Sweet Italian Sausage

One of the first recipes I feel like I need to share is this for making your own sweet Italian bulk sausage. Why? Well, a couple of reasons.

First, I will be referring to it in a number of upcoming recipes, such as some delicious sausage & peppers sandwiches and a fabulous stuffed sausage loaf.  The sausage recipe at the end of this post is requested often in my household in various forms.

Also, while you *can* buy it premade at the grocery store, this has a much better flavor without all the added artificial ingredients.  Have you looked at the ingredient list for this?  It’s a little scary.

And it takes less than 10 minutes to make enough for 3 meals! Seriously.  It literally takes the same length of time to make 1 pound as it does 3 so, to me, it makes sense to make up enough for 3 meals, especially if you can get ground pork on sale like I did this week.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who has emergencies requiring sausage. 🙂

I made a batch today and timed it to see exactly how long it took me.  I took this picture of the clock before I started:

I didn’t get anything out before I started, either.  After taking this pic, I got out a large bowl, took the pork from the fridge and opened it into the bowl.  Then, one seasoning at a time, I took it out of the pantry, measured it into the bowl then put it back.  I did this for each ingredient.  Then I mixed the sausage, divided it into 3 bags, sealed them and took a picture of the clock when I finished.

It literally took me 9 minutes to do make this and that was taking my time.

Here are the fruits of my minimal labor.

One bag went in the fridge for dinner later this week and the other 2 are now in the freezer for later

After trying this, I doubt you’ll settle for the store-bought kind again.  If you worry about the fat in ground pork, you can also used the reduced fat kind (like I do).  You could also do a mix of ground pork and ground turkey breast, but just make note that your sausage will come out more on the dry side when you cook it.  And if you like your Italian sausage to have more of a bite, just add more red pepper flakes.

This is completely customizable and it is worth the little effort to make your own.

And now… the recipe!

Sweet Italian Sausage (bulk)

 

Author: Sashi @ Get Off the Couch and Cook

Prep time: 9 mins

Total time: 9 mins

Making your own bulk Italian sausage is super easy… in less than 10 minutes you can make enough for three meals. but if you only want to make enough for one meal, I’ve included the measurements in parentheses for you.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs ground pork (1 lb)
• 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar (1 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp dried parsley (2 tsp)
• 2 Tbsp garlic powder (2 tsp)
• 1 Tbsp onion powder (1 tsp)
• 1 Tbsp black pepper (1 tsp)
• 1 Tbsp dried basil (1 tsp)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt (1/2 tsp)
• 2 tsp paprika (1/2 + 1/4 tsp)
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (1/4 – 1/2 tsp)
• 1 tsp fennel seed (1/2 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar (1/4 tsp)
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano (leave at 1/4 tsp)
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme (leave at 1/4 tsp)

Instructions

1. Mix all in large bowl until the seasonings are mixed evenly throughout. I really suggest using your hands to knead it through if you can.
2. If making 3 lbs, divide into 3 equal lumps and put in freezer bags. Flatten slightly and remove as much of the air as you can before sealing them.
3. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours before using to let the flavors marry or freeze until ready to use. If you need to use your sausage right away, it will still be tasty! The flavors just deepen if you can make this before you need it.

 

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