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…
Venison Sausages with Sage
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 Banger 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.
Thessaly Greek Sausage
This is a recipe from Greece, normally done with lamb. It’s flavored with cumin, chile, oregano, red wine and allspice.
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.
Venison Sausages with Basil and Garlic
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.
Hot 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.
Cajun 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)
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.
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!
I keep seeing links for duck giblet sausage that lead me to this page yet I can’t find it. If I’m blind and I am overlooking it I apologize in advance 🙂
Made the Boudin yesterday. It was fantastic.
Do you have a good Wild Boar Stick Reciepy
I was wondering if you had suggestions on casings. I’ve never made any type of sausage before, but I’d like to give it a whirl.
April: Always hog casings. I never use collagen casings. They are easy to find either online or at a butcher shop.
Do you have a recipe for smoke butt. It is Polish/Eastern European in origin. Oscar Mayer used to make a product called Sweet Morsel. I usually find smoke butt in Polish delis but there are none here in Tucson.
Great with good info and awesome recipies. will try all I can. is going to hard to find a man pig, but will try, LOL Thanks again.
Is lamb good to make into ground hot Italian sausage or ground breakfast sausage?
Jennifer: You bet. I like it a lot, although I still like pork better. 😉
I looked among your wild game recipes but found nothing for ManBearPig, a three hundred fifty pound, squinty eyed Climate Priest with over developed mammaries hung by his ankles from a tripod over smoldering cigars, on a calved iceberg tossed about on sea waves, warming and fermenting as the berg meltingly travels south.
Kru: This is true, as ManBearPigs are tough to find these days.
Just wanted to say thank you for such an informative website! I really appreciate being able to find all my answers in one place. We just raised and butchered a pig this summer and hunting season starts tomorrow. We’re happy to be able to make some sausage soon! We process our own deer. Thanks for your time!
Hank- Thanks so much for everything you do to educate everyone on the different options for their wild game, instead of just snack sticks and grind. My question concerns sausage making. It seems a waste to buy natural casings when you have them right there when you gut a deer, elk, pronghorn, etc. Do you have any experience or knowledge using the guts of your harvests for their own casings? Is the juice worth the squeeze? Thanks again for the knowledge and all the info you share!
George: Uff. Making your own casings is literally a shitty job. I leave it to others. You need to flush the intestines repeatedly and most manufacturers turn them inside out to ensure they’re totally clean.
I have just harvested a nice spring bear – my first bear. I have been eating his chops as i process him, and he is delicious!. I am very experienced with making sausage, but not with bear. Can I use the bear’s own fat in sausage, or should I trim the bear lean (as with deer/elk) and add pork fat? I am very interested in using the bear fat, but it appears to be significantly softer than pork fat and I am assuming that it will melt and run in a sausage.
Paul: Depends. In general, bear fat makes excellent sausage fat. But if it’s nasty smelling, you’d need to trim it out.
I”m looking for a basic recipe for loose breakfast sausage patties, and I found nothing on your page. What a disappointment.
Russell: Sorry! I hate breakfast sausage. You’ll have to look elsewhere. 😉
I’m just starting, where should I look for the sausage casings? I thought butcher shop?
Kit: Yes, a butcher shop nearby, but I buy mine from The Sausage Maker: https://www.sausagemaker.com/sausage-casings-s/1922.htm
I’m looking for a Swedish Potato Sausage
I can’t find a recipe for French andouillette that isn’t in French. This is not the Cajun andouille sausage. Can you help?
Michael: Maybe check Jane Grigson’s books? I am not a fan of that sausage, so I don’t make it.
Jan,
Here is a recipe for your Swedish Potato Sausage (Potatiskorv), perhaps it holds the secret?
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/potato-sausage-swedish
Hey Hank,
I’ve been trying to make Swedish Potatis Korv that tastes like what I buy from our local sausage house (HIGH $$) Can’t seem to get it right — most recipes call for equal parts pork, beef, and potato — plus onion, allspice, salt and pepper. However, the recipes don’t say whether to cook the potatoes and mash before adding – or not…??? Have you made Potatis Korv? I think it’s the best sausage I’ve ever had. Would love to be able to make it myself. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks!
Hank,
I’m thinking about using rabbit (cottontails) mixed with pork and pork fat to make sausages and wondering what your thoughts are. Have you ever used rabbit before and do you think there is a particular recipe of yours that would work well? Thanks for your help.
Beth: Yep, it works well. Maybe use my recipes for pheasant sausages?
Can you break down to measured size, when you call for coarse, etc size grinder plates?
Mike: Sure. Something like 6 mm and something like 4.5 mm.
new to your site, i once had a venison wiener and the color and taste were as good as a Nathans coney island hot dog, have tried to duplicate but no luck can you help?
Is it possible to make pepperoni or Spanish style chorizo with wild duck?
Yes. I have a recipe for something like it in the Salami section.
Hi Hank, I have been looking for a specific recipe and wondered if you had any resources for this. There is a special sausage, Scandinavian in nature, that is venison (deer or elk or reindeer I think is the original) and blueberries/huckleberries. I live in the PNW, going elk hunting this year, and would love to make these delicious treats. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Danimal
Danimal: Use rehydrated dried berries. Fresh or frozen will create a purple mess in your sausage.
Hi, Hank. When you do your first grind with the salt and let the meat sit overnight in the fridge, do you include the Instacure?
Hi, we are going to make lamb sausages for the first time this week. What are the best plainish? Recipes? Honey& rosemary?? Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks Jo
Hi, I have fresh venison and nice pork fat ready to go in the morning,Ido not want to use pork shoulder, what is the mix,straight fat subbed for shoulder? Also I really like fennel seed. Which recipe could I add them to for the best result,flavor? I may do a couple different recipes…thanks
Ellen: Italian sausage goes well with fennel seed. And go for 1 pound pure fat to 4 pounds venison.
Hank, thanks for the tuitotial, it’s very helpful. I am wondering where to got the block of pork fat you used. I don’t think I’ve seen in in my local grocery store (or maybe I just haven’t noticed).
Jim A: I buy mine from butcher shops.
Can I make smoke sausage in the summer time
Thanks Hank. Sorry it took me a while to spot your response. Got sidetracked 🙂
So, from what you said, if I tried to do the Duck l’orange I would replace with duck with beef or lamb? Or would that specific recipe work best with another replacement meat? You have eaten it and are a sausage maker so I am figuring you can give me insights better than my flipping a coin.
Definitely enjoying your site. Yesterday I got distracted by your acorns which brought me to chestnuts and on and on. Back to sausages today.
Newly getting into making sausages and charcuterie, and came across your site. Though I love the concept of your recipes, unlike you I do not have access to any wild game. Consequently, to do your recipes, I need to use cuts of meat I can find in the local grocery store. Do you have some guidance on replacements? Ie in the Duck l’orange could I use the chicken thighs like chicken provencal. Boar, I would replace with pork. Venison? Goose? Goat? Any guidance would be appreciated. 🙂
Sherri: Sure, it’s pretty easy. Pork shoulder or belly works for pretty much every recipe in this section. Dark meat sausages, i.e., venison and duck, can be done with beef or lamb. Pheasant with chicken. My advice is to stick with pork fat at the beginning, however, although some people do like sausages with beef or lamb fat.
Greetings from snowy Scotland. I’m going to have a go at making my own sausages for the first time at the weekend and stumbled across your blog whilst looking for a recipe.
So many here I want to try!!
Also wanted to say I’m pretty jealous of your life – I really want to start catching and growing my own food (as I’m a townie, the growing part would probably be an easier start, if I can borrow a piece of garden to make a veggie plot.
Keep making great food please.
Hi i am kevin from malta i want to make a salmon sausage and a fish sausage do you have any ricipes for me please andwhat is the best herbs thanks ..
Kevin: Nope, I don’t have a good recipe. And I never use imitation casings. Sorry!
Can I use honey instead of sugar in these recipes?
Dave: In fresh sausages, yes. In dry cured sausages, no.
Just started making my own sausages, great website, gives me lots of ideas.
How about a Jalapeno and apple?
A sausage with wild rice would be great.
I like looking at your site for new ideas.
Braunschweiger, Liverwurst, and Head Cheese Thank you so much for your recipes love to look and think about them.
Something with nettles and morels. Maybe turkey or venison because that is what we hunt.
Jalapeno Chicken, bratwurst, or a hot Italian, all classics in my book.
How about trying a wild boar and wild fennel flower sausage, i bet it would be fabulous!!!!!
How about making a lamb sausage to mimic gyros seasonings! I really want to win the sausage maker so I can take trying to make o e off my honey-do list!
I live in the northwest. I have not found a good recipe for a SEAFOOD SAUSAGE link.
I have tried some delicious salmon sausages and didn’t see a recipe for a seafood sausage.
How about a Thia or curry influenced sausage.
Hi! I did not notice anything with moose. I make a sweet italian susage, and breakfast sausage using moose. My kids (my oldest son especially), who normally turn their noses at whatever Dad kills, love both. Would really love to see different types.
Mushroom gratin
Rattle snake.
One of my neighbors just started raising rabbits for meat. They are very lean. I’d like to see some creative recipes for fresh rabbit and pork sausages with an Italian of Spanish influence. Thanks!
I don’t see a Hungarian sausage, neither hot nor mild, here. Pork, red with paprika, smoked & hung to dry & age. Done in a thin casing.
While your at it you must make a liver sausage. After butchering for the Hungarian sausage we’d cook the bones in a stock so that it was easier to get all of the meat off of the bones. And then cook the liver & kidneys. All of that ground rather coarse along with onion & garlic, mix in some of the Hungarian sausage meat, stock added as needed. Then stuffed into a thick casing for long, straight sausages lightly smoked.
How about TURDUCKEN sausage, mixed with a bread, celery, onion mixture. Holiday in a casing. YUM.
Hey Hank!
Have you ever tried to make French-Caribbean Chaurice? It’s garlicky and spicy, in that order.
How about a type of sausage that can be made from bear meat. I don’t typically hunt bear because I’m not sure what to do with the meat.
Hank, I messaged you earlier this year with regards to my deer freezing before i got a chance to butcher it. I used a reciprocating saw to cut the meat into 5-10 pound section so I could take it out when I needed to make sausage. I’ve been making 10-20 lbs of fresh sausage, vacume sealing them and freezing them all winter. What the risk, besides the quality, of refreezing the meat? Note that I dont let the meat completely thaw before grinding.
Just made a batch of the Mexican Chorizo with hog. Best Chorizo recipe yet. I’m going to adapt it to a dry cure salami as I did with a marguez recipe.
Also did your German and Sichuan bacon. Great, especially the German. Thanks.
Sorry I missed you on your Seattle book tour. Held up on job site. I hope you come back hear some time. I’d like to share some charcuterie. I make lots of variety and experiment. My new favorite is a bovine tongue bresaola. Fantastic!
Gordon: Yes, you can do that. Just follow the amount in any smoked recipe and go from there. Usually it’s about 6 grams of No. 1 cure for a 5-pound batch.
Hi Hank,
I like fresh sausage that has been smoked, like your smoked Linguica (where you add InstaCure #1, and smoke at a relatively low temp, like 130º–then freeze the sausages and cook them when you want to use them). Can you do that to any fresh sausage, such as your Sweet Italian? If so, what is the rule for the amount of InstaCure to add?
Thanks,
Gordon
Nicole: I don’t make breakfast sausage, sorry!
Hi Hank! I’m going to attempt sausage making for the first time tomorrow. I’d like to make breakfast sausages for my family. Store bought ones are too much of a mystery for me! Could you share your favourite spice combo? Also, would you do a fine grind on the meat? BTW, as a master pastry maker, I completely get your reference about keeping meat/equipment cold! Thanks for that! ~Nicole
I had a home made sausage many years ago (30 or so) that was made from precooked beef or pork. It was finely diced first. Very little fat. The family also made the best pierogis. I havent had anything close to this sausage. It has stayed in my mind and my daughters. No one I ask have ever heard of this sausage. Anyone have any ideas what it was? I would love to make it.
KC: If you make sausages with pre-frozen meat you need to cook them before you re-freeze. So either smoke them until they reach an internal temp of 150 degrees, or poach them in hot water – about 170 degrees — for 20 minutes, then shock in an ice water bath to cool quickly. Pat them dry and then vacuum seal them.
I’ve been studying your wisdom and recipes for months! I plan to make and serve your venison sausages at my September wedding next year, but with deer season opening this November and the wedding falling in 10 months later, I’ve run into a fresh vs frozen conundrum! As you advise against using frozen meat if the plan is to later freeze the sausages, what is your advice on keeping the sausages as fresh and freezer-burn-free as possible? Thank you!
Just got a new Kenwood with various attachments, and made my first ever batch of sausages. We got some turkey mince and Peri peri humous reduced from our local Tesco. Just added some breadcrumbs and a bit of seasoning a tiny bit of cheese we had lying around and half a glass of red wine and made sausages, and they were really nice. Iv’e got some nice pork to make the next batch. So much easier than I would have expected though apart from managing to burst the collagen casings we were using… Very rude comments made at this point. Collagen casings although maybe easier to handle than more natural ones are a bit on the flimsy side… Ordering some natural ones v soon.
THANK YOU ….