The $1 Aldi Ingredient I’ve Been Using on Repeat with My Slow Cooker

It’s that time of year when we cover the grills and pull out our slow cookers. As summer switches to fall, I notice a change in the contents of my grocery cart as well as the equipment I rely on. Juicy berries and stalks of fresh corn have had their time, but now is the season of hearty soups, stews, and braises.

As an avid Aldi shopper, I know that this small-but-mighty market has the best of both everyday ingredients and seasonal offerings. This fall I am relying on my slow cooker to make meal planning as easy as those cool autumn breezes with the help of one special Aldi ingredient.

While I’ve added the popular Instant Pot and an air fryer to my essential equipment lineup recently, there is no replacing my trusty slow cooker. Although I would love to devote an entire afternoon to simmering soups on the stove, that’s just not where my life is right now. Luckily, I can simply add ingredients to the slow cooker and reap the benefits of low-and-slow cooking without the hours-long vigil.

I have been inching towards a more plant-based diet recently, so that means beans are often taking the place of animal proteins on my plate. Luckily Aldi sells beans for a fraction of the price of other local grocery stores in my area — just 72 cents for a can of conventional beans and $1.12 for organic varieties.

I fill my basket with cheap canned beans to get ready for a week of slow cooking, starting off with a vegan tikka masala packed with spiced chickpeas, coconut milk, canned tomatoes, and spinach. Turkey sweet potato chili is the perfect hearty meal for those first chilly evenings of the fall. The recipe calls for canned black beans, but if you prefer kidney beans in chili as I do, feel free to make the swap! You can also try white chicken chili with white kidney (also known as cannellini) beans if you prefer bright and zingy flavors. Pasta e fagioli is an Italian autumn staple, the perfect use for both canned pinto or cannellini beans.

Using canned beans instead of dried saves time by skipping the soaking steps for this game-day classic recipe for baked beans. This freezer-to-slow cooker tagine also makes good use of frozen vegetables and canned beans to cut down on prep time without sacrificing flavor.

Compared to the price of your typical animal proteins, canned beans offer all of the same satiating qualities at a fraction of the price. And better yet, they are just as versatile.

Find it in stores: Dakota’s Pride Cannellini Beans, $0.72 for 15.5 ounces

What are some of your favorite groceries for slow-cooker meals? Tell us about it in the comments.