Do Aldi free range eggs beat Vital Farms pasture raised eggs?
Recently I was doing a little shopping at Aldi and looked to see if they carry any pasture raised eggs. The answer to that is no. But they did have free range eggs that are “sustainably raised” and “raised on small family farms.”
That last phrase especially gave me hope that the hens might have a lifestyle almost as good as pasture raised hens. But the proof of that is in the egg yolk. So I bought some to see for myself how they compare to the Vital Farms pasture raised eggs I normally buy.
The difference between free range and pasture raised eggs
The term “free range” means that hens have access to the outdoors and have less than two square feet of space. They may actually spend very little time outdoors.
The term “pasture raised” means that hens have at least 108 square feet of space and they spend most of the day outside scratching dirt and eating bugs.
The moment of truth, cracking open the eggs
It was instantly obvious which egg is superior judging by the color of the egg yolks. Vital Farms eggs are a deep orange yellow, while the Aldi eggs are yellow with a touch of orange. (They do seem to have a bit more color than regular Goldhen eggs.)
And there is a difference in taste as well, with the flavor being more intense in Vital Farms pasture raised eggs.
My video review
The verdict
Aldi free range eggs DO NOT beat Vital Farms pasture raised eggs.
Even though Aldi free range eggs are half the price at $2.99, I will continue to buy Vital Farms eggs. I feel confident their hens are living their best chicken lives down on the farm which also means their eggs are more nutritious.
i just got my first goldhen free range eggs and they are not good with no flavor and pale yellow yoke. never again
Aldi now has pasture raised eggs – I don’t know where they are sourced from but they have dark yellow yolks just like Happy Eggs and Vital Farms eggs.
Yes they do but I think the orange color is coming from their feed. The taste is not improved in my opinion. Most of the time I get eggs from the farmers market. They’re pasture raised and the yolks vary in color.
I’m getting yellow yolks in my pasture raised from time to time
There are going to be variations in color when hens are foraging for food
Hi, totally agreed. Now Aldi is selling pasture raised eggs, however quality of them is questionable, as they are dark yellow, not orange.
I’m also not convinced of their quality but the ones I’ve gotten have deep orange yolks. I wonder if they’re feeding them marigolds or something else to make the yolks orange.
Pasture Raised > Free Range, and though Aldi does sell pasture-raised eggs now too, I couldn’t see a difference in yolk color between Aldi’s cage-free (ick) and pasture-raised eggs when I checked them side-by side.
You are correct about Vital Farms, it’s paprika and marigolds they feed the hens that gives them the color. Straight off the website:
“Alongside the food they forage, our girls receive supplemental feed. The supplemental feed consists primarily of corn and unprocessed soybean meal which the hens need for protein as well as additional natural ingredients including paprika and marigold which, along with their outdoor snacks, provide nutrients and help the hens produce eggs with deep orange yolks that our consumers prefer.”
https://vitalfarms.com/faqs/
Thank you for providing that information. I do like the way VF eggs taste and they seem comparable to the pasture raised eggs I get from the farmers market.