This homemade Italian sausage recipe not only enables you to maintain full control over the quality of your sausage, it also tastes WAY better than store-bought! It’s super easy to make and you can double our triple the recipe and freeze it so you always have sausage on hand!
Ground sausage is something a vast variety of recipes call for; everything from soups and stews to pizza, calzones, meatballs, pastas, finger foods, hors d’oeuvres….it’s a staple ingredient and one you can make yourself so easily. Not only that, this homemade Italian sausage recipe tastes at least a hundred times better than any store-bought stuff! Additionally, since you have full control over what goes in it – and what doesn’t – you can trust this sausage will be the highest quality.
Why Should I Make My Own Ground Sausage?
You have FULL control over what is in it. And what is not. If you’re grinding your own meat you also have direct control over the quality of the meat itself as well as the ratio of muscle meat to fat. And then of course there are the seasonings: Most store-bought sausage contains things like corn syrup, MSG and that ever cryptic ingredient “flavorings” which could mean practically anything.
Making your own sausage is an empowering way of maintaining control over what you consume. And it tastes a whole lot better, too!
Can I Use Ground Pork or Do I Have to Grind the Meat Myself?
You can do either. The easiest option is to buy quality ground pork and simply add the seasonings.
If you prefer to have full control over the quality of meat and the muscle-to-fat ratio you can grind your own.
We use and recommend the STX International Turbo Force Electric Meat Grinder. It comes with a 3-year warranty, great reviews, and is all around the best value for the money. If you’re making occasional small amounts the KitchenAid Meat Grinder Attachment is another option.
Can I Use Chicken, Turkey, Lamb or Other Meats Instead?
Absolutely! Use whichever meat you you prefer, this homemade sausage recipe is terrific with any of them.
How Do I Make Breakfast Sausage Instead of Italian Sausage?
So glad you asked! Here is the link to the recipe for our Homemade Breakfast Sausage (can be made into links or patties)!
Can I Freeze the Sausage?
Of course! For convenience you can double or triple the quantity and then freeze it in 1/4 pound, 1/2 pound or whatever amount packages so you can simply grab what you need when you need it. No need to make a trip to the store.
What Are Some Ways I Can Use Italian Sausage?
The sky’s the limit! Here are just a few ways:
- Sausage Patties
- Sausage Links
- Meatballs
- Pizza
- Calzones
- Sausage Gravy & Biscuits
- Tortellini
- Lasagna (here and here)
- Pasta Sauce
- Spaghetti Sauce
- Quiche
- Stuffed Peppers
- Stuffed Zucchini or other squash
- Homemade Sausage McMuffins
- Quesadillas
- Chili
- Sausage Cornbread
- Soups & Stews (here and here and here)
- Bolognese
- Casseroles
- Sausage Rolls
- Hamburgers
- Breakfast Burritos
- Sausage & Egg Grits
- Breakfast Casseroles
- Sausage Egg Muffins
- Frittatas
- Cabbage Rolls
- Stromboli
- ….and more.
For More Delicious Homemade Sausage Recipes, be sure to try:
- Authentic Homemade German Bratwurst
- Homemade Smoked Cheddar Sausages
- Homemade Breakfast Sausage Links (or Patties)
AND our phenomenal Easy Italian Porchetta!
Let’s get started!
If you’re doing it yourself, grind the meat. Otherwise use ground pork or meat of choice from the store/butcher.
Place the ground meat in a bowl and add all remaining ingredients. Use your hands or a stand mixer paddle attachment to thoroughly combine the ingredients.
Wrap and chill for at least 6 hours before using, preferably overnight for best flavor.
The sausage will keep in the fridge for 3 days or can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 3 months.
Enjoy!
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Italian Sausage Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound freshly ground well-marbled pork butt*
- OR pre-packaged ground pork*
- *can substitute ground chicken, turkey or meat of choice
- 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon red wine
- 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely cracked black peppercorns (toast in a dry skillet for a minute or two until fragrant for maximum flavor)
- 1 teaspoon coarsely cracked fennel seeds (toast in a dry skillet for a minute or two until fragrant for maximum flavor)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (omit if you want a mild sausage)
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried ground sage
Instructions
- Place the ground meat in a bowl and add all remaining ingredients. Use your hands or a stand mixer paddle attachment to thoroughly combine the ingredients. Wrap and chill for at least 6 hours before using, preferably overnight for best flavor.The sausage will keep in the fridge for 3 days or can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Makes 1 pound of ground sausage.
Nutrition
Kathryn says
I love this recipe. Great Italian sausage. Turned this into meatballs yesterday using ground beef and adding 1/2 cup of bread crumbs (I had to use gluten free), 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese finely grated, and an egg. It made 20 meatballs which cooked for 18 minutes at 375 F. Totally awesome! Thanks.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s fantastic, Kathryn, thanks so much for the feedback!
Laurrie Webb says
Love! Love this recipe. I made 4#’s without the red wine. The family devoured it. I had trouble getting some in the freezer.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s awesome, Laurrie, thanks so much! :)
Grandpa in the kitchen says
Kimberly
My wife thanks you for the recipe and asks me to make it on a regular basis. We both rave about it and it’s the best we’ve ever had. Aging for a day really makes it pop.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s wonderful, Grandpa in the Kitchen, thank you and please tell your wife thanks also! :)
Matthew Kitson says
How far in advance can I prepare the sausage meat? or is it best to do it the day before?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Matthew, up to 2 days in advance is fine. And of course you can freeze it for several months.
george christie says
I want to use fresh herbs in the recipe because I have them all in my garden so how much should I use because some people say you need more if there fresh
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi George, yes you’ll want to triple the amount of fresh herbs. So if it calls for one teaspoon of dried you’ll want to use three teaspoons of fresh.
AL says
My wife is Thai and makes delicious northern thai sausage. She uses 25% pork fat and adds 1/2 cup of water, and natural casings. I want to follow your recipe with spices. The only other difference I see is she adds water. What do you think?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Al, if you’re making actual sausages in casings then yes, adding ice water is common – it helps the spices combine with the meat and softens the meat mixture so that it doesn’t break the casings as they’re being stuffed. For example, I add ice water to my homemade British bangers: https://www.daringgourmet.com/homemade-british-bangers/. This Italian sausage recipe isn’t meant to be stuffed in casings, it’s bulk sausage meat, but if you do plan on using it to make sausage links then yes, you can add some water.
Greta says
Hi, can I replace wine with red eine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, maybe rice vinegar? What would U recommend?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Greta, I would not substitute the red wine for vinegar. If you prefer not to include the wine I would just omit it, don’t worry about substitutions.
Anonymous says
Do I have to leave it set for 6 hours?
Eric L says
Anonymous, I just made this for the first time and did not let the spices meld for 6 hours. The sausage when cooked was very good (maybe a little too salty for me but really, really good). A number of reviewers here state that when the flavors are allowed to meld the sausage is SO much better. Other recipes I cook that require a “resting” period so flavors meld have proven that a suggested resting period makes a great difference. So I would say that, yes, you can cook this right away and it is really good. But next time, I’ll let it rest for at least 6 hours and I expect that it will be terrific!
Anonymous says
So wonderful
On restricted ingrediance this puts spice back in my good
Leland Frerichs says
In this recipe is the red wine red cooking wine vinegar or red drinking wine?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Leland, it’s red drinking wine.
M Soleski says
Just mixed this up and it smells wonderful. I’m so tired of buying sausage that is too salty or hot so thanks for this.
Do you think you could put dime-sized raw sausage on a pizza since it’s at a high temp?
Thanks for the recipe,
Miki
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
You’re welcome, I’m glad you like it! Pizzas bake for a short amount of time and even though they bake at high temp it’s generally recommended that you pre-cook the sausage meat. I always pre-cook mine just to be on the safe side.
Walt Wauro says
For pizza it’s easiest to crumble sausage , fry and drain it then distribute it evenly over the pie. Every bite has sausage.
Jennifer says
I’ve been waiting for years for this recipe! It’s tasty . . another hit, Kimberly! thank you
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Jennifer, thank you! :)
Rosamarina says
I can’t thank you enough Kimberly. My husband needs to watch his sodium and fat levels and I’ve been trying to get just the right amount of spices to make a palatable meat combination for the authentic Italian taste we enjoyed from childhood. This recipe tastes almost like the sausage we once enjoyed. Admittedly, I can’t use all pork, but a combination of meats with a little pork for flavor makes it very close.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad, Rosamarina, thank you! Yes, this recipe is very adaptable to personal preferences – switch out the meats, omit spices you don’t like, add ones you do… Thanks so much for taking the time to leave feedback, I appreciate it!
Anonymous says
I’m anxious to try this recipe but I am allergic to wine so can I leave it out or substitute something else without changing the integrity of the recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Simply omit it – it will still taste amazing!
Claude says
This was a HUGE HIT! At least I can taste the meat! I despise those store sausages in the plastic casings – makes me sick that you can’t taste the meat in them any more (not that there is much meat in them) all I can usually taste are the excessive salts and spices- a real spoiler.
I made yours and before I could turn around it was all gone – we loved them. THANK YOU for another GREAT recipe. You’re the BEST!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s wonderful, Claude, and I’m so thrilled you all enjoyed it, thanks so much for the feedback!
Rumplestiltskin says
I’ve made my own Italian and breakfast sausage for years and can’t agree more with your advice and comments about its uses. My recipe is very similar to yours except I use fresh rosemary, oregano and thyme and don’t use sage because it seems to me many commercial sausages contain so much it’s all I can taste. As always, thank you for sharing. Most of my dinner guests are impressed when I tell them I make my own. However, I hope your fans, (as I am) will realize how easy it is to make this and how superior it is to anything you can buy!
Suzy says
This is life changing! I never knew you could make your own Italian sausage! Delicious!
Krissy Allori says
So many great flavors in this! Looking forward to making it.
Beth Pierce says
Love all the flavors in this! I will definitely be adding this to my dinner line up for the week; looks amazing!
Diane says
I have some ground pork in my freezer that is just a bit on the lean side. And I have Lard also. Would it work to add a little bit of the Lard to my ground pork and other ingredients or would that just end up cooking out and make my sausage shrink too much?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Diane, do you mean rendered lard that you use for cooking/sauteing? If so, that will just melt into liquid when you fry up the sausage so there really is no sense in adding it to the ground pork. If you mean shredded pork fat then yes, you can add some of that to the ground pork if you like for some added bulk and moisture. Alternatively just use the ground pork you have, no need to add any addition fat to it, it will just be lean sausage.
Lauren Kelly says
I have always been too intimidated to make my own sausage but you make it look so easy! I am making this today with homemade sauce!
Eden says
This was wonderful! I never thought about making my own sausage! Turned out awesome!