The Best Summer Sausage to Buy

Though it was first created as a way of preserving meat into the summer, summer sausage is, ironically, a gift basket staple around the holidays. The shelf-stable (until sliced open) smoked sausage is a deliciously savory snack on a charcuterie board or on its own, bitten into like a banana. 

Here’s the thing: You don’t have to receive a summer sausage as a gift to enjoy it. Nor do you have to give away every summer sausage you buy. You can purchase summer sausage and eat it at home just as you would any other deli meat. And you can even get some of the best summer sausage from the grocery store—no mail-order necessary. 

Now that you have my express permission to buy and eat summer sausage whenever you dang well please, the question is, what’s the best summer sausage to get? I can help you. Over two separate taste tests, I sampled 25 different summer sausages in search of the best beef summer sausage, turkey summer sausage, jalapeño cheddar summer sausage, and even elk summer sausage. Here are the seven best summer sausages to buy and eat (or gift, if you must). 

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Best Elk Summer Sausage

Hunter’s Reserve Elk

Hunter’s Reserve

I tasted a bunch of different game summer sausages in our latest summer sausage taste test. I tried bison summer sausage and venison summer sausage and wild boar summer sausage and more. And most of them were way, way, way too gamey. And I like game meat. But this elk summer sausage from Hunter’s Reserve has just the right amount of gamey flavor. You know you are eating game meat, but you don’t feel like you’re eating a dog treat. It actually tastes a bit like pepperoni, thanks to the choice of seasonings. But it’s pepperoni with the twang of summer sausage and that iron-rich flavor of elk. If you’re looking for the best game meat summer sausage, buy this elk summer sausage and skip the rest.

Credit: Liv Averett / Hunter’s Reserve

Rating:

6.5/10

Sporks

Best Fatty

Johnsonville Original Summer Sausage

Instacart

If you are a big salami fan, then you will like this pork and beef summer sausage. It has a real salami flavor with a summer sausage texture. It’s also on the fattier end of the summer sausage spectrum, so slice it thin and enjoy how it nearly melts in your mouth. This is not everyday summer sausage; it’s special occasion summer sausage.

Credit: Merc / Instacart

Rating:

7/10

Sporks

Best Beef Sausage

Johnsonville Beef Summer Sausage

Target

Johnsonville beef summer sausage is the best all-beef summer sausage that I tried. It tastes like beef, as it should. It seems like an obvious note to make, but not all beef summer sausage really tastes like good, classic beef. It’s well seasoned with just a hint of pepper on the end and enough fattiness to let you know you’re eating sausage. A few slices of this beef summer sausage with some classic orange cheddar? That’s 4 p.m. snacking, right there.

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Jalapeño Cheddar

Johnsonville Jalapeño Cheddar Summer Sausage

Kroger

I’ll be honest, I did not think I would be into a jalapeño cheddar summer sausage. I thought the cheddar would be gross and too creamy. I thought the jalapeño would be overwhelming. But I will always admit when I’m wrong. And I was very wrong about jalapeño cheddar summer sausage. Because this stuff is great. There are visible chunks of cheese and jalapeno in the sausage. The jalapeño adds a nice, grassy, pepper flavor. The cheese is sharp and just creamy enough. It’s like a charcuterie board cracker snack all in one bite.

Credit: Merc / Kroger

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Thick Slices

Old Wisconsin Premium Summer Sausage

Vons

If you want a classic summer sausage that’s a mix of beef and pork, this is some of the best summer sausage out there. It’s very savory with lots of spices in the mix. The texture is somewhere between salami and bologna. It’s a real crowd-pleaser. Cut some thick slices and arrange them on a platter with some crackers and a fancy mustard. That’s really all you need for an appetizer. 

Credit: Merc / Vons

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best Turkey Sausage

Trader Joe’s Natural Turkey Summer Sausage

Until our most recent taste test, this turkey summer sausage from Trader Joe’s was the best summer sausage on this list. Trader Joe’s turkey summer sausage is different from any other summer sausage I tried. It doesn’t just taste like salami’s cousin. It tastes like its own meat product. It tastes like there are some pickling spices in the mix. And that touch of tang really makes it soar. Plus, it’s leaner than the other summer sausages on this list. So, if you appreciate a leaner meat, like I do, then this is the best summer sausage to buy. It’s also the best turkey summer sausage if you’re not a red meat eater.

Credit: Merc

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

Cloverdale Original Tangy Summer Sausage

Amazon

One very helpful commenter suggested we try Cloverdale summer sausage and I’m so glad they did. (See? We do read the comments. Go ahead and tell us what to try!) This mix of beef and pork (and pork hearts!) is very, very savory and very, very fatty. Like. So fatty. But it has that classic summer sausage tang to balance out that fattiness, along with a slightly grainy texture that tells you this summer sausage was made with real ground meat—not paste. Plus, you get a lot of it. The sausage we got was the size of my forearm. Cloverdale made a classic summer sausage in the best way. It’s the best summer sausage we tried. Congrats, to the new number one!

Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other summer sausage we tried: Simms Beef Summer Sausage, Simms Summer Sausage, Dietz & Watson Beef Summer Sausage, Dietz & Watson Beef & Garlic Summer Sausage, Hickory Farms Beef Summer Sausage, Hickory Farms Farmhouse Summer Sausage