Homemade Sausage Recipes

Four varieties of fresh, homemade sausages on a plate

Photo by Hank Shaw

Find It Fast

About

Homemade sausages are part of a salami-maker’s repertoire; you can’t make salami if you can’t first make fresh sausages. Below are an eclectic list of homemade sausage recipes made with both wild game and domestic meats, mostly lamb and pork in that case.

Why make your own sausages? Control.

You can add or subtract anything you’d like, adjust how coarse or fine the sausage is, make them skinny or fat, long or short, spicy or sweet. A well-made sausage is a symphony in a link, needing nothing more than a simple accompaniment to play harmony.

Note that while I am categorizing these sausage recipes by what meat is in them, understand that you can mix and match. There is no reason you cannot use pork or duck or whatever in what’s listed as a venison sausage recipe.

Back to top

Tutorial

If you’ve never made sausage before, I wrote a tutorial on how to make sausages at home. Start there.

Venison, Beef, Lamb or Goat Sausage Recipes

Keep in mind that when I say “venison,” I am lumping in deer, elk, moose, antelope, caribou, etc…

A plate of smoked venison sausage

Smoked Venison Sausages

One of my go-to venison recipes, this is a perfect recipe for a sausage made in late fall or early winter. You can use any variety of sage, and dried porcini work just as well as fresh.

Read More
A plate of bangers sausage with mashed potatoes, peas and a beer.

Homemade British Bangers Sausage

My take on a traditional British banger sausage, made like a Gloucester style sausage. I use venison here, but pork is traditional.

Read More
stuffing merguez sausage

Venison Merguez Sausages

This is the classic North African sausage, normally done with all lamb – casings, too. Here I go with all venison, plus sheep casings. This is a spicy sausage great for grilling.

Read More
A bowl of venison sausages

Sage and Juniper Venison Sausage

I designed this recipe after deer hunting on Catalina Island, where there is lots of wild sage and juniper growing all over the place. This makes a pretty classic “hunter’s style” venison link.

Read More
A plate with Swedish sausage, fried potatoes and sunny side up eggs.

Swedish Breakfast Sausage

This tangy Swedish breakfast sausage is addicting, and not terribly hard to make.

Read More
A plate of andouille sausage.

Andouille Sausage Links, Cajun Style

A Cajun classic, you can use any meat. This one is spicy and smoked. A must for any Creole or Cajun gumbo, jambalaya or etouffee.

Read More
A platter of Texas hot links sausage on a table, with sliced links and potatoes.

Texas Hot Links

This recipe is for the standard Texas hot links you’ll see pretty much everywhere in the Lone Star State, except for east Texas. It’s usually made with pork or beef, but I use pork and venison.

Read More
A platter of garlic sausages made from venison and pork

Garlic Sausages with Basil

Make this venison sausage in the summertime. Lots of fresh basil and garlic make it a great recipe for summer grilling.

Read More
Venison sausage with garlic

Venison Sausage with Bay and Garlic

Bay leaves are the main flavor here. I love them, and if you get good ones, they smell floral and sweet. This sausage is good any time of year.

Read More
Holding a tray of loukaniko sausage.

Loukaniko: Traditional Greek Sausage

The quintessential Greek sausage, it has many variations. Mine is an amalgam of several classic styles.

Read More

Back to top

Wild Boar or Pork Sausage Recipes

If you have bear meat, these recipes would fit well here.

Sweet Italian sausage recipe

Sweet Italian Sausage

This is the classic, the basic sweet Italian sausage we all know and love. I normally make this with wild pig, but really any meat will do.

Read More
spicy Italian sausage recipe

Spicy Italian Sausage

This would be the other classic, hot Italian sausage. You kinda need both sweet and hot in a good Italian stew, right?

Read More
Polska kielbasa on a plate with fried eggs.

Homemade Polish Kielbasa

Traditional, smoked Polish kielbasa, made with lots of garlic and a little marjoram.

Read More
smoked portuguese linguica recipe

Portuguese Linguica Sausages

The essential Portuguese sausage, it is to Portuguese cooking what Andouille is to Cajun cooking. It’s a spicy link with lots of paprika and garlic. My version is smoked.

Read More
A wall filled with Cajun boudin

Louisiana Boudin Sausage

Louisiana style boudin sausage, which is more like a meat stuffing with rice in a casing than a regular sausage. Damn good eaten on crackers with Creole mustard!

Read More
Fresh green chorizo on a platter

Green Chorizo

Green chorizo gets its color from green chile, cilantro (you could sub in parsley if you hate cilantro) and powdered greens. It’s perfect broken up in chilaquiles.

Read More
Holding a tray of boerewors sausages.

Boerewors and Kindness in the Dark

A traditional South African link made with a mix of pork and beef (or wild game) and flavored aggressively with coriander and other spices. I first learned of this sausage under, well, extreme circumstances.

Read More

Herbed Wild Boar Sausages

A regular ole’ sausage link gussied up with lots of fresh herbs — enough to make the links look kinda green.

Read More

Morcilla, Sanguinaccio, Boudin Noir

Blood Sausage. Yep, the real deal. My recipe is inspired by Portuguese morcilla, but it is a combination pork meat-pork blood sausage; many blood sausages only have blood, no meat.

Read More
hmong sausage recipe

Hmong Sausage with Wild Boar

There is a strong sausage-making tradition in Southeast Asia, and unlike the smooth Vietnames sausages, the Hmong sausages are coarse and rustic. I prefer them. These are flavored with ginger, chiles and cilantro.

Read More

Mazzafegati — Italian Liver Sausages

An Italian sausage from Umbria that mixes liver and pork meat. This is my favorite thing to do with wild boar liver, which can be strong-tasting otherwise. In this sausage, flavored with oranges, the liver is barely noticeable.

Read More
Slices of braunschweiger sausage with crackers, mustard and blue cheese.

Homemade Braunschweiger

If you don’t normally like liver, these braunschweiger sausages will make a believer out of you. Smoky, rich and only slightly livery.

Read More
mexican chorizo recipe

Wild Boar Mexican Chorizo

A spicier, softer version of Spanish chorizo, this is my version of the Mexican standard.

Read More
Mexican longaniza sausage

Longaniza Sausages

Classic Mexican longaniza, a cousin to chorizo. This recipe is from the state of Tabasco.

Read More
A tray of crepinettes, made from wild pork.

French Pork Crepinette

Crepinettes are a French thing: Loose sausage meat wrapped in caul fat, and then fried or grilled.

Read More

Back to top

Duck, Goose, Turkey and Other Poultry

I mostly make duck and goose sausages, but you’ll find a few turkey sausage recipes here, as well as those using chicken and pheasant.

Hank Shaw holding Sheboygan brats

Homemade Sheboygan Brats

Yep, this is the “white brat” you eat in Wisconsin while watching sports or drinking beer. I made this with wild turkey, but any white meat will work.

Read More
Hank Shaw holding bockwurst sausages.

German Bockwurst

A traditional German-American sausage meant to be poached in bock beer and eaten with potatoes, kraut, and more beer. You can use pretty much any meat if you don’t have goose.

Read More
duck sausages, hunter's style

Duck Sausages, Hunter’s Style

My go-to sausage for wild ducks, these links are flavored with sage, juniper and a little Chinese Five-Spice powder.

Read More
Polish duck sausages on a tray

Polish Duck Sausages

A great Eastern European style sausage that begs to be simmered in beer and sauerkraut.

Read More
Toulouse sausage links.

Toulouse Sausage

A simple French recipe I do with duck, it’s flavored with garlic, nutmeg and black pepper. Use this recipe when you are planning to make cassoulet.

Read More

Smoked Canada Goose Sausage

An oldie but a goody. I designed this sausage back in 2007, and it’s served me well ever since. This is a German-style smoked link.

Read More
Duck mortadella recipe

Duck Mortadella Sausage

Mortadella is what baloney thinks about when it dreams at night. This is not an easy recipe, but if you’ve been making sausages for a while, give this a go. You will not be disappointed.

Read More
duck hot dogs

Duck Hot Dogs

Yep, duck hot dogs. They’re awesome. Trust me.

Read More
Five links of pheasant sausage on a platter.

Pheasant Sausage

A simple sausage for chicken or pheasant, flavored with oregano and garlic.

Read More

Provencal Style Chicken Sausages, also good with pheasant or turkey (my recipe hosted on Food & Wine magazine’s site)

Back to top