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Jump to RecipeDelicious Pork Breakfast Sausage from Scratch
If you want to start your mornings with a hearty, delicious breakfast- making your own pork breakfast sausage from scratch is the way to go.
We’ve been raising all of our own meat here on the homestead for a few years. In my estimation, pigs are the key to us reaching that goal consistently. In just a few months, in a relatively small area, without much fuss; we can grow hundreds of pounds of high quality pork.
The slaughter and butcher process is a long and arduous one; but so worthwhile. By doing all of the processing here at home, we can be assured that we’re getting every bit of meat and fat from the pigs.
Which means more meat for grinding.
Which means more sausage.
Which ultimately means more unbeatable breakfasts- all year long.
The first time that we ground pork breakfast sausage from scratch- it wasn’t great.
We’d actually bought premixed packets of breakfast sausage seasoning- they were just okay. We were processing a pig for my father-in-law, and wanted to make sure that he was going to end up with something predictable and worth eating.
When it came time to grind up our own pork, we went deep into the internet trenches looking for recipes. What resulted from a lot of google searching and some serious experimentation is a predictably delicious sausage recipe. We grind a huge batch of it every fall, and munch away at it all year long.
What makes this current iteration of breakfast sausage stand out is a combination of very high quality, fresh pork and a wide ranging blend of spices. We process the trim from our pigs the same day we’re doing the rest of the cutting and butchering. That means that the first time its frozen is after its been ground and seasoned.
Maybe that doesn’t make a big difference in the end, but I suspect that it does.
The Breakfast Sausage Process:
Making homemade pork breakfast sausage from scratch is actually a pretty simple project. (If you’ve read my post on making choriz0, here, you’ll already be familiar with the process.)
We start with cubed fat and pork that we’ve weighed out for a ratio of 80:20.
We mix all of the spices together.
Grind the pork once and add the spices.
Grind again to mix everything more thoroughly.
Weigh it, wrap it, freeze it.
That’s it.
If your homestead is lacking on the meat processing equipment front, I’d suggest getting a meat grinder.
We were gifted ours, which honestly can’t be beat. But we had been window shopping different brands and models for months. They can vary widely in price and quality, so if you plan to process a lot of meat (as we do) it pays to buy a reliable one.
Our grinder is an older Weston. It’s easy to use and assemble. And we haven’t had any issues with it. They have a huge catalog of butchering equipment, and a wide variety of grinders available. I’d suggest signing up for their catalog, or perusing their website here.
If you’re short on money, but long on muscle, you can also order a manual meat grinder. I’ve never made sausage with one myself, but if it worked for our grandparents, it ought to work for us too. This is the model I just ordered, and I’m really looking forward to giving it a try.
What to use this Pork Breakfast Sausage for?
We like to use this homemade pork breakfast sausage for, you guessed it, breakfast.
It’s the perfect addition to eggs of all varieties.
We’ve formed the sausage into patties for the key ingredient in a breakfast sandwich.
Brown the sausage then combine with potatoes, onions, eggs, and cheese for a quick breakfast casserole.
Beef up your breakfast burritos (with pork).
Or, my favorite, use sausage as the centerpiece in totally-from-scratch biscuits and gravy-yum!
What are you waiting for? Bust out that grinder and make some breakfast sausage, today!
Homemade Pork Breakfast Sausage- From Scratch
Equipment
- Meat grinder with coarse plate
- Measuring spoons
- Large mixing bowl or pot
- Kitchen scale, plastic wrap, freezer paper optional
Ingredients
- 8 lbs Cubed Pork
- 2 lbs Cubed Pork Fat
- 4 tbsp Salt
- 3 tbsp Sage
- 1 1/2 tbsp Dry Mustard
- 2 tbsp Pepper
- 1 1/4 cup Maple syrup
Instructions
- Weigh out, cube, and chill the pork and fat.
- Measure out the seasonings and combine in a separate bowl.
- Grind the meat and fat through your grinders coarse plate.
- Pour the syrup over the ground meat, followed by the seasoning mixture.
- Regrind to combine the meat and seasonings, or stir thoroughly by hand.
- Weigh, wrap, and freeze using the kitchen scale, plastic wrap, and freezer paper. 1lb increments are a convenient amount.
Notes