Breakfast Sausage

10 Bratwurst sized Breakfast Sausage Links on a plate resting on the counter top.

Great Breakfast Sausage

Making sausage is a fun traditional art that dates back to the Sumerians, in 3100 B.C. and is now cherished all over the world with different recipes. Today, I’m sharing an American style Breakfast Sausage that has been popularized by companies like Johnsonville or even the late famous country singer, Jimmy Dean.

This sweet and savory sausage has become an American staple that is served many different ways; links, patties or even cooked up ground and added to eggs with cheese or most widely known, probably, in sausage gravy, served over Buttermilk Biscuits and/or a Chicken Fried Steak.

Today’s recipe is all about the ingredients and how to get the best flavor and texture out of a breakfast sausage. So, I’ve listed all of the ingredients down below, along with my recommendations and a “how to” video tutorial. There are a few “optional” ingredients, like pink curing salt and msg, but if one comes out it should be replaced with an equal amount of salt in it’s place. The pink salt should only be added if you’re planning on smoking the sausage. MSG, obviously intensifies the flavor of the sausage and is an active ingredient in store bought sausages.

I didn’t add powdered skim milk to my sausage in the video but I have it listed in the ingredients for this recipe. It should be added if you want to retain more moisture and add the proper sausage texture that we’ve all come to expect in cooked or smoked sausage. Questions can always be asked in the comments.

Breakfast Sausage Ingredients: Makes 4 lbs

3 lbs Ground Pork, Dark Meat 70% to 75%
1 lbs Pork Fat, 25% to 30%

1/4 cup Brown sugar, light brown
1 tsp Curing Salt, replace with table salt if not using
3 tsp Salt
2 tsp Parsley
1 tsp Sage
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Red Pepper, crushed
1 tsp Coriander, ground
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Ground Clove

1 tsp MSG, optional but is used in most sausages to enhance flavor

Makes about 1/2 cup of seasoning.

BINDER
1/2 cup Dehydrated Skim Milk Powder, for moisture and texture
1/4 cup Vinegar
2 tbsp Dark Corn Syrup, Malasses flavored

Maybe 1/2 cup Lard if the fat content is low.
30% fat to 70% meat ratio is standard.

Approximately 2 tbsp of seasoning per 1 lb. of meat.

Breakfast Muffin French Toast Pancake

Two 5.5 oz Lemon Breakfast Muffins.

The Best French Toast you’ll Ever Eat

I recently bought way to many Lemon and Blueberry Lemon Breakfast Muffins thinking that my kids would eat them for breakfast, like they usually do, and I could have a few of my favorite as well. As it turned out, they weren’t getting eaten and I was afraid we weren’t going to eat them all. So, I started brain storming about how to make them useful because I can’t stand to waste food. Then it hit me… Muffin French Toast.

One lemon Muffin, crumbled into a medium sized stainless steel bowl.

What kind of Muffin should I use?

In my opinion, any fruit muffin will do but you have to consider the results. In this recipe and video tutorial, I’m using a Lemon Muffin and I think that the lemon really sets this recipe off but Blueberry pancakes are tasty too so, I’d imagine that Blueberry Lemon Muffins would be even better.

Maybe Chocolate Chip or Banana Muffins would make good Muffin French Toast but I might think twice about using a poppy seed or Chocolate flavored Muffin. I haven’t tried either but it’s my opinion that they wouldn’t turn out as well.

One fully cooked Breakfast Muffin French Toast Pancake, on a red plate, drenched in Maple Syrup.

Breakfast Muffin French Toast Pancake Ingredients:

1 5.5 oz Large Muffin, premade and preferably Lemon
3 Large Eggs
1/4 cup Half and Half
1 tsp butter, salted

Maple Syrup for topping or try my Berry Syrup

Follow the instructions in the video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make Breakfast Muffin French Toast Pancakes.

Breakfast Combo Bar

Six stacked Breakfast Combo Bar Patties on a small purple plate.

The Best Breakfast Combo Bar

If I’ve never expressed my love for breakfast foods, particularly hot breakfast foods, I can sum it up in a word… GIMMIE! This Breakfast Combo Bar is no exception. What is it? It’s a crispy fried scrambled egg, ham and cheese patty and, if you’ve never tried one before, believe me when I say, they’re amazing. These can’t be purchased by the average consumer, by the way, and you don’t usually find this item on a restaurant menu so, you’re going to have to learn how to make these and try them your self.

One carton of 20 chicken eggs.

Where does it come from

I learned about the Breakfast Combo bars over 25 years, when I attended trade school, and I fell absolutely in love with them. I’ve never seen them served any where else but I have since learned that they are a bulk product, made by Hormel, and they’re only sold to distributors and restaurant supply companies like Sysco; which also explains why my school cafeteria was serving them up in the mornings.

Eggs are the main ingredient in this recipe, mixed with minced ham and cheese so, be sure you’re stalked up to make these because it takes 2 eggs to make 1 Breakfast Bar.

One box of Original Velveeta Cheese.

What Kind of Ham and Cheese

The ingredients in the Hormel recipe says that the cheese in these Breakfast Combo Bars is pasteurized and American so, I chose to go with Velveeta Cheese. You can use what ever you want but, I’m telling you, the Velveeta, in my opinion, is spot on the way I remember these bars tasting. So, it’s something to consider if you prefer real cheese.

Cooked ham and cheese with scrambled eggs.

The Ham I use is just a classic hickory smoked ham that I add to the eggs, chopped, after they’ve cooked. I melt down the Velveeta cheese in a smaller pan with a few tablespoons of whipping cream to make it creamy and easy to poor over the eggs and ham mixture. Then, I mix everything together, remove from the heat and form patties on a cookie sheet.

Eggs, ham and cheese mix formed into patties on a cookie sheet for the freezer.

It’s good to use a non-stick cookie sheet or some non-stick spray that will keep the eggs, ham and cheese mix from sticking, once you’ve made patties. I use an egg pan mold approximately 3″ inches in diameter. The mold is only about one 1/2″ inch so, it makes it easy to press them flat too. The patties must be frozen before they’re battered for frying or they will not sustain their shape. 1 hour, minimum, in the freezer is required to obtain a frozen patty. In fact, I usually keep half of them in the freezer while I’m frying the first batch because they soften quickly and fall apart in the egg wash.

2 canisters of both Seasoned Panko and Bread Crumbs.
Breading and Batter

Once the egg, ham and cheese patties are fully frozen, they can be put through a 3 step breading. First the flour, then the egg wash and the seasoned Panko and bread crumb mix. Each patty only needs to go through these steps once. There’s no need for a second coating, trust me. Now all you need is a half inch of oil, in a hot pan, for frying. Fry at 350° Fahrenheit for approximately 2 minutes, or until golden brown, on each side. Then remove from the heat and let them rest on a rack or paper towels, to remove the grease, and serve.

Breakfast Combo Bar video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet
Breakfast Combo Bar Ingredients: Makes 6

12 eggs, scrambled and pre-cooked with Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Ham, minced
1/3 cup Velveeta Cheese, melted
2 tbsp Whipping Cream or Milk

1/3 cup flour
2 eggs
3 tbsp water
1/3 cup Bread Crumbs, seasoned
1/2 cup Panko, seasoned

Oil for Frying

Watch and follow all of the instructions in the Breakfast Combo Bar video tutorial.