Breakfast sausage is a favorite food of the men (including the little ones) in our home. I love it too, but don’t love that many store-bought breakfast sausages have nitrates or nitrites and other preservatives and flavors added.

When a local farmer started selling pastured pork, I decided to figure out a recipe for homemade breakfast sausage. This recipe can actually be made with beef for those who don’t like pork, though the taste will be a little different.

I originally made this recipe with diced pieces of pastured Boston butt, mainly because I had an awesome (and somewhat scary looking) old fashioned metal meat grinder that a relative gave us. I soon realized, after spending much cleaning time on said scary meat grinder, that this made the process more time consuming. I now just buy ground (pastured) pork for this recipe. However, if you also have a scary meat grinder and the patience to clean it, I highly recommend that option as well.

I pre-make this in two-pound (or larger) batches and refrigerate or freeze for quick breakfasts. The patties turned out pretty light in the picture but are typically darker and have more visible spices.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe

Homemade breakfast sausage with spices, herbs, and salt.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Calories 237kcal

Author Katie Wells

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Servings

Ingredients

2 lbs ground pork
1 TBSP Himalayan salt (or sea salt)
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp fresh sage leaves (finely chopped, or 1 tsp dried sage)
1 tsp dried fennel (crushed)
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp fresh thyme (or ½ tsp dried thyme)
1 dash cayenne pepper (optional)
1 dash cloves (optional)

Instructions

If grinding yourself, grind meat with the finest blade of the grinder.
Combine ground pork with all other ingredients and mix well.
Form into 16 one-inch patties.
Store in the refriferator or freezer until ready to use.
To cook, heat in skillet over medium heat for 5-7 minutes per side until cooked through.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe

Amount Per Serving (2 patties)

Calories 237 Calories from Fat 148

% Daily Value*

Fat 16.4g25%

Saturated Fat 6.1g38%

Cholesterol 74mg25%

Sodium 233mg10%

Carbohydrates 1g0%

Fiber 0.5g2%

Sugar 0.1g0%

Protein 20.3g41%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

To freeze individual patties:

Form patties
Lay on wax-paper lined baking sheet
Freeze until firm
Store in a sealed container in the freezer until ready to use

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Ever made sausage? Ever used a scary meat grinder? Share below!

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

77 responses to “Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe”

Rebecca lawrence

September 8, 2017

Hi, I live in the UK and am struggling to find purely grass-fed pork. By pastured pork, do you mean only fed grass or do you mean fed some grain but living outside in fields and allowed to forage etc on top? Thanks

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  September 30, 2017
  
  For pork, the standards are different. Typically pastured and organic means it was allowed to forage and only given organic feed to supplement.
  
  Reply
Christine

July 11, 2016

I just made this and can barely eat it since it tastes like a mouthful of salt. And I like salt!

Other than that, pretty good, I would make it again with half the salt.

Reply
Angela

May 6, 2016

Excellent recipe! I subbed in ground turkey and it was super delicious. I’ve made it twice now and made a double batch with extra cayenne and crushed red pepper for a spicy sausage. Not much more work and we probably won’t go back to store bought. Thanks Katie!

Reply
Antonio

April 19, 2016

My mil runs fruit through the meat grinder to clean it, then uses that for a sauce or chutney or to add to the recipe in some other way. Could do the same to the food processor. Still needs soap and water but a good preclean.

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Jim

February 8, 2016

I’ve used the cast iron metal meat grinder in the restaurant, but it was used for grinding raw potatoes to go into the coney sauce (to thicken the sauce).

The recipe looks great and going to try it, thanks!

Reply
tanya weaver

February 4, 2016

I have enjoyed so many things from your site that I am really looking forward to making sausage now. It sounds like a winner! I think i even have some ground pork in the freezer so i can try it tonight for dinner! Thank you

Reply
Ed K

September 13, 2015

I have been making homemade breakfast sausage for some time now, I thought I would try your recipe and it is great! The only changes I made was I used pork loin and added water when I mixed it. I found that adding water helps it mix easier and cook more like store sausage.
Cheers.

Reply
1. staycee
  
  September 20, 2015
  
  I tried this recipe and it was dry pork. Flavor was nice but texture was nothing like sausage kids wouldnt eat it. I accidentally spilled water in the bowl while trying again and it was better. I added a good deal more water and it was just like processed sausage! Will try next time adding fresh squeezed apple juice for apple sausage…
  
  Reply
Jilly

August 15, 2015

Never made sausage before, but I had some boneless ribs with a nice bit of fat. Ground it in the food processor and tried your recipe..So, here I sit in sausage heaven, with some crispy red potatoes and toast with freezer strawberry jam. Thanks so much, Ill definately make this again…it was sooo easy!

Reply
Bob

July 29, 2015

One inch patties? That’s like the size of a quarter …

Reply
1. Bethany
  
  February 14, 2016
  
  One inch thick…
  
  Reply
Jacqueline

July 27, 2015

I will try this with turkey! I love breakfast sausage…. I love your website! I am enjoying making my own products and eating and living healthier.

Reply
Lia

July 17, 2015

Thanks for the recipe! About how long would 2 lbs of sausage patties last in the freezer?

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  July 19, 2015
  
  They should last a couple of months if frozen
  
  Reply
Perry

July 11, 2015

I made it without fennel seed using a metal grinding attachment on kitchen aid mixer awesome. I am going to mix up sides with cube meat and marinate overnight then grind for better flavor next time.

Reply
Bonnie

April 5, 2015

Everyone loved it! I am thrilled with it.

Reply
Rachel

March 14, 2015

Maybe this is a dumb question, but are we talking about fennel *bulb* dried and ground, or fennel *seed*?

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  March 17, 2015
  
  Fennel seed for this
  
  Reply
  1. Rachel
    
    March 19, 2015
    
    Thanks for the reply! I made a small test batch… it tasted a little too much like Italian sausage for my taste. I finally figured out it was the garlic, so omitted that, doubled the sage, reduced the salt to 1 teaspoon per pound, and added just a bit of maple syrup (to which I am not entirely opposed). Then it was perfect and I mixed up 10 lbs of it 🙂
    
    Reply
Louise Benes

February 7, 2015

The comment by Constantin Alvensleben has answered a question for me. I make our catfood using the grinder for the chicken, I always have meat left in the grinder. The bread will solve my problem.

My son makes his own sausage with ground beef. I thnk he will like this receipe.

Your site is my first go to.
I am 77 and am finally bringing my family around to home made safer products.
One is never too old to learn.
Keep up the good work and don’t let the critics get you down.

Reply
Constantin Alvensleben

February 6, 2015

To answer the question concerning the ‘scary meatgrinder’, I use an old one from my grandparents, not super big and of course hand-crank, it works great and before cleaning I run some big pieces of white bread through it, preferably the homebaked kind because that holds together better. That cleans the inside of the grinder pretty good so hardly any meat is left there and, mixed with some of the raw sausage and eggs makes a good loaf. Afterwards the cleaning is easy with soap and water.

Reply
Brenda

December 6, 2014

I made the decision just two days ago to start making my own sausage. And you provided a yummy recipe! I think of you as a wellness earth angel. Thank you so much for all you do.

Reply
Terri

November 17, 2014

New to your site and love the recipes offered. I made this tonight using 99% fat free ground turkey, it is delicious. Love making food without any processed chemicals. Thanks for sharing.

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Steve

October 31, 2014

I’m going to try this tomorrow with Elk and pork combined.

Reply
Nell

September 17, 2014

Loved this recipe! Making another batch tonight but will be scaling back the salt. Great recipe!

Reply