Simply Nature Organic Preserves: Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry

I have a handful of friends and relatives who like to make their own jarred foods, jams, and jellies. My wife, for instance, makes a mean freezer jam. My wife’s grandmother used to make apple butter. We have a friend who sometimes makes her own pickles.

I’m not the jarring or canning type, but I can appreciate the work that goes into creating these things homemade. Of course, not everyone has time to make everything from scratch, and that’s where grocers come in.

When it comes to fruit you might spread on toast, you’re liable to see things like jelly, jam, and preserves. They’re all a little different, but preserves tend to be my own personal favorite. They tend to have more physical pieces of fruit in them compared to jam and jelly. Nearly every grocer of any size sells preserves, including Aldi, which offers a few varieties through its Simply Nature private label.

Simply Nature Organic Preserves are an Aldi Regular Buy, which means you can find them in stores all the time. The preserves in my store come in an 11-ounce jar and currently cost $2.45. That comes out to 22 cents an ounce. That’s more than I would pay per ounce for most jelly — name brand or otherwise — and more than I would pay for most non-organic preserves. It’s a low price compared to organic preserves I see at my local large-inventory grocers, though. I’ll let you decide if the trade-off is worth it.

Aldi currently sells a few varieties of organic preserves. All of them are products of Belgium. They contain no high fructose corn syrup (they’re all made with cane sugar) and use organically grown fruits. We also noticed that the ingredients are relatively minimal: sugar, fruit, citric acid (to preserve the fruit), and pectin (which gives it the gel-like texture).

Simply Nature Organic Strawberry Preserves

These preserves have that sweet strawberry flavor that I’m used to with strawberry preserves. The strawberry chunks are there, but not so large as to tear up my toast. It’s my personal favorite of the bunch.

Strawberry preserves: nutrition and ingredients, part 1. (Click to enlarge.) 

Strawberry preserves: nutrition and ingredients, part 2. (Click to enlarge.) 

Simply Nature Organic Raspberry Preserves

Raspberries aren’t my top-tier fruit, but these raspberry preserves are good. The chunks aren’t as big as the strawberries owing to the fruit size and texture itself, but it does have some substance. It’s maybe a little tart, although not as tart as some whole raspberries I’ve had before. Definitely a unique flavor, though.

Raspberry preserves: nutrition and ingredients, part 1. (Click to enlarge.) 

Raspberry preserves: nutrition and ingredients, part 2. (Click to enlarge.) 

Simply Nature Organic Blueberry Preserves

The blueberry preserves are maybe the least chunky of the lot, and the flavor is more muted than the other two, something I’m used to with blueberries. I would say this would be my last choice of the three, but I also wouldn’t say no to it if it was my only option.

Blueberry preserves: nutrition and ingredients, part 1. (Click to enlarge.) 

Blueberry preserves: nutrition and ingredients, part 2. (Click to enlarge.)

The Verdict:

Aldi sells three competent, tasty organic preserves on its shelves. They’re all made with just a few ingredients, use organic fruits, and all have a nice flavor to them. The price is higher than non-organic preserves but is low compared to other organic preserves. If you want something simple to spread on your toast, these are worth a look.