What Is Pork sausage meat and How Can I Use It?

Pork sausage meat is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 16 recipes to get you started.

Key Points

Loose casing-free pork sausage, seasoned with sage and pepper, for breakfast patties, stuffings, and meatballs.
It is simply pork-specific sausage meat, so fat ratios, the 160°F (71°C) cook target, and storage match that page.
Keep it cold and mix lightly; overworked warm pork sausage turns dense and greasy.

What is pork sausage meat?

Pork sausage meat is loose, casing-free pork sausage: ground pork blended with fat and salt, then seasoned with sage and pepper plus sometimes a little nutmeg or fennel. It is the classic breakfast-and-stuffing meat, sold by the pound for crumbling and shaping.

Because it spells out the pork, this is the meat you reach for in British and holiday cooking: stuffings, meatballs in Meatball Bake, breakfast patties, and pastry fillings like Sausage & Mushroom Phyllo Twists. It also browns into a quick base for Sausage Pizza Sauce.

This is simply pork-specific sausage meat. For fat ratios, the 160°F (71°C) cooking target, plus swaps and how long it keeps, see the fuller sausage meat page.

Working With It

Keep it cold and handle it lightly. Warm, overworked pork sausage turns dense and greasy, so mix patties and meatballs just until they hold together.

Watch the salt in the dish. Pork sausage meat is seasoned to eat on its own, so taste before adding more, especially in stuffings that reduce and concentrate.