Fun fact: my kids would legit get into fights over who had how many, and who could have the extras, to the point where I’d weigh portions to stop the bickering. Yes, these ground pork sausages are just that good. So, grab your kitchen tools and get ready to make fight worthy breakfast sausages 🙂
This recipe pairs very well with:
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Important Ingredient Notes
Before we jump in, I want to share a few notes with you, that way, as you read over the ingredient list, you can think about ingredient swaps and substitutions should they be necessary.
Ground Pork
Traditionally, breakfast sausage is made with ground pork. However, if you can’t have pork, ground chicken is the next best choice. From there, it’s a tossup between ground turkey, ground beef, and ground rabbit.
Keep in mind, if you use a different meat, you should manage your expectations. Your seasonings and meat will interact differently, and whilst that’s OK, it’s not the same as “store bought frozen breakfast sausage”. Should you need to use beef, experiment with adding a bit more of all of the spices to make sure the flavours come through.
Mind the Fat Content
If you need to swap the meat, know that store bought ground pork usually has a fat content of 22 – 25%. If you’re using a lean meat, you’re going to want to add that fat back in with something like tallow or a liquid fat (avocado oil, etc.).
Liquid Smoke
If you don’t have smoke, or can’t have smoke, you can also use a smoke gun. This is the one that I personally use, and you can experiment with different wood chips to create different (subtle) flavour shifts.
Organic Maple Sugar
Organic maple sugar is a granulated sweetener, and can be swapped for other granulated sweeteners including:
- Cane Sugar (white sugar)
- Light Brown Sugar
- Dark Brown Sugar
- Date Sugar
- Coconut Sugar (only use this is you use it regularly and love the taste)
Allergy Status
Free From: Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy, Tree Nut (including Coconut), Peanut, Fish, Shellfish, Sesame, Top 9 Allergens, Top 14 Allergens, Alliums, Apple, Avocado, Banana, Beans & Lentils, Berries, Buckwheat, Cane/Refined Sugar, Carrot, Celery, Cinnamon, Citrus, Cooking Oil/Added Fats, Corn, Cruciferous, Garlic, Latex Cross Reactive Foods (H/M), Legume, Lupin, Mushroom, Mustard, Nightshade, Oat, Onion, Pea & Pea Protein, Potato (Nightshade Variety), Poultry, Rice, Squash & Gourd, Stone Fruits, Strawberry, Sweet Potato & Yam, Tapioca/Cassava/Yuca/Manioc, Tomato, Yeast
Friendly To: EOE, FPIES, GERD, Paleo
Compatible With: Seed Free, AIP Paleo, GAPs, Low Histamine, SCD, Balsam of Peru Friendly
Balsam of Peru, Seed Free & AIP Paleo: Omit the nutmeg.
GAPs & SCD: Swap the maple sugar for your favourite granulated sweetener.
Ingredients for Your Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe
- 900g Organic Ground Pork (32 ounces/2lbs, non-organic is OK as well)
- 3 TBSP Organic Maple Sugar
- 3 tsp Organic Dried Marjoram
- 2.5 tsp Sea Salt
- 3/4 tsp Organic Ground Sage
- 5 drops Liquid Smoke
- dash Organic Ground Nutmeg
- Optional: dash Organic Ground White Pepper
Low Histamine Breakfast Sausage Notes
If you follow a low histamine diet, here are the swaps you’ll need to make for this homemade breakfast sausage recipe:
- Omit the liquid smoke.
- Omit the ground nutmeg.
- Skip the optional white pepper.
- Add 3/4 tsp sweet paprika to your spice blend.
Overall, this will shift the flavour from “store bought breakfast sausage” to more of “this is a nice breakfast sausage”. However, I think you’ll still enjoy the experience.
Make sure you freeze any leftover ground meat mix or cooked sausages you have. One hallmark of following a low histamine diet is that meat needs to be fresh, or frozen as leftovers, to prevent histamine development.
Not everyone who follows a low histamine diet can tolerate pork, so use any fresh ground meat you enjoy/tolerate if you’re also pork free.
About the Spice Mixture
This spice blend is designed to mimic store bought frozen breakfast sausage patties and sausage links. If you make swaps, you won’t have the same experience. However, if you need to, or want to, it’s not going to be the end of the world, just different.
If you wanted to experiment, you could try some of the following:
- Swap the maple sugar for light brown sugar or even dark brown sugar.
- Swap the white pepper for black pepper or even red pepper flakes for a spicy kick.
- Swap the entire spice mixture for a premade Italian seasoning to essentially have Italian sausage.
- Add fennel seeds or a little ground fennel to add depth to the recipe.
- Add in a little thyme to add an interesting flavour note to the recipe.
Directions
Place all of your ingredients into a mixing bowl. Use a large fork to mix very well. Fun fact: it’s better to mix with a fork so the heat from your hands doesn’t start to melt the natural pork fat.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 425f/218c. Transfer some of the meat mix to a disposable decorator bag. Cut a large opening, about the size of a store-bought breakfast sausage. Pipe the sausage on to the tray. You can use a knife to cut the sausage after each piping motion so you don’t have to wiggle or twist the bag to get it to separate.
Once you have plenty of sausages on the tray, bake in the oven at 425f/218c for 18 minutes, or until the internal temperature is at least 165f/74c. Your cook time can vary based on the shape of your sausage.
That’s it! You can freeze leftover meat mix, or cook all of the mix and freeze extra sausages. If you choose to freeze your meat mix, thaw completely before using it, pipe it on your lined tray, and bake.
With frozen sausages, you can cook them in the oven or on the stovetop. Get the internal temperature back up to at least 165f/74c before serving. If you have extra time and love this recipe, I’d encourage you to make a triple batch and have bags of frozen sausages ready to go. Legit homemade fast food 🙂
If you’d like to see this recipe in action, and learn more about using a meat grinder and making your own meat blend at home, this page for RAISE Members has videos and extra info.
How to Store Your Homemade Breakfast Sausages
Personally, I like to make a double batch of this homemade breakfast sausage recipe, then freeze the leftovers. I also sometimes freeze just the seasoned meat rather than cooked sausages. Be sure to thaw the mix before using again should you go that route.
To freeze, allow the sausages to cool. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper (you can reuse the tray you used to bake with). Place down a layer of sausage, add another piece of parchment paper, then add more sausages. Fill the tray, then pop the whole thing in your freezer. Once the sausages are frozen solid, you can transfer them to a freezer safe airtight container. Don’t forget to label the bag.
Alternatively, you can store your sausages in an airtight container in your fridge for 5 days and eat as leftovers throughout the week.
A Few Serving Ideas
This top 9 free + gluten free breakfast sausage recipe can be made as sausage patties rather than as links, then you can make a tasty homemade breakfast sandwich. Brands such as O’Doughs, Udi’s, and Food For Life make gluten free (and allergy friendly) English muffins that you can use as part of your breakfast sandwich.
You can use this dairy free breakfast sausage in a hash or even as part of a non-traditional stuffing. Should you plan to do that, I strongly encourage you to make sausage on day one, then make the rest of your dish on a different day. Breaking up the workload goes a long way in preventing free-from cooking & baking burnout.
If you’re a meatball fan, you could make breakfast sausage meatballs instead of sausage links.
For those who enjoy carbs such as rice or quinoa, you can cook and mix the seasoned ground pork with rice or quinoa for a really neat breakfast bowl.
Answering Your Breakfast Sausage Recipe Questions
Could I use a sausage stuffer with this meat blend?
Whilst this isn’t something I’ve personally done, the meat mixture would be fine in a sausage stuffer. You’ll want to follow the instructions according to the tool and casing that you’ll be using.
Could this recipe work with pork butt?
Yes, you’ll need to have a meat grinder to mince your pork butt first, however, the recipe is pretty versatile in that you can use different cuts of ground pork (or even a different ground meat all together).
Don’t forget to mind the fat content. If the cut you opt for is on the lean side, you’ll want to add in some fat to your meat mixture.
Can I swap the maple sugar for maple syrup?
You can, however, manage your expectations (big time). Maple syrup is going to add liquid content to your ground meat and that will shift things slightly. I’ve also noticed when making a quasi breakfast sausage I can personally eat (I manage 200+ food allergies, so focus on that quasi), I find that the maple sugar is more present in taste when compared to maple syrup.
If you find that you want a bit more maple flavour, you can dip your cooked sausages in maple syrup when serving.
Can I cook these sausages on the stove top instead of in the oven?
Yes, you can. I’d suggest cooking your meat mix in a large skillet on medium-high heat. The key is making sure that the internal temperature is a minimum of 165f/74c. You can cook these sausages on the stove top in link shape, patty shape, and even meatball shape.
