If you have a love for sausage and wish to minimize the amount of pork in your life or simply to reduce your carbon footprint and save money, chicken sausage is the ideal sausage for you. When you make your own chicken sausage as opposed to store-bought chicken sausage, you eliminate the additives and you control the meat to spices ratio to your liking. Store-bought chicken sausage tends to be heavy-handed with the spices, thus covering up the chicken flavor. So what do you need for this homemade chicken sausage recipe?
All you need are the same tools you require to make pork sausage to begin, such as a meat grinder, casings and a sausage stuffer device. Kitchenaid has easy-to-use attachments for your mixer; however, they are not the best tools on the market to make your chicken sausages.
Before you begin, it is important to consider a number of factors as you prepare the sausages.
Pro Tip #1: Chicken has very little fat; therefore, many people like to add fat during the grinding process, such as pork or beef fat. You can always leave it out.
Pro Tip #2: Chicken breasts have very little flavor. Chicken thighs are filled with far more flavor than chicken breasts to improve upon the final results of your chicken sausage.
Pro Tip #3: Be sure you either buy boneless chicken pieces or be prepared to remove the bones before you grind the meat.
Pro Tip #4: As you select a recipe or experiment with your own herbs and spices, be sure to select flavor profiles that complement chicken in everyday meals for the best results.
With a small amount of effort, you can save money and improve the nutrition level of your sausages by making your own chicken sausage at home. Get ready because making homemade chicken sausage has never been easier. Have you ever wondered how is chicken sausage made? Keep reading to find out more.
Tools Required to Complete Homemade Chicken Sausage Recipes
As mentioned, you will require some critical tools to be able to make chicken sausage. You do not have to spend a lot of money; however, top quality tools will make the process significantly easier, particularly if you wish to make large quantities.
Scale
A scale is a great way to ensure that your measurements are accurate. This becomes particularly useful if you buy bone-in chicken parts so that you can weigh the meat after the bones are removed to make sure you have enough chicken in the end.
Grinder
It is relatively easy to find and purchase ground chicken today; however, it is not as good as grinding your own. You might find an old-school hand grinder from a relative that has not been used in years or you might choose to buy a hand grinder. Many people prefer an electric grinder that makes your life significantly easier. Keep in mind an electric grinder is quite a bit more expensive than a hand grinder. Some of the best grinders offer options for different size ground meat.
Herbs and Spices
Chicken is not notorious for having a depth of flavor; therefore, you will want to use plenty of herbs and spices to make your chicken sausage pop with flavor. Think about the types of herbs and spices you might like to use, such as Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, etc. All the spices should complement chicken.
Casings
The casing is an essential part of the sausage. While it is possible to make a caseless sausage, it is just not the same. You can choose from a wide variety of casing types, including collagen, old-fashion collagen, fibrous and natural. Most people prefer a natural casing as they are easy to work with and they tend to be more easily digestible. Remember that you may have to soak the casing in water to make it more manageable and salt the remaining before you seal it away until the next use.
Sausage Stuffer
The sausage stuffer is perhaps the most important tool, along with the casing and grinder. You should have different filler sizes that will dictate how quickly the casing is filled and the girth of your sausage. It simply makes the sausage stuffing process significantly easier and it is an easy way for the casing to attach with relative ease.
Vacuum Sealer
A vacuum sealer is not a requirement; however, it will help to make the sausages last for up to a year or more in the freezer. This way you can make an enormous batch once a year and you are done until the next year.
Homemade Chicken Sausage Recipes
Traditional-Style Chicken Sausage
Chicken Sausage Ingredients
- Five pounds boneless chicken with skin, both white and dark meat
- Two tablespoons salt, Kosher
- Two teaspoons black pepper, ground
- One teaspoon ground ginger
- Two teaspoons ground sage
- One teaspoon savory
- One teaspoon thyme
- One cup chicken stock, cold
- 32 millimeters casings, natural
Cooking Instructions
- Prepare the casing. If it is a natural casing, for one hour, soak the casing in warm, clear water and rinse to make it more pliable.
- Cut chicken into roughly one-inch pieces, including the skin, and pass through the meat grinder.
- Mix the chicken broth and the spices well.
- Combine the meat and the spice broth by hand and mix well.
- Pass the meat through the grinder again through the fine plate and set aside.
- Attach the sausage stuffer attachments and place the casing you have selected onto the end of the stuffer. A smaller casing is often considered ideal for beginners as they are easier to handle.
- Make sure the casing is free from twists and tightly tie a knot at the other end of the casing so that roughly two inches of casing is left to dangle.
- Turn on the stuffer to low so that you can become accustomed to the process. Make sure you use enough filling with each casing so that the sausage links are not loose, but also make sure you do not fill them too full so that they burst during the cooking process. And be sure to prick the filled sausage casings to remove any air.
- Put the links in the fridge and consume your beautiful chicken sausages within three days or freeze them for up to four months.
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Chicken Sausage Recipes
Equipment
- Scale
- Grinder
- Herbs and Spices
- Casings
- Sausage Stuffer
- Vacuum Sealer
Ingredients
- Five pounds boneless chicken with skin, both white and dark meat
- Two tablespoons salt, Kosher
- Two teaspoons black pepper, ground
- One teaspoon ground ginger
- Two teaspoons ground sage
- One teaspoon savory
- One teaspoon thyme
- One cup chicken stock, cold
- 32 millimeters casings, natural
Instructions
- Prepare the casing.
- If it is a natural casing, for one hour, soak the casing in warm, clear water and rinse to make it more pliable.
- Cut chicken into roughly one-inch pieces, including the skin, and pass through the meat grinder.
- Mix the chicken broth and the spices well.
- Combine the meat and the spice broth by hand and mix well.
- Pass the meat through the grinder again through the fine plate and set aside.
- Attach the sausage stuffer attachments and place the casing you have selected onto the end of the stuffer.
- A smaller casing is often considered ideal for beginners as they are easier to handle.
- Make sure the casing is free from twists and tightly tie a knot at the other end of the casing so that roughly two inches of casing is left to dangle.
- Turn on the stuffer to low so that you can become accustomed to the process.
- Make sure you use enough filling with each casing so that the sausage links are not loose, but also make sure you do not fill them too full so that they burst during the cooking process.
- And be sure to prick the filled sausage casings to remove any air.
- Put the links in the fridge and consume your beautiful chicken sausages within three days or freeze them for up to four months.
Nutrition
Greek Chicken Sausage with Feta and Roasted Garlic
Chicken Sausage Ingredients
- 3 heads garlic, small
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 pounds boneless chicken thighs with skin, cubed
- 2 tablespoons salt, Kosher
- 1 tablespoon black pepper, ground
- 1/4 cup shallots, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons 1 to 2 lemons, juiced and chilled
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, chilled
- 10 ounces feta cheese, divided in half and crumbled
- Natural casings
- A bowl of ice
Cooking Instructions
- Soak casings in warm, clear water for 30 minutes and rinse.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Cut off roughly top quarter of each head of garlic. Place cut-side down in the center of a piece of foil and rub with olive oil generously.
- Create a pouch with the aluminum foil by sealing the foil all around all edges and place in the oven directly on the rack.
- Cook garlic for roughly 20 minutes or until the cloves are soft and browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool another 10 minutes. Once able to handle, squeeze the garlic from the skin into a bowl.
- Add the chicken, salt, pepper, shallots, oregano, half of the feta and garlic in a large bowl and place in the fridge until grinding time.
- Once you have assembled the tools or attachments, grind the chilled chicken mixture through the grinder onto a bowl that is placed on top of a bowl of ice and mix the ground meat with your hands or on low in a standing mixer with a paddle for one minute.
- Add the vinegar, lemon juice and remaining feta and increase the speed to medium for another minute or until the liquid has become incorporated.
- Test a small amount in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Once cooked, taste the sample and adjust seasoning to your liking.
- Stuff the chicken mixture into the casings. Twist the links into six-inch links and place in the fridge for up to three days or freeze them for up to four months.
Homemade chicken sausage is better for your health, reduces your carbon footprint and saves you money. While the process typically takes around an hour, you will know the exact ingredients being put into your sausage and you can make big batches that will last you for months. If you use a vacuum sealer, they could be stored in the freezer for over a year. And most importantly, the flavor will be far superior to that of a store-bought brand. So, what are you waiting for? Make homemade chicken sausages today and spice up your life all year long.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chicken sausage is made by grinding raw chicken and mixing it with spices. Chicken is very lean, especially if you use chicken breasts, so many people choose to mix the ground chicken with beef or pork fat to make it juicier. Any number of spices can be used, including the spices for your favorite bratwurst or andouille sausage.
Like most ground meat products, chicken sausage must be cooked until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the safe internal temperature to eat chicken and poultry to remove the risk of Salmonella poisoning. Depending on the cooking temperature, this can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours.
If you’re on a low calorie, low fat diet, chicken sausage is better for you than pork sausage. Chicken and turkey sausage have fewer calories and much less fat when compared with pork sausage. When you make sausage at home, you can also avoid adding as much salt, which means the sodium content is lower of these sausages as well.
It’s very important to make sure chicken sausage is cooked through, as poultry products carry the risk of Salmonella poisoning. The best way to know when your chicken sausage is cooked is to use an instant read thermometer to see if the chicken has reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit. You can also cut into the sausage to make sure there is no pink and it is white all the way through.
There are two ways to make homemade sausage. The first is the easiest: After grinding the meat and fat, mix it with seasonings and use it as bulk, unstuffed sausage. You can form the sausage into patties for breakfast, mix it with other seasonings to make meatballs or meatloaf, or use it loose for pasta dishes like lasagna. The other way is a little bit harder, and it requires some special equipment. We’re talking about stuffed sausage, and we have step-by-step instructions above for how to make it happen.
