Our Aldi Wish List for 2024

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Aldi is constantly introducing new products, whether they’re limited-time Aldi Finds or everyday Regular Buys. Sometimes, limited buys can eventually end up with a permanent spot on store shelves, if they’re popular enough. On the other hand, everyday purchases can end up as Aldi Finds or can even disappear entirely. Such is the nature of any grocer, especially one like Aldi with a smaller store footprint.

It’s become an annual tradition for us to ask our writers what items they’d like to see at Aldi in the coming year. These might be products Aldi has never sold before, or they might be products we haven’t seen in a while at Aldi. They might be products we wish Aldi would sell every day or products we wish Aldi would sell once a year or seasonally.

Here are our wish lists from past years:

• 2023
• 2022
• 2020

Below are our thoughts. Some of our wish list items are new this year; others have been sitting on our wish lists for a few years. Feel free to chime in with your own Aldi wish list in the comments. Just keep our community guidelines in mind.

Joshua’s Wish List:

Premade sandwiches and wraps. I know it’s not the easiest for a grocer like Aldi to serve up fresh foods, especially ones with a short shelf life. If it goes bad before walking out the door, it’s a loss. And yet fresh premade foods do have a market, especially in a world where people never have enough time. Trader Joe’s manages to sell some great sandwiches and wraps, and I’d love to see Aldi experiment with them, even as Aldi Finds.

Dental floss. In all my years, I’ve never seen floss at Aldi. Not as a Regular Buy, or Seasonal Item, or Aldi Find. Not as a house brand or a national brand. Mind you, floss isn’t just some obscure item: it’s a core personal care item, something everyone should use alongside a toothbrush and toothpaste. This omission has never made sense to me.

Season’s Choice Hash Browns. For years, Aldi sold a solid hash brown patty that, while not the equal of Trader Joe’s, was still respectable. Over the last year, though, Aldi has dropped them in favor of Mydibel Hash Browns. We don’t know if it was a supply issue or a simple strategic change. Regardless, we do know this: the Mydibel ones aren’t bad, but they’re inferior to the old Aldi house brand.

The original Journey to India Tikka Masala. It’s a distant memory now, but at one time Aldi sold perhaps the best tikka sauce you could get outside of a restaurant. We tried several known brands and none could matchup to Journey to India. Unfortunately, Aldi moved away from that formula, and what it was replaced with was not the same. I’d pay good money for the original tikka to come back, even as an Aldi Find.

A decent alarm clock. This is a repeat from past years. We’ve written about several different Aldi alarm clocks, and the one thing they have in common is that they … aren’t good. Some have ridiculous button layouts, others are unintuitive, and still others are glitchy or lack simple features, like a display that isn’t overly bright. It would be nice to get a clock that doesn’t require a PhD and help from the Almighty to make it work right.

Rachael’s Wish List:

Journey to India Butter Chicken as a year-round Regular Buy. This frozen Indian entree was named our Aldi Find of the year. I typically have a hard time finding grocery store Indian food that is as good as what I get at an authentic restaurant. This frozen entree was excellent and far exceeded my expectations.

Mama Cozzi’s Tavern Pizzas as a year-round Regular Buy. These pizzas are fantastic, with lots of gooey cheese and plentiful toppings. I buy several to stock my deep freezer every time they appear at Aldi, but my family eats through our supply quickly.

A decent loose powder or gel dishwasher detergent option. Dishwasher pacs and laundry detergent pacs are made with a thin “dissolvable” film of plastic to hold the detergent components, but that dissolved plastic doesn’t completely go away, and a debate is ongoing about whether these are contributing to our global microplastic pollution problem. Aldi does not sell loose dishwasher detergent, and their liquid gel dishwasher detergent is not good. That means I now buy cartons of loose name-brand dishwasher detergent from another store.

Clothing that reliably fits well. I’ve seen some nice pieces of clothing in the weekly Aldi ads, but whenever I buy a piece, it’s a coin toss whether it will fit well. Some of my Aldi clothing gets frequent wear, while other Aldi clothing pieces seem like they weren’t made to fit actual human beings. Also, I wish Aldi would package their clothing so we could more easily unfold it and see what its actual dimensions look like in the store.

A hammock chair stand or C frame for all the hanging hammock chairs Aldi sells. Likewise, some regular freestanding hammock frames would be nice, too, for times when you don’t have trees to hang your Aldi hammock from.

A tea Advent calendar. Aldi sells Advent calendars for almost everything else under the sun, including a coffee Advent calendar. Why not a calendar that gives a nod to that other popular hot drink? It could have a mix of different-flavored herbal teas, fruity teas, green teas, black teas, and more.

Clotted cream. This British favorite is good for spooning on top of scones, and Aldi sells scones several times a year. I usually only find clotted cream at international grocery stores, but Aldi is uniquely suited to sell clotted cream because of its European origins and because it routinely sells other international products including German fare, Greek food, Indian-inspired food, ice cream from Eastern Europe, Italian food, and more. Aldi is like a miniature global grocery store. Plus, if Aldi can sell other British treats such as jarred lemon curd, surely they could sell jars of clotted cream once a year.

Single lemons and limes. These have been on my Aldi wish list for years. I often only need a single lemon or lime for a recipe such as fajitas, chicken salad, or guacamole, not an entire bag. I don’t want to always be freezing lime or lemon juice ice cubes for later use, or making sugary drinks or desserts just to use up the bag. So I often make an extra stop at a traditional grocery store to buy a single fruit. (Likewise, I’d also be happy to see single potatoes and onions at Aldi.)

Potato salad and pasta salad as year-round Regular Buys. Aldi sells these only during the warmer months when cookouts and barbecuing are on the agenda, but if comments from our Aldi Reviewer readers are any indication, people don’t eat potato salad and macaroni salad only during the summer. It’d be nice to see basic versions of these sold all year.

Canned root beer. Aldi used to sell canned root beer under its Summit private label for soda. It was called Sudz Root Beer, and it was an excellent root beer comparable to Barq’s or A&W. Now Aldi only sells pricier bottled craft root beer, which is good, too, but I’d love to see Aldi bring the canned stuff back for a perfect accompaniment to family pizza night.

Fruity sodas. As far as I know, Aldi has never regularly sold its own brand of fruity sodas such as orange, grape, or strawberry. I’d try them if Aldi offered them, especially because I’ve always preferred fruit-flavored soda over traditional colas like Coke or Pepsi.

Orchid flower pots. Aldi sells orchid plants several times a year. Orchids don’t like “wet feet” and grow well in pots specifically designed with drainage holes in the sides, but orchids aren’t usually sold in those specialized orchid planters. Considering how many orchids Aldi sells, it’d be good to see Aldi sell some of these orchid planters once in a while.

Elizabeth’s Wish List:

Low Fat Plain Organic Yogurt. Plain yogurt with fruit and granola is one of our family’s go-to breakfasts or even lunch. We prefer organic dairy products, and I personally love Aldi’s whole milk Greek yogurt. However, full-fat dairy products aren’t for everyone, and we’d like a reduced fat version as well. Trader Joe’s sells reduced fat plain Greek yogurt and plain “regular” yogurt, and we wish Aldi had those options, too.

Popcorn Kernels. I love popcorn, and my favorite way to make it is on the stove, with oil, topped with butter and salt. Microwave popcorn is convenient, but it has too many additives and not enough real-butter flavor for my taste. Aldi occasionally sells whole popcorn kernels, but I wish it was a Regular Buy for our family movie nights.

More herbal tea. I brew whole pots of herbal tea daily to sip while working, so I keep a variety of flavors on hand. Most of Aldi’s small tea selection has caffeine, although I routinely buy their chamomile tea (which is excellent). They offer limited-edition herbal teas, but I’d love to see more variety year-round. Maybe a fruity orange spice or a floral hibiscus blend? I’d be the first in line to try them.

More wet cat food options. Wet cat food comes in a variety of textures, such as flaked (pieces of shredded meat), grilled (larger pieces of meat), or pate (meat paste.) Cats, being cats, can be very picky about the texture that they prefer. Our two cats will only eat flaked or grilled wet food, never pate. Unfortunately, all of the wet cat food that Aldi sells is the pate variety. When I made the mistake of buying a few cans, I fed them to my dog, who is much less picky about food texture.

More organic produce. A couple of years ago, I petitioned the Aldi fairies for more varieties of organic potatoes, but it seems to have backfired. Now my local Aldi has stopped selling organic potatoes or broccoli, which I used to be able to buy. I don’t know if it’s a supply issue, but I’d like to see Aldi expand, rather than reduce, their organic produce selection.

And, once more, with feeling, my wish since 2022: fresh herbs (that aren’t parsley or cilantro). Have you heard of the cilantro gene? Some people are genetically inclined to think that cilantro tastes metallic or soapy. That gene seems to run through my family because they reject anything with even a hint of it. They’re not crazy about parsley, either. I’d love to buy other herbs at Aldi: basil, chives, sage, etc.

Megan’s Wish List:

Advent calendars with dolls. Aldi did not sell any Advent calendars with Barbie or other types of dolls in 2023, which is a change from previous years.

Clothing for teens and tweens. Aldi sells a lot of adult clothing and a good amount of clothing for young children, but they don’t sell clothing specifically for that in-between age group.

Abby’s Wish List:

More Bluey toys. Bluey is a popular children’s cartoon, and a variety of Bluey-themed toys and other products have popped up in all kinds of big box retailers. Aldi sold a Bluey Advent calendar in 2023, and I’d love to see them offer more Bluey products, possibly throughout the year and not just during the holidays.

Books. Aldi sometimes sells puzzle books or children’s picture books as Aldi Finds. It’d be nice to see them sell more books, including books for older kids or adults.

What’s on your Aldi wish list? Let us know in the comments.