Description
Our homemade Italian Sausage Recipe is wholesome and savory with fragrant herbs and spices. An easy, freezer-friendly recipe that comes together in just 20 minutes.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 pound ground meat (ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork, ground lamb, or plant-based meat alternative)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sage
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon onion granules
- 1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
- Make the Italian seasoning. Mix the spices and grind them coarsely with a mortar and pestle. (Or add whole spices directly.)
- Season the ground meat. In a large bowl add the spice mix and ground meat mix together with your hands until the seasonings are well distributed.
- Refrigerate. For the best flavor infusion refrigerate the sausage for 4 to 24 hours, but cooking it right away will still give good flavor. You can shape it into patties or cook it in crumbles.
- Cook the Italian sausage. To cook, heat up a skillet to medium-high. Add the sausage in large chunks. Leave them be for a few minutes so they develop a brown crust. Turn over and brown on the other side. With the spatula chop in smaller chunks if desired.
Notes
Sweet Italian Sausage: add 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar.
Store leftovers for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
To freeze crumbles: Spread the crumbled meat on a sheet pan. Place it in the freezer for at least 1 hour. Then, transfer it to a sealed container or ziplock bag.
To freeze sausage patties: Shape the mixture into 1 ½ – 2 ounce patties. Freeze them on a sheet pan for 2 hours, then move to a sealed container or ziplock bag.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 ounces
- Calories: 144
- Sugar: 0.1 g
- Sodium: 512 mg
- Fat: 3.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 1.4 g
- Fiber: 0.7 g
- Protein: 25.1 g
- Cholesterol: 67.8 mg