Homemade Maple Breakfast Sausage

This recipe for homemade breakfast sausage is low in calories, made with a combo of pork and turkey, they’re the only kind of breakfast sausage you’ll need!

Usually breakfast sausage comes from a pouch at the grocery store, but today I’m sharing a fantastic way to make it at home, using simple ingredients!  Once you’ve made the patties, you can easily freeze them… or cook them first, then freeze, for a quick, on-the-go breakfast idea!

Sausage… ahhhhh sausage.  I hate a love/hate relationship with it.  My food weird-ness won’t let me enjoy any sausage with a casing, so usually links are out, but patties are another story!  I’ve been toying with the idea of making my own sausage at home, so I could control the quality of ingredients, not have fillers, etc., but decided I should take it one step further and go for a breakfast sausage patty!

And not just ANY breakfast sausage… one with a mouthwatering combination of pork, turkey, fresh herbs, seasonings and maple syrup.  Ohhhh yes… can’t forget that maple syrup!  Around here, if you take a quick stroll down the breakfast meats aisle at the grocery store, there are TONS of maple sausages available.  There’s something about that little touch of sweetness that really takes the meat to a whole new level.

I also wanted to make these a bit on the lighter side, so you can totally have more of them right?!  Wait… that’s not how dieting works is it?  Hmm, this is why I’m the “chunky” chef you guys… I pretty much always need more food lol.  But anyway, making these with half ground turkey cuts the calories, then the ground pork comes in to add moisture (and flavor) so the patties aren’t dry and sawdust-tasting (you know how some all-turkey products can be, sadly).

I can’t take all the credit for this recipe, as I got the idea for it from a Cooking Light magazine (the February issue I think?), then made a few tweaks, but nothing major, as they pretty much had it perfect from the get go.

Making these breakfast sausage patties is incredibly easy… just like mixing up some meatballs (except don’t actually scoop them into balls lol).  Once you’ve combined everything, spread it out onto a wax paper lined baking sheet in as even a layer as you can manage (sometimes the meat just doesn’t cooperate).  Grab a biscuit cutter or large-mouthed drinking glass (hint: spray the rim to keep the meat from sticking too much), and cut out the patties.  Go for a size a little larger than you want them to be, as they do shrink some when cooking.  At this point you can do three things:

1. Cook the patties and eat them right away (my favorite option… nom nom!)
2. Cook the patties and freeze them
3. Freeze the uncooked patties

If you want to freeze them (cooked or uncooked), check out the recipe notes section at the bottom of the recipe – I’ll have directions for both methods there.

When it comes to cooking these bad boys, you can fry them up in a skillet for that home-cooked feel, or skip the spatter and bake them in the oven!  My directions in this recipe will be for the skillet method, but check that recipe notes section for tips on baking them if you’d prefer it that way 🙂

Okay, so now you have these fabulous breakfast sausage patties, but what to have with them?  Well my friends, the sky is the limit!  Here’s a few of my favorites:

• Homemade buttermilk biscuits – you CAN’T beat that homemade flavor and texture!
• Oven roasted breakfast potatoes – you all have loved these potatoes and left some pretty awesome reviews!
• Vanilla Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes – or go crazy and try these Lemon Ricotta Pancakes!
• Mixed Berry Oatmeal Souffle – a bit unexpected, yet absolutely delicious!
• Overnight Breakfast Strata – instead of making patties, brown and crumble the sausage and use it in this recipe for a world-class hit!

My favorite way though, is a classic sausage biscuit!  I hope you all give these Homemade Maple Breakfast Sausage patties a try, and soon!

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Homemade Maple Breakfast Sausage

4.75 from 24 votes

Author: The Chunky Chef

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes minutes

Total Time: 16 minutes minutes

Calories: 132

Servings: 16

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This recipe for homemade breakfast sausage is low in calories, made with a combo of pork and turkey, they're the only kind of breakfast sausage you'll need!

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 lb ground pork
• ▢ 1 lb ground turkey
• ▢ 1/4 cup maple syrup (use the darkest REAL maple syrup you can find)
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 1 Tbsp fresh sage chopped
• ▢ 3/4 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh thyme - chopped)
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• ▢ 3/4 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 1/4 tsp paprika

Instructions

• Line a rimmed baking sheet with wax paper sprayed lightly with cooking spray, set aside.
• Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use hands to mix until just combined.  
• Spread mixture in an even layer in the prepared baking sheet, about 1/2" - 3/4" thick (this can be adjusted if you prefer a thicker patty).  Spray the rim of a 3 1/2" biscuit cutter (or large-mouthed drinking glass) and cut out patties.
• If patties are having a hard time staying together, place on wax paper in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before cooking.
• Heat vegetable oil (about 1-2 Tbsp) in a large skillet over MED to MED-HIGH heat.  Add patties to pan, making sure they aren't touching (you may have to cook in batches), and cook 2-3 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked through to a temperature of 165 degrees F.
• Repeat with remaining patties.

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Chef Tips

Oven Baked Sausage Method: 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place patties, not touching, on the sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes, flip patties over, and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, until golden brown and cooked to 165 degrees F. --- this method isn't exact, as the times will change depending on the thickness of your sausage and your oven type.  But it's a great way to cook all the sausage at once, with no oil spatter!

Freezing UN-cooked Sausage:

• Line baking sheet with wax paper and place cut out patties on sheet, not touching, and in a single layer.  Flash freeze them by placing them in the freezer for about an hour, or until frozen to the touch.  Remove patties from baking sheet.  Wrap frozen patties with wax paper and place into a large re-sealable freezer bag.  Freeze for up to 3 months.  TO THAW - remove amount of patties that you want, and place in the refrigerator overnight to defrost.  Cook as directed in recipe.

Freezing COOKED Sausage:

• Cook as directed in recipe, then allow to cool completely.  Place cooked patties on a wax paper lined baking sheet, in a single layer, not touching.  Flash freeze them by placing them in the freezer for about an hour, or until frozen to the touch.  Remove patties from baking sheet and place in a re-sealable freezer bag.  Freeze for up to 3 months.  TO THAW/COOK - Place amount of patties you want in the refrigerator overnight to defrost, then microwave in 30 second intervals until heated through.

Nutrition Disclaimer

The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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