
Ever feel a little leery about what goes into breakfast sausage patties sold at the supermarket? Us, too. Which is why we were ecstatic to discover these healthier, homemade sausage rounds that are made with ground chicken and just the right blend of sweet, spicy, and savory.–Angie Zoobkoff
Chicken Breakfast Sausage
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon store-bought or homemade barbecue rub spice
- 1 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or less to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, (omit if follow keto)
- 1 pound ground chicken, preferably dark meat
- Mild vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the sage, marjoram, thyme, garlic, spice rub, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, allspice, and maple syrup.
☞ TESTER TIP: If your barbecue spice rub contains salt, you’ll want to go easy on the amount of salt you add. To avoid guessing and ending up with overly salty sausage patties, initially add just 1 teaspoon of salt to the mixture. Then pinch off a small spoonful, fry it in a skillet until cooked through, taste it, and, if desired, add more salt.
- Add the chicken and stir gently or use your hands to thoroughly mix in the seasoning. Don’t overmix as this can make the sausage tough.
- Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and gently press between your hands to form a patty 1/2-inch (12-mm) thick and 2 1/2 to 3 inches (6 to 7 1/2 cm) wide.
- Place on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 45 minutes or up to overnight. (You can freeze the sausage patties, well wrapped, up to 1 month, then cook without thawing.)
- In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, warm 1 teaspoon oil. When hot, add the patties, taking care to not overcrowd the skillet. You may need to cook the sausage in batches.
- Cook one side until browned and then flip and cook on the other side until the patties are cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Repeat with additional batches, adding an additional teaspoon of oil per batch.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
I’m a fan of breakfast sausage, usually in the form of pork or turkey. This was the first time I tried a chicken breakfast sausage and I was glad to add it to my repertoire. The ingredients are nicely balanced so no one flavor overwhelms the others. A little sweet, a little hot, and all good.
I thought the flavor of this chicken breakfast sausage was a good jumping off point. To me, this doesn’t truly taste like Jones or Jimmy Dean (in my book, the most iconic breakfast sausage flavors), but it’s tasty in its own right.
I had great expectations when reading this recipe and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s so much healthier than pork sausage and tasted fabulous. I used chicken thighs and ground the meat myself as I wanted to be sure that the ground chicken was all dark meat. It only took a minute.
This is a fantastic breakfast sausage recipe for those who don’t eat pork sausage. I was drawn to this recipe for that reason. This is a quick, easy, and very satisfying substitute.