Skip the Jimmy Dean and make your own homemade breakfast sausage recipe! Use seasonings from your pantry and make patties or links. Versatile enough for your choice of ground pork, turkey or chicken – or a delicious combination of two meats! Serve with the best scrambled eggs and a steamy cinnamon dolce latte!
A few years back, my family and I did the Whole30. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about eating Whole30 on a budget, it’s that you need to cook things from scratch.
There are a lot of things you can’t have on the Whole30, with one of the big ones being sugar. As it turns out, sugar is in EVERYTHING.
Well, not “everything,” but it’s in far more things than you’d think, including sausage. That’s why I’ve started making my own homemade breakfast sausage recipe instead!
What’s funny – or odd, really – is that breakfast sausage is SO EASY to make. Truly, it’s a wonder how sausage companies are making any money at all.
If everyone knew that homemade breakfast sausage recipe was nothing more than ground meat and a handful of spices – and NO sugar – we’d all make it ourselves and the breakfast sausage companies would be out of business!
Breakfast Sausage Recipe Ingredients
- ground meat (chicken, turkey, lamb, or pork)
- granulated garlic
- ground sage
- onion powder
- salt
- celery seed
- cayenne pepper
- pepper
- healthy cooking fat (I used coconut oil)
Notes on the two main ingredients
Ground Meat
In testing this homemade breakfast sausage recipe, we tested several different ground meats, including ground chicken, ground turkey, ground lamb and ground pork.
- Hands down, our favorite was the ground pork. The kids and I both loved how it was meaty, and juicy, and it held together very well.
- The ground turkey was our least favorite, mostly because the patties were very crumbly. I had a hunch this would be the case and intentionally used 85/15 lean ratio (where 15% of the turkey was fat), yet they still didn’t hold up well.
- We tested the ground chicken alongside the ground lamb, and that batch was good as well. I suspect that using ground chicken alone would yield a crumbly patty much like the ground turkey, and that the main reason that particular batch held up was because of the fat in the ground lamb.
Note: Feel free to use whichever ground meat you have or whatever is on sale. I would recommend though, that if you want to choose a leaner meat like chicken or turkey, that you make it a 50/50 ratio with either lamb or pork. This will offer juicy homemade breakfast sausage that holds together well.
Spices
Another great reason to make your own homemade breakfast sausage recipe is that you likely have all the spices you need in your spice cabinet: garlic, sage, onion, celery seed, cayenne, salt and pepper.
- I’ve made a few substitutions, like onion flakes (like the ones used in DIY dry onion soup mix) instead of granulated onion, and the sausage was delicious both times.
- If you have kids who aren’t fans of spicy things, you might want to cut back on the cayenne. My daughter does NOT like spicy things, but this sausage written as is wasn’t too hot for her. I’ll leave it up to you!
- The only spice you might not have is celery seed, but in my opinion, this one is worth picking up at the store. It really makes the sausage so flavorful, and I don’t think it would taste nearly as good without it.
- Since you’ll probably have some celery seed leftover, feel free to use it in Instant Pot chicken stock or slow cooker chicken stock. I’ve done it in both recipes and it’s simply delicious.
Note: You can also add leftover celery seed to Instant Pot chicken noodle soup for that deep, rich soup-y flavor (which I know doesn’t make much sense, but I know you know what I’m talking about)…
Step by Step Directions
Step 1. Combine all ingredients except cooking fat in the bowl of a stand mixer OR in a large bowl. Use the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for one minute, or use your hands to thoroughly mix the spices with the meat.
Step 2. Preheat a cast iron skillet to medium low or a griddle to 350F.
Step 3. Meanwhile, prepare the patties. Measure 2 oz (or about 1/4 cup) of meat and use your hands to form into a tight ball. Then press lightly to create a patty. Place patties on a plate while waiting.
Step 4. When the skillet or griddle is ready, place a single layer of patties in the pan, leaving an inch or two between each. Let the patties cook undisturbed for about 3-5 minutes, or until they are golden brown on one side. You should see cooked meat creep up the sides of the patties.
Step 5. Flip and continue to cook until they are cooked through, another 3-5 minutes.
This breakfast sausage recipe is best served warm. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers
Recipe Tips and Tricks
Don’t forget that one of the awesome ways to use a KitchenAid mixer is to mix up ground meat! It’ll keep your hands clean for a little bit longer, but really it helps to evenly distribute the spices among the ground meat.
Once you’ve prepared your meat, divide the meat into 2 oz patties. This is where having a simple kitchen scale is super handy, but it’s not required. 2 oz is about 4 Tbsp, which is about ¼ cup. Feel free to eyeball it if you don’t want to wash another dish.
I also recommend making all of your patties – or at least dividing up the meat into balls – before you cook any of them. The cooking process goes fairly quick, and if you have all of your patties formed before you cook, it’ll save you some hand-washing in the process. It will also speed up the cooking process a bit too.
I cooked all of my homemade breakfast sausage in a cast iron skillet (I have this 12” skillet and another 8” skillet), but you can use a griddle (I have this griddle) if you’d like.
Be sure to use a little bit of healthy cooking fat – like coconut oil, lard or butter – before you begin otherwise your meat will stick to whatever surface you’re cooking on. That means you’ll end up with ground breakfast sausage, instead of sausage patties. It will still taste good, don’t get me wrong, but it might not be as easy to eat with your eggs!
Since these breakfast sausages freeze so well, I tend to double this recipe. The measurements are easy to halve – or double – if you want to make less or make more.
Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe FAQs
Yes! These homemade breakfast sausage patties freeze BEAUTIFULLY. You can flash freeze on a sheet pan first (here’s the tutorial for that) or you can place a small piece of parchment paper between each patty before freezing. This makes it easier to pull out however many you need for that particular meal.
In my homemade breakfast sausage recipe, it’s the variety of pantry spices that gives the meat that classic sausage flavor.
My recipe for homemade breakfast sausage is hands-down the best breakfast sausage! It’s super easy to make and it’s so much healthier than buying the store-bought packaged breakfast sausage patties like Jimmy Dean, which contain corn syrup, MSG, and natural flavorings (all things we don’t want to put into our bodies)!
More Easy Breakfast Recipes
- The Best Tex-Mex Migas
- How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
- Instant Pot Breakfast Casserole
- Sourdough Pancakes
Freezer Cooking: Breakfasts
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Homemade Breakfast Sausage
Skip the Jimmy Dean and make your own homemade breakfast sausage recipe instead! Use seasoning from your pantry, learn how to make patties or links, and use your choice of ground pork, turkey, or chicken. Top with maple syrup if you’d like too! These freeze very well, and make for a fast, easy healthy breakfast!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 16 patties 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground meat (chicken, turkey, lamb, or pork)
- 2 tsp granulated garlic
- 2 tsp ground sage
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp celery seed
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 Tbsp healthy cooking fat (I used coconut oil)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except cooking fat in the bowl of a stand mixer OR in a large bowl. Use the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for one minute, or use your hands to thoroughly mix the spices with the meat.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet to medium low or a griddle to 350F.
- Meanwhile, prepare the patties. Measure 2 oz (or about 1/4 cup) of meat and use your hands to form into a tight ball. Then press lightly to create a patty. Place patties on a plate while waiting.
- When the skillet or griddle is ready, place a single layer of patties in the pan, leaving an inch or two between each. Let the patties cook undisturbed for about 3-5 minutes, or until they are golden brown on one side. You should see cooked meat creep up the sides of the patties.
- Flip and continue to cook until they are cooked through, another 3-5 minutes.
- Best served warm. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers.
Notes
Be sure to use a little bit of healthy cooking fat – like coconut oil, lard or butter – before you begin otherwise your meat will stick to whatever surface you’re cooking on. That means you’ll end up with ground breakfast sausage, instead of sausage patties. It will still taste good, don’t get me wrong, but it might not be as easy to eat with your eggs!
Since these breakfast sausages freeze so well, I tend to double this recipe. The measurements are easy to halve – or double – if you want to make less or make more.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 patties
- Calories: 210
Keywords: Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe
Thank you for this! This is in our regular menu now. I had been bogged down in chicken and beef and beans, so this is a nice change up. This also works in the slow cooker for 2 hrs on high. Makes 10 large meatballs. Nice to make in the summer without heating up the house.
★★★★
Thanks for the slow cooker adaptation Em!
I just made a list of ingredients to make sure I have them on hand. I love sausage and can’t wait to try this. Thanks
Would love it if you have a version for Italian style sausage also! Anyone have any tips for that?
I just saw that it said ground . If I use rubbed , would it take more ?
Is the sage that you use , ground or rubbed ?
Thanks !
Love this sausage recipe! We’ve been eating a whole food diet for years, and I could never get my breakfast sausage just right. I never would have thought to add celery seed! I grind my own meat for it so I know what we’re eating, and this seasoning blend is superb. I use very lean chicken and add about a Tbsp of olive oil when I mix it all up. SOOOO good. I make a huge batch, cook it all, and store in the freezer. We pull it out as needed ABC’s reheat in a skillet over medium low heat. Thank you!!!
★★★★★
Lol please excuse my terrible proofreading btw!😂
Thank you so much! Your recipe has brought breakfast sausage back into our diet. I’ve made these several times now, patties and crumbles. My family has decided that we like the crumbled breakfast sausage made with 50% ground pork and 50% extra-lean ground beef best. I have modified this slightly to make is work better for me. I like to grind all my spices together with a mortar and pestle first. Then mix them into the meat by hand. It actually ends up being less work because I mix it all together right in the pan I will be cooking in. I also use a wire potato masher to help the meat crumble evenly when cooking. If at any point the meat looks dry, I add a shot of olive oil. When cooked and cooled, I put the whole batch into a gallon freezer bag and toss into the freezer. When we are ready for some delicious homemade breakfast sausage we just scoop some out and re-heat. I use a 1/3 cup measuring spoon to scoop servings out of the bag. Yum!!!
★★★★★
I love everything about this Vickie – thanks for sharing!
Great idea!
Thanks for this recipe. My daughter has moved into her own apartment and I’d love to make her a batch. Do you just cook in a pan from frozen? Or do you need to defrost? Thanks
I’ll have to try this recipe! As a tip for anyone who lives near a Sprouts Farmers Market. Their butchers are AMAZING and will grind and de-bone the meat for you. You can buy a 10 lb pork shoulder there and get a couple roasts for Carnitas (one of my favorite recipes of yours) and still get 3-4 pounds of ground pork! This is usually much cheaper than buying ground meat of the shelf!
I was just saying last week that I was sure we could make our own patties for cheaper!
We try to eat THM and finding all natural chicken or turkey sausage is cost prohibitive. Thanks for the tip that they are crumbly. I wonder if I could add some gluccomamann to mine to stay Whole30 and THM compliant while adding some stickyness.
I haven’t heard of that ingredient, but egg should work too!
I’m curious what anyone would say about leaving out or substituting for the onion powder. I am very sensitive to plants from the onion family (alliums) and generally avoid them to avoid a fair bit of “digestive distress.” I won’t even buy spice mixes from the store because they generally all have powdered garlic or onion in them. So, thoughts?
I feel like it’s needed (personally), but if you can’t have it, why not try it without! I’m sure it will still be really good. You can always mix up the seasonings first, lick a finger to taste, and adjust!!
I have made this without both the onion and the garlic. It was just fine. Another option if you like the onion flavor is to add a little onion infused oil to the pan. You can buy this or make your own. The parts of the onion that cause the digestive distress are water soluble and will not release into the oil. The easiest way to make your own is to saute large onion pieces in the pan with your oil first. Remove all the onion pieces, leaving the oil behind, and then cook the sausage in the onion infused oil that remains.
★★★★★
We are dairy farmers & also butcher a hog every year we get from another farmer. My husbands family has been doing this all his life so when we got married almost 27 years ago I learned also now our children even look forward to butchering day. That being said I use the recipe that has been handed down for generations & its for like 20#s of meat, then we freeze in 1# pkgs & use throughout the year. Our recipe is salt, sage, black pepper, & cayenne pepper. We have only bought from the grocery a few times but never dreamed it has sugar in it?!?!?! WOW!!!! We also try to keep enough fat in it we don’t have to add when cooking. Might have to try celery seed in some after its thawed this year.
Sugar is what causes the sausage patties to brown so pretty. I do not like what I call fat sausage patties. I press my sausage patties into a 3″ circle which looks very thin but cooks up a lovely, crunchy sausage patty.
★★★★★
Actually, mine browned pretty nice and there’s no sugar. 😉
I, too, have been making homemade sausage for a while now I started making it shortly after completing the Grocery Budget Boot Camp. I will never pay for ground meat again! And it is not just because of the cost. (I want to know that my ground beef all came from the same cow.)
I keep a cushion in my grocery budget and watch for pork and beef roasts on sale. When they go on sale I buy as many as I can afford. I grind (attachment to my kitchen aide) beef and package it in 8 oz. patties. I rarely use it as a pattie, but 8 oz. is quick to defrost for browning. Company? Defrost two. I rarely if ever use ground pork plain so when I grind the pork I make sausage and freeze it in 8 oz. patties. The only exception is that sometimes I mix the ground beef and the sausage and make meatballs for spaghetti.
Grinding your own how what do you add for fat?
Also can you get a good grind for burgers?
Thanks
I have several ways to handle the fat. Some roasts have enough fat already and I just grind it up with the meat. If I have a beef roast that is too fatty I cut some off, cube and freeze it. It can then add the beef fat to the pork. I have resorted to adding liquid fat (I used olive oil but I think most any would work). I didn’t measure, I went by sight and feel but if I had to guess I would say about 1 Tablespoon per pound. My Kitchen aid food grinder came with 3 blades, each with different size holes for different grinds. I have pretty much settled on using the smallest for both beef and pork and it works out well. Hope this helps. ps Don’t forget to put your roast in the freezer before grinding. Usually 1/2 hr to 45 minutes if you cut it into several pieces first. It goes through the grinder so much easier if it is ice-y but not frozen.
Thanks someday soon I hope to buy the grinder attachment and 1/4-1/2 of a side of beef! #healthygoals 😉!
I learned how to make my own sausage a couple years ago when my husband had lost a lot of hours at his job and was barely working part time as well as being a full time pastor. We were able to get commodities through his Indian tribe but we couldn’t afford the things like sausage anymore. We got fresh meat from commodities however, and I started making sausage with the ground beef. It was perfect with hardly a noticeable difference from the pork sausage I used to buy. Now our income is much better and we don’t have to get commodities but I still make our sausage from ground beef that I get on sale.
Yes! These spices would work well with ground beef as well. Kudos for being thrifty when you had to think outside the box!
Hello, I have made sausage with ground beef and found it to be “heavy” or dense (and maybe a bit dry). I use grassfed, but do purchase the beef with the most fat that I can find. Usually 85/15. Do u have any advise to make the patties a bit juicier??
Yes I’ve found that adding 1/4 cup of warm water to the meat mixture (2 pounds) and mixing it the night before i plan on using it gives it that jucier sticky sausage-y texture.
I usually use ground turkey in my homemade sausage because it’s the easiest for me to find (ALDI). I add one egg per pound and it holds together beautifully! (I freeze mine in patties, too–so handy!)
Thanks for the tip on the egg!! ♥
I’ve also added lard to ground turkey and chicken. It seems to enhance the flavor too.
I am so excited your doing the Whole30! Now you
Can tweek your recipes for me 😉!
That was suppose to read now you tweek your recipes for me !
LOL!! 😉
Can you freeze these before cooking? Or is it better to cook them first?
I have done both! Either was worked fine
I think it’s better to cook them first. 🙂
I grind meats with the steel blade of a food prosessor. Mine is small – only 2 cups – I just work in small batches. I have a tiny kitchen and have no room to store a standard mixer.
I too lived in a country where breakfast sausage wasn’t available. A medium or fine chop on the meat makes a great sausage. I also found that I could make a breakfast sausage, like the one Tiffany makes, then add cumin for a Mexican flavor or fennel if I want Italian sausage. I used the plastic blade of the processor to mix in the spices, when I had the time. When I didn’t, I’d stop the machine less than half way through, add the mixed spices and finish chopping. I also found it all blended together better if I blended the spices first, then added the mix to the meat. I don’t miss the casings a bit. Thanks, Tiffany!
I learned to make breakfast sausage when we moved to a country that doesn’t have that style sausage. When we got back to the States I wanted to continue making it but had trouble finding ground pork. Maybe it’s a regional thing. I did ask the butcher at the grocery store if he could grind some for me and he said yes but I’d have to call ahead because they only grind pork once a day. Where did you find your meats? I often make mine with fennel instead of sage. Both are really good. If you really want to incorporate the flavors you should mix the raw meat and spices up 24-48 hours before you cook it, although you might need to back off the cayenne. I almost never plan ahead enough to do that ;). I found a recipe for homemade pepperoni that’s very good but a bit more work because you slow bake it in the oven. I love homemade sausage!
Hey Beth! I’m personally not a fan of fennel, but I can see how it would be a great sub for sage. I found ground pork at Walmart, Kroger and ALDI. Beware of additives though – some packages have more than just “ground pork”!
Yes definitely make up a day before!!
I often use a mixture of ground beef and pork I find at Walmart
Can you share your pepperoni recipe?
The website isn’t working but if you have Pinterest you might be able to access it. Search for Tammy’s recipes spicy beef pepperoni. I’m sorry I don’t have the recipe but my computer cord broke and I can’t access my recipe files right now. I used pork instead of the beef.
Thanks! I’ll try to find it!
The amazing thing is that you can make vegetarian sausage using this spice mixture with beans/other things because what we think of as ‘sausage flavor’ is really mostly the flavor of the spices. You can mix the spices into almost anything and come up with ‘sausages’.