Homemade Sausage Recipes - How To Make Your Own Sausage!

What Is The Best Sausage?

There’s no question that sausage adds great flavor to your pizza, but why rely on what the supermarket has available. Why not make your own with your own unique spices and seasoning? After all, the best sausage is your own homemade sausage. Whether you decide to go with an Italian style or a spicy beef, the seasonings are where the sausage creativity lies. We are often asked what is the best sausage for pizza? Well, I think you know the answer now, it's your own homemade blend that best fits the pie. Yet, people often think that you need a bunch of special equipment to make your own and that is far from true.

For our easy sausage recipe, we decided to keep the sausage loose, instead of making links, we took advantage of store-bought ground meat. By doing these two things we are able to make a sausage using little more than a bowl and a large wooden spoon.

Traditional Sausage Ratios

There are five components to making sausage; meat, fat, salt, liquid and flavorings. In traditional sausage making lean meat and fat are separated and measured to ensure a proper ratio. This helps ensure a good texture and flavor. This ratio is around 30% fat to 70% lean meat and unless you are grinding your own meat this can be hard to obtain. However, you will very often see meat that is labeled 80/20 meaning it has a 20% fat content and although this is not a traditional ratio it works very well for our purpose. As tempting as it may be to use a leaner ground meat I would recommend avoiding it. Anything below 80/20 will result in a very dry sausage.

The Key Ingredient

Salt: it’s the one ingredient to rule them all. It’s found in pretty much all dishes across the world. Salt can elevate flavor, but it can also become overpowering making dishes inedible. For this reason, I have provided different measurements for the 3 most common brands of salt you would have at home. This should give you a consistent seasoning regardless of what type of salt you use.

Adding Your Own Flair

Although we are using a ground meat with a higher fat content to keep the sausage juicy, we might as well give it a little bit of a boost by mixing in some liquid. I say liquid because it can be almost anything you like.  Beer, wine, vinegar, and water are all fair game when it comes to sausage. Choosing which one to use can be a matter of personal preference. If you love a big bold red wine with a steak try using red wine for a beef sausage.  Do you want turkey sausage with a little bit of brightness? You could add a little bit of apple cider vinegar. Or you might not have anything but water to put into the sausage and that’s fine too. The most important part is making sure you use some kind of liquid. 

Gourmet Sausage Flavors

Lastly, let’s talk about flavorings.  This could be any combination of spices and herbs. Pick flavors that you like and add them to your sausage. Flavoring a sausage is more of an art than a science and try to enjoy experimenting with different flavor combinations.  That being said there are a few tips that can help you be more successful.  Powerful spices should be ground fine and used sparingly. However, milder spices can be whole or barely ground if you want to have pops of flavor. Toasting spices can create a deeper and nuttier flavor but untoasted they have a lighter bright flavor. Dried herbs and be mixed in as is but you will want to finely chop fresh herbs.

1. The Homemade Sausage Recipe 

Universal Sausage Template
1 lbs of 80/20 ground meat
2 teaspoon of diamond kosher salt*
1 tablespoon of liquid
spices/herbs
Place the meat, salt, spices/herbs in a bowl and mix until everything is evenly dispersed. Pour the liquid into the meat mixture and mix until the meat begins to look shaggy and is slightly tacky.

2. Spicy Beef Sausage Recipe 

Spicy Beef
1 lbs ground beef
1 ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chili flakes
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoon diamond kosher salt*

3. The Classic Italian Sausage Recipe

Italian Sausage
1lbs ground pork
1 teaspoon of ground or crushed fennel seeds
1 small bunch of fresh oregano chopped fine
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon white wine
2 teaspoons of diamond kosher salt*
1 teaspoon of sugar

Note:
*Different salts have different weights. For this recipe it is important to use the correct measurement for the salt you are using or the sausage may become too salty. 1 ½ teaspoon Morton’s Kosher Salt. 1 1/8 teaspoon table salt.

Any questions? Let us know in the comments below and our head chef will be happy to help. Any suggestions about this recipe? Shout them out below!

Want more recipes like these? Check out: 

• How to make your own pizza sauce 
• What is the perfect cheese for your pizza?

Music by: Song: Beyond Reality Artist: Nazar Rybak http://www.hooksounds.com