Italian Chicken Sausage Recipe Faqs
Can I make this with ground turkey, ground beef or ground pork?
You can make this sausage with any ground meat that you like, however, my recommendations are for either pork, chicken, or turkey for a more authentic sausage flavor. The directions for each will be the same.
Is this considered Sweet Italian Sausage?
This recipe is considered the Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage vs. the Hot variety. It is called sweet to differentiate it, but it really just means mild, not sweet. Hot Italian Sausage will have lot of red pepper flakes to give it the spicy flavor.
Is this Chicken Sausage Gluten Free?
This Ground Italian Chicken Sausage recipe is gluten free.
Creamy Italian Chicken Sausage Penne Skillet
We are on the final countdown to our move! Saturday we met with our new landlord, walked through the new casa and finalized the new paperwork. Wow, thats a lot of new newness And we are so damn excited about it!
Its a bigger, better space for less money plus the guy we are renting from is super nice and Paul has known him for years. We have struggled for months with each other emotionally, with everyone else financially, and just physically in the limited space we have. This is the opportunity we need to take our next step.
End emotional rant, insert delicious food.
So this skillet came about last week while I was prepping for my TV segments. I was super rushed on time and needed to get dinner made fast. We are big fans of sweet Italian chicken sausage and I had leftover jarred sauce from my Spicy Italian Sausage Crostini.
But we didnt want a basic red sauce so in went sweet onions, a ton of fresh garlic and heavy cream. Yes, heavy cream it really adds creaminess. *eye roll* And reminds me of the lasagna we get at our fave local Italian place where they smother everything in a rich béchamel that is divine.
Topping this Creamy Italian Chicken Sausage Penne Skillet with a fancy shmancy Italian cheese blend and fresh basil from the farmers market completed the dish. Needless to say this skillet meal was a hit with the casa crew.
If you actually read this post please comment below just for the hell of it!
Enjoy~
Loriann
Time Saving Prep Steps For Ground Italian Chicken Sausage
We are all extremely busy and making dinner during the week can be overwhelming. Here are steps you can prepare ahead to save time on busy nights!
There really is not much to prep, so if you really want to get ahead, I suggest doubling or tripling this recipe and then portioning it out and freezing it for 3-6 meals! To freeze it, just place it into a freezer bag or container and smush it down as flat as you can. This will make it easier to store and to thaw later.
You can store it in the fridge for up to 4 days raw and up to 5 days once cooked.
You can store it in the freezer raw for up to 5 months and cooked up to 3 months.
To prepare the ground italian chicken, simply place all of the ingredients into a bowl . Then mix to combine. Thats it!
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Avoiding Cross Contamination In The Kitchen
The biggest hassle of making this sausage is cleaning the food processor once youre done! I make a big batch of this and freeze it in smaller packages, so I dont have to clean the food processor as often. To make sure its washed thoroughly, I follow these steps:
This might seem a bit excessive, but its much more convenient than ending up with food poisoning or salmonella.
Equipment Requirements And Options
To make this sausage, you will need a meat grinder and a sausage stuffer. Most of us have meat grinders and those who make sausages have sausage stuffers. I’ve been using a LEM meat grinder for many years and love it. It’s built like a tank. I also have a 5lb sausage stuffer and a 20lb motorized LEM sausage stuffer. I highly recommend them. A 5lb sausage stuffer is all most of us will ever need for home sausage making.
If you don’t have a sausage stuffer you can still enjoy this chicken sausage. Just make patties and fry them in a 50/50 mix of cooking oil and butter over medium to medium-high heat. The fresh sausage mix will be quite soft and sticky so make sure to wet your hands before shaping the patties. You can also omit the chicken broth to make the mix less soft. This can also be accomplished by refrigerating the sausage mix for a few hours. During refrigeration, the meat mix will absorb the liquid and become stiffer and easier to shape.
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Italian Chicken Sausage Skillet Recipe With Rice
Robin Gagnon | 01/29/2022
This Cheesy Italian Chicken Sausage Skillet with Italian veggies and rice is ready in just 20 minutes! It’s a hearty balanced family dinner featuring sausage from our sponsor Al Fresco. This Italian chicken sausage recipe makes an easy meal, you can feel proud to serve and your whole family will love.
The flavorful chicken sausage dinner is packed with lean protein and plenty of Italian vegetables for a nutritious dinner choice. While I used regular instant rice in the recipe, you can easily swap in the brown rice version if you prefer.
Eat Smart With Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage Links From Premio Foods
A juicy, savory Italian sausage sure would hit the spot, but youre worried about staying healthy and avoiding too much fat. Relax you dont have to give up your favorite food. Instead, you can enjoy sweet Italian chicken sausages from Premio Foods. Our chicken sausage has 60 percent less fat than USDA regulations for pork sausage, which means you can indulge without the guilt.
We make our chicken sausage with only fresh ingredients and skip the artificial flavors and added MSG that weighs down other sausages.
Our chicken sausage is just as tasty as sausage made from pork or other meat. We use butcher-quality cuts of meat to ensure you get the most delicious sausage, every single time. We perfected a blend of spices and seasonings that give the chicken its sweet yet zesty bite. Whether youre hosting a cookout and want to provide healthier choices for guests, or youre fixing a stir-fry loaded with veggies, our chicken sausage makes the perfect addition to any lunch or dinner.
We offer our healthy chicken sausage in a number of flavors, including:
Whichever you choose, youll get a sausage thats loaded with protein and flavor but not with fat. Keep the bounce in your step with Premio Foods!
Pick Premio Foods for the Best Sweet Italian-Flavored Chicken Sausage
Buy Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage Links and Patties for Your Family
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I Get This Question All The Time Where Can I Find Italian Chicken Or Turkey Sausage That Is Lower In Sodium
Turns out, its tricky. I am lucky enough to have a Wegmans near me, and their lean Italian Poultry Sausage happens to be lower in sodium than most brands at about 400mg per serving. Just as a reference, one teaspoon of salt contains 2,300 mg of sodium and we should all try to stick to that amount or less in a day.
If you dont have a Wegmans, you can try a butcher shop, or a Whole Foods they might also have some options for you.
I happen to love Italian Chicken Sausage and I use it in a TON of my recipes because it gives such yummy flavor without a lot of fat. I dont stress a ton about sodium in a lean, healthy chicken sausage because I dont eat a lot of packaged, processed food, so my sodium intake is already low. BUT, if you cant find a poultry sausage with 400mg or less of sodium, or if your body reacts poorly to sodium, you need another option!
So whats a FIXer to do?
If you cant find a lower sodium Italian Sausage, you can very easily just make your own!
Cooking Your Homemade Italian Sausage
Preheat a frying pan over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, then add the Italian Sausage Turkey mixture. Break apart the meat and let it sear.
Continue to break it up into bite-size pieces and let it brown on all sides. Cook until there is no pink color left in the meat and it is cooked through, about 8-10 minutes total cooking time.
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Clean Italian Chicken Sausage
Chicken italian sausage is a great way to boost the flavor of pasta sauces, soups, and PIZZA! The problem with store bought sausage is its full of ingredients I dont want in my body. In addition to being the dumping ground of unused meat parts, sausage also is full of preservatives, flavor enhancers, and tons of other additives to improve texture, taste, and lengthen its shelf life. Traditionally, sausages were encased in animal intestines. That doesnt gross me out nearly as much as knowing that today, many casings are actually made of plastic.
Thats not how I roll.
To be honest, I came up with this recipe out of necessity. Many of my homemade recipes were spawned out of necessity- living abroad in countries where the food was much different, and wanting to create familiar meals from back home. It seemed like a big hassle at first, but I am so glad I learned how easy, and how much better, the homemade versions are.
And as Ive gotten older , Ive started to pay a lot more attention to all those small ingredients listed after the chicken and spices. Here is the nutrition label for a popular brand of sausage in America. If you focus just on the calories, protein, and fat, it looks like it might be pretty healthy for you .
I certainly can live without well, all except the first ingredient. Where are the real food ingredients and spices? Artificial this and that, MSG and carmel coloring is listed twice!
Contents
The Best Meat For Homemade Chicken Sausage
My favorite method to get chicken meat for this sausage is to butcher whole chickens, which are less expensive than chicken parts and often go on sale, and use all of the harvested meat and skin. Obviously, you can’t get a lot of meat from the chicken wings so I save those for other recipes. I save all of the bones to make various delicious soups.
The other option is to buy bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and debone them. It will be more expensive to buy just chicken thighs but the ratio of meat and skin from chicken thighs is very good for this sausage. You can incorporate a chicken breast or two here, with skin, if desired.
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Is This Homemade Italian Chicken Sausage A Healthy Choice
Yes! This is a much healthier choice than many brands of Italian Poultry Sausage out there, especially those of you who cant find a lower sodium option at your store or butcher. You will reduce the sodium level by more than half by using this recipe and you will also be able to purchase a leaner cut of meat, as well.
Al Fresco Chicken Sausages
Al Fresco Natural Chicken Sausage is so much easier to prep than raw chicken and as it is already fully cooked. No more cutting boards covered in chicken slime… ick.
The sausages are all natural, antibiotic-free and gluten-free. They come is a large array of flavors to fit in all kinds of dishes.
Here are a few recipes I’ve made with them already:
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Cooking Homemade Chicken Sausage
As with any fresh sausage, it’s best cooked quickly over high heat to ensure optimal browning and juiciness. I like this sausage grilled or broiled. If you own an Air Fryer, get them air-fried. Air-fried chicken sausage is fantastic with minimum mess and effort. Pan-fried, similar to my favorite pan-fried brats, is also a great cooking option for this sausage.
How To Make The Sausage Skillet
The chicken sausage recipe is quick and easy to make. I’m going to walk you right through the preparation of the dish right here with pictures. Full printable recipe card can be found below.
Here are all the ingredients you will need to create the dish. Make sure you use a big skillet. This makes 6 hearty servings.
First make sure you have your chicken sausage and vegetables chopped when you start.
Then place the large skillet over medium high heat and pour in the olive oil. As soon as it is hot add sausage and bell peppers. Saute for 3 minutes.
I used yellow, orange and red peppers for lots of color. Feel free to just use red bell pepper if you prefer.
Now add the zucchini squash, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Mix and saute for another 3 minutes.
Add the mushrooms stir and cook for about a minute to coat and soften.
Dump in the instant rice, can of fire roasted diced tomatoes and chicken broth to the cooked sausage mixture.
Mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Now mix it about rds of the shredded cheddar cheese. Then sprinkle the rest over the top of the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes. Liquid should be absorbed and cheese melted at this point.
Remove the skillet from burner and allow the food to cool for a minute or two before serving.
To serve, top with grated Parmesan cheese, chopped fresh herbs and some crushed red pepper flakes if you like spicy.
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Easy Dinners To Use This Ground Italian Chicken Sausage In
There are so many options for using this homemade chicken sausage! Here are a few
Want more tips for making busy family dinners easier? Click here for my Free Printable 5 Simple Steps to Easy Family Dinners!
Quick note! This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if you purchase from them. This commission is what helps me keep this blog afloat :). I also share these links because I have used the products, genuinely love them, and want you to know exactly what I used.
Italian Chicken Sausage Pasta
Pasta, chicken sausage and peas all coated in a creamy, spicy sauce is what this Italian Chicken Sausage Pasta is all about! The best part is that it’s ready in under 25 minutes, and it’s still delicious the next day.
Besides my lentil bolognese, this chicken sausage pasta might be my favorite pasta recipe on my site.
You know I’m a huge fan of recipes that use sausage. There’s my one pot gnocchi with sausage, my spicy sausage potato soup and my chorizo sweet potato soup, all of which are reader favorites. Well, this pasta lightens it up just a bit by using chicken sausage — so good!
If you need a quick weeknight meal the whole family will love, this is it!
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