Italian Sausage Recipe
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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 Make Your 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!
Pre-Ground Pork vs. Grinding It Yourself
You can use 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.
I 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 Substitute Other Ground Meats?
Absolutely! You can use chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, or game. This homemade sausage recipe is terrific with any of them.
Can I Freeze Italian 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.
Ways to Use Italian Sausage
The sky’s the limit in terms the number of ways you can use your homemade Italian sausage. Here are just a few ideas:
- Sausage Patties and Sausage Links (use hog casings for large sausage and sheep casings for small sausages)
- Meatballs
- Pizza, Calzones, Stromboli and Quesadillas
- Sausage Gravy
- Lasagna (here and here)
- Spaghetti Sauce and Bolognese
- Quiche
- Stuffed Peppers, Stuffed Zucchini or other squash
- Homemade Sausage McMuffins
- Chili (try my Instant Pot Chili)
- Sausage Cornbread
- Soups & Stews (try my Tuscan White Bean and Sausage Soup, Black Eyed Pea Soup, Tortellini Minestrone Soup and Italian Wedding Soup)
- Breakfast Casseroles, Frittatas, and Breakfast Burritos
- Sausage Rolls
- Sausage & Egg Grits
- Cabbage Rolls
Italian Sausage Recipe
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.
Use in any recipe that calls for ground sausage.
Enjoy!
For more homemade charcuterie recipes try my:
- Homemade Bacon
- Porchetta
- Gravlax
- Canadian Bacon
- Breakfast Sausage
- Mexican Chorizo
- British Bangers
- Smoked Cheddar Sausages
- Pork Rillettes
- Smoked Ham
- German Bratwurst
- Capicola
- Smoked Ham Hocks
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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
- 1 to 2 teaspoons salt (start with less and fry a little of the sausage mixture and taste to decide if you want to add more)
- 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
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
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?
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.
Hi, can I replace wine with red eine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, maybe rice vinegar? What would U recommend?
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.
Do I have to leave it set for 6 hours?
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!
So wonderful
On restricted ingrediance this puts spice back in my good
In this recipe is the red wine red cooking wine vinegar or red drinking wine?
Hi Leland, it’s red drinking wine.
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
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.
For pizza it’s easiest to crumble sausage , fry and drain it then distribute it evenly over the pie. Every bite has sausage.
I’ve been waiting for years for this recipe! It’s tasty . . another hit, Kimberly! thank you
Fantastic, Jennifer, thank you! :)
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.
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!