Making your own breakfast sausage has never been easier with my hearty homemade deer sausage recipe paired with my wife's sweet & golden-brown French toast for breakfast? Yes, please!
When it comes to making homemade deer sausage, most people are either in the sausage patty or sausage link camp. I love them both. I love the snap of a good sausage link and the versatility of a sausage patty. However, when it comes to making deer sausage from scratch, there is no question: sausage patties are easier to make at home than sausage links. So let’s learn how to make some sausage patties, shall we?
How to Turn Ground Venison Into Breakfast Sausage
Making your own breakfast sausage with some deer trim and pork is pretty simple. Follow these simple steps and learn how to make your own breakfast deer sausage:
1. Chop up the deer trim and pork shoulder into chunks that will fit easily into your meat grinder.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix 1 ½ pounds of cubed boneless deer trim and 3 ½ pounds of cubed boneless pork shoulder with all of the seasonings listed below.
3. Place the meat in the freezer for about an hour or so until the meat is very cold and between 28 and 35 degrees F. I also place the meat grinder parts in the freezer to get them nice and cold as well.
4. Once you are ready to grind the deer trim and pork, feed the seasoned meat through the meat grinder using the coarse grind plate (10mm), then again using the fine grind plate (4.5mm).
5. Shape the meat into forty 2-ounce balls and then gently press using the palms of your hands. Don’t press them all the way or they will break and crack. Shape all the meat into 40 patties (8 patties per pound) by gently pressing at the center and working from the center out, turning the patties around in your hand as you shape them until they are uniform. Make them about ½-inch thick. This is the ideal thickness so they cook through relatively quickly and evenly while the surface gets a nice golden brown.
6. These deer sausage patties will shrink when cooked and can turn into rounded pucks. To prevent this, you want the patty to be slightly thinner in the middle than it is around the edges. Slightly depress the center of the patty and push a little extra meat towards the edges. This will give you an even patty once it is cooked.
Cooking Deer Sausage Patties
When cooking these deer sausage patties, do not press the patties into the pan. This will press out the juices and fat and result in dry sausage patties. I know it’s tempting but just leave the patties alone to brown.
Now you are ready to serve your patties with French toast or pancakes!
I like to make this 5-pound deer sausage recipe and freeze some of the raw deer sausage patties in a vacuum seal bag, but also cook a few patties and freeze them for an easy breakfast for my wife and daughter in the future.
How to Freeze Cooked Deer Sausage Patties
If you want to freeze some cooked deer sausage patties, place the cooked patties in a single layer on a sheet pan and stick them in the freezer. Then transfer frozen patties to a resealable bag. When breakfast time rolls around, my wife and 9-year-old daughter can pop them in the microwave for 2 minutes or until heated through.
My Wife's French Toast
There is nothing I hate more than ordering French toast at a cafe, biting into it, and tasting cooked egg on the edges. The only French toast I like is my wife's. I cook 99% of the meals in our house, but my wife is always in charge of Sunday morning pancakes or French toast. They always have a perfectly cooked center that is soft like a pillowy cloud. The rich, custard flavor is too tempting for me not to have 3 or 4 slices with an obscene amount of butter and syrup to go along with a few deer sausage patties.
Whether you hunt deer, antelope, waterfowl, small game, or wild hogs, you have what it takes in your freezer to make this homemade deer sausage recipe. And you can use deer sausage in all kinds of breakfast recipes like my Breakfast Strata and Deer Sausage and Cheese Crescent Roll Ring.
More Deer Sausage Recipes
If you are looking for deer sausage recipes to use for the holiday season, be sure and check out my Deer Sausage Balls Recipe and my Deer Sausage, Cranberry, and Cream Cheese Bites.
Come Deer Hunting in North Dakota
If you are headed our way for North Dakota deer season, check out the North Dakota Game & Fish Department website. And if you want me to come along with you as your camp cook, photographer, or butcher, you can find out more details here.
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The Best Breakfast Deer Sausage Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 ½ pounds ground pork
- 1 ½ pounds ground venison
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well, using your hands, but do not overwork the meat mixture.
- Form patties from heaping ¼ cups of the mixture, about ⅓-inch thick.
- Refrigerate and use within 1 week or freeze for up to 6 months.
- For immediate use, sauté patties over medium-low heat in a non-stick pan. Cook the sausage patties until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F using an instant-read meat thermometer, about 4 minutes per side.
- Serve with French toast or pancakes.
Susan says
I changed the black pepper to white pepper since I can’t eat black pepper. I love this recipe. I’m a picky breakfast sausage person. It is perfect.
Jeff Benda says
Thanks Susan. So glad you liked it. And I'm a big fan of white pepper too!
Whanely Dumas says
I think it looks amazing! I can't wait to make this!
Jeff Benda says
Thanks Whanely. I hope you enjoy it.