4 Herb Chicken Sausage
This 4 herb chicken sausage recipe offers a delightful and healthy alternative to traditional pork sausages. Combining ground chicken with a medley of fresh herbs such as parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, along with a mix of garlic, paprika, and a hint of heat from red pepper flakes, these sausages are packed with flavor. Not only are they easy to prepare, but they also provide a versatile option for various meals, from a hearty breakfast to a comforting dinner. The recipe guides you through mixing, forming, and cooking the sausages to perfection, ensuring a delicious outcome that can be enjoyed with a variety of sides or incorporated into different dishes. Whether you're looking for a healthier sausage option or just want to try something new, this chicken sausage with herbs recipe is sure to impress.
Equipment
- Meat Grinder Use a 6mm meadium plate
- Stand mixer Use a paddle
- Meat stuffer Use the appropriate horn for the casing diamter you re using.
- Hog Casing You can use any casing you prefer. If you are making breakfast links, you can use a 20mm sheep casing. I prefer a 40mm hog casing because I prefer a thicker sausage.
Ingredients
Meat
- 800 gr Chicken thighs (bone in skin on) The perfect ratio of meat to fat would be about 80/20. If you want to use bonless and skinless chicken, you can make up the 20% fat by using beef or pork fat).
- 200 gr Chicken breast (bone in skin on)
Herbs
- 30 gr Fresh Parsley 10 sprigs
- 12 gr Fresh Sage 12 sprigs
- 4 gr Fresh Rosemary 4 sprigs
- 4 gr Fresh Thyme 12 sprigs
- 2 cloves Garlic
Dry ingredients
- 2 gr Paprika
- 10 gr Salt
- 3 gr Black Pepper
- 1 gr Red pepepr
- 50 ml White wine
Instructions
Meat Preparation
- Remove the skin and set aside and then debone and discard the bones
- Place the meat in the frezer for 30 min. The meat should partially frozen during the grinder process because we want to avoind smering the fat.
- Place all the meat grinder elements (that come to contact with the meat) in the freezer
- If using natural casings, rinse under running waater (to remove the salt) and ten soak them in warm water for at least 30 minutes to an hour to make them pliable and easier to work with.
Meat grinding
- Remove the meat from the freezer and grind. After grinding, place the meat back in the freezer for 10 min
Mixing
- In the stand mixer at low speed, combine the ground chicken, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, garlic, paprika, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Mix thoroughly and during the mixing, add the wine.
Stuffing
- Slide the end of the casing over the nozzle of the meat stuffer. Gently push the entire length of the casing onto the nozzle, leaving a small overhang at the end.
- ill the meat stuffer with your prepared sausage mixture. Ensure there are no air pockets within the meat in the stuffer.
- Start cranking the stuffer slowly, allowing the meat to fill the casing. Use your free hand to control the flow of the sausage mixture into the casing. It's essential not to overfill the casing; the sausage should be firm but not overly tight, as overstuffing can cause the casings to burst during cooking.
- Once you have a desired length of sausage, you can twist the casing to segment the sausage into links. Alternate the direction of your twist with each link (first link twist right, second link twist left, and so on) to prevent unraveling.
- Once you’ve used up all the mixture or the casing, tie off the end of the casing. If you have a long string of sausages, you can now cut between the links, or you can leave them connected in a chain.
- If you notice any air pockets, prick them with a clean pin or needle.
Finishing
- Place the sausages in the refirgerator unconvered overnight so the can dry up a bit in order to have a good snap while eating. You can skip this step and cook them right away but the bite will not have that snap we are use to when eating a sausage.
Sous Vide (optional for larger casing and not necessary for sheep casing since they're only about 20mm)
- Place the sausage in a vacuum (or ziplock) bag and place in the water bath set to 75C. Cook the sausage for about 1 hour.
Cook
- Since the sausage has already been cooked, using a farily high temperature, cook the sausage to get a nice color on the outside and this can be done both on the grill or in a skillet.