Cheap High-Protein Breakfast Basket: Aldi Wins at $42.88

The average Australian household is now spending around $178 a week on groceries, up from $168 last year, and breakfast is one of the easiest meals to blow the budget on without realising it. Protein-forward breakfasts are the worst offender: eggs, Greek yoghurt, bacon, nuts and decent bread add up faster than toast-and-Vegemite ever did.

So we priced an 11-item high-protein breakfast basket across all four major chains this week. Same products, same sizes, same quantities. Here's what we found.

What the High-Protein Breakfast Basket Costs at Each Store

Woolies beats Coles by $5.43 on the full basket. That's a real difference for a weekly shop, not a rounding error. But Aldi, even with three gaps, comes in $15.60 under Woolies and $21.03 under Coles. IGA, which often gets overlooked, slots in just $1.67 above Aldi with two items missing rather than three.

If you can shop the full basket at a single store, Woolies is your best bet. But if Aldi is on your route, the maths are hard to argue with.

Where the High-Protein Breakfast Savings Are Biggest

A few items do the heavy lifting on price differences, and they're worth knowing before you head out.

Eggs are the standout. Free range eggs (12-pack, bought as two packs) cost $5.99 at Aldi. Coles charges considerably more. Given you're buying two packs, that gap multiplies fast. Eggs are also one of the most searched grocery items in Australia right now, and for good reason, prices across the board have crept up since bird flu pressures hit the supply chain in 2024 and 2025. Aldi's $5.99 is genuinely competitive right now.

Short cut bacon tells a different story. Coles has the cheapest at $4.40 for 500g. So if bacon is non-negotiable and you're doing a Woolies-only shop, you're paying more than you need to. Worth noting that bacon is one product where Aldi doesn't always carry a like-for-like 500g short cut option, so the Coles price here is the one to benchmark against.

Bananas at $0.66 per kg at Coles is the kind of price that makes you do a double take. Woolies and IGA charge more. If you're buying bananas every week for smoothies or just eating them as-is before a workout, this one item alone can add up across a month.

Rolled oats at $1.70/kg from Coles are cheap wherever you buy them, but Coles has the edge here too. It's a small dollar amount, but oats are a staple in any protein-forward breakfast routine, big bag, low cost, and they pair well with every other item in this basket.

Where Prices Are Basically the Same

Not every item is worth hunting across stores for.

Full cream milk (2L) and smooth peanut butter (375g) are both cheapest at Aldi ($3.39 and $2.99 respectively), but the spread between stores on these two isn't dramatic. You're not going to drive across town to save 40 cents on peanut butter.

Wholegrain bread is $2.99 at Aldi, the cheapest in the basket, but the difference between that and Woolies or Coles on a 700g loaf is small enough that it won't swing your decision about where to shop.

Greek yoghurt (1kg natural) is cheapest at Woolies at $4.20. That's the kind of thing you'd pick up wherever you're doing the main shop rather than making a separate trip for.

The protein cereal (500g) and almonds (375g) are cheapest at IGA at $3.50 and $3.55. Those are two items that might surprise you given IGA's reputation for higher prices, but they're worth checking at your local if you've got one nearby.

Is Cherry-Picking Worth the Extra Trip?

Buying each item at its cheapest store across all four chains brings the basket down to $53.82. That's a $4.66 saving over Woolies, the best single-store option.

Honestly? $4.66 is not enough to justify multiple stops in most situations. Fuel alone would eat that saving before you got back to the car. If you're already a regular at two stores, say, Aldi for the pantry staples and Coles or Woolies for fresh, then picking up items where they're cheapest as part of your existing routine makes sense. But a dedicated cherry-picking run for this basket isn't worth the extra hour of your Saturday.

The one exception: if Aldi is already on your list and you don't need the three items they don't stock, you're pocketing $15.60 without any extra effort. That's worth doing.

Who Should Shop Where

Gym-goers and active households on a tight budget, Aldi is your answer. Yes, you'll need to fill three gaps elsewhere, but the three missing items (protein cereal, almonds, blueberries based on typical Aldi gaps) can be grabbed at IGA in one stop or ordered online. The combined saving is real money over a month.

Households that want everything in one trolley, Woolies at $58.48 beats Coles by $5.43 and stocks everything on the list. Woolies also tends to have better coverage of branded Greek yoghurt and protein cereals, which matters if you're particular about those.

Anyone who shops at Coles regularly already, stay put for the rolled oats, bananas, and bacon. Those three items are Coles' strongest in this basket. But do the maths on eggs and milk before you commit to a full Coles shop, because those categories will cost you.

IGA shoppers, if your local IGA has competitive pricing on protein cereal and almonds (and this week's data says some do), you might be surprised. IGA at $44.55 for nine items is closer to Aldi than most people expect, and some IGA stores run weekly specials that aren't reflected in the base prices.

The average Australian household spends close to $200 a week on groceries when you factor in everything. For a protein-focused breakfast basket that covers a full week for one or two people, keeping it under $55 is achievable, and keeping it under $45 is doable at Aldi if you're flexible on a couple of items.