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.
One bowl of Chicken Sausage Gumbo served with a scoop of white rice.
The Best Gumbo
If you love Gumbo and you’ve been looking for an authentic recipe that’s easy and turns out perfect, every time, this is the recipe for you. If you’ve never tried Chicken and Sausage Gumbo before, this is the recipe for you. It’s got everything you need and starts with the most basic ingredients, the “Holy Trinity”; onion, celery and bell pepper.
1 package of smoked Andouille sausage and 1 package of 8 raw boneless chicken thighs.
Chicken, Sausage or Shrimp
This is a Chicken and Sausage Gumbo which consists of smoked Andouille sausage, a classic Cajun delight. But this recipe can be easily converted to a shrimp gumbo recipe if you simply swap the proteins out, pound for pound and season the shrimp the exact same way I recommend you season the chicken.
One pot of cooked Cajun style Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.
The Love for cooking Gumbo
It’s important to note that any gumbo starts with making a roux, which is slowly cooked equal parts of oil and flour. This is the base of the flavor in any gumbo, and it takes a lot of patience to make because it’s constant stirring over medium heat for, approximately, 20 to 30 minutes.
In the south, or online, roux can be purchased pre-made in mayonnaise size jars just like the one I show you in the video tutorial. If you can get your hands on some, it saves a ton of time cooking this recipe and you can focus on the other ingredients, instead, that make this Chicken and Sausage Gumbo so amazing.
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Ingredients: 4-6 servings
1 Onion, chopped 1 Bell Pepper, chopped 1 Jalapeno, chopped (optional for spicy tastes) 2 Celery sticks, chopped 4 Garlic Cloves, chopped 4 tbsp Roux, (4 tbsp vegetable oil 4 tbsp all purpose flour, cooked) 1/2 can Beer
Kosher Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tbsp Blackened Seasoning, on chicken 1 tsp Kosher Salt & Pepper mixed, on chicken 4 Boneless Chicken Thighs, sliced 1 lbs Andouille Sausage, sliced 1 qt Beef Broth 4 Bay Leaves 4 Green Onions, chopped 1 Bunch Fresh Parsley, chopped
6 cups Long Grain Rice, steamed Louisiana File Powder, a few dash’s for topping each serving
I designed this recipe to easily be doubled or tripled, if need be. Just follow the instructions in the video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.
1″ inch slice of Meatloaf with a Hoisin Sauce glaze on a blue plate.
The Best Meatloaf
Most folks agree that you haven’t really had meat loaf until you’ve had it grilled. I originally wrote this recipe using an oven but a grill follows the same basic principles. Set you’re temp, keep the lid down and watch the clock and that’s basically all you have to do. My recipe, however, excludes ketchup. If you’ve got a problem with that, just top it with a Ketchup glaze at the end instead of my Hoisin Sauce and no one’s the wiser. I can promise you this, though, this recipe is tender, moist, flavorful, it will still stay on your fork and it makes the best leftover sandwich’s.
Raw ground beef and pork sausage in separate packages.
Meatloaf not Beef loaf
One of the things I learned, long ago, was to mix sausage with Beef in any recipe with a ton of ingredients and this recipe is no different. I mean, that’s one of the secrets to my Chili recipe and it is phenomenal. There is a 2 to 3 standard ratio that I use being 2 parts sausage to 3 parts beef and you’ll see that reflected in the ingredients. After all, we’re making Grilled Meatloaf, not beef loaf.
If you’ve ever tried my Chili recipe, you might notice that the ingredients are very similar to this recipe, too. I’ve simplified each recipe with the addition of taco seasoning but there are also a few other herbs and spices to fine tune it to the point to where they’re distinguished. Though, some things just shouldn’t change.
Chopped and sauteed onions in a large pan on the stove top.
Raw or Cooked Onions
Technically, once the Grilled Meatloaf is cooked, the onions are cooked as well but they usually go into the meat mix raw. Barf! I don’t know what it is about raw onions, in this recipe, but I can’t stand them cooked that way in meatloaf or on pizza. This is crazy to say because I love onions. In fact I’m a huge fan but, for some reason, I just can’t stomach them in a meatloaf recipe. That’s why I recommend sauteing them first. It’s just a personal preference but I find that there is a much more enjoyable flavor and texture, doing it this way, too but whether you choose to do it this way will be up to you.
Raw Meatloaf, all mixed, shaped and uncooked in a cake pan.
Mixing the Meatloaf Ingredients
There’s really nothing special you have to do to mix the ingredients correctly. Other than the sauteing of the chopped onion, that I’m recommending, all you have to do is mix everything together into one big mush, then shape into a loaf on a baking tray or sheet.
You may find that the meat mix is very wet and you might be tempted to add more bread crumbs but this is folly. In order to maintain moisture, the meat loaf must be like this. A dried out Meatloaf is just as bad as any dried out or over cooked Roasted Turkey!
Grilled and glazed Meatloaf in the roasting pan on the grill.
How to Grill Meatloaf
Grilling Meatloaf really isn’t much different than baking it in the oven. You need to establish a 350° Fahrenheit temp, with the lid down, and cook over indirect heat. The other difference is, just rotating the pan half way through cooking and I demonstrate everything you need to know in the video tutorial.
Because I use a propane grill, it’s easy to focus my heat from 1 out of the 3 burners by turning the front burner on only, then cooking the meatloaf over indirect heat over the other two burners, not lit. The only thing I might recommend, if you’r using gas too, is adding some chips to the lit burner to get the smoke flavor affect going. That’s the only thing I wish I did differently in the video, just to add more smoke flavor. If you’re using charcoal or smoker anyway, you’re already set!
Fully Grilled Meatloaf, cooked and cooling down on a cutting board for slicing.
Grilling Meatloaf Ingredients:
1.5 lbs Hamburger 1 lbs Pork Sausage, breakfast 1 Onion, chopped and sauteed in Olive oil and salted 1 pkg Taco Seasoning, original (2 oz ) 1 tbsp Adobo Sauce, from Chipotle Peppers 1 15 oz can Diced Tomatoes 1 tbsp Cumin 1 tbsp Mexican Oregano 1 tsp Coriander 1 tbsp Worcestorshire Sauce 1 cup Bread Crumbs 2 Egg 2 tbsp Brown Sugar 5 Cloves Garlic, chopped
Hoisin Sauce for Glaze
Mix all of the ingredients together and shape the meat into a loaf in a cake pan. Grill or bake at 350° Fahrenheit, 45 minutes, add glaze and bake at 400° Fahrenheit for 15 more minutes. If you want to see how I make a Mushroom and Swiss with Leftover Meatloaf, CLICK HERE!
