This easy Homemade Maple Sausage recipe is a healthy meal idea for your family. It combines savory ground pork and turkey with sweet maple syrup and aromatic spices for a mouth-watering recipe. It's preservative-free, freezer-friendly, and tastes amazing!
Pleasing everyone at mealtime can be tricky! Not with this easy Breakfast Sausage recipe with a slightly sweet flavor but no added sugars! It's so much better than store-bought breakfast sausage and contains no nitrates or MSG.
It's lower in calories than traditional sausage and convenient to pull from the freezer for a grab-and-go breakfast. It's also a skinny option to higher-fat breakfast sausage, so we moms can enjoy it too (major win!). 😉
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Why this Recipe is So Amazing
- MAPLE FLAVOR - This sausage recipe has an incredible maple flavor that works for breakfast, brunch, or dinner.
- PRESERVATIVE FREE - This sausage is fresh and contains no harsh chemicals, MSG, or preservatives.
- FREEZER-FRIENDLY - This easy recipe is wonderful because it freezes well and is easy to throw together on the weekend. Then just grab it from the freezer for a quick breakfast during the week.
Ingredient Notes
These simple ingredients blend to create a fantastic breakfast or breakfast-for-dinner idea. That's how our family likes to eat it anyway! It's a wonderful combination of ground pork and turkey, herbs, seasonings, and of course, maple syrup!
- GROUND PORK - Ground pork gives this recipe enhanced flavor and a little fat, so it fries up nicely.
- GROUND TURKEY - You'll need 1 pound of ground turkey. You can use ground chicken in place of ground turkey. However, if doing so, it would be best to keep the ground pork since it has a higher fat content, allowing the patties to remain tender and juicy.
- MAPLE SYRUP - We recommend pure maple syrup for its depth of flavor and natural taste.
- GARLIC - this aromatic enhances the flavor of the sausage. Use more or less fresh minced garlic to your liking.
- SPICES - Kosher salt (or sea salt) and black pepper. For the savory seasonings, use ground sage, thyme, and rosemary. You can use fresh sage if you double the amount called for. For spicy sausage, add red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to the sausage mixture before forming into patties.
Find the full ingredient list and instructions in the printable recipe card below.
How to Make Breakfast Sausage
It's simple. One bowl is all you need to make your breakfast sausage patties. They're a great addition to your table.
Step 1: Mix Ingredients. Place all ingredients (including the spice blend) in a large bowl and mix with your hands for about 1 minute, but not too much, or the meat will get tough.
Step 2: Place In Freezer. Place sausage in the freezer for about 30 minutes to make it easier to form patties.
Step 3: Form Patties. Form sausage into patties with your hands, and prepare to fry them in a large skillet or freeze them!
PRO TIP: To avoid the meat sticking to your hands, spray them with non-stick cooking spray. Or place a portion of meat between two pieces of wax paper and flatten with a frying pan.
If you want to make them ahead, uncooked patties can be covered and stored in your refrigerator for up to 1 day.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Don't overmix your ground meat, or it will become tough and rubbery.
- The sausage patties tend to shrink a little while cooking, so make your patties a little larger than you want your finished product.
- It's best to cook sausage to an internal temperature of 160 F. We use a digital food thermometer to ensure cooked sausage products reach a proper internal temp.
- Store leftover homemade sausage patties in an airtight container or plastic wrap in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
How To Freeze
This recipe can be made ahead of time and frozen into raw patties or cooked and then frozen. All you need to do is heat and serve! Easy, peasy!
We like to flash-freeze the sausage:
- Start by laying the uncooked patties out individually in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
- Freeze them for about an hour, and then, when firm, individually wrap them in wax paper and place them in a storage container until we're ready to get them out of the freezer and use them.
This is such a timesaver when it comes to dinner! Take out as many as desired and leave in the refrigerator overnight. Cook as directed.
Best Way to Cook Homemade Sausage
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No question, my favorite way to fry up maple sausage is in our Cast Iron Pan.
To cook on the stovetop:
- Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil to a skillet and heat over medium. Once hot, add the sausage patties (working in batches if needed to prevent overcrowding your skillet).
- Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side or until browned on the outside and cooked through. Once cooked, place them on a paper towel-lined plate.
This method gives the sausage perfectly browned edges that taste so good. This skillet is great for most recipes. It goes from stovetop to oven and evenly cooks whatever you put in it. Love it!
How to Oven Bake
This method is a great way to cook all your sausage at one time and avoid splatter.
- To start, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Next, line a rimmed baking pan with foil and then place patties in the pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Then flip the patties over and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until golden brown (or 160 degrees F.). Please note - cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of your sausage and the temperature of your oven.
In short, this recipe for Maple Sausage is so easy. Go ahead and make something healthy and delicious for your family this weekend!
What to Make with Maple Sausage
- Sausage Breakfast Burritos are amazing with leftover breakfast sausage.
- A Sausage & Cheese Frittata is perfect for homemade sausage. Just crumble it into the recipe.
- Your family will love these sausages if you put them on breakfast sandwiches. Mmm, sausage and cheese with maple butter on an English muffin!
- What could be easier than a 1-Minute Omelet in the microwave?
- Crumble it on Breakfast Bagels with Eggs. You can freeze these for meal prep, too.
- Let's not forget Breakfast Tacos! Just use maple sausage instead of bacon.
- Serve them alongside our famous Crock Pot French Toast!
And, of course, some people like it over rice!
More Breakfast Food
Recipe FAQs
When making homemade sausage, It's important not to overmix your sausage, or it will become rubbery.
If you're meal prepping for future meals or feeding a large crowd, you can double the maple sausage recipe.
Love this Maple Breakfast Sausage recipe? Please leave a 5 star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below ⬇️ and/or a review in the comment section further down.
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Printable Recipe
Easy Homemade Maple Sausage Recipe
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- Mixing spoon or spatula
- frying pan
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork ((not lean, about 20% fat))
- 1 pound ground turkey
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 clove garlic, minced (add more of less to your liking)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
To Cook The Patties
- 2 Tablespoons bacon grease (ghee, or fat of choice like olive oil)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large-sized mixing bowl. Mix with your hand, but don't over do it or the sausage will become tough.
- Chill for at least an hour or overnight.
- Form into patties with your hands. PRO TIP: spray your hands with non-stick cooking spray to avoid the meat sticking to you.
- Fry in grease until they are no longer pink insides being careful not to overcook. 160 degrees F. is recommended.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on September 9, 2016. We updated with enhanced instructions on April 27, 2021, and again on May 9, 2023.
Dana says
I'll never buy commercially made breakfast sausage again! This was so easy and delicious, I couldn't believe that it took me this long to give it a try. The only problem is keeping the freezer stocked, they disappear so fast in my house!
Allyson Zea says
This was incredibly easy and delicious! THANKS!!!
Andie says
I love this recipe, and making sausage from scratch was easier than I thought!
Erin Henry says
It's so easy to make your own sausage! Thank for giving the recipe a try!
Kathryn says
I've been looking for a homemade sausage recipe and this turned out fabulous! My kiddos loved it, and so did we. Definitely going in the regular rotation, especially since I can keep it on hand in the freezer. Thank you!
Erin Henry says
This is definitely one recipe that freezes well and works for family-friendly breakfasts! Enjoy!
Jessica says
Why have I never thought to try making this at home until now!? I'm so glad I tried this recipe because it is waaaaay better than storebought. Thank you!
Erin Henry says
Yes! so much better than store-bought, in our opinion! Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
Beth says
Yummy! This is such a great way to start the morning! My teens loved this a lot! Definitely making this more often!
Betsy says
Great flavor! I love knowing what exactly is in my sausage! So much easier than I thought it would be! Perfect to keep a batch in the freezer & then just take out what I need as I need it.
Erin Henry says
Yes! Our thought exactly, Betsy. We love knowing what's in our food! Plus, what could be easier than pulling them from the freezer and serving them up!
Dee says
I love homemade sausage, and the maple flavor sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday!
Erin says
Thanks for stopping by, Dee! Love that these freeze well and can't be taking out when we need a quick and easy dinner!
Nikki Frank-Hamilton says
I am so guilty of picking up sausage already made. So quick and easy. But, not so good for us! This would make things simple, make them once, pull them out of the freezer when you want some. Perfect. Healthy for all of us, time saver for me! Win Win!
Mike says
Hi Erin! I frequently tweet out your posts but tonight (night off from work) I thought to stop by and leave a comment for once! 🙂 This maple sausage recipe sounds absolutely delicious! I’m a breakfast person for sure…meaning, any time of the day. So, this would go great with my scrambled egg whites. I hope your week is going great so far! 🙂 I truly do enjoy your blog very much. Ironically I’m not a frequent sweets eater but all of your desserts would be impossible to pass on! 🙂
Erin says
Lucky me! I love seeing you over here on the blog in addition to Twitter! Sounds like you're a healthy guy and go for the egg whites, which is awesome. This sausage would be the perfect complement to your breakfast for dinner! Thanks for being so generous with your shares! Stop by anytime!