6 Aldi “Little Luxuries” I’m Picking Up Before the End of Summer (They’re All $3 or Less!)

August is a month that holds a lot. Some of us are preparing for back-to-school (hi!), while others are making a beeline for the beach. No matter what the weeks ahead have in store for you, Aldi has thousands of staples and seasonal finds worth checking out. 

The discount grocer has great deals on groceries families need every week, and popular finds along the “Aisle of Shame.” That’s where you’ll discover a rotating roster of items that you didn’t know you absolutely needed. I shop at Aldi in order to stretch my grocery budget so that dinner staples, my favorite sandwich bread, and essential frozen foods can all find a place in my quarter-fueled cart. 

Sometimes there are a few dollars left for me to treat myself to “little luxuries.” These inexpensive items — a new-to-me snack, dinner shortcut, or summery drink — fall into the “nice to have, but not necessary” category. I don’t usually buy them, but they will make my week run a little more smoothly when I do. 

Here are six little luxuries I’m picking up at Aldi this month (all for $3 or less). 

Baking during a heat wave is not my favorite way to spend my summer days, but there’s no other way to dig into a fruit cobbler before the sun sets on the season. If I have to turn the oven on, I’m making the task of preparing my favorite summer dessert easier by using boxed cake mix instead of making it from scratch. Aldi regularly carries three varieties of boxed cake mix: classic yellow, devil’s food, and classic white. Yellow cake mix is my pick for most fruit dump cakes, so that’s what’s going in my cart. 

My 11-year-old discovered açaí bowls this summer, and she can’t get enough. I, on the other hand, could do without spending $10 a pop on the bowls from smoothie shops and health food stores. For practically the same price I can buy several days’ worth of these frozen fruit finds at Aldi. For just $2.85 each, they come complete with pieces of mango and pineapple and a carton of granola to sprinkle over the top when serving. 

When I look back on the flavor I’ve been enjoying most this summer, it’s lemons. I’ve been making frozen whipped lemonade on repeat and serving citrusy Atlantic Beach pie at neighborhood barbecues. Nothing quenches my thirst on a hot summer day quite like a frosty glass of lemonade — unless that glass comes with built-in bubbles. For just $2.79, you can buy an elegant bottle of sparkling lemonade at Aldi. It’s sweet, tart, effervescent, and perfect for summer.

Salads are a dinnertime staple in the summer. (Have you checked out The Kitchn’s Salad Person column lately? Culinary Producer Rachel Perlmutter is a genius with greens … and oranges, and yellows.) Caprese salads and classic chicken Caesar are two of my favorites, but most nights I pile whatever produce is in the fridge into a salad bowl. 

Adding a few extras for flavor, texture, and crunch makes even these hodgepodge salads taste special. That’s why one of my favorite little luxuries is a bag of roasted, salted pepitas. Pepitas are a type of pumpkin seed with thin skin and a delicious crunch that’s worth a few extra dollars. 

One of the best parts of shopping at Aldi is finding dupes for my favorite name-brand foods. Often I discover that I prefer the taste of Aldi’s less expensive product to the name brand. We’ve all seen the chocolate-covered strawberries in the freezer section, and felt the pain at the register at checkout. It was only a matter of time before the geniuses behind Aldi’s freezer finds came up with their own version. 

These frozen strawberries are smaller and covered in a slightly thinner layer of rich dark chocolate. IMO, that’s not skimping on ingredients — that’s smart product development. It’s easy to pop these fudgy fruits into your mouth in a single bite without risking brain freeze or chocolate-coated fingertips.

This round of cranberry-studded white cheddar cheese is a longtime favorite, but after the holidays I take a months-long hiatus from buying it. That all changes in August when I start adding it back to my favorite appetizer and dinner spreads. After the break, this cheese tastes even better than I remember. 

When it’s still warm out, I’m stirring it into broccoli salads and using it to top hamburgers and turkey burgers. It also makes an easy addition to those first school lunch boxes and after-school snacks. 

What Aldi groceries are you picking up before summer ends? Let us know in the comments below.

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: 6 Aldi “Little Luxuries” I’m Picking Up Before the End of Summer (They’re All $3 or Less!)