Homemade Hot Italian Sausage Recipe

There’s obviously an array of different sausages made in Italy. However, this recipe is specific to the most popular in America. You know, the kind that you find with the Brats and other ground sausage in your local grocery store. Which might make you wonder why I’m writing this post at all. Why would I be making my own Homemade Hot Italian Sausage Recipe when I could buy it at the store?

The first and original reason is surprisingly simple. The two closest grocery stores to me NEVER have Hot Italian Sausage! The second reason wasn’t so simple to figure out…allow me to explain.

Why I make Homemade Sausage?

You see, the possibilities are endless for Italian Sausage. The flavor is different than any other and the texture that it brings definitely makes it a stand out ingredient. I personally use Italian sausage in many recipes like soups, chili, meatballs, sandwiches, etc.

However, until I started making Hot Italian Sausage out of necessity, I didn’t realize that it isn’t all created equally. By making my own sausage I was able to control the heat, the spices, and use the meats I preferred. Which, in turn, provided this amazing homemade hot Italian sausage recipe.

This particular recipe is for ground sausage. Which, is the exact same filling for linked sausage. You’ll just want to stuff this into casings using a sausage stuffer or similar Kitchen Aid attachment.

Freezability is yet another great perk to making this recipe. This will make about 10 lbs of Hot Italian Sausage. I personally love that because I use my Foodsaver vacuum sealer and portion the sausage into 1lb bags. This way I can pull a bag or two out depending on what I’m making. It’s as simple as that!

Lets Get To Cookin’

There is one very important thing that I want to mention before moving forward. It’s important to keep your sausage cold throughout this entire process. I simply put some ice cubes in a larger bowl that the one I have my meat in. I then place the bowl of meat in the bowl of ice to keep everything chilled through this process. This way the fat doesn’t become too warm while you’re working on it and begin to melt. We need all that we can get to keep the sausage from being dry.

First, cut the pork shoulder into strips making it easier to work with when you begin to grind it up. Now place the strips into freezer bags and pop those bad boys in the freezer for about an hour. Like I said before, keeping them cold is essential. So by putting them in the freezer you will have longer to work with them. This also helps get a better texture when grinding the meat.

Next, using a stand mixer and meat grinding attachment, grind the meat into a large bowl.

Once you have ground up all of the pork, add the Veal and seasoning mixture to the same bowl. Using a mixing paddle for the stand mixer, mix on low to fully combine.

Lastly, add water and wine to the the well mixed and seasoned pork and veal. Using the same paddle attachment as before, mix on low for 2 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the mixer. At this point you can portion this out into freezer bags using a vacuum sealer. Alternatively, you can also cover the bowl and put in the fridge. Just be sure to use or freeze after within a couple days.

In Conclusion

If you also, have a hard time finding Hot Italian Sausage or just want something with A LOT more flavor, this is the recipe for you!

I look forward to hearing how you all like the recipe and if there are any changes you made.

Thank you and happy cooking,

-Jeremy