Breakfast Sausage Seasoning
A homemade breakfast sausage seasoning built on sage, marjoram, and fennel — the combination that produces butcher-shop flavor instead of bland packaged sausage. Mix into ground pork or scale down for turkey.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup brown sugar just a touch of balance, not sweet
- 3 Tbsp salt
- 2 Tbsp rubbed sage
- 1 Tbsp dried marjoram
- 1 Tbsp fennel seeds lightly crushed
- 1 Tbsp black pepper
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Lightly crush the fennel seeds (mortar & pestle or back of a spoon).
- Combine all ingredients and mix well.
- Break up any brown sugar clumps.
- Store in a sealed pint jar.
🥄 To Use (for 1.5 lbs ground pork)
- Use 2 to 2½ tablespoons seasoning
- Add 1–2 tablespoons cold water
- Mix gently until just combined
- Let rest 5–10 minutes (optional but recommended)
- Cook as patties or crumbles
Notes
If making chicken/turkey sausage reduce to 1 to 1 1/2 tsp per lb.
Marjoram and fennel are the ingredients most blends skip — don't omit them. 2-3 tablespoons per pound pork; 1-2 teaspoons per pound turkey. Rest seasoned meat 30+ minutes before cooking. Add 2-4 oz pork fat per pound if your pork is lean. For turkey, add a tablespoon of oil or butter when mixing to compensate for lower fat content.