Autumn’s flavor surge is clearly dominating the sweets and treats—and even the drink aisle—right now. It’s mid-October, and our fridge is stacked with apple cider donut-flavored energy drinks, Pear Frangipane ice cream, and Pumpkin Chai Cheesecake. Still, there are moments when a savory detour feels right, when you want to discover fall notes hiding in the savory section of the supermarket.
Fortune favors us: Aldi has brought back a crowd-pleasing organic chicken sausage line for another season—Simply Nature Organic Chicken Sausage. This autumn they’ve rolled out two flavors that feel especially seasonal, distinct, and even promising: Harvest Apple and Cranberry Sage. As always, we tested both varieties with an eye toward how boldly they convey fall flavors, how well sweet and savory notes play off each other, and, of course, the overall seasoning and quality of the sausage.
Simply Nature Organic Chicken Sausage Harvest Apple
Pros: Each version in Simply Nature’s Organic Chicken Sausage lineup already has a few strengths—organic sourcing, non-GMO ingredients, chicken as the base (a leaner option), and the poultry raised without antibiotics. Plus, they’re fully cooked, so you simply heat them up and serve.
Maple is listed among the ingredients, yet the maple presence is restrained enough to allow the apple to shine. The result is a bright, juicy apple flavor with a fresh bite from dried apple bits that keep things sweet without leaning tart or overpowering. There are no artificial apple notes here, which is a relief after some of the fruit-forward flavors we’ve tried this fall. The standout is the spice blend: initially you notice a fragrant, generous black pepper, and then a subtle ginger note that adds a soft heat—just enough to mingle with the sausage’s juices and keep the profile lively.
Cons: There really isn’t much to fault. Absent the pepper and ginger, the sausage might taste a touch too sweet, but the maple and apple are exquisitely balanced, and the chicken remains tender and moist. The ginger-heat lingers pleasantly after swallowing, which is a nice finishing touch.
Its price remains at $4.99 per package, delivering five pre-cooked links and a moderately satisfying flavor profile. You could sauté onions or peppers to accompany them and stretch this into a simple meal for five, or feed three very hungry people with leftovers to spare.
Simply Nature Organic Chicken Sausage Cranberry Sage
Pros: To start, the Cranberry Sage version presents a promising appearance—the sausage links show bits of cranberry and flecks of sage along their length. The texture remains reliably moist, even after a good sear in the air fryer or on a pan, and despite being a chicken sausage, it never feels lacking in heartiness. The seasoning is pleasant—black pepper, sage, and thyme—though it lands a bit more softly than Harvest Apple, which gives the overall impression a touch less depth.
Cons: Initially, the cranberry-sage pairing looks like a natural Thanksgiving pairing—the sort of bite that seems to unite everything on one fork. The flavors are decent and not overly sweet (no maple here, just organic cane sugar and some dried apples), but the sage is a bit timid. A bolder sage presence, perhaps with a touch more black pepper (and maybe skipping thyme entirely) could lean more toward a robust, savory profile rather than herbal notes that feel a touch medicinal or lemony—sage is the star of Thanksgiving, after all.
On the price front, it remains a solid value at $4.99 for five pre-cooked links, offering a reasonably satisfying if not earth-shaking flavor profile. Given that sage plays so nicely with turkey, one might wish the sage note here would be a touch bolder, letting it play off the cranberry more fully (with the cranberry leaning less tart and tannic, which suit a savory dish). Overall, if I had to pick between the two, Harvest Apple would be my go-to every time.
