Traditionally inspired recipe for homemade breakfast sausage using ground turkey or marinated ground pork, spices and no sugar!
My husband came up with the idea to make our own sausage when our favorite sugar-free sausage from a local farm was back-ordered.
With everything commercially available at the store including organic brands containing sugar or MSG, he created his own with some excellent quality pastured ground pork and five different spices.
I am happy to report that this breakfast sausage recipe turned out fantastic! In fact, the majority vote in the house is that Dad’s homemade sausage is the yummiest they’ve tasted yet!
If you don’t have locally made sausage available and have given up on store brands due to the low quality ingredients, give this version a try!
No worries if you don’t eat pork. Simply use ground turkey instead.
These patties are great to make ahead the night before for a quick warm-up in the toaster oven the next morning for a quick and hearty breakfast. They freeze well too.
Be sure to try this pastured meatballs recipe too if making your own pork dishes appeals.
Breakfast Sausage Recipe
Easy, delicious no-sugar breakfast sausage recipe flavored with herbs you probably already have in your spice drawer.
Ingredients
- 1 pound pastured pork or ground turkey
- 1 large egg preferably pastured, lightly beaten
- 2 Tbl butter softened
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin preferably organic
- 1/4 tsp ground oregano preferably organic
- 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper preferably organic
- 1/2 tsp dried basil preferably organic
- 1/2 tsp thyme preferably organic
- 2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
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If using pork, marinate the meat in 1 cup of lemon juice for 1 hour in the refrigerator before preparation. This is in keeping with traditional practice for the healthiest meat. Rinse the pork with filtered water and pat dry with a clean dishtowel after marinating. Skip this step if using ground turkey.
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Mix all ingredients together and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour or so. This allows the flavors to blend.
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Form the chilled meat into small patties and cook on the stovetop in a frypan until cooked through.
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Time saving tip: Make a bunch of homemade breakfast sausage patties ahead of time to freeze for quick breakfasts on the go! Separate patties in the storage container using parchment paper.
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Refrigerate any leftovers. They will be good to reheat and enjoy for several days.
Can you explain why white sea salt is not really sea salt? Then what is it? Thanks!!! Another great recipe I can’t wait to try!
Hi Sara, white sea salt is processed perhaps not as much as white iodized salt but REAL sea salt should have color to it. I have pink, blue, and multicolored sea salts in my pantry.
A similar example is “raw sugar” which is turbinado sugar .. it is less processed than white sugar but it still has been processed with much of the minerals and molasses removed. To get truly unprocessed cane sugar, you have to buy rapadura or sucanat which are dark brown.
Hi Sarah! First of all I need to thank you for all your great videos! We are making the transition to healthier foods as well and you have been so helpful considering I’m a visual learner. We live on a Greek island and the salt we get is locally produced but it is white! There are occasional bits of seaweed in it also to testify it’s oceanic origins. Perhaps the color you mention in the salt are trace minerals?
My mouth is watering! Can’t wait to try it!
I sent this recipe to my daughter this morning and her husband made it right away. They said it was very good.
Sarah,
This sausage was amazing! Tell your husband way to go! I was just searching for a new recipe this morning and then I noticed that you posted about it. Thank you! A local farm offered ground pork at half price recently since they had an excess from selling the expensive cuts to restaurants. So I have a freezer full!! What I had made in the past was always dry but this was perfect! I added a bit of maple syrup, too. Yum. Also, I have trouble mixing sausage, so I put the spices, butter, and egg in the food processor, then added the meat. I feel that this evenly distributed the spices. I made a trial batch, and loved it so then I made a ton and froze it in patties.
Fantastic Julie! Great idea with the food processor too.
Hi Jackie, the USDA says that if you freeze meat for 14 days or longer this eliminates parasite risk. Also best to make sure you get good quality pork from a small farm rather than commercially.
I asked a question on your website – Guess I should have asked it here. Here goes! How can I be sure that the pork is parasite free?
Quality is key Jackie. I don’t eat pork from the store, needless to say. There is a risk of parasites from any meat, but when it comes from a small farm that is focused on quality then you don’t need to worry. You can also freeze it for 14 days then thaw and cook if you are concerned as this eliminates the risk of parasites according to the USDA.
This comment goes along with the spelt/gluten conversation here. Isn’t kamut similar to spelt in that the gluten is the same as way back when and is easier to digest?
Hi Bethany, yes I think kamut is similar from what I know about it but I am not completely sure as I haven’t read much about kamut.
We have been aiming for less grains in our diet as well. I found a recipe on All-recipes.com for Zucchini Patties. It has a small amount of flour in it, but there are plenty of substitutes that would be suitable. We just use what ever raw cheese that we have, and these patties have made a wonderful replacement for starches and grains.
Sarah, how can you be sure that your pork is free of parasites?
I would like to know about this as well. I have read that this is more of an issue w/ commercial pork products and undercooked ones. I’d love to know if anyone has other information.
Thanks for the sausage recipe. We have one that we use occasionally and now we’ll have to try this as well! We are hoping to get a pasteured pig or two this fall!
My pork comes from a small farm where the pigs are outside doing what pigs should be doing. I am not concerned in the slightest about parasites when pork is of good quality from a reputable small farm.
I went grain free ( and starch free) for over 4 months last year and while it worked fine short term, it began to be a real problem for me after about 3 months. I got incredibly TIRED from it .. totally didn’t work after awhile. Great for some long term I’m sure, but not everyone does well grain free for long periods of time. As soon as I reintroduced grains (traditionally prepared of course, my energy went back to normal). I tried reintroducing starches first with no grains and even that didn’t do the trick. There is something about the carbs in grains that gives me energy and I get very tired if I go without them for longer periods of time.
Have you seen the book “The Metabolic Typing Diet”? It goes into the 3 different typing ‘diets’, and really explains why some people do better on carbs, some on proteins and little to no carbs, and how others need both. It’s a very interesting read and fits in perfectly with a NT lifestyle!