Maple Breakfast Sausage

By Samin Nosrat

Maple Breakfast Sausage
Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Amy Wilson.
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
5(331)
Notes
Read community notes

This classic recipe will come together in the time it takes to make a frittata or a stack of pancakes for brunch. You could also try frying the patties in a cast-iron pan alongside eggs in a hole. As the maple-and-sage-tinged fat renders out of the sausage, the bread will thirstily absorb it. You might even want to drizzle a tiny bit more syrup over the whole thing as you sit down to eat, so that each bite of sausage, bread and runny yolk has the perfect blend of savory and sweet. Be sure to use ground pork with enough fat or you'll end up with dry, flavorless hockey pucks. Twenty percent by weight is a good ratio, though 25 doesn’t hurt. If the ground pork available to you is too lean, ask the butcher to replace two ounces or so of the lean meat with ground pork belly or bacon. For variations on the sausage, check out these recipes for Italian fennel sausage and Nem Nuong, Vietnamese sausage.

Featured in: The Pleasures of Making Your Own Pork Patty

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 1teaspoon dried sage
  • 2teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1large pinch ground nutmeg
  • 1large pinch ground coriander
  • ¼teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1pound ground pork (20 to 25 percent fat by weight)
  • 1tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon maple syrup
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

330 calories; 26 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 19 grams protein; 283 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Finely crumble the sage into a large bowl. Add salt, black pepper, nutmeg, coriander and cayenne to the sage, and stir to combine. Add pork and syrup to the spice mixture.

  3. Step 3

    Using your hands, mix thoroughly for 1 full minute, until the pork begins to appear tacky and sticks to the palm of your hand.

  4. Step 4

    Heat a cast-iron pan over medium heat. Use a heaping tablespoon of pork mixture to make a small, thin sausage patty. Add a teaspoon or so of olive oil to the pan. and cook the patty for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Taste, and if needed, add salt or any other seasonings to the uncooked sausage mixture, and mix to combine.

  5. Step 5

    Divide and form the remaining sausage into 8 2½-inch patties, placing them on the prepared baking sheet as you go. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to come together. (Patties can be made ahead and covered and refrigerated or frozen at this point until ready to use.)

  6. Step 6

    To cook, wipe out cast-iron pan, and return it to medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. When it shimmers, add patties in a single layer, leaving space between them. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until browned on the surface and just cooked through.

  7. Step 7

    Drain sausages on paper towels. Serve hot.

Ratings

5 out of 5
331 user ratings
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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Matthew

Olive oil seems out of place. Extra-virgin is also low smoke point. How about just canola or peanut or better yet, bacon fat or lard? But the flavor of burnt olive oil is not compatible with the maple flavor.

cjhsa

There is an important miss here, IMO. Dry spices will not properly "activate" when mixed with just meat and fat. You need a little liquid. This could be just tablespoon of water or stock. Let the mixture sit for an hour before making the patties. It makes a world of difference.

VSB

Good Morning: A good recipe that goes into the repertoire, but with an extra tablespoon of maple syrup. That tiny sample patty is a brilliant idea, but when sticking to the recipe, no maple flavor at all. Added the extra tablespoon, and what a difference! My new favorite breakfast sausage recipe.

Cedarglen

Been making b'fast sausage for~7 yrs. Season is STILL a work-in-progress. Pattie only, links too much fuss. I use Pig Lard for extra fat. One of the few artificial things in kitchen is Crescent MAPLEINE flavoring, three DROPS per pound of meat. Even with the seasoning in-progress, this is better sausage than you can buy. I make 3# batches, shape and freeze portion sized packages. I grind my own meat.

mcg

You should heating oil to a shimmer, which shouldn't produce burnt olive oil. I use it all the time for sautéing without problem. Use canola or peanut for deep frying.

Manya

Having made a lot of sausage in my time, I second the addition of a little bit of liquid. This should be preferably ice water. It helps to disperse the spice and also creates a slightly emulsified texture to the meat which forms Superior patties.

Brenda Becker

How on earth am I to ascertain that the ground pork is 20-25% fat? I buy meat (hideously expensive meat) at Whole Foods for their promise of antibiotic-free and sustainably raised, but at least in Brooklyn, their staff knows absolutely nothing about the products they sell (although they will cheerfully make stuff up on the spot to be "helpful").

Joe Mattis

This recipe is delicious. I used ground instead of dried sage and substituted thyme for the coriander (I can't stand coriander/cilantro). Overall, one of the best breakfast sausage patties I've had.

hl

Mapleine is one "artificial" ingredient that I keep on hand, and that was a habit passed down from my wonderful mother whose Depression thrift didn't allow for "squandering" real maple syrup in recipes, when this flavoring was a really, really good substitute.

John Neill

Matthew my friend, the olive oil will not be burnt- so don’t worry ( you’re not deep frying either so the “ high temperature “ called for is not a negative.) NO “burned” oil would be “ compatable” with maple! The recipe is accurate. Happy New Year!

betteirene

I used this recipe once (minus the maple syrup) and the Italian version once to make this casserole. Both versions were luscious and sweet and I'll be making it a lot this winter. I ground my own pork because I got a new toy for the KitchenAid. Had a hard time finding a fatty enough pork shoulder, but it ended up being perfect for this. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1881-sausage-and-cabbage?action=clic...

Matt K

I tried this recipe with turkey sausage as a substitute for pork. Kind of sacrilege and definitely not as delicious but it elevated an otherwise very mediocre low-fat alternative to something very edible and even tasty.

Kerry Montgomery

I am a salt person but this is way too much salt. I would cut it in half.

betteirene

I used this recipe once (minus the maple syrup) and the Italian version once to make this casserole. Both versions were luscious and sweet and I'll be making it a lot this winter. I ground my own pork because I got a new toy for the KitchenAid. Had a hard time finding a fatty enough pork shoulder, but it ended up being perfect for this. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1881-sausage-and-cabbage?action=clic...

Hayford Peirce

I had 1 ounce of ground beef and 1 of ground pork left over from a meatball recipe. I used all of the seasonings listed here except the maple syrup, using my cooking experience to guess at how much of each to use, then mixed everything together to form a small patty of a little over 2 ounces. Refrigerated overnight, then fried over medium heat in a little butter this morning. Delicious! I am going to get a pound of FATTY ground pork and make the full recipe, using these proportions.

Mila's hints

Add pork lard to mixture Use fresh herbs or hydrate & soak dry herbs Sweetener: try date paste?

Gary

I tried this recipe, seeking remembered flavors of homemade 'country sausage' from my youth. I omitted the Cayenne pepper to suit my wife...BIG mistake. Also, I added 6 slices of finely minced, thick-cut, uncured smoked bacon to the mixture, but it overwhelmed the sage. The result was rather bland, but good enough for yet another iteration (I'm thinking of omitting the syrup, adding ground fennel seed and more sage and fat--but not bacon--next time.)

Kam

Made first per recipe. Way too sweet, cut maple syrup in half, also added more spices the second time - esp cayenne pepper. Much better and the cayenne off set the sweetness. For us, now a 5.

Kam

I found that when i froze the patties and ate them the next day, the spice flavor was even more delicious. Looking forward to making them again.

Shef

This was perfect. I'm making my own sausage from now on. I ground my own pork, but you wouldn't need to if it weren't 50 degrees below zero & you couldn't get to the market with the good ground pork. Spice mixture was vibrant. I may have had a heavier hand with a few of them, cayenne, nutmeg etc. But really thank you. I will use this from now on & always have a few patties in the freezer for a special breakfast treat.

Ryan

Really good recipe. I agree with the previous comments on adding just a big more maple syrup. I used a mixture of 3 pounds of pork and one pound of bacon to raise the fat and flavor. Ground it with the meat grinder attachment on my stand mixer. Absolutely fantastic.

Kerry Montgomery

I am a salt person but this is way too much salt. I would cut it in half.

Ruth Anne

I've made this twice so far, exactly as written. Easy and delicious. I see a note from VSB that adding another tablespoon of maple syrup is an improvement, and I'll try that next time, just because we love maple syrup at our house (well, doesn't everybody?).

Brenda Becker

How on earth am I to ascertain that the ground pork is 20-25% fat? I buy meat (hideously expensive meat) at Whole Foods for their promise of antibiotic-free and sustainably raised, but at least in Brooklyn, their staff knows absolutely nothing about the products they sell (although they will cheerfully make stuff up on the spot to be "helpful").

AJ Bailey

Hahahaha

stephanie

it should say on the label. (or, if you are getting it from a guy working the meat counter, it will be labeled in the case.) yes, including at whole foods. same as how ground beef is offered in 90/10, 85/15, 80/20, etc.

Brenda Becker

Oh my, I must make this and add a touch of an amazing product I just bought: a tiny, pricey jar of SMOKED maple syrup. It's amazing stuff.

smoked maple syrup?

Where do you buy smoked maple syrup?

Matt K

I tried this recipe with turkey sausage as a substitute for pork. Kind of sacrilege and definitely not as delicious but it elevated an otherwise very mediocre low-fat alternative to something very edible and even tasty.

Joe Mattis

This recipe is delicious. I used ground instead of dried sage and substituted thyme for the coriander (I can't stand coriander/cilantro). Overall, one of the best breakfast sausage patties I've had.

Barbara Tatro

I was thinking the same thing. I'm glad you confirmed the thyme. Thanks.

cjhsa

There is an important miss here, IMO. Dry spices will not properly "activate" when mixed with just meat and fat. You need a little liquid. This could be just tablespoon of water or stock. Let the mixture sit for an hour before making the patties. It makes a world of difference.

Manya

Having made a lot of sausage in my time, I second the addition of a little bit of liquid. This should be preferably ice water. It helps to disperse the spice and also creates a slightly emulsified texture to the meat which forms Superior patties.

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