Brand collaborations seem to be all the rage these days. This has become especially common in the realm of food, where two things that don’t really have anything to do with each other temporarily join forces to create something intriguing, if nothing else. It’s kind of like that time Steve Urkel was on an episode of Full House, except you can eat it.
We’re not above covering unconventional corporate pairings that aim to appeal to consumer curiosity and bring interesting new flavor combinations into the world. Adding to our ever-growing catalog of food and drink collab articles that already consists of Miller Lite-branded Pringles, 3 Sheeps and Piggly Wiggly beer, 5-hour Energy-infused Taco John’s hot sauce, and probably 17 other things we’re forgetting at the moment is a somewhat unorthodox meaty merger between a top-selling sausage brand and one of the world’s oldest and most popular soft drinks.
On March 1, Johnsonville Dr Pepper Inspired Sausage will hit grocery store shelves and 7-Eleven roller grills all over the country. The Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin-based brat behemoth is boldly and unapologetically encouraging—if not outright daring—curious carnivores to try some smoked links that have been augmented in a way that attempts to replicate the iconic 23 flavors of Dr Pepper.
Since we were already intrigued and we’ll never say no to being mailed free sausage for the sake of journalism, we instantly accepted a PR professional’s invitation to partake in an early taste of Johnsonville Dr Pepper Inspired Sausage. In addition to the sausages, the shipment also came with a disparate cluster of condiments and other unexpected topping options pictured above as a nod to the “there are no rules” approach that was mentioned in the press release.
We went all in on the concept, topping one Dr Pepper sausage with Cherry Spread and Funyuns, then enhancing another with BBQ sauce and crushed up Takis. While the cherry/Funyuns combo was a self-inflicted miss, the latter link worked pretty well. When we’re not “on deadline” to churn out this breaking sausage news, we’ll definitely root around our fridge and pantry to come up with some more weird combinations. And, yeah, maybe we’ll just put some mustard on one and see how it fares.
When tasted in isolation, Johnsonville Dr Pepper Inspired Sausage doesn’t shy away from the soda (or soda “inspired”) source material. The unmistakable Dr Pepper scent was detected instantly upon opening the package and it only increased once we broke the outer skin when we took a bite. The Pepper-adjacent flavor was there as well, though one might wonder if Johnsonville is vastly overestimating how strange people think this pairing is. Here in 2026, it’s actually fairly commonplace to have meats marinated in, braised with, or otherwise intermingling with soda. And like many of those instances, these sausages absolutely work. That being said, we’re probably reaching for a different Johnsonville variety next time we’re at the store.
If they’re aiming for oddity and sheer shock factor, we must admit they missed the mark. However, Johnsonville Dr Pepper Inspired Sausage is actually a functional (if not legitimately solid) expansion of the brand’s flavor arsenal. Chances are this will be a limited time offering, so if you’re curious or cautiously optimistic, get ’em while you can.