Friday Night Pizza for Under $45 at Aldi

Friday night pizza is one of those rituals most Australian families won't give up, even when the grocery bill keeps creeping up. And fair enough. After a week of school runs, work, and whatever else life throws at you, nobody wants to cook a proper meal on a Friday. But between the bases, sauce, cheese, toppings and something for dessert, a homemade pizza night can quietly cost you more than you'd expect, especially at the wrong supermarket.

We priced every item in a full Friday night pizza basket across Coles, Woolies, Aldi and IGA. Here's what the numbers look like.

What Does This Basket Cost at Each Store?

Going all-in at a single store, here's what you'd pay:

• Aldi: $42.25
• Woolworths: $64.31
• Coles: $66.22
• IGA: $66.87 (note: two items weren't available in-store)

That's a $24 gap between Aldi and everywhere else. If you shop at Woolies or Coles every Friday night and never think twice about it, you're spending roughly $1,250 more per year on pizza night alone compared to an Aldi shopper. That's not small change.

The cherry-pick basket, buying each item at whichever store has it cheapest, comes to $39.81, which is only $2.44 less than just doing your whole shop at Aldi. More on that in a minute.

Where Aldi Does the Heavy Lifting

Aldi wins on most items in this basket, and it's not particularly close. A few standouts:

Mozzarella is the big one. Shredded mozzarella (500 g) costs $6.29 at Aldi. That's the item your pizza literally cannot do without, and it's also one of the pricier items in the basket. At Woolies and Coles, the equivalent will cost you noticeably more.

Pizza bases (2-pack, and you're buying two packs here) come to $2.59 per pack at Aldi. Bases are the kind of thing where you grab what's on the shelf without checking the price, worth checking.

Ham (200 g) is $1.99 at Aldi. Capsicum is $1.49, and red onion hits just $1.00. These are small numbers individually, but across a dozen items, they add up to the $24 gap you saw above.

Pineapple (yes, it's in the basket, no judgement) is $1.99 at Aldi for a 440 g tin. And olives (235 g) are $2.19. Both pantry staples where Aldi consistently undercuts the major chains.

Ice cream for dessert: $3.99 for 2 litres at Aldi. That's genuinely hard to beat, especially mid-winter when the kids want something after pizza.

Where Woolies and Coles Have an Edge

It's not all Aldi. Two items break the pattern.

Pepperoni (100 g) is cheapest at Woolies at $1.00. Aldi does stock pepperoni, but Woolies wins this one outright.

Cup mushrooms (250 g) are $2.50 at Woolies, which is the cheapest across all four stores. Fresh produce prices move around a lot week to week, so this could flip, but right now Woolies has it.

Garlic (3-pack) is cheapest at Coles at $1.85. Garlic is one of those items where IGA and Woolies can be surprisingly expensive, so Coles' price here is worth knowing.

Is the Cherry-Pick Worth It?

Honestly? Probably not for most families.

The cherry-pick basket, hitting each store for whatever's cheapest, gets you to $39.81. Doing everything at Aldi costs $42.25. That's a $2.44 saving for coordinating multiple stops, separate parking, separate trolleys, and the general chaos of dragging the family around more than one supermarket on a Friday afternoon.

If you're already shopping at Woolies for something else this week and you're walking past the deli, sure, grab the pepperoni ($1.00) and the mushrooms ($2.50) while you're there. That's an easy $2 save. But planning a separate trip to Woolies specifically for two items? The maths doesn't stack up.

The real cherry-pick win for this basket is simply: shop at Aldi for almost everything, and don't stress the rest.

Who Should Shop Where

Families on a tight budget: Aldi is your answer. The $42.25 all-in price is genuinely competitive, the mozzarella and bases are solid quality, and the ice cream is excellent for the price. You're not compromising much here.

Woolies regulars: You're paying $64.31 all-in, which is $22 more than Aldi. If you already collect Everyday Rewards points and Woolies is your main shop, consider adding an Aldi run for the heavy hitters, mozzarella, bases, and ice cream, before your main shop. Those three items alone could save you $5-8 compared to Woolies prices.

Coles loyalists: Similar story to Woolies. Coles comes in at $66.22, marginally pricier than Woolies. If you're a Flybuys collector, do what you need to do, but know that Aldi's mozzarella and pizza bases are probably better value than what you'll find in the Coles dairy aisle.

IGA shoppers: IGA couldn't even stock two items from this basket, and at $66.87 for the rest, it's the priciest option. IGA's strength is convenience, it's the place you duck into when you've forgotten something, not where you build a full pizza night from scratch.

One Thing the ACCC Data Confirms

Australian grocery prices rose 24% over the five years to 2025, according to the ACCC's supermarket inquiry. The commission flagged that Australia's major supermarkets have expanded their margins, not just passed on supplier costs. That context matters when you're looking at a $24 gap between Aldi and the big two on a basket like this. Aldi's model, fewer brands, higher stock turnover, lower overheads, is a structural reason why the gap is real and likely to persist.

For Friday night pizza, that structure works in your favour.

A full homemade pizza night for the family, dessert included, for $42.25. That's less than two large takeaway pizzas. You'll probably have leftover toppings for Saturday's lunch too.