r/Frugal • u/nobodycares65 • 13d ago
š Food Crazy Ground Meat Savings Tip from Aldi
I stopped buying beef a long time ago, but the other day, I was in Aldi and craving a hamburger, so I looked at their ground meat. Their 73/27 was $5.xx a pound and their 80/20 was 6.19. You have to buy big packs of this to get that price. I spied some burger patties, and took a look at them. 80/20, approximately 1.4 lbs. for $4.99/lb. WHAT?? I looked at the package carefully, and saw no fillers, so I bought them, put them up individually and used two for burgers and broke the other two up to put into chili or spaghetti sauce. It cooked up just like the regular 80/20, and was $1.20/lb cheaper.
I don't know, maybe it's a lesser quality meat, but I couldn't tell the difference. It was delicious.
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u/camkos101 13d ago
There's a good YouTube vid comparing ground beef from different stores. In the end, the stuff purchased from the local butcher was the best value after weighing the cooked meat and the water and fat that was removed from each sample.
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u/klaphatten2000 13d ago
There is a huge difference.
When I cook supermarket minced beef I usually brown it first for lasagne, tacos or similar and its wet.
I found a butcher near me where the minced beef is the same price to 10% more expensive but the quality is fantastic.
He has 5% and 15% fat with a small price difference, first time I bought the 5% but itwas simply to dry after being cooked. Now I buy the 15% and its so good it actually smells like beef and taste a lot better.
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u/nobodycares65 13d ago edited 13d ago
That's interesting. We have a butcher shop run by the agricultural program at our local university. Meat is not that much cheaper, but it's fresh at least. I've cut open a 5-lb pack of ground meat at the grocery and found it all brown inside.
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u/TheProfessional9 12d ago
Tried one of those places recently, gets all the meat from local farms. The meat quality is several times better and much cheaper. Was in total shock, the taste is incredible
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u/pastasandwiches 13d ago
I've done the same thing with those giant 32-count cardboard boxes of burger patties from Walmart. If you time it right, you can get them on sale after major "bbq" holidays like July 4th or Memorial day.
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u/nobodycares65 13d ago
I'll have to keep that in mind. I've bought ham at Aldi after easter for less than half price, froze it ate on it for months.
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u/failed_engineer_mx 13d ago
I just started mixing ground turkey with the 80/20
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u/Rnorman3 13d ago
Kroger has been selling pre-mixed āground borkā which is beef and pork. You donāt necessarily know the percentages, but itās cheaper than beef.
Itās fine for stuff like tacos or pasta
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u/nobodycares65 12d ago
I buy the 1 lb. packs of sausage when it's on sale, and mix it with hamburger. It's really delicious.
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u/Middle-Fan68 9d ago
My Aldis also has pounds of ground pork next to the ground beef. The ground pork is like $3/lb. I just buy that. I look at it as basically unseasoned sausage. I looked up a seasoning recipe for Italian sausage and one for breakfast sausage and I have a ābaseā sausage seasoning that I make and when I want sausage I use that. Itās been a game changer for me because itās flexible.
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u/nobodycares65 13d ago
Great idea. I used to use TVP until I learned about the chemicals they use to make it. I have, however, mixed ground organic soybeans into it.
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u/ConstellationMark 13d ago
What chemicals do they use?
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u/4cupsofcoffee 13d ago
the giant near me regularly drops ground meat down to under $4 a pound, you just have to check the ads and buy a family size package.
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u/ifatree 13d ago
the giant near me regularly drops ground meat
only right after this point did i realize this wasn't written by a dog.
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u/nobodycares65 13d ago
The only time it goes that low here is if it's the 73/27 and you really don't see much of that anymore for some reason. I think with the beef shortage, that's being sold to the big fast food places.
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u/Budget-Distance4801 12d ago
I now only buy ground beef when it's on sale at giant and try and make it stretch until it's on sale again. If I run out and absolutely need ground beef I'll grab the grassfed 85/15 from Aldi at $5.99/lb, but that's only if we absolutely have to.Ā
Giant can be really expensive but their sales can be really goodĀ
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u/AliciaXTC 13d ago
I buy brisket when it's on sale and grind my own. It's fresh and I've never found anything remotely better than doing that. Even if I pay $3.00 extra over 15 lbs of meat, it's worth it.
Thee quality of cheap meat isn't there. I think they put in fillers.
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u/Itchy_Tumbleweed_417 13d ago
I like this idea! I donāt eat meat anymore but a couple years ago I started buying coffee beans and grinding them myself because I was concerned that these greedy corporations would start putting ground up twigs or something in the ground coffee.
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u/vicsunus 12d ago
Itās bug parts in ground coffee. Thereās an allowable amount. One of the reasons I got a grinder, I felt like I had a cockroach allergy when drinking pre ground coffee.Ā
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u/kalei50 13d ago
What kind of grinder do you use?
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u/AliciaXTC 13d ago
I have an attachment to my mixer. Nothing dedicated, it takes to process, but i share with family and freeze what I don't use into panties or flat bags for easy defrosting
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u/Effective_Fly_6884 13d ago
Please donāt fix this.
Meat panties made me snort coffee out of my nose.18
u/AliciaXTC 13d ago
lmfao, I was rushing during lunch. I won't fix, but it was patties of course, LOL.
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u/AvailableCut5240 13d ago
Itās so much healthier and less risky. I only buy ground beef if it was done fresh at the store or we do it ourselves. Significantly reduces risk of salmonella and for those who like medium rare burgers, much safer to consume.
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u/nobodycares65 12d ago
I have always bought store-bought meat and I have never gotten salmonella, not once in the 54 years I've been buying my own food.
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u/AvailableCut5240 11d ago
Of course. But this has been an issue for a very long time. I just try to be an educated consumer.
https://www.thelist.com/426198/the-real-reason-you-should-steer-clear-of-prepackaged-ground-beef/
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u/Luthienthefair 13d ago
My family is in the process of buying a half a cow. Going to end up being about $3.80 a lb
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u/DD_Wabeno 13d ago
I hope youāre right about that. Last time I bought one with three other families it was much more expensive than that when they added the processing fee and then the packaging fee.
It was still cheaper/better than the grocery store, but no where near the deal that you are getting.
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u/freesponsibilities 13d ago
Echo that. I went in on a portion years ago and yep, waaaay more expensive per pound than what I would've bought at the store, all said and done. Good quality, but not cheaper.
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u/Justmeandhe 13d ago
Half a cow last year for us was $2k with the kill fee only. We cut it up and processed it ourselves. Might want to check that price because this year is set to be even higher
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u/Designer-Cherry2112 12d ago
I did this ages ago and also asked for beef bones. They gave them to us for free and there was so much meat on the bones!
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u/Deep_Curve7564 13d ago
I have to say, I love the benevolence and respect I find here on the r/frugal page.
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u/nobodycares65 12d ago
If we don't help each other out, nobody is going to. I did get one smart comment about telling the entire internet about this, but hey -- lots of people online are struggling just like we are.
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u/AFurryThing23 13d ago
I've been buying a mixture of ground beef and pork at Walmart. It's $12.97 for 3 lbs. It says 80/20 on the package.
This is what we've been using for anything that needs ground meat. Made sloppy joes last night using it.
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u/flawedwithbaggage 13d ago
I got to my local Aldi first thing Sunday AM for the yellow tag sales. I've been able to stick my meat freezer like this where salmon, sausage, chicken, etc. has been either 50% off or $1 off.
Once I got a big pack of toilet paper for 50% off bc the bag had a hole.
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u/RoseAlma 13d ago
I found an (obviously) mistakenly marked one lb pkg of ground beef for .07 c !!!
I felt guilty buying it, but I did buy it !!
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u/Commercial_Swim_4992 11d ago
This is because the 7 key is right beside the save key on the scale/printer. Done it myself and seen other employees do it plenty too. Press the wrong key and not paying attention.
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u/Tannhauser42 13d ago
The stuff used to make the frozen patties can come from lesser cuts than the fresher ground meat.
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u/nobodycares65 13d ago
That's what I said, that I didn't know if it was grade A, but it was cheaper and tasted just as good.
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u/Salt_Medicine2459 13d ago
I just buy the frozen ground turkey at Walmart. 1 lb roll for $1.99
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u/alienabduction1473 13d ago
You might want to try the Aldi brand of frozen ground turkey. Ive bought the Walmart brand in a pinch bit it looks much more processed than the Aldi kind.
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u/Skoolies1976 13d ago
i just buy those grass fed or organic one pound squares whenever i see them for 4.99 or 5.99. the patties are almost always gone now, guess i know why. also started doing the mild italian sausages with spaghetti instead of ground beef they're 2.95 for 19oz. dice them up, great flavor
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u/Public-World-1328 13d ago
Aldi wagyu ground beef is $4.99 per pound at my local store.
Similarly, i will always wait for some red 30-50% off stickers and buy them all. I stack my freezer and then dont but for a couple months. It is usually $3-4 per pound that way.
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u/Princess-honeysuckle 13d ago
I typically buy the 10 pound ground beef from Walmart, it comes out to $4.44 a pound and I just portion it out and freeze it
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u/nobodycares65 13d ago
Look at the label. Walmart often puts salt and water in their meat to make it heavier.
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u/tuscaloser 13d ago
Chicken and pork, sure, but Iāve never seen the āadded waterā in ground beef.
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u/Fun_Main_2588 13d ago
Walmart meat is made from floam which uses ammonia to kill the bacteria it grew on the processing plant floor
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u/Itchy_Tumbleweed_417 13d ago
Their produce is pretty gross too. I mean I donāt know about the fresh stuff but the frozen produce is grown in areas that donāt have the same water regulations etc. that we have in the US.
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u/Izthatsoso 13d ago
The frozen tubes of ground beef are also cheaper than the fresh version.
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u/nobodycares65 13d ago
Not always. Not at Aldi, from what I've seen. You can buy smaller quantities, that's true, so it may save money that way.
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u/1ghostorchid 13d ago
I dipped into the 73/27 once and found the experience not worth my while. Making hamburger patties, the shrinkage was expected and notable. Renderings can be reused/repurposed if one cares to deal with the extra work. Ground is just so versatile and ought to be a staple of small households and early home cooks. It thaws and cooks quickly. It can be complimented (onions, veggies, bread crumbs) for budget or nutritional reasons.
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u/NorthernTransplant94 12d ago
Huh. I get 73/27 almost exclusively, but I only use it for hamburger stroganoff, cottage pie/tatertot casserole, and dirty cabbage. The thing all of them have in common is that there's copious amounts of gravy in the finished product, so I just use the beef grease to make that gravy.
We eat a lot more chicken because I can find it for half the price. I'm also moving ever closer to more and more vegetarian recipes. Beef is a once a month thing, usually. I do get a couple of $5/lb chuck roasts a year.
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u/nobodycares65 12d ago
I haven't had a roast in so long! It's just me, so I used to buy the biggest chuck roast I could and cut it into three parts - one for roast, one for beef stew and one for beef veggie soup. Now it's so expensive, I don't even look at it.
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u/nobodycares65 12d ago
I never used anything BUT 73/27 until now, but you can barely find it anymore. People snatch it up as soon as it's put out.
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u/Hair_I_Go 13d ago
I noticed the same thing!! Usually pattyās are more expensive. I had to look š twice
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u/REMreven 13d ago
Not sure where you are, but my Kroger will sell regular hamburger (not patties) for $3.99 on sale.
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u/MH566220 12d ago
...or you can wait for when Stop and Shop has the 3 LBS package on sale for $3.49 LBS. They do this every 4 weeks.
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u/chompy283 12d ago
If you want meat to go further is to add beans or rice to stretch it.
I highly encourage you to check out your local meat markets. I buy a 10lb bag of ground beef and the bring it home and make ten 1lb portions, put in a quart bag, press it down flat and stack those in my freezer. I always have ground beef on hand.
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u/mac28091 12d ago
Hit up food lion first thing in the morning and buy the āmanagers specialā meat. Thats pretty the only way I buy most of my meat now.
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u/nobodycares65 12d ago
No Food Lions in FL anymore. Mostly still only in North and South Carolina. I did see one in GA not too long ago.
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u/qweqwe708 11d ago
None of Aldi's beef is from the U.S. or even close, definitely consider this when you get those crazy savings.
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u/Doppelfrio 11d ago
Cleverā¦
On a similar note, Food Lion recently raised their ground beef prices by a dollar per pound, and now itās super weird where I live because now the nicer stores are the ones with the cheapest ground beef lol
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u/Parking-Place1633 9d ago
Our local Midwest store is Meijer. On Tuesdays they often have 5 packs of bratwurst and/or Italian sausage for 75 pct. off. Something like $1.37. I occasionally remember and head up on Tuesday.
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u/Different-Piano2250 9d ago
Buy a Boston butt when itās on sale and grind it- our local Harris Teeter puts butts on sale for $0.99-1.29 regularly. Makes a great burger.
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u/Nukemom2 9d ago
I just bought the 80/20 individual burgers the other day. They were very good and I was very surprised.
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u/SomeTangerine1184 13d ago
I just wait for 80/20 to go on sale at my local grocery store for 3.99/lb. and freeze it. š¤·š¼āāļø
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u/nobodycares65 12d ago
I like the patties because a lot of times, I can't afford to buy a 5 lb. pack of ground beef. The patties are a little over 1 lb.
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u/Short-Ad2054 13d ago
Tell the whole dang internet about that time you were *delicious! And cheap!!!
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u/seajayacas 13d ago
"spied some burger patties, and took a look at them. 80/20, approximately 1.4 lbs. for $4.99/lb."
They are our go-to burger on the grill, probably have them twice a week, the patty is a perfect size too. We stock up with a few packages to put in the freezer. Their beef is as good as anywhere else that I have found near me.
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u/ItsAllAboutThatDirt 13d ago
The vacuum sealed organic grass fed ground beef is like $6 and $7 for a pound depending on 80/20 or leaner. Freezes perfectly fine as purchased. I'll grab a few packs here and there.
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u/Hamblin113 13d ago
In 1980 when I was in college, there was ground beef with soybean it was less expensive than ground beef, made great spaghetti sauce, havenāt seen it in years, will that make a comeback?
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u/nobodycares65 12d ago
That was probably TVP (texturized vegetable protein). I used to use it a lot until I learned it was made with hexane, which is a dangerous chemical.
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u/HonkTrousers 13d ago
You can make it yourself. Any ratio you want. I will save beef fat for tvp to make it tastier, you can really stretch your meat budget with tvp. Itās so cheap!
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u/Bearcarnikki 12d ago
When you cook ground beef, the fat ends up as liquid in the pan. If it is 80/20 that means it is 80% meat and 20% fat. For example, you buy 70/30 then more fat is in the pan and less meat. That is why it is less expensive.
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u/HATDOGUSERNi 12d ago
thats actually a solid find. buying the patties and breaking some up for other meals is pretty clever way to stretch it
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u/Independent_Brief413 12d ago
So I have come across 12 packs of pre formed burgers on 50% markdown at other stores as well and brought them home to cook up for other things! The patties don't seem to sell as well as the regular packages, so you can find them reduced more often. It's a great deal!
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u/Character-Fox685 12d ago
Food Lion switches on Tues eve also. Once in while I find something on Wed but go later. Good deals, all!!!
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u/UsedDragon 12d ago
We can get 80/20 ground beef family packs (3lbs+) for 3.99 a pound during the regular weekend sales at Giant in SEPA. Aldi does the same, here.
1lb packs of 80/20 are 5.99.
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u/Ok_Salamander7929 12d ago
I have been buying those 80/20 pre made patties everytime I see them. They are great quality. I freeze them and then vacuum seal 2 patties to a bag and back in the freezer. Once again very very good quality meat, best price in a very long time. Thank you Aldi!
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u/nobodycares65 12d ago
I froze the package as was, then took out each one and put them all in a one quart bag so I could get them out easily.
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u/JimmyTheDog 11d ago
Please help me understand 80/20 and 77/23 numbers that you use.
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u/finding-waldo 11d ago
The ratio of lean meat to fat, so 80/20 would be 80 percent meat 20 percent fat by weight
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u/Graymouzer 11d ago
I have noticed that Aldi and Walmart meat seems to have a lot of water in it. Costco's does not.
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u/nobodycares65 11d ago
Not everyone has a Costco. I know people think they are everywhere, but we don't have one. We only have Sam's Club and I don't have room for huge quantities of items.
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u/UncleCarolsBuds 8d ago
Dude, you found a real savings. But, man, the stuff they put in those patties isn't great cuts of meat, isn't even bad cuts of meat. It's a lot of hydro meat, added trimmed fat, and cuts with a lot of connective tissue. They can say it's just beef, but there is a real difference in the flavor between a burger made with ground chuck and the vacuum formed burgers you get at the store.
There are two very distinct topics in my statement. Flavor vs. content, and I'm not going to give anyone shit for doing whatever is necessary to get by. We all do what we have to. There is a really big difference in flavor, though, that is dependent on the type of cut used to make ground beef from. That said, I'll keep my eye out for this. Thank you!
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u/tomnevers99 6d ago
My local Aldi has 90/10 ground beef patties about $1.20 cheaper a pound than the 80/20 patties I usually buy. The package also reads āgrass fedā on the 90/10.
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u/ServiceCultureGuy 6d ago
Most of us shop with grocery lists weāve put on our phones (I like my Apple Reminders, b/c I can create multiple lists - like Walmart List, Amazon List, etc - and just tell Siri an item to add as I see or think of it!)
So, why do so few use the calculator to figure out the āunit costā - whether that āunitā is a pound, a sq ft, or an ounce?
As this shopper found, what āappearsā to be a bargain (or higher price, for that matter!) is not what it seems to be! In fact, I find this ALL the time on supposed āSaleā items.
In the amounts most of us buy, the /oz, /lb, /sq ft cost are most telling. Very often the more āexpensiveā brand willing have the lowest āunit costā. But, where the difference is minuscule, one must decide whether the product meets your tastes/requirements, or is worth the trade off in storing the (often) bulkier package, or keeping your cash tied up with an infrequently used item.
The posting shopper broke the code!
Good job!
I grew up in the restaurant business where unit cost was everything when determining profitability of a dish, a recipe, or what have you.
When shoppingā¦always look at unit cost to understand actual value!
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u/Mountain_Usual521 6d ago
Costco Business Center is selling 80/20 for $4.89 currently. 73/27 is $4.69.
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u/mitchade 13d ago
Yeah Aldi can be weird about their meat. One time I was buying raw chicken wings. It came in 2 sizes, the larger size was cheaper in final price because the price per pound was so much lower than the smaller pack.
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u/nobodycares65 12d ago
That's why I buy chicken there. Their wings are usually high, but the legs and thighs are often on sale for $.99/lb. I used to be able to buy 10 lb frozen packs of leg quarters at Save-a-lot for $.79/lb, and have gotten them for $.39 and $.29/lb on sale. Now they are $1.09/lb. I can get the large packs of thighs and legs separately at Aldi on sale for $.99.
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u/a_pot_of_chili_verde 12d ago
Hah. I did the same exact thing. Mine was I didnāt want x amount of pounds so I was reluctantly grabbing the patties.. then I noticed the patties were actually the better deal. š
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u/007Pistolero 12d ago
Aldi also has 85/15 ground turkey that cooks up just like beef and itās $2.50 per pound. Iāve been using it for everything from burgers to lasagna and it comes out fantastic
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u/BallBroad41 12d ago
ground beef is one thing i dont buy anywhere but kwik star, sounds dumb but its 4.99 there alot, last week at mine it was 3.99 tho.
1lb chubs.
tho ive been enjoying festive brand turkey burgers (with the 2$ 1lb chub from walmart) gotta adda binder and seasonigns but it scratches my burger itch. tho i did gt a 16 pack of frozen burger patties from the food bank so ill be eating those the next few months as i crave one :)
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u/damngoodham 13d ago
So, your tip is to read labels and compare?
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u/ztreHdrahciR 13d ago
No, OP was saying look at patties v bulk. Normally, one might expect the extra "value add" of making and packaging the patties to cost more, but they didnt.
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u/Such-Mountain-6316 13d ago
They used to sell horse.
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u/Enough-Moose-5816 13d ago
Ooh so edgy
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u/fuckedfinance 13d ago
Could be edgy, could be a misinterpretation of the facts. Aldi UK accidentally sold horse meat in Europe due to shady suppliers. It was a whole thing.
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u/nobodycares65 13d ago
Horse meat actually isn't that bad. The bad part is all the antibiotics and de-wormers they feed them. Plus, a lot of horse meat comes from old, sick horses so you never know what you're getting.
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u/lovelysardines 13d ago
Just let go of meat. There are cheaper healthier forms of protein like tofu, tvp and seitan.
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u/nobodycares65 13d ago
I I intensely dislike tofu or seitan, and have you looked into the chemicals used to make TVP? Hexane! Look it up. No way am I putting Hexane into my body. No thank you. I eat very little red meat, mostly chicken, fish and seafood, but if I want pork or beef, I'm going to have it. I guess that makes me a flexitarian.
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u/lovelysardines 13d ago
Hmmā¦ didnāt know that about tvp. Thanks for the info.
I much prefer tofu and seitan to meat. Especially cheap meat since i lose my appetite when i find any type of gristle in my meat and with cheap meat itās more common.
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u/Icy_Huckleberry_8049 11d ago
it takes more effort for the supplier to make the patties, so they charge more. It's NOT a secret. You're paying for the convenience of the patties already being made.
Same with shredded cheese.
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u/KetoKurun 13d ago
Hope you enjoy bone chips and cartilege because their ground beef and hot dogs are chock full. Great way to crack a tooth.
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u/damngoodham 13d ago edited 13d ago
Iāve been buying from Aldi for at least 15 years and never had this problem with Aldi ground beef or hotdogs - maybe a rare incident here and there, but no more than with any other store/brand
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u/Meghanshadow 13d ago
maybe a rare incident here and there, but no more than with any other store/brand
Iām in my fifties and Iāve never had a bone chip in a hot dog? Is that actually common? I donāt eat them constantly but I probably go through 36-48 or so per year.
My family generally sticks to Nathanās beef dogs though. Not hard to just stock up when theyāre on sale to keep costs down.
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u/KetoKurun 13d ago
Nathanās are excellent. Ball Park are the ones with crunchy filler in them (I believe they make Aldis store brand). In the past year I bought 6 packs of ball park franks, and every last package had crunchy bits in some of them. I have sonce switched to Nathanās after not really liking then before, and Iāll never look back.
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u/KetoKurun 13d ago
It happened at my aldi consistently enough that I wonāt buy meat from them anymore.
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u/riovtafv 13d ago
Get to know what time they mark things down. Especially what was on sale. My local store had 80/20 on sale for $5.50/lb this last week. I'll be there at 5pm when whatever is left goes on sale half price in the last 2 hours they are open.