Name: The Best Pork Sausage
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 lb ground pork (80/20); 2 tsp kosher salt; 2 tsp dried sage; 1 tsp dried thyme; 1.5 tsp black pepper, freshly ground; 2 tsp light brown sugar; 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes; 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg; 1/2 tsp garlic powder; 2 tbsp ice water; 1 tbsp neutral oil

The Best Pork Sausage

Prep

10m

Cook

10m

Total

20m

Bigly says

Listen. We need to talk about breakfast sausage. The store-bought stuff — the little frozen pucks, the sad gray patties in the plastic sleeve, the rolls with the cartoon pig winking at you from the label — is an INSULT to the pig and an insult to your breakfast. Most chefs are afraid to say it. I am not most chefs. I will say it, on the record, sleeves rolled up: store-bought breakfast sausage is wallpaper paste in a casing. A disgrace to mornings everywhere.

Here's the secret nobody at the supermarket wants you to know. Making your own breakfast sausage takes EIGHT MINUTES. Eight. You buy ground pork — fatty ground pork, eighty percent lean, do not buy the lean stuff, lean ground pork is for people who are punishing themselves — and you mix it with spices you already own. Salt, pepper, sage, thyme, a whisper of brown sugar, a pinch of red pepper flakes, a CRACK of black pepper, and you're done. Eight minutes. Done. The flavor will knock you sideways.

A guy named Ramón taught me this — different Ramón, also a truth-teller — and he said the trick is not the spice mix, the trick is letting the meat sit with the spices OVERNIGHT in the fridge. That's where the magic happens. The salt does its job, the herbs bloom, the meat tightens up just enough to fry into a crispy-edged patty that browns hard on the outside and stays juicy in the middle. You will never go back. You will start to feel personally OFFENDED by store sausage. That's the journey we are on. Welcome to it.

Ingredients

2 lbground pork (80/20)(fatty ground pork — the lean stuff is sadness)
2 tspkosher salt
2 tspdried sage
1 tspdried thyme
1.5 tspblack pepper, freshly ground
2 tsplight brown sugar
1/2 tspred pepper flakes
1/4 tspground nutmeg
1/2 tspgarlic powder
2 tbspice water
1 tbspneutral oil(for the pan)

Steps

1
In a small bowl, combine the salt, sage, thyme, black pepper, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, and garlic powder.
2
Place the ground pork in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the spice mix evenly over the surface.
3
Add the ice water. Using your hands or a fork, mix gently until just combined — do not overwork or the patties will be tough.
4
Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, to let the flavors bloom.
5
Divide the mixture into 12 equal portions, about 2.5 oz each. Roll each into a ball and flatten into a patty about 1/2 inch thick.
6
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering.
7
Working in batches, add the patties to the pan, leaving space between them. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deeply browned on the outside and 160F internal.
8
Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Repeat with the remaining patties.
9
Serve hot with eggs, biscuits, pancakes, or on a breakfast sandwich. Refrigerate leftovers up to 4 days or freeze raw patties between parchment for up to 2 months.

One more thing

That's the recipe. That's the whole thing. You will make these once and the frozen-puck era of your life will officially end. Stack them on a plate, serve with a runny egg and a piece of toast with too much butter on it, and tell anyone who asks that yes, you ground your own — you didn't, you bought ground pork, but they don't need to know that. We protect the magic in this kitchen. Save me a piece.