I don’t know about you, but finding a good breakfast sausage in our everyday grocery store is near to impossible. Most have added nitrites or nitrates in the ingredients, or MSG, or a whopping dose of sugar. Here’s our take on making your own. It’s really quite simple, and well worth the effort. My suggestion is to double or triple this recipe, vacuum seal the sausage you won’t immediately use, and freeze until you need it.
1 pound (450 g) ground pork
1 teaspoon (5 ml) kosher salt
¾ teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons (10 ml) fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon (5 ml) fresh thyme, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Take ground pork and mix with all the ingredients. Form into 2-inch-wide patties.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Place sausage patties in skillet, and cook until browned, then flip over and continue cooking until sausage is fully cooked through.
Variations — If you have a meat grinder, buy a pound (450 g) of pork butt along with ¼ pound (110 g) of fatback, dice those into chunks and combine with all the spices, and pass through the meat grinder. If you have a sausage stuffer, you can also buy your own casings and make sausage links. This recipe also works well with making turkey or chicken sausage.
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Homemade breakfast sausage seasons ground pork with sage, thyme, rosemary, and a whisper of nutmeg - no nitrites, no MSG, and no sugar. The patties go straight into a skillet and brown in minutes. Make a double batch, vacuum seal the extras, and freezer-ready breakfast is sorted.
Pro Tips
- Chop the fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary very fine so no herb stem lands in a single bite.
- Form the patties 2 inches wide and slightly thinner than you think - they plump as the fat renders.
- Cook over medium heat, not high; the pork browns steadily and the middle cooks through before the outside burns.
- For the grinder version, use pork butt with 1/4 pound of fatback - the fresh grind is a different sausage entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use turkey or chicken?
Yes - the same seasoning makes great turkey or chicken sausage. Add a little oil to the pan since leaner meat sticks.
How should I freeze them?
Form the patties, freeze them flat on a sheet pan, then vacuum seal. Cook straight from frozen with a couple of extra minutes.
Why make it instead of buying it?
Store-bought breakfast sausage almost always carries nitrites, MSG, or a heavy dose of sugar - this has none of those.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Method
- Heat a skillet over medium heat.
- Place sausage patties in skillet, and cook until browned, then flip over and continue cooking until sausage is fully cooked through.
