This is a recipe for homemade Italian sausage meat — just the meat, not actual sausages in casings. Use it for recipes calling for “bulk Italian sausage meat” or any recipe where sausage meat is needed, rather than squeezing meat out of sausage casings. Or make patties and meatballs and fry them up!
I never thought I’d have a big bowl of raw mince as a headline photo, but here we are! 😂
I feel like there are more and more recipes these days that use sausage meat. I get why — it’s a terrific shortcut for adding loads of flavour because all the seasoning is already built in.
In the States, sausage meat is readily sold without casings in packets like beef mince, usually labelled “bulk Italian sausage”. Here in Australia — and most of the rest of the world I believe — it’s not something we commonly see, so we have to buy sausages and squeeze the meat out of the casings. Not hard, but it can be a bit tedious if you get sausages with thin casings that tear easily.
So sometimes it’s just easier and cheaper to make the sausage meat yourself. It’s dead easy — just pork mince, a handful of herbs and spices, mix — done! Ready to use in any recipe calling for sausages, or fry up sausage patties.
Use this homemade Italian sausage meat mixture to make sausage patties!
This Is Not a Recipe for Actual Sausages
To be clear, this recipe is just for the meat mixture inside sausage casings that is used in recipes where it is cooked like beef mince. It’s not a recipe for making actual sausages. For that, you’d need to be more particular about the cut of pork, fat percentage, and texture of the mince to get the right juicy sausage consistency — not to mention the whole business of stuffing the meat into casings.
Creamy Tomato Sausage Orecchiette
Pork and Apple Stuffing (Dressing)
Ingredients in Homemade Italian Sausage Meat
Here’s what you need to make homemade Italian sausage meat. A little glug of wine (optional), fennel seeds, and a pinch of red pepper flakes is what makes this Italian rather than just any generic pork sausage!
-
Pork mince (ground pork) — Sausages are fatty, that’s why they’re so tasty and juicy! So the higher the fat percentage, the tastier your sausage meat will be. 20–25% fat would be great, otherwise just standard pork mince (usually ~17% fat). Lean “heart smart” pork mince will also work fine, the meat just isn’t as juicy. 🙂
Other proteins — Turkey and chicken will work fine too, though bear in mind they are leaner and the meat is not as soft as pork. If you’re going to cook it as mince (rather than making meatballs, patties, etc.) and it’s in a soup or saucy dish (like a sausage ragu), that should be fine.
-
Dry red wine — Anything that’s not too sweet or woody. Pinot noir, shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon — whatever you’ve got lying around. For non-alcoholic, just skip this.
-
Spices — The spice mix is a classic Italian sausage blend:
- Paprika (sweet/regular, not spicy or smoked)
- Onion and garlic powder — you can substitute the garlic with finely grated fresh garlic
- Fennel seeds — the key spice that gives Italian sausage its distinctive flavour; don’t skip it!
- Red chilli flakes (red pepper flakes) — can skip for a non-spicy version
- Dried basil, oregano, and thyme — used in smaller quantities, these bring a familiar Italian herb flavour to the sausages
- Black pepper — the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon, a good amount!
-
Salt — Sausages are well seasoned, which brings out the flavour of all the spices and the pork. Don’t be tempted to cut back on the salt!
How to Make Homemade Italian Sausage Meat
Put everything in a bowl and mix well with your hands to combine. If time permits, refrigerate overnight to let the flavours meld, then use as called for in the recipe. To be honest, the marinating step is easy to skip if you’re making it for something you want to cook right away!
What to Use Homemade Sausage Meat For
So. Many. Possibilities!
- Use in any recipe that calls for “bulk Italian sausage meat” or “sausage meat removed from casings” where the meat is cooked like mince — such as Creamy Tomato Orecchiette Sausage Pasta, Sausage Ragu (note: you need 700g/1.4lb of sausage meat for that one), and Baked Breakfast Hash.
Once you’ve made it once, this sausage meat blend is easy enough to put together any time a recipe calls for it — and the results are every bit as good as anything you’d squeeze out of a casing.
