Breakfast Best Heat ‘N Serve Links: Sausage and Turkey

Last Updated on May 25, 2020

We’re big fans of Aldi’s inventory when it comes to the first meal of the day, from its excellent Regular Buys to some of its really interesting Special Buys. This post deals a little with one of each. Both are easy to make and go well with any manner of breakfast foods.

Breakfast Best Heat ‘N Serve Sausage Links

These pork links are a staple everyday Regular Buy, and come in both regular and maple-flavored varieties. They taste similar to (although not quite idential to) Aldi’s truly sublime sausage patties. They come 10 to a box and can be found in the frozen section. The links are pre-cooked, so all you need to do is bring them to a desired temperature.

You can make them in one of two ways. The first method uses a stove top: pour three tablespoons of water into an unheated skillet, add your frozen links, then cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Then, remove the cover and heat for an additional 2-3 minutes, turning frequently to give them a little bit of brown on each side. Aldi recommends this method, and so do we.

Alternatively, you can make them in a 1100 watt microwave oven by placing the frozen links on a paper towel, which is in turn on a microwave safe dish — be sure to leave some space between links — then heat them on high power. How long depends on the number of links: 1 minute for 5 links, 2 minutes for 10. The instructions suggest rearranging the 10 links halfway through cooking to achieve more even temperatures.

These are good: the taste and texture compare favorably to other brands we’ve had, and they make a wonderful side to the likes of eggs, french toast, waffles, or pancakes. We still prefer the patties in most cases — they’re a better value for the price and they taste a bit better — but the links have their virtues, especially since the patties can’t be microwaved.

Nutrition, ingredients, and cooking instructions. (Click to enlarge.)

Breakfast Best Heat ‘N Serve Turkey Links

These are a Special Buy (Aldi Find), appearing during certain times of year when Aldi seems to be about emphasizing fitness, like the New Year. They are similar to the sausage links in many ways: they come from the frozen section, they come 10 links to a box, and the preparation instructions are identical to their sausage counterparts.

The biggest difference, of course, is that they’re turkey, not pork. That has its pros and cons. The biggest pros revolve around health: these are better for you in almost every way compared to the sausage. They’re leaner, have fewer calories, and even a little less sodium. If you’re thinking about health but still want a little breakfast meat in your life, these might be worth a look.

The biggest con is probably taste. Turkey sausage tastes a little different than pork sausage. Whether that is a problem or not depends on your tastes and preferences, and how important having a healthier option is for you. We think the turkey sausage tastes decent, but we admit the sausage tastes better.

Nutrition, ingredients, and cooking instructions. (Click to enlarge.)

The Verdict:

Like so many other Aldi breakfast options, both the Regular Buy Breakfast Best Heat ‘N Serve Sausage Links and the Special Buy Breakfast Best Heat ‘N Serve Turkey Links do the job nicely. Both are easy to make and taste good, although we like the taste of the sausage better than the turkey (and we like Aldi’s sausage patties a little more than the sausage links). Still, you can’t go wrong with either of them, and the turkey links have the additional benefit of lower calories, fat, and sodium.

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