Turkey Breakfast Sausage – Mouthwatering homemade breakfast treat boasting the perfect balance of spices. You’ll love this hearty low-carb meal that makes every bite feel like a holiday. It’s a super fast and easy recipe that completes delicious, stress-free mornings!
My son is becoming a picky eater, especially at breakfast. 🤦🏾♀️ Being a mom of a teenager is challenging, but fortunately, I love challenges! And it was a major win when he gobbled down my homemade turkey breakfast sausages in seconds.
As he finished off the last one, he said, “That was so delicious, mom!” So worth it! ❤️ Mission accomplished, my friend!
Why Make Your Own Turkey Breakfast Sausage?
Breakfast sausage is made from freshly ground meat without going through the traditional curing process. And turkey sausage for breakfast is a lighter twist on the classic pork breakfast sausage. But making your own means you can customize the seasonings and salt content with no added fillers, preservatives, or anything in between. Win-win!
Recipe Ingredients
- Seasonings – Savory flavors from garlic, sage, thyme, salt, pepper, and cayenne provide the classic breakfast sausage taste. But feel free to swap herbs and spices to suit your preference.
- Ground Turkey – Leaner than pork, turkey makes it a lower-fat choice. Ground chicken also works great.
- Honey – A natural source of sweetness from our friendly bees does impressive things. It acts as a preservative and meat tenderizer, besides adding a touch of sweetness to balance the spices.
How to Make Turkey Breakfast Sausage
Make the Patties
- Dry Ingredients – Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl or plate. (Photo 1)
- Combine – Place ground turkey in a large bowl, then add the blend of spices to the bowl of ground turkey. (Photo 2)
- Mix well with your hands, and then add the honey and continue mixing until thoroughly combined. (Photos 3-4)
- Shape into patties, about 8 patties.
- Chill – Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour but preferably overnight. Then the patties will absorb the spices’ flavor.
Cook the Turkey Sausage Patties
- Fry – Heat oil or butter in a large cast iron skillet, then add the patties. Fry for approximately four minutes per side or until no longer pink in the middle. Be careful not to overcook them.
- Drain – Place the patties on a paper-towel-lined plate to drain any excess oil.
Recipe Variations
- Italian Style – Try an Italian take on this breakfast sausage by adding a teaspoon of oregano and drizzling a bit of olive oil into the meat mixture. You’ll smell the difference as you fry.
- Smokey Honey-Cured Effect – Replace the cayenne with smoked paprika and brush your finished turkey sausage with a little extra honey before serving. Kids will love the slight sweetness!
- Cajun Version – Add a teaspoon of Creole seasoning to kick up a notch the savory, complex flavor.
- Cheesy Breakfast Sausage – Add a ¼ cup of shredded, melty cheese to the mix if you want to make it fancy and extra delicious.
Tips and Tricks
- You can wrap the meat mixture with foil, form a log, and partially freeze it. When it’s firm but not frozen solid, slice it into patties.
- An instant-read thermometer will help avoid overcooking the sausage patties. The middle should read at least 165℉/74℃.
- Instead of frying, you can grill the turkey patties to enjoy juicier meat with a smoky flavor.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Grab-and-go breakfasts are a lifesaver. Fry up enough patties for a day or two, bake some homemade biscuits, and have breakfast ready for two or three days.
Make a big batch and freeze it! My Aunt used to place two squares of wax paper between each patty so she could pop out just what she needed the next morning. Wrap your layered patties in plastic wrap or store them in a gallon-size freezer bag. They’ll last that way for three months.
Thaw the sausage patties overnight in the fridge, and fry them up in the morning. Yum!
Serving and Storage Instructions
While breakfast sausage is best hot off the stove, they’re also great on the go. Slice open a biscuit, insert a patty, wrap it up, and take off. Zapping it for a minute in the microwave is optional.
Keep the leftovers in an airtight container or freezer-safe resealable bags. They’ll stay fresh in the fridge for four days or two months in the freezer.
Zap these babies in a microwave or fry them again in a pan.
FAQs
Generally, turkey is leaner than pork, meaning it has more protein and less fat and calories. Turkey has a mild taste but still has that turkey taste. The rest of the ingredients are similar.
Since turkey meat is quite lean, adding a bit of fat or oil to the mixture helps. Being careful not to overcook it is especially important for turkey.
You’ll know it’s done if the color turns brown and it’s firm to the touch. The most accurate way is using a meat thermometer; it should read 165℉/74℃.
What to Serve with Turkey Breakfast Sausage
More Hearty Turkey Recipes to Try
Conclusion
This homemade turkey breakfast sausage recipe is perfectly spiced and a delicious kickstart to your day. Would you like to watch more videos on how to make your favorite recipe? Subscribe to my YouTube channel and watch them all.😍
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in June 2020 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Breakfast Turkey Sausage
Ingredients
- ¾-1 teaspoon (3.75-5g) salt
- 1½ teaspoon (3g) black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sage
- 1 teaspoon (5g) garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon (0.80g) fresh thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried thyme)
- ¼ teaspoon (0.5g) cayenne pepper
- 1 pound (450g) ground turkey
- ½-1 tablespoon (9-18g) honey
Instructions
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl or plate.
- Place ground turkey in a large bowl, then add the blend of spices to the bowl of ground turkey.
- Mix well with your hands, add honey and continue until thoroughly combined. Shape into patties (about eight patties).
- Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or preferably overnight for the patty to absorb all the spice flavors.
- Heat oil or butter in a large cast-iron skillet, then add the patties. Fry for about 4 minutes per side or until no longer pink in the middle. Do not overcook the patty.
- Place patties on a paper towel-lined plate to drain any excess oil.
Tips & Notes:
- You can wrap the meat mixture with foil, form a log, and partially freeze it. When it’s firm but not frozen solid, slice it into patties.
- An instant-read thermometer will help avoid overcooking the sausage patties. The middle should read at least 165℉/74℃.
- Instead of frying, you can grill the turkey patties to enjoy juicier meat with a smoky flavor.
- You can make a big batch and freeze it. Wrap each patty in plastic wrap, then place in a zip lock bag or resealable freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Please remember that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
dee Dee says
Hi Imma, love your site have been with u for awhile. I failed with this recipe of turkey sausage. the taste is great, but they broke apart! followed your recipe, we still ate them, but crumbled. what do u think went wrong. There was a lot of liquid in pan, so they ended up boiled? but yours look so toasty brown
Imma says
Hi Dee Dee, I am sorry to hear your patties fell apart. This could happen sometimes if the patties are not properly chilled. I hope they turn out better next time :)!
Rose says
Thank you for this tasty and easy recipe! I used maple syrup instead of honey and the mixture was a bit loose, so I added dry oats to bind it. Then I put them in my air fryer for about 12 minutes. I will be adding this to my breakfast rotation.
Imma says
Great! Thanks for sharing your tips, Rose!
Janet296 says
I’ve been wanting to make something that replicates breakfast sausage taste. I am going to try this
Imma says
Awesome!!! Can’t wait to know how it turns out for you.
Cathy S says
Not a review I haven’t made these – if you freeze them how do you reheat them?
Imma says
You can thaw them overnight in the fridge, then reheat them in a skillet, oven or microwave. Super easy.
Heather P says
Can you use anything in place of the honey? My husband is allergic to bees and doesn’t like the taste of honey.
Imma says
Hmm, you can use brown sugar as well that a good substitute for Honey. Don’t forget to share how it turns out with brown sugar. Thank you!
Jaime says
I have a similar recipe I developed for my partner, who cannot eat pork. I use maple syrup as a sweetener/binder… the darker and more concentrated the syrup the better.
Imma says
Amazing!!!!! That looks absolutely delicious!! Glad you loved it. Looking forward to you trying more of my recipes.
Ron B says
I found out that one of my cayenne pepper is not as strong as the other bottle I have. The one with the metal lid.
Amina says
Thank you for trying out. Good to hear that you find your preferred one.
Carolyn says
This recipe turned out better than expected.
Amina says
YES! Thanks so much, Carolyn. Try more recipes for more good taste in your life.
Rich S. says
Fantastic recipe. Made it twice now, the addition of a little celery seed, or substituting celery salt for the regular salt, provides a nice boost in flavour too. But as is, it’s really really good. Thank you!
imma africanbites says
Thank you, Rich, for taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate it. I’ll have to try those additions some other time.
K Neeley says
How do you end up with negative sugar and sodium when you have honey and salt in the recipe?
imma africanbites says
Hi. Thank you for bringing it up. It was probably just a glitch in the recipe card tool. It’s already been updated though. Please keep in mind though that the nutritional information shown in the recipe card is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Mr G says
Loved the basic recipe. I do not put salt in any of my recipes , so I tweeked it a bit ( left out the salt and added a bit more sage and garlic….The sausage was great for me , but a little spicy for my partner. So ,next try will be without the cayenne pepper… 1/20/2022
imma africanbites says
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Yes, you may adjust or leave out the cayenne pepper depending on your preference.
Gary Janssen says
Simple to make and very tasty. A couple things I found: the honey will quickly produce a char if the pan is too hot, and check doneness often so they are not overcooked. I’ll make these again!
Thomas Lynch says
Great, love it. Thanks
Akua Marfo says
Living in the UK, I can’t get Jimmy Dean sausage. This is the next best and healthiest thing!! Love it! Give it a try! So delicious and simple to make!
Imma Adamu says
Thank you for the feedback!
Mary says
tried this recipe and used freshly ground chicken instead of turkey and they turned out delicious! the patties came out moist and very flavorful. husband loved them and made a second batch already. 🙂
Patty Morris says
Can you use groun chicken instead of turkey?
imma africanbites says
Yes, you can use lean ground chicken.