Homemade Italian Sausage Recipe (Fennel)

Originally published: 03/26/2020 Updated 09/13/2023

Making this homemade Italian sausage recipe is easier than you think! Way better than anything store-bought and you control the ingredients. No fillers!

Cooked Italian sausage ring on a wooden cutting board.

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Why You’ll Love This

This Italian Fennel Sausage is packed with flavor. Every Italian family has their own recipes. This is my grandfather’s recipe with a few tweaks from us.

Homemade Italian sausage has been a tradition in our family for years. When my aunts stopped making it my sister and I kept the tradition going with some tweaks here and there to my grandfather’s recipe.

My grandfather’s recipe used ground beef and prepackaged pork sausages. My husband and I wanted a more authentic taste and texture. Through a lot of testing, we came up with the recipe we are sharing with you today.

We hope you give our delicious Italian sausage recipe a try and enjoy it as much as we do.

I like to swap breakfast sausage out in our Sausage Muffins without Bisquick recipe and use this fennel sausage. We also use it in Sausage Lentil Soup, Zuppa Toscana, and even Classic Sausage Balls.

Key Ingredients

  • Pork – This recipe uses a boneless pork butt (pork shoulder). It has all the fat you need for tender juicy pork sausage.
  • Seasonings – Crushed red pepper flakes, fennel seeds, ground fennel, red wine, garlic, seasoning salt, fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, dry-rubbed sage, kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper.
  • Casings – We like to use all-natural casings but you can also use synthetic casings. We use Pre-Tubed Natural Hog Sausage Casings, 35-38mm now which can be found on Amazon.

How To Make Homemade Italian Sausage Recipe

Strips of pork butt in a chilled glass bowl.

Start by cutting the pork butt up into pieces, leaving all the fat attached. Remove any sinew and throw it away. We like to cut them in strips, it just makes it easier to run through the meat grinder.

Place the pork and sausage making equipment in the freezer. You want the meat to be firm but not frozen solid. This is important because the fat needs to stay hard during processing. If it softens/melts you’ll struggle to create an emulsion with the meat and fat.

Prepared spices for the Italian Sausage in ramekins on a baking sheet.
If you can’t find ground fennel grind fennel seeds in a coffee grinder.

Prepare the whole fennel seed, crushed red pepper flakes, dry rubbed sage, ground black pepper, seasoning salt, ground fennel, chopped parsley, kosher salt, garlic, and red wine. Set aside.

Prepare the casings. Casings come packed in salt so you’ll need to rinse them first.

Run some water over and through the casings to remove any residual salt, then place them in a bowl of water while you get everything else set up.

Drape one end of the casing over the side of the bowl or you might have trouble trying to find each opening.

Pork butt being ground in the meat grinder onto a large baking sheet.

Remove the meat grinder equipment from the freezer and assemble it.

Pour yourself a glass of that wine you’re using in the recipe. This is a required step in the process.

Grind the partially frozen pork using the small holed plate. You can also you the large hole but we found we preferred the texture of a smaller grind. It’s your choice.

We grind it onto a large sheet pan and spread it out evenly. This makes mixing in the spices much easier.

Ground pork sprinkled with the Italian sausage seasonings on a large baking sheet.

Sprinkle each spice evenly over the ground pork. Mix thoroughly with your hands until combined.

Take a sample of the meat and cook it in a small skillet until browned. Taste test to make sure the flavor is right. Add seasonings to taste.

Place the remaining sausage in the freezer of the refrigerator to stay cold while you load the pre-tubed casings onto your sausage stuffing tube. Rub the stuffing funnel with a little olive oil so the casing will glide on easily.

Mixed Italian sausage on a baking sheet.

Once you are happy with the taste of the ground sausage load the hopper with some meat and pump some through to remove any air.

Attach a casing to the end of the nozzle and tie off the end. Remove the meat from the fridge.

Now start pumping meat into the casing, being careful to not let any air get into the casing. There is a balancing act between having too much air and not enough air.

Too much air and you will end up with a poorly formed sausage. Too little air and the casing will burst.

Italian sausage being stuffed into a casing.

Now stuff your sausage. Two people make this part of the process much easier. One loads the meat while the other holds and guides the casing.

Form the link to your desired length. Stop filling the casing with about 3” to spare at the end. Tie off the end. Repeat this step until all the meat has been stuffed into casings.

We usually make them into 1 to 1 1/2lb length. You can also make the sausage links into smaller single-serving sizes if desired.

A coil of uncooked Italian sausage on a light plate.

We freeze most of it and save out enough for dinner or snacks, whatever. As the sausage sits the flavors combine and become much better. So the Italian sausage made and cooked the same day will not be as strong in flavor.

Cooked homemade Italian Sausage ring on a wooden cutting board.

To cook it place a skillet large enough to hold the size you made over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Cook covered for about 15 minutes. Remove the lid and cook uncovered for 5-10 minutes more or until the internal temperature reads 160 degrees F.

Serving Suggestions

See a few of our recipes below.

  • Our Italian sausage recipe is perfect for cooking sausage and peppers!
  • Pass on the breakfast sausage and eat this.
  • Use it on pizza.
  • Freeze it in 1-pound bulk packages and use it in endless recipes.

Tips

  • You can use preground pork instead of grinding your own.
  • You can adjust the heat in the recipe by just cutting down on the amount of crushed red pepper. In our opinion, this Italian sausage recipe has just the right amount of heat. But we understand everyone has their own preferred taste and opinion.
  • Be sure to chill the equipment as well as the pork.
  • Prepare your casings as directed per package instructions.
  • You can make sausage patties, Italian sausage links, or bulk sausage by the pound.
  • Do not overcook the sausage, it will dry out. Use a digital thermometer to cook it 160 degrees F.

FAQs

Fennel Sausage vs Italian Sausage

Fennel sausages are simply sausages made with fennel. Most “Italian sausage” sold in the US contains fennel. Authentic Italian sausage may or may not contain fennel sausage. This is also determined by family preference.

What to do if the casing breaks?

This can happen and is frustrating but is easily fixed. Cut the broken casing off and squeeze the fennel sausage back into the hopper. Pull the casing a few inches off the funnel and tie another knot. Just try again basically.

Storing

This Italian sausage will not last as long in the refrigerator as prepackaged sausage due to no fillers. Store only the amount you will use in the next 1-2 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Otherwise, be sure to freeze the remaining sausage.

Freezing

Freeze the sausage wrapped in freezer paper for up to 3 months. We use our vacuum sealer for this process.

Recipes that Homemade Italian Sausage

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Cooked Italian sausage ring on a wooden cutting board.

Italian Sausage Recipe

Making homemade Italian sausage is easier than you think! Way better than anything store-bought and you control the ingredients. No fillers!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dinner, Grilling, Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 2 hours
Servings: 32
Calories: 163kcal
Author: Leigh Harris

Equipment

  • Meat grinder
  • Sausage stuffer

Ingredients
 

  • 8 lbs Pork butt
  • 6 Tbsp Whole fennel seeds
  • 2 Tbsp Crushed red pepper (or less )
  • 2 tsp Dry rubbed sage
  • 1 Tbsp Fresh ground pepper
  • 1 Tbsp Seasoning salt
  • 4 Tbsp Fresh ground fennel
  • 3/4 cup Fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp Kosher salt + 1 teaspooon
  • 6 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup Dry red wine
  • Sausage casings

Instructions

  • Cut the pork butt up into strips, leaving all the fat attached. Remove any sinew and throw away. Place the pork and sausage making equipment in the freezer. You want the meat to be firm but not frozen solid.
  • Prepare the whole fennel, crushed red pepper, dry rubbed sage, ground black pepper, seasoning salt, ground fennel, chopped parsley, kosher salt, garlic, and red wine. Set aside.
  • Prepare the casings. Run some water over and through the casings to remove any residual salt, then place them in a bowl of water while you get everything else set up. 
  • Remove the meat grinder equipment from the freezer and assemble.
  • Grind the partially frozen pork using the small holed plate onto a large sheet pan.
  • Sprinkle each spice evenly over the ground pork. Mix thoroughly with your hands until combined. Take a sample of the meat and cook it in a small skillet until browned. Taste test to make sure the flavor is right. Add seasonings if desired.
    (Place the remaining sausage in the freezer of the refrigerator to stay cold while you load the pre-tubed casings on to your sausage stuffing tube.)
  • Once you are happy with the taste of the sausage load the hopper with some meat and pump some through to remove any air. Attach a casing to the end of the nozzle and tie off the end.
  • Now start pumping meat into the casing, being careful to not let any air get into the casing.
  • Form the link to your desired length. Stop filling the casing with about 3” to spare at the end. Tie off the end. Repeat this step until all the meat has been stuffed into casings. At this point wrap and freeze in portions you desire.

To Cook The Italian Sausage

  • Place a skillet large enough to hold the size you made over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
  • Cook covered for about 15 minutes. Remove the lid and cook uncovered for 5-10 minutes more or until 165 degrees F.

Notes

Nutrition is calculated on 1/4lb serving size.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25lb | Calories: 163kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 521mg | Potassium: 438mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 267IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 2mg

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