I created this recipe so I can avoid buying the packaged maple sausages that my older son pines for. This summer while he's been home from college he makes sure to remind me to pick up maple turkey sausages when I'm food shopping. They're a bit price for ten small sausages that he eats in one shot. I was finding this purchase a bit pricey.
The sausages I usually buy are not bad at all. They're organic and from sources that practice sustainable and humane farming. It's just that I prefer fresh-made over packaged food and I think it's really important to eat fresh and locally sourced food as much as possible. Of course sometimes you just can't or don't have time to make everything from scratch. That's where making large batches and freezing can come in handy, and you can easily do so with this recipe.
You can cook these sausages as round patties, or you can freeze them as links and then cut them up before cooking them in a skillet. To cook them as patties I use an ice cream scoop, drop one scoop in a preheated skillet, and press it down with the back of the scooper to flatten the patty.
For the links, I place sausage mixture along the long end of plastic wrap and roll the sausage into one long link. I wrap the ends up and place the links in the freezer. When you're ready to cook them, unwrap the link and slice the link into smaller links using a sharp knife. You can also thaw the links for 10 minutes or so to soften them a bit.
We cook these until they're starting to blacken, which means we turn the heat up to medium high to char the sides of each sausage patty or link. If you prefer you can cook them on a medium heat for a lighter browning. Either way, they taste great! I'm not a big meat-eater but I love the taste of these, especially the scent of sage and the flavor of the caramalized maple syrup.
Maple Sausages
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground dark turkey or chicken or some combination
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced sage
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat a skillet on medium high heat.
- Place a few drops of high heat cooking oil or ghee in the skillet to prevent sticking.
- Add all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend well.
- Place each sausage patty or link in the skillet and cook for about 8 minutes on each side or until the sausage is cooked through and browned or blackened to your desire.
- Serve warm. Store sealed in the refrigerator for a few days or freeze for a few months.
Bridget says
Oh these are great!! I had bought a box of the frozen organic patties over the weekend, but they were so ridiculously expensive, I figured there's got to be a better way. Thank goodness for your recipe. I cooked up a batch tonight and my 4-year-old son ended up devouring 7 of them!! In the first batch, I made them exactly as the recipe. My son wanted them a little sweeter, so I just added a tsp of raw sugar to the other half of the batch. We absolutely loved them. This recipe is a keeper!
Erica says
Thanks, yes I love the simplicity of this recipe 🙂
Jessica says
These are wonderful! We used dark turkey meat, 93% lean and followed the directions perfectly except for the butter - used olive oil instead, and cooked them on medium in a cast iron skillet.
We par-cooked most of them and they are going in the freezer for quick breakfasts in the future. We cooked the others all the way to enjoy the next few days.
Lovely ingredients! Perfect amount of salt, and you can taste the sage & maple so wonderfully!
Jennie whitehead says
These were super delicious! We even used white meat ground turkey (a little dry) and they were still awesome. The fresh sage and nutmeg combination was unexpected and yummy! These are going into our regular rotation.
Erica says
Yes, dark meat is going to moister, but white is good too - just don't cook them as long.
Julia says
Oh, I just saw the last line--sorry. I'm going to make a batch to freeze right away.
Thanks so much for the recipe.
Erica says
I've made these a number of ways so you have many options: freeze raw and then cook for full time, freeze after 3/4 cooked and reheat for almost the same cook time, freeze fully cooked and then thaw and warm up, etc.
Julia says
Do you think it would be possible to cook them first then freeze? I really need fast food in the morning and I think these would be perfect if I only had to take them out and warm them up.
What do you think?
Erica says
sorry I'm late to this message! Yes, you can cook and freeze them, I would leave them a bit under cooked so when you reheat they don't become too overcooked.
Christy, The Simple Homemaker says
This looks delicious! We make our own sausages, but I've never tried maple. Your pictures are beautiful.
I don't think I introduced myself. We have a teen with Crohn's, and I enjoy hearing other people's success stories with IBD. Blessings to your family.
Erica says
Thanks Christy! Blessings to you as well. I prefer to avoid using sausage casings (too much work and I find this tasty without the need for casings).