I tried making a pasta bake with only Aldi's Everyday Essentials

The food shop is a regular spend for families but there are some ways that you can bring the cost down, despite rising prices.

I tried cooking with Aldi’s Everyday Essentials range to see if the products could be new additions to my weekly food shop and if I’d be able to swap out more expensive options.

This is what I thought when I opted for a cheaper way to make one of my favourite meals – a pasta bake.

The pasta bake is golden brown when it's finished cooking in the oven (Image: Newsquest)

What do you need to make the pasta bake?

The following products were all from the Everyday Essentials range at Aldi:

• Penne Pasta - 500g, 41p
• Pasta Sauce Tomato & Herb - 440g, 47p
• Pork Sausages Lightly Seasoned (bag of 20) - 907g, £1.59
• Grated Mozzarella - 500g, £2.80

Total cost: £5.27

With only four ingredients I was able to make a pasta bake using cheaper items and I wasn’t disappointed.

The ingredients in the Everyday Essentials range that I used come in decent-sized portions, meaning I could use them again and again for other meals – a cost-effective way to buy the food shop.

For example, I didn’t need 20 sausages or all of the pasta or cheese so I saved them for future meals.

Add enough cheese on top of the pasta and other ingredients so that it's covered (Image: Newsquest)

How to make the pasta bake

Step 1

Start by cooking the sausages – I used my air fryer but you could fry them or put them in the oven.

When the sausages are cooked and cooled, cut them into bite-size pieces. I used six as I was making enough pasta bake for another meal.

Step 2

Boil some water in a saucepan and add the pasta when boiled. the pasta will cook a bit more while it's in the oven so boiling it until al dente works well - you don't have to make sure it is cooked fully.

However, make sure your sausages are cooked fully.

Step 3

Drain the pasta and add it into an ovenproof dish with the chopped sausages and pasta sauce.

Make sure the pasta sauce covers the ingredients.

Step 4

Then, add mozzarella to the pasta so it is covered.

Step 5

Put the dish into the oven for around 20 minutes at 200C. I kept an eye on the pasta and took it out of the oven when the cheese was golden brown – this is just my preference.

Step 6

Take the pasta bake out of the oven and carefully cut it into portions, serve and enjoy!

What I thought about the pasta bake

I liked trying this recipe as I was using different ingredients to what I usually would but it still made for an enjoyable meal.

I recommend trying this recipe if you haven’t already because it’s versatile and easy to make plus it shows that using cheaper alternatives is a good choice since they taste good and cost less.

One of my favourite things about pasta bake is that it can be kept in the fridge for the next day’s lunch and I’ve often frozen it when I’ve made too much – it defrosts and heats up really well, making it taste as fresh as it was when first cooked.

The pasta bake can be eaten in one sitting or you can save some for lunch the next day - you'll need to keep it in the fridge (Image: Newsquest)

I’d buy these ingredients again since they tasted just as good as my usual food shop items so I can swap them for the cheaper option without compromising the taste.

The only criticism I have is that the sauce was a little on the watery side for me but this didn’t stop me eating the meal and enjoying it – it’s just something to be aware of if you prefer a thicker sauce with pasta.

I think if I made it again, the pasta sauce would be the only thing I’d consider swapping out for a thicker and possibly more expensive option.

It’s important to note that this dish can be time-consuming depending on the ingredients you choose to add but I think it’s worth it!