Homemade Italian Sausage Recipe

It is really easy to make your own homemade Italian sausage. With a few spices and some ground pork, you’ll be eating like an Italian in no time.

 My Italian sausage is usually store-bought. Jimmy Dean. Johnsonville, or a store brand. Well, these are great but, you can make your own homemade Italian sausage, using just ground pork or pork butt that is ground. (Grind your own with an attachment on your mixer or with a food processor). If you can find pork on sale, you could make a lot of sausage and freeze portions for later use. This is super easy and very tasty and can be modified to your own tastes.

Ingredients

Pork is what Italian sausage is usually made from and it’s what I normally use. But, you can also use ground chicken, turkey, or beef, or combinations of meat. The spices will work well with any of these.

I used the ingredients which I think provide a nice Italian flavor. Fennel for one is always in Italian sausage giving a sweet yet tangy flavor.

Garlic and a little crushed red pepper flakes for flavor and a little heat. If you like hotter sausage, add a little more pepper flakes.

Oregano, thyme, and some chopped parsley round out the flavors in the sausage.

Brown the fennel seed in a heavy skillet on medium heat. Stir seeds continually until they are browned, about 5 minutes. Cool and then grind in a spice grinder, (or a coffee grinder). If you don’t have a grinder, you can leave them whole.

 In a bowl, add the spices and then mix in the ground pork.

Once mixed, it is a good idea to wrap the pork with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a day so that the flavors of the spices meld with the meat. 

You can cook the sausage right away also if you’d like.

The sausage will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days, or wrap well and freeze for up to 3 months. 

Have your homemade Italian sausage with some homemade marinara sauce like this one.

Serve with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Our pasta meal was excellent as always.

Here are some delicious recipes that use Italian sausage:

• Jambalaya with Sausage and Shrimp
• Italian Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats
• Italian Sausage Lasagna Roll-ups
• Shrimp and Sausage Stew

Homemade Italian sausage

Make your own Italian sausage at home.

5 from 4 votes

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Course: Pork

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: homemade Italian sausage

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 5 servings

Calories: 218kcal

Author: Joe Boyle

Ingredients

• 1 lbs ground pork , 80% lean
• 1 ½ tsp fennel seed toasted and ground
• 1 tbsp parsley , coarse chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

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Instructions

• Brown the fennel seed in a heavy skillet on medium heat. Stir seeds continually until they are browned, about 5 minutes. Cool and then grind in a spice grinder, (or a coffee grinder). If you don't have a grinder, you can leave them whole.
• Mix all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate.
• Allow the flavors to meld by wrapping the pork in plastic wrap and refrigerating for 6 hours or overnight.
• Brown the Italian sausage with 1 or 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet.

Notes

1. Add more red pepper flakes if you like hotter sausage.
2. Calorie count is based on one serving of the pork only. (No spaghetti or marinara sauce).

Nutrition

Calories: 218kcal

This recipe post was updated on November 8, 2021.