Homemade Italian Sausage: A Surefire Grilling Hit

The best Italian sausage you’ve ever eaten awaits with this recipe for making them yourself.

In Italy there are many many salsiccia and salame, and each region has its special log of meat. The most famous are Genoa salami, mortadella, cotechino, and soppressata. Interestingly, there is no bologna sausage in Italy, the local sausage in the town of Bologna is called mortadella. There is most definitely nothing called “Italian Sausage”.

But the term “Italian Sausage” has emerged in the US, and it has a specific flavor profile. It is a tube of coarsely ground pork sausage in natural pork casing, usually about 25% fat, with a distinctive flavor from fennel seed. It comes in three grades, sweet, mild, and hot. The main difference is the amount of hot pepper added, although a few of the sweet blends include basil, and the heat and other seasonings vary significantly from butcher to butcher. It is sold raw, not cured or smoked, and it can be bought in standard 6″ links, in coiled ropes, or loose like burger meat.

The origin of the recipe is uncertain, but Judy Witts Francini, a cookbook author, teacher, and culinary tour guide based in Italy, tells me that there is something similar in Sicily, which makes sense since Southern Italy is where most Italian-American immigrants originated.

Homemade Italian Sausage Recipe

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Italian sausages are always a welcomed addition to any cookout but why settle for store-bought when you can make them yourself!

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 6 links

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Difficulty: Moderate

Ingredients Method Notes

Makes

Serve with: an IPA or pale ale.

Ingredients

 

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• 2 1/2 pounds ground pork
• 1/2 pound pork fat
• 1 tablespoon whole fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed
• 2 tablespoons mild American paprika
• 2 1/2 teaspoons  Morton Coarse Kosher Salt 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sweet red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup ice water
• pork casings (about 4 feet)

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Method

 

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1. Prep. Before making sausage, please familiarize yourself with best practices as described in our article on The Science Of Sausage Making. Follow steps (1) through (16)
2. Serve. You can then grill or smoke it, or store it in the fridge for about 5 days or in the freezer for about a month. Here are some tips on making Italian Sausage Sandwiches. Here is an awesome recipe for a stuffed Italian Sausage Meatloaf.

Notes

About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.

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