Homemade Italian Chicken Sausage

Make you own hot or sweet Italian Sausage at home with this easy homemade sausage recipe. No casing or sausage stuffing equipment required. You can form the sausage patties and cook as desired - grill, or  pan fry on the stove. These sausage are perfect to make classic sausage pasta with red sauce, top on a homemade pizza, or grill and serve with peppers and onions (my favorite). 

This recipe is also simple and easy because it uses ground chicken that you can buy pre-ground from your local butcher/meat shop. This by-far is my favorite way to make fresh sausage at home without mess of grounding chicken at home and without stuffing in animal casing. Honestly, a home-cooking approved recipe but way more flavorful than store-bought sausages. You will love the flavors!

Specially if you always buy bulk-sausage, this recipe is perfect to make homemade bulk sausage. The key to making pre-ground sausage flavorful is choice of seasoning, right ratio of salt and fat in meat and rest time to infuse flavor into the meat. (more details ahead)

What Do You Need To Make Italian Chicken Sausage?

To make Sweet Italian sausage at home, you will need following ingredients:

1. Ground Chicken
2. Fat
3. Salt

For Homemade Sausage Seasoning you need:

1. Fennel Seeds
2. Oregano
3. Black Pepper
4. Garlic (freshly grated)
5. Nutmeg

I'm sharing seasonings to make hot (spicy) or sweet sausage which is really difference of simple ingredient i.e. chili flakes. So to make hot sausage, add chili flakes to the above ingredients for sweet Italian chicken sausage. 

In my humble opinion, there are two key ingredients which make Italian sausage the "Italian Sausage" and those are Fennel and Oregano. These tow happen to be my favorite ingredients that I often showcase in many recipes. The Chicken Souvlaki Recipe (Chicken in Oregano and Garlic marinade) is reader's favorite. 

Making Sausage with Pre-Ground Chicken

Often sausage recipes call for grounding chicken (or meat) with seasonings. To make this process easy and mess-free, I flavor the pre-ground chicken with bold seasonings, salt, and some additional fat and The key to making pre-ground sausage flavorful is choice of seasoning, right ratio of salt and fat in meat and rest time (at least 12 hours) to infuse flavor into the meat...

Here is why: 

1. infused chicken with flavor of Italian spices,
2. chicken is well rested and treated with salt,
3. and fat is well distributed to make sausages that cook moist, juicy, and flavorful.

Follow above simple points and you will never have to buy pre-made Italian sausage again.

Homemade Sausage is also nitrate free and preservative free which is healthier for the family!

Moist Sausage

To make moist sausage, its important to have right ratio of fat in the ground chicken. I opt for 80:20 ration that for 80 percent lean chicken add 20 percent fat. If using chicken breast (lean meat), add unsalted butter or ghee (at room temperature) or olive oil. If using chicken thighs ground with chicken fat then you can use half of the fat or skip.

Cook Sausage

To cook sausage, heat a heavy bottom (preferably non-stick) skillet. Drizzle oil in hot skillet.

Cook sausage in skillet until golden (about 3 minutes), flip and continue cooking other side until golden and cooked through.

Freeze Homemade Sausage 

To freeze, tear out 10 sheets of cling wrap and set aside. Form one sausage patty at a time and place on one sheet of cling wrap. Once all 10 patties are ready. Clean hands. Wrap each patty into cling wrap. Store wrapped patties in a sealable plastic bag. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

These sausage are perfect to make classic sausage pasta with red sauce, top on a homemade pizza, or grill and serve with peppers and onions (my favorite).

Friends, making Italian Chicken Sausage at home very easy and it needs only a few ingredients. Simple mix the ground chicken with sausage seasonings and let the chicken rest to pickup flavor. That's it! Cook as you desire. Serve for breakfast or with your favorite red sauce and pasta for  dinner. It tastes delicious either way! I'm certain you will love the flavors.