Aldi’s New Mushroom Medley Simmer Sauce Is the Creamy Weeknight Hero We’ve All Been Waiting For

If there’s one thing I think we can all agree on here, it’s that a creamy, cheesy, mushroom-y sauce is always a good thing. C’mon, you know I’m right. That’s why, when I heard that Aldi was coming out with a Mushroom Medley Simmer Sauce (hitting stores today for $3.49), I knew we were all in for a treat.

Part of the Aldi Finds program (which means it will only be available for a limited time, unless execs decide to extend the offering), the sauce is also available in White Poblano Chile and Tomato Artichoke Caper. Those sounded totally fine, but… Mushrooms! And cheese!

I got my friends at Aldi to send me a sample ahead of time and followed the directions on the container for a quick weeknight meal. Here’s how it went. (Note: So sorry for the terrible photo quality! I told you I made this for dinner. As in, when it was dark and there wasn’t a lot of natural light.)

The quick meal tip on the container — “Pour Simmer Sauce into pan with 1/2 cup water and 1 pound cooked chicken. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve over pasta.” — sounded easy enough. So that’s what I did, after stealing a swipe of sauce with my finger, of course. How was that? A little more sour cream-y than I had expected, to be honest. It tasted more like a dip than a sauce, and I was a tad worried. I checked the ingredients and, sure enough, sour cream was the first item listed. Would this taste like a sour cream and mushroom dip over pasta? I put the container up to my nose and got a whiff of straight sour cream. I decided to keep going, though, and I’m so glad I did!

I almost always prefer chicken pieces to tenders or breasts, so I seasoned them with salt and pepper and put them in a pan to cook. When the chicken was ready, I turned down the heat and added the sauce and water, as directed. After just a few minutes on the stove, the sauce thinned out and I started getting wafts of cheese and mushrooms.

I plated it on top of a bed of angel hair pasta and next to a pile of roasted Brussels sprouts — you know, for balance. (Next time, I think I’ll mix the noodles right into the sauce, but I was following the directions!)

The sour cream imparted a very welcome tanginess, but cooked down a lot, so that the cheese and mushrooms could shine. And the mushrooms did shine because there were a generous amount. The sauce was like a grown up Alfredo sauce and I was into it.

On the back of the lid, there are also directions to use the sauce in either Quick Mushroom Potato Soup (mix the sauce with chicken broth and mashed potatoes) or Mushroom Bacon Tots (mix tots with the sauce and top with crumbled bacon before baking) and I look forward to making both of those recipes, too. Because, again, a creamy, cheesy, mushroom-y sauce is always a good thing.