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? 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.
Basics
If you’ve never made sausage before, I wrote a basic tutorial on how to make sausages at home on my friend Elise’s site Simply Recipes. 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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Greek Loukaniko Sausage
The quintessential Greek sausage, it has many variations. Mine is an amalgam of several classic styles.
Wild Boar or Pork Sausage Recipes
If you have bear meat, these recipes would fit well here.
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.
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?
Polska Kielbasa
Traditional, smoked Polish kielbasa, made with lots of garlic and a little marjoram.
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.
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!
South African Boerewors
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.
Herbed Wild Boar Sausages
A regular ole’ sausage link gussied up with lots of fresh herbs — enough to make the links look kinda green.
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.
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.
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.
Mexican Chorizo
A spicier, softer version of Spanish chorizo, this is my version of the Mexican standard.
Longaniza Sausages
Classic Mexican longaniza, a cousin to chorizo. This recipe is from the state of Tabasco.
French Pork Crepinette
Crepinettes are a French thing: Loose sausage meat wrapped in caul fat, and then fried or grilled.
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.
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.
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.
Duck L’Orange Sausages
Imagine all the flavors of classic duck l’orange – sweet, savory, spicy, orangey – in a sausage link, and that’s what you have here.
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.
Polish Duck Sausages
A great Eastern European style sausage that begs to be simmered in beer and sauerkraut.
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.
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.
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.
Duck Hot Dogs
Yep, duck hot dogs. They’re awesome. Trust me.
Pheasant Sausages
A simple sausage for chicken or pheasant, flavored with oregano and garlic.
Provencal Style Chicken Sausages, also good with pheasant or turkey (my recipe hosted on Food & Wine magazine’s site)
I’m looking for a recipe for Cajun style green pepper sausage for using in Gumbo. Can’t seem to find one but have found where I can buy 5# for like $100 online. So would like to make it myself if I can get a recipe. Thank you for your help.
Dear Mr. Shaw,
I’m as newest of new sausage makers if there ever was one! I’ve read several of your postings and I have some silly questions. I made a five pound batch of beef sausage that I smoked as my first ever attempt. We all loved it! I have a kitchen aid mixer with the attachments for grinding and stuffing. I have already figured out that the go der part I like but the sausage stuffing gets tricky-I had air bubbles at times, a d inconsistent sizes too. I figure unless I have more time I will most likely only make sausages 2-3 times a year. Here are my questions:
#1 how do you store all that sausage when you’ve just finished making it?
#2 what type of casing do you prefer the most? And how do you know it’ll be undamaged part way through? (Yes I was looking as I put it on, but then still had two blowouts)
#3 I don’t hunt and I don’t know any hunters in my circles for peeps. Where would you recommend I source other meets like venison, elk, etc.?
#4 if I invest in a sausage stuffed do you recommend crank or electric?
Thanks fir your inspiration!
Some answers:
1. Freeze them for long term, but they will keep a week in the fridge.
2. Hog casings. Blowouts are caused by too much pressure.
3. Don’t. Stick to pork and beef and lamb. Buying game meats is very very expensive. Better to buy quality farmed meats instead.
4. Crank. Electric sausage stuffers are only for really big operations.
Good luck!
My butcher has some wild venison and hare that I have frozen. I want a game sausage with cranberries in. He will add pork but could I please get some advice on what might compliment the sweetness of the cranberries? Think of a herb?
Cheers
Rob
Rob: Cranberries are not sweet. Unless you are talking about dried “craisins,” which have added sugar. As for an herb that goes well with them, try rosemary. Or winter savory.
Yes they were the low sugar variety. We have gone with rosemary. Should have them very soon.
Next thing will be home made
The sausages came out beautifully.
We did 50/50 venison and hare with added pork fat, cranberry ( no added sugar dried) and thyme.
Seriously recommend these. They are not overly sweet with cranberry, but taste awesome.
I used one supermarket bag I guess 2-300g or so of cranberry and 10kg total of meat.
Cheers
Rob
My son loves pork and pineapple sausage. Do you have any recipes for this to help me out? I’d really appreciate it.
Turning my 14 year old son on to smoking and sausage making! I’m searching for a Bavarian style sausage that includes cheese in the mix. Any suggestions??
Kevin: Not sure, as I don’t like cheese brats, but I can tell you that once you make one, you will need to buy high-temperature cheese. The Sausage Maker, who advertises on this page, sells a good one. If you don’t use the special cheese, it can destroy the texture of your links.
Thanks, Hank. Was hunting for a Mexican chorizo recipe and came across your site. Web surfing at its most gratifying. You clearly know what you’re doing and love what you do. I’ve never been satisfied with my homemade Italian sausages or breakfast sausages and now I know why they were so flat, one dimensional. Never had good recipes to start with.
Thank you for showcasing Hmong sausage!! I am Hmong and I love it! Hmong sausage, sticky rice, and some spicy pepper paste!! Best meal.
Oh my I’ve died and gone to heaven! Why is this the first time I’m on your site?
I would like to know if you may have a green onion venison sausage/ or venison hot tamale recipe
Melanie: No on the green onion, but you can just use any venison sausage recipe I have and add maybe 1/2 cup of minced green onions. As for venison tamales, yes. Here is my recipe: https://honest-food.net/venison-tamales-recipe/
Hello Hank. Thanks for this contribution! I finally broke open the boxes of grinder and stuffer that have been sitting in my garage for 3 years. Made some great hot Italian and spiced chicken for my first batch.
I am confused on a couple of things…1) I noticed in some of your recipes the meat/fat was to be semi frozen and in others just refridge cold before grinding? or maybe I read it wrong. I assume that before grinding any meat/fat mix that it needs to be semi frozen or the fat comes out as mush?
2) is it necessary to add powdered milk if you do not plan on smoking? I noticed on ingredients of store packaged ‘gourmet’ non smoked sausages that milk was included.
Chris: Hey there. 1) Either is fine. If you are quick and can grind and mix rapidly, you don’t need to have the fat semi frozen. All that does is buy you time. You want the fat close to the freezing point, but up to about 40F is OK. As for 2) No. No need to add dry milk if you are not smoking. And you can even skip it if you are smoking.
Is there a reason for hanging and “drying” the sausages? Once the casings are stuffed, could the sausages be vacuum sealed, cooked “sous vide” and then frozen?
Chuck: You hang the sausages so they get tighter in their skins, and they lose a bit of moisture, which improves flavor. This process is called “blooming.”
From Minnesota. Make sausage from almost anything. How about blood, potato, wild rice sausage?
Nice collection of sausage receipts. I have picked up 2-3 that we will make during the weekend. Big game hunting season is over here (Quebec, Canada).
It is cooking time for venaison. I will get back with more comments.
Do you have a Hungarian Kolbaz recipe you care to share? TY
Diane: I don’t have a Hungarian version, but I do have a Polish kielbasa recipe.
This is a different ball game, loving all the wild game brats ideas thank you! #keeptheoldwaysalive!