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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.

Easy Italian Sausage

You’re going to love learning How to Make Italian Sausage. This is, of course, a sweet and spicy recipe that can be easily adjusted to your specific tastes and, most importantly, reveals the secret to actually making it taste like sausage instead of just seasoned ground pork.

The secret lies in 3 places. First, the sausage has got to have a 2 to 1 ratio; 2 parts meat and 1 part Fat and in this particular case it’s 2 parts Pork Picnic Shoulder Muscle(which is very tender) and 1 part Bacon or Fat Back. If you’re wondering what Fat Back is, it’s just exactly what it sounds like; the Fat in the back of the pig; which is where bacon is derived from anyway so why not just use bacon. Plus, for me personally, I can’t get Fat Back where I live without ordering a minimum of 60 lbs and I’ll never make that much sausage.

The Second secret is the ingredients. This means any kind of sausage you want to make, whether it be Breakfast, Italian, or Chorizo etc., will all depend on the ingredients, or seasonings, going into the 2 to 1 ratio.

The Third thing is all about the binder. The binder is what fuses the meat and ingredients together and keeps them from falling apart. I’ve also found that it’s a big part of the the seasoning which also effects the performance in the sausage when it cooks.

For example: Most Italian Sausage recipes add a red wine and vinegar combination as a binder, which is fine, but this creates a bitter taste so you have to compensate with a sweetener, like sugar. But I have found that Corn Syrup works even better and I add Vegetable Shortening. Why the Shortening? Cooking the sausage without it leaves the meat very dry. It leaves an added quality to the sausage that improves the flavor and adds a moist tenderness to the meat when it’s done.

If you’re interested in more of my recipes with sausage in them, check out my Egg Noodle Lasagna and my Spaghetti with Meatballs.

Italian Sausage Ingredients:

2 lbs Pork shoulder Cusion Meat
1 lbs Bacon
6 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup Fresh Parsly, chopped
1 tbsp Fennel Seed
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tbsp Paprika
1 tbsp Red Chili Flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste, approximately 1/2 tbsp of each

Binders

1/3 cup Corn Syrup
1/4 cup Vegetable Shortening

Be sure to watch the short video tutorial and I will show you exactly how to make this Italian Sausage.