce package of Appleton Farms fully cooked bacon cost us $4.29. Meanwhile, we found one head of iceberg lettuce for $1.99, and a few beefsteak tomatoes will likely ring up at around $2 to $3. Mayonnaise is optional, but ideal, and a 30-fluid ounce jar from Burman's cost us $3.29.

A BLT sandwich really can be as simple as bacon, lettuce, tomato, bread, and ideally mayonnaise, but there are numerous ways to elevate a BLT. From adding an egg to simply toasting your bread beforehand, a BLT can quickly graduate from wonderful to unforgettable.

At the beginning of this article, we mentioned that you might be tempted to serve pasta over and over again for dinner because it is easy and tasty. While we do believe that variation in diet is crucial to maintaining good health and a passion for food, we're certainly not opposed to pasta in and of itself. In fact, we love it, you love it, and, perhaps most importantly, your kids love it.

Cacio e pepe, which contains little more than pasta, Pecorino Romano, and black pepper, is one of the most budget-friendly and delicious pasta dishes out there. Nevertheless, in case you want to add a serving of vegetables and a creamy, herbaceous sauce to your pasta, Aldi has got you covered. Start by picking up a 16-ounce box of Reggano rotini pasta for just over $1. Its spiraled texture is the perfect canvas for a 6.7-ounce jar of Priano Genovese pesto sauce, which we found for $2.45. The first ingredient listed for this pesto is basil, and it is accompanied by Grana Padano cheese (which is similar, but not identical, to Parmesan). Other notable ingredients include olive oil and sunflower oil, cashews, pine nuts, and garlic.

Finally, add texture and a boost of nutrition to your pesto pasta with toppings. We suggest that you saute, roast, or steam two medium zucchini for around $2, then round everything off with a generous sprinkling of Reggano grated parmesan cheese, which we found sold in an 8-ounce jar for $3.25.

When we're short on time or don't want to shell out the big bucks on take-out, tortilla pizzas are among the first dinner items we make. They also provide an excellent excuse to pull out the air fryer. You might not even have to do all the work since you are essentially serving your kids personal pizzas that they can top with their choice of ingredients. In turn, this could lead to less fussiness about what's being served for dinner.

If you've never made tortilla pizzas before, there's not much of a learning curve. Instead of pizza dough, you'll need a stack of tortillas. Any flavor will work, including whole wheat, white flour, spinach, and tomato. That said, if you don't want the flavor of the tortillas to interfere with your toppings, we recommend buying the Pueblo Lindo large burrito flour tortillas for $2.09. Speaking of toppings, we found a 14-ounce jar of Reggano traditional pizza sauce for an affordable $1.25, plus an 8-ounce package of Emporium Selection specialty shredded gouda cheese for $2.99. Finally, offer vegetables the whole family will eat; for instance, a package of multi-colored peppers could be yours for around $2.65.

As a final note, if you prefer traditional pizza and are willing to spend a bit more money, you could purchase two packages of Mama Cozzi's Pizza Kitchen original mini pizza crusts with sauce. For three crusts and three sauce packets per package, you'll be paying just over $3.

Burrito bowls are another dish that children can help prepare. Whether you serve the ingredients family-style on the table so that everyone can serve themselves as they eat, or you line them all up along the countertop before the meal begins, the youngest members of your family will enjoy the agency they are granted in choosing what (and how much) to eat. In doing so, they will also learn to trust their eating instincts.

We suggest offering a grain, a leafy green, beans, a few crunchy vegetables, a dressing, and perhaps some sliced or mashed avocados. Each of these ingredients can be purchased for a reasonable price at Aldi. You can even find affordable avocados at the grocery store (we found two for just $1.30).

For instance, we found a 6-ounce box of Earthly Grains original long grain and wild rice mix for $2.19. Depending on how hungry your family is, though, you might want to purchase two boxes. For greens, we found one head of iceberg lettuce for $1.99, and for a crunchy vegetable, we were pleasantly surprised to find a 15.25-ounce can of Happy Harvest whole kernel golden sweet corn for merely $0.55. A 15½-ounce can of Dakota's Pride black beans was similarly affordable, ringing up at $0.89. Lastly, while we couldn't find any cilantro lime dressings, we did like the looks of the 11-ounce bottle of Little Salad Bar avocado ranch dressing, priced at $3.29.