Homemade Ground Italian Sausage is a cinch to make at home and best of all, YOU control the ingredients. Use ground Italian Sausage in a variety of recipes.
If you’ve tried my homemade taco seasoning, homemade granola bars, homemade breakfast sausage, homemade seasoned salt, homemade hamburger helper, homemade egg noodles, or homemade ranch dressing, then you know how rewarding it is to make foods that are typically store bought, at home – including ground Italian sausage. Like the others, the homemade version of Italian sausage is a cinch to make and requires just ground pork and pantry staples. As the saying goes, nobody wants to see how sausage is made…except for my homemade version. Seriously, it is so easy and SO, SO GOOD!! I can’t wait for you to try it.
Now, since I have three little kids, this recipe is for mild aka sweet Italian ground sausage, though if you want a spicy version you can simply add red chili pepper flakes to your desire.
What to Make with Ground Italian Sausage:
You can use homemade ground Italian sausage in literally any recipe that calls for it. Here are some tasty ideas to get you started:
- 20 Minute Italian Rice Ball Skillet >
- Italian Sausage and Peppers Cheeseburgers >
- Italian Sausage and Pepper Ring Mini Meatloaves >
- Cheesy Vegetable, Turkey and Sausage Rice Casserole >
- Italian Sausage, Spinach and Tomato Soup >
- 20 Minute Sausage, Brussels Sprouts and Parmesan Pasta >
- Sausage, Sweet Potato Noodles and Broccoli Skillet >
- Italian Tomato-Basil Stuffed Zucchini >
Right now, at this very moment, I’m craving an Italian-style pizza: browned Italian sausage, red sauce, mozzarella cheese, and seared peppers and onions. DROOLING!! What will you make first?
How to Make This Recipe:
Start with common dried herbs and spices. You’ll need 2 teaspoons dried parsley, 1 teaspoon each sugar and coarse ground fennel seeds, 1/2 teaspoon each salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg. If you want spicy sausage, add red chili pepper flakes to your liking.
I used my Curtis Stone mortar and pestle (procured during the most EMBARRASSING 20 MINUTES OF MY LIFE – HAHAHA!!!) to grind the fennel seeds. You’ll want them coarsely ground vs a fine powder. You could also use a coffee grinder, though again, be sure not to grind them too fine.
Add the herbs and spices to a large bowl with 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar then whisk or stir with a fork to combine.
Add the spice mix to 1lb ground pork then use your hands to combine. Avoid over mixing.
The sausage is technically ready to use immediately though the flavor is best if it sits in the refrigerator overnight. You could also freeze it at this point.
Secrets to Cooking Ground Italian Sausage:
My secret to juicy cooked Italian sausage is three-fold:
- Cook the sausage in a large, cast iron skillet (I like this one,) over medium-high heat.
- Don’t disturb the meat too much while its browning – this will prevent the yummy golden-brown crust from forming.
- Don’t overcook the sausage which will cause it to dry out.
That’s all she wrote! I hope you love this homemade version of store bought ground Italian sausage! Let me know what you think, and enjoy! :)
Homemade Chewy Granola Bars
Summer Cooking Bucket List (60+ Gluten-Free Recipes)Homemade Ground Italian Sausage
Description
Homemade Ground Italian Sausage is a cinch to make at home and best of all, YOU control the ingredients. All you need is ground pork, dried herbs, and spices!
Ingredients
- 1lb ground pork
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon coarse ground fennel seed (see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- red chili pepper flakes if desired for spicy sausage
Directions
- Add all ingredients except ground pork into a large bowl then whisk or stir with a fork to combine. Crumble ground pork on top then use hands to thoroughly combine, though do not over mix. For the best flavor, refrigerate sausage in an airtight container overnight before using.
Notes
- Grind fennel seeds using a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder. You don't want a fine powder, rather, a coarse grind.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
It is so funny that you posted this because I was just wondering how to turn ground sausage into Italian sausage! We won a whole pig in a raffle and have a TON of ground sausage and I keep finding recipes for ground ITALIAN sausage. Thank you! I will be using this soon! :)
YAY! I’m so glad the timing was good – and what an amazing prize!!!!
My husband taught me how to mow when I was 24 and I may have cried a little from embarrassment. I later called my mom and told her she should have made me do it as a kid! She loves to mow, though, so she never asked me to do it!
I feel your pain/shame!!! I couldn’t believe I had no idea how but I just never had the opportunity! 🤷🏻♀️
What a coincidence, I also learned how to run our mower this weekend! My husband is out there living the dream while I’m stuck inside with the three kids. So he taught me how to mow and off I went. Momma is taking over the mowing now :)
Bahahaha, YES, I relate to this SO much. Hence my “alone time” check mark! ;)
I swear to heaven that I was just thinking LAST NIGHT that I wish I could make my own Italian seasoned ground turkey “sausage”! You’re a genius!
LOVE IT!!! Great timing – let me know what you think of the recipe! :_
Hi Kristin, I jump to your blog from Bobbi’s HWC post. Loved your story of learning to mow. As I guy, I guess I never thought of mowing as being all those things you checked off. You’ve given me a new outlook on mowing the grass.
Homemade sausage is the best, no preservatives and you know exactly what proteins go in it.
So glad you found your way over, Ron! I hope you are able to give this recipe a try! :)
I’m vegetarian so this one isn’t for me but man can I resonate with the lawn mowing! 😂 I had a similar situation growing up and never learned how to mow the lawn until a few years ago when I got my husband to teach me how. Last summer, I push mowed our hilly yard less than two days before I had my second baby! #MamaMowersUnite
Looooved the flashback to the time you went up on stage with Curtis! Augh as a fellow mega introvert I cringed all over again reading that post.
Yeahhh girl!! #fitmama Oh my gosh, I died all over again re-reading it – hadn’t thought about it in years! 🤣
I recently switched to the Butcher Box custom box too and find that I’m actually spending LESS money because every month I was doing add-ons to ensure I received those things that month. Looks like I’ll be adding ground pork next month so I can try this recipe! Thank you!
Yes, same!! I hope you are able to give this recipe a try!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I can’t always find Italian Sausage at our small town grocery store so this is definitely going in my box of tricks.
I’ve NEVER mowed. I tried once in junior high and my younger brother told me I was doing it wrong so I am mediately stopped and told him he could do it. My husband has always mowed because I think he secretly kind of likes it. And now I have an older son that does the mowing and two more boys that are about ready to take over the reins. Maybe when they’re out of the house I’ll learn .
This and my large batch taco seasoning are my MVPs of DIY recipes. 👍🏻 Hope you get to try mowing soon – it really has been a nice little workout and break for me!