Last Updated on December 26, 2023
Several years ago, I discovered a local farmer at our farmers market who sells grass-fed beef and pasture-raised chicken, and they also sell pork products from a neighboring farm. I buy a lot of the meat I serve my family from this farm. I enjoy supporting local farmers and knowing exactly where and how my food was raised, and it’s nice to have an alternative to the commercial meat industry.
When I’m running low on local meat and haven’t yet placed another order with my local farmer, I will occasionally pick up meat from Aldi. They have all the usual grocery store fare, including standard packs of commercially produced cut-up chicken or ground beef. However, over the years Aldi has also done a good job of introducing meat for more health- or environmentally conscious consumers. They now stock products such as grass-fed ground beef, various cuts of antibiotic-free chicken, and organic free-range chicken breasts.
During a recent Aldi run, I found several different types of whole chickens, including an organic chicken under the Simply Nature Aldi house brand.
Simply Nature Organic Whole Chicken is a Regular Buy, which means you can find it at Aldi all year.
Simply Nature Organic Whole Chicken cost $2.79 per pound (on sale from $2.99 per pound) at the time of publication. I bought a 5.92-pound chicken for $16.52. This was one of the larger chickens I found in the refrigerator case, with some other smaller chickens more around the $14 range.
For comparison, I’ve seen name-brand Perdue whole chickens at some of my local Aldi stores that are all 3.75 pounds and cost $6.25, or about $1.67 per pound. I also found whole chickens at Trader Joe’s going for $1.99 per pound for a regular chicken and $2.99 per pound for an organic chicken. That puts the Aldi organic whole chickens in a similar price range with Trader Joe’s organic whole chickens.
For further comparison, whole chickens from my local farmer cost about $5 per pound. That price comes with assurance that my chicken spent most of its life foraging in predator-proof enclosures outdoors with access to fresh pasture, sunshine, and insects.
This Aldi chicken is certified USDA organic and non-GMO. It’s a product of the U.S., having been hatched, raised, and harvested here. It is animal welfare certified. The package says no antibiotics were ever used in the production of this chicken. The package also states that no added hormones or steroids were used, but hormones are prohibited for all U.S. poultry, so we find it problematic that nearly every store-bought chicken package contains that labeling. Parts of the giblets in this chicken may be missing.
For a chicken to be certified organic by the USDA, it must be fed a diet that doesn’t include pesticides. It also can’t receive antibiotics that aren’t medically necessary. It must also have access to the outdoors, although experts note that it can be unclear exactly what outdoor access looks like in practice.
The package states that a plant number is printed on the bag or bag closure. I found some numbers, and I tried putting those numbers into online searches, but I wasn’t successful at finding the plant where my specific chicken was processed at. [EDITOR’S NOTE: after publication we were informed that the plant ID is P1318, which is the Perdue Foods facility in Milford, Delaware.]
The chicken I purchased in early December had a use or freeze-by date of about nine days out from my date of purchase. Obviously, this should be kept refrigerated, or frozen.
The label states a 4-ounce serving of this chicken has 240 calories, 17 grams of total fat (22% DV), 4.5 grams of saturated fat (23% DV), 100 mg of cholesterol (33% DV), 80 mg of sodium (3% DV), no carbohydrates or added sugars, and 21 grams of protein.
The only ingredient listed is organic whole chicken. It may contain up to 6% retained water.
Nutrition information, ingredients, and roasting directions. (Click to enlarge.)
The package has directions for roasting the chicken whole in the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove giblets and visible fat.
The directions then say to rinse the chicken under cool water and pat dry with a paper towel. However, this is an outdated and unsafe recommendation that many experts think needs to be removed from poultry labels. Rinsing chicken does not remove bacteria; it can actually spread it to your sink and other parts of your workspace, including small droplets that may splash out of the sink. As a result, you risk cross contamination. The best way to make chicken safe to consume is to cook it to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees.
With that said, once your chicken is removed from the packaging, the directions say to rub the skin with 2-3 tablespoons of oil or butter and season with salt and pepper if desired. Then, if desired, fold back the wings and tie the legs together. Place the chicken breast-side up in a shallow roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes. Then reduce heat to 375 degrees and cook about 55-65 minutes longer, until a meat thermometer registers 180 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh. (I’m not sure why the package recommends 180 degrees rather than the standard 165 degrees.) Baste occasionally while roasting, if desired. If glazing, brush on during the last 15 minutes of cooking.
After roasting.
My family’s very favorite method for cooking chicken is a crispy oven fried chicken recipe, but I decided to try the recipe on this chicken package and see how it turned out. I brushed melted butter over the chicken, sprinkled it generously with salt and pepper, and didn’t bother with tying the legs. My chicken was done after about an hour and a half in the oven, roasting it for 30 minutes at 425 degrees and then an hour at 375 degrees.
It was great. The skin was crispy and flavorful (my personal weakness is snacking on pieces of poultry skin while carving the bird), and the meat was tender and perfectly cooked. It was as good as any other chicken I’ve had in terms of taste. I served it alongside some Aldi boxed brioche stuffing mix, a garden salad, and a frozen cheddar broccoli bake tray I picked up at a regular grocery store. It made for something like a mini Thanksgiving meal, and my family all loved it.
The Verdict:
Simply Nature Organic Whole Chicken is a tasty chicken that, for us, turned out delicious. It’s more expensive than your average non-organic chicken, but is comparable in price to the organic chicken at Trader Joe’s. If getting an organic chicken is important to you, you might want to give this one a try.
I’ve been buying these chickens when I don’t want to make a special stop at my co-op. They’re good. I think the breed of chicken sold at the co-op has a slightly better texture but they do have a considerably higher price. This is a very good compromise as far as poultry quality. The only other consideration, then, is how well we continue to support smaller producers (like the one sold by the co-op).
I find these marked down in some inner city stores. Time to pounce.
Actually I have access to Mary’s chicken, NO water added. That’s the part I have a problem with. I want my chicken dry and that is exactly what Mary’s is. About the same price. I too like buying directly from the farmer.