Homemade Breakfast Sausage Made Easy

There is a version of Sunday morning where breakfast comes out of a tube, and there is a version where it comes out of your own grinder. The second one is better, and it is not much harder.

Breakfast sausage is the most forgiving sausage you can make. No cure to measure, no smoke schedule to babysit, no casings at all unless you want them. Mix, shape, cook. It is the batch most people make first, and the one they keep making once they taste the difference.

Pick Your Blend

The seasoning is where breakfast sausage gets its personality. A classic sage-forward blend tastes like the diner version you grew up on. A maple blend leans sweet and works with pancakes. A hot pork blend brings black pepper and cayenne. All of our breakfast sausage seasonings come pre-measured, so the guesswork is already done.

What You'll Need

• 25 lbs of 85% lean pork trims
• One package of PS Seasoning breakfast sausage seasoning, sized for a 25 lb batch
• 1 cup of distilled water
• Natural sheep casings in 20-22mm or 22-24mm, only if you are making links

Twenty five pounds is a big day. Most home batches are smaller, and the math should not be the hard part. Run your actual meat weight through our Meat Block Calculator and it will scale the seasoning and water for you.

Start With the Right Fat

Breakfast sausage lives or dies on fat. At 85% lean pork you land right where you want to be: juicy in the pan, holding together on the plate, not greasy. Leaner than that and your patties turn dry and crumbly no matter how carefully you cook them.

Pork shoulder, also sold as Boston butt or blade roast, is the easiest way to get there. It runs close to that ratio on its own, so you are not weighing lean and fat separately to hit a target.

Grind It Twice

Grind all of your trims through a 3/8" plate first. Then reset the grinder with a 1/8" plate and run everything through a second time.

The double grind is what gives breakfast sausage its fine, even texture, the one that holds a patty edge instead of falling into crumbles. Keep the meat cold the whole time. If the fat starts to smear rather than cut cleanly, put everything back in the freezer for twenty minutes, grinder parts included.

Mix Until It's Tacky

Add the seasoning and 1 cup of water, then mix for 3 to 5 minutes. You are looking for a specific change: the meat goes from loose and grainy to sticky and cohesive. Press a handful against your palm and turn your hand over. If it hangs on, you are there.

That tackiness is protein extraction, and it is the difference between a patty that holds together in the pan and one that crumbles apart. Do not rush it.

Want to change the flavor slightly? Swap the water for cold apple juice. It adds a faint sweetness that works especially well with a maple blend.

Patties, Links, or Bulk

Bulk is the easiest. Package it as is and crumble it into gravy, hash or a casserole.

Patties can be formed by hand, but there is a better way if you want them uniform. Stuff the mix into a large diameter casing, freeze it solid, then slice it into rounds. Every patty comes out the same thickness and the same diameter, which means they all finish cooking at the same time.

Links need sheep casings in 20-22mm or 22-24mm. Soak them first, thread them onto the stuffing horn, and stuff at a steady pace. Twist into links at whatever length you like.

Cook It

Breakfast sausage is a fresh sausage. There is no cure in it, so it is cooked rather than smoked and cured like a snack stick or summer sausage. Cook it through at the time of eating, whether that is a skillet, a griddle or a grill.

Patties take roughly 3 to 4 minutes a side over medium heat. Links take a little longer and benefit from being rolled rather than left on one face. Either way, the number that matters is an internal temperature of 160°F. Check it with a probe rather than by color. Our Meat Smoking Temperature Guide has the full reference for every protein.

Making It With Wild Game

Breakfast sausage is one of the best uses for the odds and ends of a deer. The scraps and trim that are too small for steaks and too awkward for roasts are exactly right here, because the grinder does not care what shape they started in.

Venison on its own is far too lean. Use 15 lbs of wild game to 10 lbs of pork trims and you land back in the range where breakfast sausage works. The same blend handles elk, antelope and wild boar.

Storing and Freezing

Fresh sausage has a short window in the refrigerator, so cook it within a day or two or get it into the freezer. Vacuum sealed, it holds its quality for two to three months and stays good for longer than that, though the flavor and texture start to fade.

For patties, layer them between sheets of parchment before you bag them. They will separate cleanly and you can pull two out on a weekday morning without thawing the whole stack. Cook them straight from frozen and add a few minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What meat is best for homemade breakfast sausage?

Pork shoulder, sold as Boston butt or blade roast, is the classic choice because it naturally sits close to 85% lean. Store-bought ground pork works too. For a leaner version, blend pork shoulder with turkey, though you will lose some juiciness.

Do I need a sausage stuffer?

Not for patties or bulk. Mix the seasoned meat and form it by hand. A stuffer is only needed if you want links, or if you want to use the freeze-and-slice method for uniform patties.

How much seasoning do I use per pound?

Our packages are pre-measured for a 25 lb batch, so there is nothing to calculate if that is the size you are making. For any other weight, our Meat Block Calculator will scale it for you.

Can I make breakfast sausage without casings?

Yes, and most people do. Patties and bulk sausage need no casing at all. Casings are only for links.

Why did my patties come out dry and crumbly?

Almost always one of two things. The meat was too lean, or the mix was not worked long enough to get tacky. Start at 85% lean and mix a full 3 to 5 minutes before you shape anything.