Hot Italian Sausage

Ratio is off. I made adjustments and used 2 lbs ground pork and 2 lbs ground beef. Didn’t add oil. Used the stated enumerated ingredients and proportions but reduced the paprika proportion to just 1 1/2 tbsp and added 2 tsp of fresh and dried oregano.

This recipe is actually really bad. I proportionally made ~5# (divided everything by ~4) following this recipe and had to go back and change all sorts of things after cooking a test patty before stuffing it into cases. Terrible recipe as written. I even had to buy more pork to dilute the salt content. Using garlic SALT instead of POWDER is one of the big no-no’s in this recipe. Also it needs some fresh chopped parsley and chilled white wine for moisture just prior to stuffing. Let your meat sit overnight in the refrigerator to meld the flavors and do yourself a favor and cook a test patty prior to stuffing this mess. Adjust the taste more your liking. I feel sorry for anyone that actually made and stuffed a full 20# of this. I was able to salvage my recipe and ended up with about 8# that was at least edible.

Like many others have said the ratio of meat to seasoning is way off! In fact, even working with 10# of pork/fat I found it to be a little too bland. It certainly helps to let your meat sit with the seasoning to become full circle however, after my first sampling I added more: Red chilli flakes (almost double), Paprika, Peper, included white sugar to help bind the sausage, added a couple of cloves of garlic and more fennel seeds! I also did a batch with venison that I had in the freezer, they turned out great, non-gamey but I found a ratio of 35% fat for venison works for me… everyone’s different, but don’t be afraid to modify and try as you add spice a little ball pan-fried can save you a disappointment .

I made this but made some adjustments, I tripled all spices except I skipped the salt all together just use the garlic salt. Also I used olive oil for the recipe instead.

I scaled to 8 servings, 2 lbs. of pork. Ground some country style ribs that were on sale. Made it as written with addition of 1 tsp Italian seasoning blend. Test grilled the first link and was happy with the results. It is more of a mild to medium heat, not overly hot, but it has a very balanced flavor profile. I will definitely make it again, probably increasing the fennel and red pepper to 1 1/2 times the original amounts.

Perfect. I make loose to add to other recipes

Came out great. Used a fine grind first time and a coarser grind the second time. Both came out great.

I make this a lot–but in smaller quantities–only I use ground beef instead.

Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. I haven’t made it yet, but am sure it will be great. During the years I was in Canada, hot italian sausage was one of my favorite foods that I have experienced there. After coming back to Korea, however, there is not such food in here sadly, perhaps I can buy it from the internet with a ridiculous price. (about 13-14 CAD per 300 grams) Now I can home-cook it thanks to your recipe. 🙂

I love this recipe as a sensible guideline! As many others before me have mentioned, Vinny’s tweaks make tasty sense! This is my summer sausage burger recipe and my son and I chose this over burgers every time!

I made a pound of this last night to go in a small batch of spaghetti sauce today. Upon tasting, this morning, it is clear that this recipe doesn’t have enough spices in it. My sausage tastes good (hence 2 stars instead of 1), but it’s way too mild. Verry, very mild. For Gods sake, don’t make 20 pounds of this without tasting what it comes out like first, as it’s not what most people think of as hot Italian sausage.

Not nearly enough spice for 20lbs. I doubled most and tripled some, quadrupled red chili peppers and fennel….added onion salt….turned out pretty good, glad I read “vinnies” revue and took his advise on adding lots more spice or I feel I would have wasted 20lbs. of pork. Next time I will add and use cayenne in combination with pepper flakes.

We often make this 1/2 pork and 1/2 beef to use up the fattier pork. I pare it down to a 5 lb recipe with measurements as follows: 2.5 lb lean beef, 2.5 lb fatty pork, 1 bulb of garlic, ground in with pork, 2 tablespoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 2 tablespoons paprika, 1 tablespoon anise seeds, 2 tablespoons fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon hot pepper flakes.

I make an almost identical similar sausage to this. Its delicious! If you are not an absolute garlic lover, be very conservative with the amount you add. TIP: Add bit by bit & pan fry little samples as you go to fine tune to your taste.

Kind of you to share thank you. However, these spice amounts can not be correct. There is no way a tablespoon of these spices would effect 20 lbs of pork, that is not logical. I do believe it would be hot and salty, certainly edible, but “Italian”, no way. Fennel is a key ingredient in Italian Sausage. I use 1 Tbsp fennel per lb. pork, not per 20 lbs. Perhaps you will try my recipe. Adjust the amount of red pepper flakes to make it as hot as you like. Darlene’s Italian Sausage: T-Tablespoon, Teas-Teaspoon. 3 lbs ground pork, 3 T Fennel seeds, 1 T Black Pepper, 2 T Paprika, 1 T Sea Salt, 1/2 bulb garlic-finely minced, 1 teas Red Pepper Flakes, 1 T White Sugar. Mix to combine. Let sit in fridge for 12 hours. Freezes beautifully, flavourful, and juicy. Have a nice day.

I’m giving 4 stars just because it’s not enough flavor …. (Or maybe I don’t know if real Italian people don’t like much fennel in their food?) 20 pounds is WAY too much and not enough flavor and aroma … I made 1 pound of meat just to see how it goes and I “estimate” all the amount of ingredients on my own since I pretty much know my own taste… 1 pound of self grounded pork shoulder 1 teaspoon fennel seed (Fennel is pork best friend!!!) 1/2 teaspoon anise seeds 1 teaspoon black peppercorn 1/2 teaspoon paprika (I don’t like too much red color in my food) 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I like it spicy!) pinch of salt Came out delicious!!! Thank you for recipe 🙂

I don’t like real spicy food . I scaled this down to eight servings and followed the directions. It turned out very bland. I I’d spice it up some more.

Not nearly enough spices—I had to almost double the amounts (I made only 1 1/4 lbs. meat, but adjusted the recipe accordingly), and I toasted both the anise and fennel seeds to bring out the best of them. I’ll try making this again in the warmer weather so I can grill the sausage.

Well. I did a mashup of recipe plus reviewers and I’m glad I did. I did about 4 pounds of ground pork. My spice mix did the italian blend (my own), fennel, onion, garlic, black and red peppers, salt, avocado oil (i am out of olive). It’s quite delicious. Basically doubled everything but the oil and salt for the reduced recipe. And, as vinnie-bag-o-donuts says, fennel is pork’s best friend. Err on the generous side.

Loved it but have to share a couple of things. As a Butcher (retired) I have come to know a few things. #1 If you weigh 3 oz. of salt for every 10 lbs of pork when making sausage you will never go wrong. For 20 lbs of sausage, use a handful of fennel seed. (grind half in a coffee grinder) Use fresh garlic cloves mixed in a blender with water. Put all your spices in a bowl add the water/garlic mix. Add additional water to make a smooth paste. Mix into meat well. Use other ingredients stated for your own personal taste. This recipe is tried and proven to delight.

We made this sausage and it is very, very good! Better than most store bought bulk and very easy to make. We followed the recipe precisely with no deviations. We made meatballs, pizza toppings, mixed 50/50 with ground venison for meatloaf.. 20lbs did not last long in my house… Edit- I’ll add that we recently made a new batch but following vinnie-bag-of-doughnuts recommendation (basically doubled everything.) Also used hot paprika.. Much better! A little more ‘oomph’ to the sausage,