Category: Cost Of Living In Portugal

Easy Dinner Idea With Lidl Italiamo Tagliatelle + Chopped Tomatoes with Peppers & Chili

1/26/2025

This is a quick little review of Lidl's brand Italiamo Fresh Tagliatelle Pasta and Chopped Tomatoes with Peppers and Chili.

See Also: Lidl Review Blog

Nothing screams quick weeknight dinner quite like pasta and jarred sauce, but unfortunately the results are often underwhelming despite doing the job of filling the household bellies. :)

Italiamo Brand Tagliatelle + Chopped Tomatoes with Peppers and Chili from Lidl Portugal

With little additional effort, you may be able to elevate your easy weeknight dinner idea and if that's the case, why wouldn't you give it a shot?!

The swap out for fresh tagliatelle pasta and a quick homemade meat sauce made all the difference over here. Fortunately in Portugal fresh pasta at grocery stores like Lidl is very affordable. This package was 85 euro cents and served 2 of us perfectly.

Easy Tagliatelle with Meat sauce "Recipe":

Ingredients to make this at home:

Tagliatelle Pasta • Tomato Arrabbiata • Ground Beef or alternative • Tomato Paste • Olive Oil

In a well heated frying pan primed with oil, simply fry up your ground meat with some salt and pepper. Add a squeeze of tomato paste (the tubes are the best!!) and cook it through before adding the can of chopped tomatoes. This particular can included peppers and chili which added a nice little kick.

The fresh tagliatelle pasta needs just 3 minutes in boiling water to cook and guys, that is literally it. I did not even toss the two together, I just piled this super easy meat sauce on top of the fresh pasta, drizzled with olive oil, a little grind of crushed red pepper, a festive shake of the garlic powder and dinner was served!

Easy Weeknight Dinner - Tagliatelle with Meat Sauce + Colorful Salad

Could this Be The Best Pizza In Lisbon?

More Lisbon Restaurant Reviews

But if you are wondering what goes well with fresh pasta and meat sauce, a salad I always a great choice.

Our colorful side salad was loaded with a combination of arugula, spinach, and iceberg with chopped red and green peppers, cucumbers, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and feta cheese crumbled on top. Simply dressed with olive oil and lemon juice for a light, bright touch!

COST:
Tagliatelle .85 EURO
Tomate Arrabiata .99 euro
Ground Beef 2.40 euro

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
WOULD YOU TRY making this at home?
DO YOU THINK it was A GOOD VALUE?

The ingredients for this easy pasta dish were purchased at Lidl, a grocery store in Portugal. If you're looking for information on current Cost of Living in Portugal including grocery store reviews check out these posts:

Lidl Portugal Reviews:

See all Lidl Reviews

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Vitasia Asia Style Gyoza Spicy Pork and Kimchi Filling - Lidl Review

1/23/2025

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Lidl Review: VITASIA ASIA STYLE GYOZA SPICY PORK AND KIMCHI FILLING

Carrying on from the Meat and Ginger Dim Sum Review, we also snagged these frozen Gyoza from Lidl.

Cooking Instructions: VITASIA ASIA STYLE GYOZA SPICY PORK AND KIMCHI FILLING

Okay so the package gave loads of ways to cook these gyoza, but I was looking for the most hands off version which for me was the oven option. The instructions were to put the sauce of your choice on the gyoza (I guess with a brush like this) and put them in the oven at 200 celsius for 15 minutes.

Btw, 200 C is approximately 400 degrees F.

Tap to order some gluten free pork dumplings!

Modo de preparação:

Não descongelar o produto antes da preparação.

Na frigideira: adicionar um pouco de óleo à frigideia, juntar o produto e fritar em lume médio durante 2 minutos até que a parte de baixo atinja uma tonalidade dourada. Acrescentar um pouco de água e cozinhar o produto durante mais 3 minutos.
Na panela a vapor: adicionar um pouco de água à panela e aquecer. Assim que a água começar a ferver, colocar o produto na panela a vapor e cozinhar durante 6-10 minutos.
Na fritadeira: aquecer a quantidade necessária de óleo, de forma a que o produto fique coberto ao fritar. Aquecer o óleo a 160°C, colocar o produto congelado e fritar durante aprox. 3 minutos.
No forno: pincelar o produto com um molho à escolha e cozinhar a 200 °C durante 15 minutos.
Na fritadeira de ar quente: cozinhar o produto durante 8-12 minutos a 180 °C. Virar a meio do tempo.
Na panela: cozer o produto durante 3 minutos em água.

I really didn't have any sauce in mind so I just laid them in a single layer on a Nordic Ware quarter sheet tray and spritzed them with some spray oil and popped them in.

Which would you get?
Electric Dumpling Maker or Hand Press Dumpling Maker

While I didn't find the Kimchi flavor to be as pronounced as expected, overall I thought these were super tasty and I would definitely get them again. I believe the package had about 20 gyoza inside.

Between these Gyoza and the Dim Sum at Lidl, the Gyoza were the clear winner for us!

COST: 3.29 EURO

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
WOULD YOU TRY THESE Gyoza?
DO YOU THINK THEY WERE A GOOD VALUE?

These Gyoza were purchased at Lidl, a grocery store in Portugal. If you're looking for information on current Cost of Living in Portugal and opinions of Americans in Portugal, check out these posts:

Cost of Living in Portugal:

MORe Lidl Portugal Reviews:

Click here for all Lidl Reviews

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Lidl Donut Taste Test

1/23/2025

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We've decided to try all the donuts at Lidl. We will refresh this post as new donuts become available... It's a trial, but we are willing to do it for you ;)

Glazed Donut .39

Let's start with the classic glazed donut. The Glazed Donut at Lidl is called an "argola". Well, all the donuts I saw today were called argolas. Other stores call them "dots", for example. :)

Learn Portuguese: Argola is a Portuguese word meaning "ring".

Quick take on the glazed donut: "I liked it."

How would you describe it? "Good fluffy texture, nice fried donut-y taste. The glaze wasn't too sticky. It was a good price - pretty good for a donut I think!"

Tap here if you want to try making donuts at home

Glazed Donut side view with a bite taken out

I would tend to agree. To be honest there are a lot of really tasty donuts in America and during our time in Portugal not every donut has been in the game, but I think they are steadily improving. The glazed donut was fluffy and the glaze had just the right thin-shell sweet sturdiness that you're looking for. Flavorful, but not overly greasy. A nice sweet treat that you don't regret afterward!

Sprinkle Donut .59

Tap for sprinkles!

Quick take on the sprinkle donut: "Less good (compared to the glazed), a little gummier. The donut taste wasn't as good as the glazed. Maybe the sprinkles detract, I'm not sure. Just get the glazed."

Did you dislike it? "No."

So overall decent, just not as good as the glazed? "Exactly."

Coming in at a whopping 20 euro-cents more than the plain glazed, the sprinkle donut may not be the best bang for your buck, however listen... when you want a sprinkle donut, you want a sprinkle donut. I tried the sprinkle donut first and I was like "Wow this is a good Portugal donut!"

When I followed up with the first bite of the glazed donut I was surprised how airy it was, as you could see in the photo. The donut sprung back up whereas with the sprinkle donut it stayed squished down, hence the "gummier" description. I assumed the base donut experience would be identical on these, but actually no!

Unfortunately I missed a cross section pic of the sprinkle donut (or "argola party" as the sign says in Portuguese lol) so this can only mean one thing: I will have to try another one and add the photo so you can see the difference ;)

More donuts to come. Stay tuned! ;)

More Lidl Reviews:

Read all Lidl Reviews Here

These Donuts were purchased at Lidl, a grocery store in Portugal. If you're looking for information on current Cost of Living in Portugal and opinions of Americans in Portugal, check out some of the posts above!

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Vitasia Chinese Style Dim Sum With Meat And Ginger - Lidl Review

1/23/2025

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Lidl Review: Vitasia Chinese Style Dim Sum with Meat and Ginger

This week there were loads of interesting Asian foods in the local Lidl so we decided to try a few including this package of Dim Sum, frozen Gyoza, and Indian Lassi.

Cooking Instructions: VITASIA CHINESE STYLE DIM SUM WITH MEAT AND GINGER

You have 3 options

In a pan - cook with plenty of salted water for 4 minutes under low heat, turning them carefully. Drain and serve with the sauce of your choice.
In a steamer - Steam for 5-6 minutes, drain and serve with sauce of your choice.
In a frying pan - Fry the dim sum in hot oil for 1-2 minutes. Drain and serve with sauce to taste.

Tap the photo below for nutritional information of Lidl's Dim Sum.

Ingredients List on Back of Dim Sum Package

Modo de PREPARAÇÃO

Na panela: cozer o produto em água abundante com sal durante 4 minutos em lume brando, virando cuidadosamente. Escorrer e servir com um molho a gosto.
Na panela a vapor: cozer o produto durante 5-6 minutos. Escorrer e servir com um molho a gosto.
Na frigideira: fritar o produto em óleo quente durante 1-2 minutos, escorrer e servir com um molho a gosto.

We opted to prepare them via the first method and then I wanted to fry them off a bit after they were cooked with some toasted sesame oil. I quickly aborted that mission as they were sticking to the pan I was using (whoops, forgot to let it get back up to temp first - rookie move) and proceeded to plate.

I really wasn't sure what molho (sauce) I would want with "meat and ginger" Dim Sum, so besides the toasted sesame oil, we had a splash of soy sauce.

What did you think of the Dim Sum we had the other night?
"They were mediocre, I guess."

How would you describe them?
"Soft, meaty - there was some sort of filling in there. I don't know what it was..."

I think that about sums it up.

No pun intended. Seriously. :p

Tramontina Pan

The filling was very smooth and processed and made for a lack of variety in texture imo. If you could deep fry these puppies maybe it would be better. I was impressed by how gingery they were, though.

For us, these were a pass. They were fine, it was an easy little snack after a midweek meeting, but nothing I would seek out again.

VITASIA CHINESE STYLE DIM SUM WITH MEAT AND GINGER Ingredients

The Dim Sum contained 60% filling which was a combination of beef and pork meat along with onion, carrot, rosemary, garlic, nutmeg, salt, and wine. The filling also contained potato, mozzarella cheese (what?!) .6% ginger, and pepper. The other 40% was the dough made of wheat flour and water.

Cost: 1.99 euro

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
WOULD YOU TRY THESE DIM SUM?
DO YOU THINK THEY WERE A GOOD VALUE?

These Dim Sum were purchased at Lidl, a grocery store in Portugal. If you're looking for information on current Cost of Living in Portugal and opinions of Americans in Portugal, check out these posts:

More Lidl Reviews:

Click here for all Lidl Reviews

Aldi Reviews:

Click here for all Aldi Reviews

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Traveling through food

Easy Dinner Idea With Lidl Italiamo Tagliatelle + Chopped Tomatoes with Peppers & Chili

Easy Tagliatelle with Meat sauce "Recipe":

Ingredients to make this at home:

Could this Be The Best Pizza In Lisbon?

COST:
Tagliatelle .85 EURO
Tomate Arrabiata .99 euro
Ground Beef 2.40 euro

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
WOULD YOU TRY making this at home?
DO YOU THINK it was A GOOD VALUE?

Lidl Portugal Reviews:

Vitasia Asia Style Gyoza Spicy Pork and Kimchi Filling - Lidl Review

Lidl Review: VITASIA ASIA STYLE GYOZA SPICY PORK AND KIMCHI FILLING

Cooking Instructions: VITASIA ASIA STYLE GYOZA SPICY PORK AND KIMCHI FILLING

Modo de preparação:

COST: 3.29 EURO

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
WOULD YOU TRY THESE Gyoza?
DO YOU THINK THEY WERE A GOOD VALUE?

Cost of Living in Portugal:

MORe Lidl Portugal Reviews:

Lidl Donut Taste Test

Glazed Donut .39

Sprinkle Donut .59

More donuts to come. Stay tuned! ;)

More Lidl Reviews:

Vitasia Chinese Style Dim Sum With Meat And Ginger - Lidl Review

Lidl Review: Vitasia Chinese Style Dim Sum with Meat and Ginger

Cooking Instructions: VITASIA CHINESE STYLE DIM SUM WITH MEAT AND GINGER

Modo de PREPARAÇÃO

VITASIA CHINESE STYLE DIM SUM WITH MEAT AND GINGER Ingredients

Cost: 1.99 euro

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
WOULD YOU TRY THESE DIM SUM?
DO YOU THINK THEY WERE A GOOD VALUE?

More Lidl Reviews:

Aldi Reviews:

Oh, Hey!

Check out this recent cruise post:

Check out this recent Restaurant Review:

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Traveling through food

Easy Dinner Idea With Lidl Italiamo Tagliatelle + Chopped Tomatoes with Peppers & Chili

Easy Tagliatelle with Meat sauce "Recipe":

Ingredients to make this at home:

Could this Be The Best Pizza In Lisbon?

COST:Tagliatelle .85 EUROTomate Arrabiata .99 euroGround Beef 2.40 euroWHAT DO YOU THINK?WOULD YOU TRY making this at home?​DO YOU THINK it was A GOOD VALUE?

Lidl Portugal Reviews:

Vitasia Asia Style Gyoza Spicy Pork and Kimchi Filling - Lidl Review

Lidl Review: VITASIA ASIA STYLE GYOZA SPICY PORK AND KIMCHI FILLING

Cooking Instructions: VITASIA ASIA STYLE GYOZA SPICY PORK AND KIMCHI FILLING

Modo de preparação:

COST: 3.29 EUROWHAT DO YOU THINK?WOULD YOU TRY THESE Gyoza?​DO YOU THINK THEY WERE A GOOD VALUE?

Cost of Living in Portugal:

​MORe Lidl Portugal Reviews:

Lidl Donut Taste Test

Glazed Donut .39

Sprinkle Donut .59

More donuts to come. Stay tuned! ;)

More Lidl Reviews:

Vitasia Chinese Style Dim Sum With Meat And Ginger - Lidl Review

Lidl Review: Vitasia Chinese Style Dim Sum with Meat and Ginger

Cooking Instructions: VITASIA CHINESE STYLE DIM SUM WITH MEAT AND GINGER

Modo de PREPARAÇÃO

VITASIA CHINESE STYLE DIM SUM WITH MEAT AND GINGER Ingredients

Cost: 1.99 euroWHAT DO YOU THINK?WOULD YOU TRY THESE DIM SUM?​DO YOU THINK THEY WERE A GOOD VALUE?

More Lidl Reviews:

​Aldi Reviews:

Oh, Hey!

​Check out this recent cruise post:

​Check out this recent Restaurant Review:

Categories

Archives

Travel BlogDestinations

Cruises

​Reviews

Travel Agent

Explore

Support

Discounts

COST:
Tagliatelle .85 EURO
Tomate Arrabiata .99 euro
Ground Beef 2.40 euro

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
WOULD YOU TRY making this at home?
DO YOU THINK it was A GOOD VALUE?

COST: 3.29 EURO

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
WOULD YOU TRY THESE Gyoza?
DO YOU THINK THEY WERE A GOOD VALUE?

MORe Lidl Portugal Reviews:

Cost: 1.99 euro

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
WOULD YOU TRY THESE DIM SUM?
DO YOU THINK THEY WERE A GOOD VALUE?

Aldi Reviews:

Check out this recent cruise post:

Check out this recent Restaurant Review:

Travel Blog
Destinations

Reviews