Italian Sausage is full of flavor and great in all kinds of recipes, from pasta to stuffed peppers.
This homemade Italian sausage recipe combines a mixture of ground pork (or turkey) with seasonings and spices.
It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and a lot delicious!
What is Italian Sausage?
Traditional Italian sausage recipes can be made with different types of meat or seasonings and are usually high in fat and flavor. In North America, typical Italian sausage ingredients often include ground pork, fennel, and other seasonings.
I frequently use bulk sausage to add to other dishes like lasagna or meat sauce. I like to make this sausage recipe with ground pork for great flavor and a little fat, although it has less than an Italian sausage link.
Flavor Makers for Italian Sausage
Meat: I love ground pork for sausage as it has a nice amount of fat and adds great flavor. You can also use ground turkey, beef, or chicken. If you have a local butcher, they often have mixtures of ground meat for sausage.
Seasoning: The secret is in all the seasonings (most of which are found in homemade Italian seasoning).
Fennel: Fennel seeds are really important in this recipe to give the sausage its signature flavor. You can use either whole or ground fennel (I use whole because it’s usually what I have on hand).
How to Make Homemade Italian Sausage
This Italian sausage recipe is intended to replace store-bought Italian sausage for browning in recipes. It doesn’t contain enough fat to create great Italian sausage links, but you can use it to make sausage patties if you’d like.
- Combine all ingredients (recipe below) in a large bowl (using your hands works best).
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Cook in a skillet over medium heat. Drain any fat and use in recipes or add to pasta sauce.
Storage & Leftovers
- Raw pork can be kept in the fridge for 2 days or frozen for 2 months (more food safety info here).
- Keep in freezer bags with the date labeled on the outside.
- Cooked Italian sausage will keep about 2 months in the freezer and uncooked sausage will keep about 3 months.
Italian Sausage Recipes
- Pappardelle with Italian Sausage
- Stuffed Peppers 5-star favorite
- Quick and Easy Sausage Pasta – great for a weekday meal
- Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce – set it & forget it
- Sausage & Kale Soup – 30 minute meal
- Homemade Supreme Pizza – perfect for game day
Did you make this Italian Sausage? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Homemade Italian Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork or beef or turkey
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds or ½ teaspoon ground fennel
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary crushed
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes or to taste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix until well combined and the seasonings are evenly distributed.
- Cover & refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
- To brown the sausage, add it to a skillet and cook over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a spoon until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
Notes
1-2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika Nutritional information includes ground pork, information may vary with beef or turkey.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Pork
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I am one of THOSE cooks who doesn’t measure much (unless baking) and my husband and my part Italian self LOVE this recipe. We usually mix beef and pork and add quite a bit more fennel. We have saved this as our only go to recipe for the wonderfulness of this!
Our favourite plate is the sausage, added mushrooms (olive oil and any kind of mushrooms, sautéed) and serve drizzled with olive oil and parmesan cheese over farfale pasta. Sometimes we had frozen or fresh spinach sautéed with the mushrooms. Thank you!
My go-to Italian sausage recipe. I can make it as spicy (or not) as I like. It’s great knowing exactly what’s in your sausage. Just da best!
Did you know that Italian Sausage is an entirely American invention? So, when we moved to Germany, we were further from the source instead of closer! Your recipe is amazing and a lifesaver! Thank you!
I followed the recipe using herbs my sister grew in her garden. I doubled it using 1# lean ground beef & 1# lean ground pork. I added 1/4 tsp marjoram,, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp Worchestershire sauce, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar &, 2 tbsp thai sweet chili sauce.
I’m planning on making this without fennel because I personally cannot stand the taste of fennel (which is why I’m making my own Italian sausage). Are there any other seasonings that could be used as a potential substitute that would mesh well with the Italian sausage flavor ?
You can leave the fennel out with no other changes.
Hi Holly,
Thank you for a super simple and really tasty recipe! Modified your recipe for my family. Extra garlic, used dry Italian herb mix, extra fennel and chile flake. Basically spicy fennel sausage! I did start with a bit of baking soda in 1T of water, mixed pork with that, then proceeded. Using a cookie portion scoop, placed them on a heavy non-stick sheet pan and baked at 350 for approx 18 min. Super juicy sausage balls that I can use in Spaghetti sauce, pizza topping or anywhere else. This one is a Keeper- again, thank you