8 Aldi Jellies And Preserves, Ranked Worst To Best

There’s something to be said about a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but as I’ve aged, I’ve realized there’s far more complexity to the process than meets the eye. Which peanut butter brand is best to choose, and should it be creamy or chunky? Then there’s the jelly, where endless possibilities abound. Don’t even get me started on bread types. When it comes to my PB&J, it was a solid grape jelly that did the trick at first, but I’ve shifted to strawberry over the years. While I know opting for these simple flavors makes me super basic, I also know there is a large world of jams, jellies, fruit spreads, and preserves out there waiting to be had. For this taste test, I visited my local Aldi store to see what they had on the shelves. Knowing this chain, I knew I’d find some great treats.

From apricot preserves to your traditional concord grape, Aldi has it all. I decided to try every flavor to find the best of the best. Grab your favorite bread, pull out your all-time favorite peanut butter from the pantry, and let’s decide which jelly is your next go-to. No matter how you make your sammie or how you upgrade your PB&J, I only have one request: cut it diagonally. 

Last on this list — and rightly so — is the Specially Selected brand’s Premium Raspberry Fruit Spread. This one features 8 grams of sugar in a single tablespoon, 7 of which are added. Spoiler alert: I hated this one so much.

To be fair, I am not a huge fan of anything raspberry. I do love a handful of the fresh berries here and there, but they have to be ripe and sweet. This spread offered none of those descriptors. It was super tart, with no sugar to be found within the profile. It leaned acidic, so after two small tastes, I was done. On top of that assessment, the texture was no better. It leaned watery, which bled into the flavor profile.

Overall, this fruit spread was my least favorite — no contest. I guess if you’re looking for something more natural with less sugar, this might be your thing. However, I believe in my heart of hearts there’s a better raspberry spread out there. You just won’t find it at Aldi.

Next up — and faring a hair better than its raspberry counterpart — is Specially Selected’s Premium Blackberry Fruit Spread. This one also features 8 grams of sugar per tablespoon, 7 of which are added. I dislike blackberry even more than I do raspberry, so that should be a clear indicator of how much I disliked my last-place pick.

The blackberry was also aggressively tart, so much so that my cheeks were puckering. Like the raspberry, this one didn’t have any sugary foundation, but what set it apart was the fact that it tasted more like a mixed berry spread than pure blackberry. There was something present in the aftertaste that kept this spread in the running.

Would I buy it again? Nope, but I’m sure someone out there would give this fruit spread a good home. For me, I’ll take my jelly spreads with a side of sugar.

If you like those square packets of jelly at chains like Friendly’s, this one is for you. Next up — and disappointing the heck out of me — is Berryhill’s Concord Grape Jelly. While this wasn’t the worst, it wasn’t great compared to the rest of this list. 

To be fair, this particular item isn’t on par with some of the others that contain natural fruit, as the Concord Grape gets its flavor from a juice concentrate. This one also has 9 grams of sugar in a tablespoon, 7 of which are added. That sugar doesn’t do much, however. Compared to the others, this one tastes artificial. While that isn’t a huge turnoff per se, the texture was also tough. It leaned more Jell-O than Jell-y.

I wish this jelly had a little more sugar, and I wish the texture were a little less stiff. This wasn’t the nostalgic grape jelly experience I was looking for.

Coming in fifth was Berryhill’s Sweet Orange Marmalade, which was an honest surprise to me. I don’t think I’ve ever had an orange spread in my life, so it was nice to taste this for my first go. You’ll find 13 grams of sugar per tablespoon in this marmalade, all of which is added. Maybe the sugar is why I liked it?

Compared to the other options on this list, the Sweet Orange Marmalade has the most texture. You’ll find actual fruit pieces within the spread, and as such, this one tasted like genuine oranges. However, that’s where my positive comments end.

Overall, the orange was really overpowering. It was sweet, but the citrus built up after a while and made the aftertaste more artificial. I think this is worth a try, but it’s not a flavor I would consider one of the best additions to toast.

Probably the most shocking placement in this lineup is my fourth-place pick. For this spot, I chose Simply Nature’s Organic Blueberry Preserves. The ingredient list emphasized all-natural elements, such as organic cane sugar, organic blueberries, fruit pectin, and citric acid. It also features 13 grams of sugar in a single tablespoon — all of which are added.

While I’m not a huge blueberry fan and assumed this one would place near the back of the list, the overall flavor profile was balanced. It was sweet, but it wasn’t overpowering. I think I liked these preserves because they’re more generally berry-leaning than a tried-and-true blueberry profile.

I didn’t love that the texture was a little gritty, but that’s to be expected with a natural fruit option. Overall, the preserves were great, both plain and on toast, but this product definitely wasn’t a standout or a favorite.

Alright, I lied a little about the blueberry option, as Berryhill’s Apricot Preserves placing third was a little more shocking. When I think of apricot, I think of dried fruit and fiber — not a fun spread or sandwich filler. This is not a flavor I’d typically reach for, but when it came to a spreadable fruit, Berryhill’s Apricot Preserves stood out.

This one features 13 grams of sugar per tablespoon, 12 of which are added. It was very sweet and tasted exactly like an apricot. Since the ingredients include sugar, apricots, pectins, and citric acid, the flavor profile makes complete sense.

Regarding texture, this one was chunky in a good way and really thick. I loved it on a piece of toast and think it’s definitely worth a try. I don’t think it would work in a PB&J, but on crackers, toast, or cookies? Heck yes.

While Aldi’s organic blueberry option wasn’t a winner, Simply Nature’s Organic Strawberry Preserves did the trick. This offering features 13 grams of sugar in each tablespoon, all of which are added. It’s clear that I’m not looking for a natural, low-sugar spread.

What I liked about this one is that it wasn’t sickeningly sweet. Despite some artificial notes, this spread had a nice strawberry flavor and a great ingredient list. All you’ll find in this jar is organic strawberries, organic cane sugar, citric acid, and fruit pectin. The flavor matches its purity, but with a little something extra to remove that “way too healthy” feel. 

Overall, I would absolutely buy these strawberry preserves again, especially if I’m looking for an organic option. However, there’s a reason this product didn’t place first. Read on to find out the winner.

Taking the first-place spot is Berryhill’s Strawberry Preserves. This one contains 13 grams of sugar in one tablespoon, 12 of which are added. I can tell you why I like this one just from the ingredient list. It contains a lot of sugar, and ingredients like glucose-fructose syrup. I know additives like this — along with preservatives — aren’t great, but they do make some food items taste a whole heck of a lot better.

What I loved about this one was the real strawberry taste and smell. There wasn’t any standout artificial aspect, which is wild considering the difference in ingredient list from the second to the first-place rankings. I will say this one is very sweet, so if that’s your thing, then a jar of Berryhill’s Strawberry Preserves is definitely for you. You get that tart flavor on the front end of the bite, but the sugar creeps up in the back. This is the perfect option for toast with butter, but I definitely want to try it when I make something like a Linzer tart cookie.

Overall: 10 out of 10. No notes. I have a new favorite for my PB&Js.

For this taste test, I went to my local Aldi and grabbed all the spreads, preserves, and jellies they had. I love that they offer so many brands and flavor options. When I got home, I tried them all two ways: First, I tried each one alone. I wanted to get a feel for the flavor profile. Next, I tried each option on a piece of toast. In some cases, the bread toned down the tangy or tart flavors, while in others, it didn’t add much to the experience.

I was mainly focused on taste, as texture doesn’t really matter in the world of fruit spreads (unless they’re super gritty). I wanted balance, but I also wanted some sugar. Let’s be real: A PB&J deserves to have great flavors. It seems organic and or natural options are not my thing. To each their own, right?