Sweet Italian Sausage Recipe
- Type
- Bratwurst
- Level
- Easy
- Rating
- 5.0 (2)
Today I’m going to show you how to make a sweet Italian sausage yourself. It’s easy and super quick to make.
The sweet italian sausage is very popular in the American region. It is a great change from the typical bratwurst and is perfect for a barbecue. It is suitable for beginners.
I have other bratwurst variations for you on my website. For example, how about a spinach feta bratwurst.
If you’re interested in more great bratwurst recipes, my recipe book “24 Bratwurst Recipes For A Perfect Barbecue Experience” is for you!
I also answered some general questions about making bratwurst in my post Making Bratwurst Yourself. Have a look there.
But now enough talking…
Here you will find the complete sweet Italian sausage recipe as a video or to read through.
Have fun and good luck making it!
Table of Contents
Sweet Italian sausage – What do you need to make it?
Ingredients per 1 kg
| Ingredient | Grams | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| pork shoulder | 750 g | 75 % |
| pork back fat | 250 g | 25 % |
Spices per 1 kg
| Ingredient | Grams |
|---|---|
| dry white wine | 25 g |
| salt | 18 g |
| sugar | 6 g |
| fennel seeds | 4 g |
| black pepper | 3 g |
| coriander | 3 g |
| paprika | 2.5 g |
| oregano | 1.5 g |
| nutmeg | 0.5 g |
The equipment to make sweet Italian sausage
You need a meat grinder to “grind” the meat. The meat is chopped into small chunks with it.
Spice grinder / mortar
To grind your spices, it is best to use a spice mill. Alternatively, a mortar is also suitable. Or you can use already ground spices. I recommend grinding them yourself.
Natural casings / jars
The sweet Italian sausage is stuffed into natural casings. I recommend pork casing caliber 28/30.
If you want to make sweet Italian sausage without casings, you can use jars and boil down the mixture.
Make sweet Italian sausage – Step-By-Step Instructions
Cut the meat into pieces suitable for the grinder. You can vary the size depending on how big your meat grinder is.
Put the pieces of meat in the freezer for 1-2 hours to freeze. This will help you later with the grinding and ensure that the mixture does not get too warm.
Grind the spices to a fine powder. Optional: You can decide for yourself whether the fennel seeds should be ground or whole in the sausage.
Now you can grind the meat. Depending on how coarse or fine you want your sausage, you can use different perforated discs. Honestly, this is a complete matter of taste. I use the finest perforated disc (3mm).
Add the spices and the wine to the mixture and mix well for 3 – 5 minutes. The sausage meat should have a good binding.
Fill the sausage meat into the casing. Important: Do not fill the casing too much, otherwise it will burst later during frying. I use the pork casing caliber 28/30.
Now it is turned off. You can decide for yourself how big your sausage should be. To do this, press the sausage to the desired length with two fingers on each hand and rotate it forward a few times. Then leave out one sausage length and repeat the process.
Your sweet Italian sausage is ready😄. Enjoy it.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called a sweet Italian sausage?
Why is it called a sweet Italian sausage?
Because of what is not in it. In an American butcher’s case the Italian sausage comes two ways, sweet and hot, and the hot one is this same sausage with chilli flakes running through it. Take the chilli out and what is left leads with fennel. That is the sweet one.
So “sweet” here is doing the job the word “mild” does elsewhere. What you taste is the fennel, the coriander and the oregano — warm and faintly aniseed rather than sharp — and the sugar in the list above is there to round the salt off, not to make the sausage taste sweet. If you want the hot version one day, this recipe is the base you build it on.
Is a sweet Italian sausage the same as a bratwurst?
Is a sweet Italian sausage the same as a bratwurst?
It is made exactly like one. Grind, season, mix until it binds, stuff, twist — every step on this page is a bratwurst step, and if you have made a bratwurst before you already know how to make this. That is why it turns up under the name Italian bratwurst: the method is German, the spice cupboard is not.
What changes is the seasoning, and with it what you put the sausage next to. A bratwurst runs on marjoram, pepper and nutmeg, and it wants a roll and a mustard. This one runs on fennel and oregano, and it wants a grill with peppers and onions, or a tomato sauce and something to mop it up with. Same sausage-making, a different dinner.
How long is the shelf life of the sweet Italian sausage ?
How long is the shelf life of the sweet Italian sausage ?
The sweet Italian sausage can be kept raw in the refrigerator for about 1-2 days.
If you scald it directly after production at 75 degrees Celsius (167°F) for 25 minutes, it can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week.
Alternatively, you can freeze it raw or scalded, then it will keep for up to 6 months and will not lose any flavor.
For the sweet Italian sausage how much oregano and wine? Thanks.
sorry was lost in translation is added now 🙂
If I fill any sausage into the jars, how long and what temperature are they cooked and how long would they be good for?
This is my “goto” recipe when my wife needs Italian sausage. I only use it in bulk and I like to let it set overnight to let the meat absorb the seasonings before using.