We Tried Aldi’s Fall Chicken Sausages (& One’s A Clear Winner)

Of course we’re happy to see fall flavors absolutely dominating the sweets and treats (and especially beverage) categories this time of year. We’re well into October and our fridge is stocked with apple cider donut energy drinks, Pear Frangipane ice cream, and Pumpkin Chai Cheesecake. But sometimes it’s nice to take a break from all the sucrose and spice and seek out autumnal flavor in the savory section of your supermarket. 

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Lucky for us, Aldi has decided to bring a fan favorite organic chicken sausage brand back into circulation for yet another year―it’s their line of Simply Nature Organic Chicken Sausage and this time of year it comes in two very autumnal, very unique, and even promising flavors: Harvest Apple and Cranberry Sage. Being as thorough―and protein-starved―as we tend to be, we tried both varieties, looking for assertiveness of fall flavor, balance of sweet and savory elements, and, of course, overall spicing and quality of the chicken sausage. 

Simply Nature Organic Chicken Sausage Harvest Apple

Pros: Both flavors of Simply Nature’s Organic Chicken Sausage already have a few things going for them―they’re organic, they’re made with non-GMO ingredients, they’re made with chicken (a leaner meat), and that chicken is raised without antibiotics. Oh, and they come fully-cooked! All you have to do is heat them up. 

Maple syrup is listed in the ingredients, but they must use the perfect amount, because there’s just the faintest hint of maple (which can easily dominate), and instead you really do get a fresh, fleshy apple flavor. The apple is not at all tart because they use dried apple, so you get little chunks of sweet and bright apple flavor without anything too assertive. Absolutely zero artificial apple flavor vibes here (a problem in some of the sweet apple flavors we’ve encountered this fall). The biggest pro, though, is the spicing―at first it seems only like abundant, fragrant (but not overpowering) black pepper, but then you double check the ingredients list because, yep, there’s just the slightest hint of ginger, which lingers like a wisp of heat with the peppercorns and blends so perfectly with the tender, juicy sausage. 

Cons: Really nothing assertively bad. Without the black pepper and ginger it might read too sweet, but the use of maple and apple is masterfully balanced, the chicken is tender and moist, and the ginger/pepper heat actually lingers a bit (pleasantly) after you’ve swallowed. 

It’s $4.99 a package for a relatively healthy, affordable, organic, flavorful meal. Get five buns, maybe sautee some onions or peppers, and you’ve got five (or three very hungry) happy mouths. 

Simply Nature Organic Chicken Sausage Cranberry Sage

Pros: To start, the visual is promising―not that we tend to gaze at sausages the way we might stare fondly at the perfect brown to tender pink gradient of a perfectly cooked steak―but the Cranberry Sage sausages have flecks of cranberry and sage studded up and down the link. Yet again, the texture is masterfully moist, even after getting a good char in the air fryer (or on a skillet), and despite being “just” a chicken sausage, you really don’t feel like you’re missing out on heartiness. The spicing is also nice―black pepper, sage, and thyme, even, though it’s less assertive than the Harvest Apple variety―in a way that makes the overall impression of the sausage more two-dimensional. 

Cons: At first, I thought it was a reasonable flavor combination―cranberry and sage often meet, very happily, on a Thanksgiving plate (you know, one of those “perfect bites” where you somehow manage to pile EVERYTHING onto a single fork and shovel it into your mouth?). Even though the flavors are decent here―again, not too sweet (no maple here, only organic cane sugar and some dried apples)―the sage takes too far a back seat. More sage, and (promise I’m not a black pepper fiend) but yeah, maybe some more of that fragrant black pepper, and no thyme at all? Which can be distractingly herbal, even medicinal or lemony depending―and isn’t sage the luscious, fragrant star of Thanksgiving anyway? 

Again, this has plenty going for it in terms of price: $4.99 for 5 pre-cooked links and a pleasant if underwhelming flavor profile. But considering how well sage works with turkey, it seems like a natural idea to get a bit bolder with the sage here. Let it really play off the cranberry (which rang in oddly less tart and tannic―both strong suits in a savory prep). Not complaining, but between the two varieties I’d go Harvest Apple every time.