Homemade Breakfast Sausage Seasoning Recipe

A great recipe for homemade breakfast sausage seasoning using a simple spice blend to season your ground meat of choice. Get started making your own breakfast sausage at home and skip the funky ingredients in store-bought sausage.

Why Make Your Own Breakfast Sausage?

My kids adore sausage patties for breakfast. Don't we all? What I don't like are the ingredients that are in breakfast sausage at the store. Poor quality meat, monosodium glutamate (MSG), corn syrup, sugar, and other additives are the common offenders in your average roll of sausage. I just didn't feel good about feeding this to my family anymore.

Two years ago we purchased half of a pasture raised pig from a local farmer.  I was excited about the abundance of bulk bacon, sausage, pork chops, pork butt, and roasts that would be filling my freezer all year long.  The very first morning after we picked up our order, I made some breakfast sausage feeling so proud that I would be feeding my children this high quality sausage.

They took one bite and wouldn't eat anymore.

"It tastes weird," they complained.

To be fair, it did taste weird and not at all like our former breakfast sausage that we were used to eating. Sadly I had a huge amount of pre-seasoned pork sausage that I had to use all year long even though we hated it. It was just too much to waste.

This year, I got smart.  We still ordered our half pig, but instead of the butcher seasoning the sausage for us, I ordered plain fresh ground pork. I was determined to create a breakfast sausage seasoning blend and make my own sausage that would taste similar to our old store bought sausage.

Ingredients Needed

When experimenting with my own homemade breakfast sausage recipe, it was a feat find the right spice combination. I first tried just salt and pepper.  Too bland.  Then I added sage.  We were on the right track.  Then I added some red pepper flakes for a little kick.  Better.  Next, I added some fennel seed. With each spice that I added, we got closer and closer to the flavor we were after.  This is the perfect combination for us.  I had all of the ingredients in my spice cabinet and it's so easy that I now have the recipe memorized.  It's just one teaspoon of a high quality sea salt and sage, and then a quarter teaspoon of the rest. It may look like too much seasoning, but I assure you it's not.

• salt
• ground sage
• red pepper flake
• fennel seed
• thyme
• marjoram
• ground pork or another ground meat

Note: If you prefer a touch of sweetness, try adding a tablespoon of brown sugar or pure maple syrup. I still prefer the sugar-free version, but again, it is a personal preference.

This has a bit of a spicy kick to it if you get a piece with a red pepper flake.  We all like it like that at my house, but if you prefer a very mild sausage, you may want to cut the red pepper flake in half or omit.  Let this be a guide to get you started, but feel free to experiment to suit your personal preference.  The good thing about this blend as well is that you can use it in any ground meat that you wish.  I haven't tried them myself, but I would imagine that you could use them in ground pork, turkey, chicken, ground beef, bison, or wild game to makeover your breakfast sausage.

Steps to Make Homemade Sausage Patties

1. In a small bowl mix all of the spices and salt together until well combined.
2. In a large bowl, pat dry your pound of meat with a paper towel. This helps the sausage brown.
3. Sprinkle the spice blend over the meat and mix thoroughly with your hands until distributed evenly throughout the meat.
4. Form sausage mixture into patties about 2-3 inches wide. Makes about 10 patties.
5. Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of bacon grease, olive oil, or avocado oil and pan fry the sausage on one side.
6. When they have developed a golden crust, flip to the other side and continue to cook until they have reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. If they are getting too brown but not cooking inside, lower the heat and put a lid on the skillet.

Ways to Use Homemade Breakfast Sausage

You can use this homemade sausage in any way that you would use a store bought roll of sausage. In addition to the sausage breakfast patties, here are some of my family's favorites.

• Sausage gravy
• Sausage balls
• Breakfast sandwiches
• Breakfast burritos
• Egg casserole
• Zuppa Toscana

Print Pin

5 from 1 vote

Homemade breakfast sausage seasoning

A clean sausage seasoning to grace your breakfast table.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword breakfast sausage, homemade breakfast sausage seasoning

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings 10 patties

Ingredients

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground sage
• ¼ tsp red pepper flake
• ¼ tsp fennel seed
• ¼ tsp thyme
• ¼ tsp marjoram
• 1 lb. ground pork turkey, or chicken
• 1 tbsp olive oil or bacon grease or avocado oil

Instructions

• Mix all seasonings together in a small bowl.
• In a large bowl, pat dry the meat with a paper towel to remove water.
• Sprinkle the seasoning mixture a little at a time onto the ground meat and mix thoroughly until all seasoning is incorporated. Take care not to over work the meat or it may turn tough.
• Use as you would normally use sausage in any dish.
• If making breakfast sausage patties, preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add fat of choice.
• Form patties into 2-3 inch round disks. Place each patty into the hot skillet and cook on one side a few minutes until well browned. When it develops a golden color, flip to the other side.
• Continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. If the outside is burning and the inside is still under done, lower the heat and place a lid on the skillet.

Notes

To freeze, form patties and place into air tight storage container or freezer bag with parchment paper separating the layers. Keeps for several months.