Last week, I shared my recipe for Protein Pancakes made with Oats, Bananas, and Cottage Cheese. In case you missed it, you can find it (here). What goes great with pancakes? Sausage.
Now clearly there are lots of sausages available in the stores. Even lots of chicken and apple sausages. But these are easy to make, and doing so allows you to control the quality of the ingredients. And they are delicious. They are the perfect blend of savory with a hint of sweetness and a tiny bit of heat. As I’m writing this, I’m struck with the idea that this sausage could be made into big patties for an amazing burger. A chicken apple burger?!? With some good cheddar cheese?!? I’ll be trying this, and I will report back!
I like using my food processor for this recipe, but you can absolutely make it by hand. I start with my grater attachment to grate fresh apples and a little onion. Next I switch to the regular blade and add my organic ground chicken. The ground chicken I use is 93% (so about 7% fat). I’ve tried these using the super lean ground chicken breasts, and they turn out too dry.
The best part about using the food processor is that when I add the herbs and seasonings, they get fully incorporated into the chicken. You’ll just want to pulse the mixture until it’s fully mixed without “overblending.”
At this point, you have a few options:
If you want to prep these the day before a big breakfast, you can put the sausage mixture into a bowl, cover it, and keep it in the fridge overnight.
If you want to freeze the sausage mixture before it’s cooked:
You can freeze it in bulk in a large freezer bag, just press the air out, flatten it, and it will hold up great in the freezer for 3 months. Then you just thaw it in the fridge overnight and proceed with the cooking instructions.
You can also create your patties on a parchment-lined baking sheet, freeze them on the sheet until set, then place them in a freezer bag. This way, you’ll have individual patties you can grab, thaw quickly, and cook on the stove.
My favorite way to do these patties is to fully cook the whole batch, allow them to cool, then store them in a freezer bag. This way, I have “grab and go” sausage that I can just heat in the microwave whenever I want!
1cupgrated apple (about 2 medium apples)Any type. You can leave the skin on.
1/4 cupgrated yellow onionAbout 1/4 of large sweet onion.
1/2teaspoonsaltI like coarse Kosher salt.
1/4teaspoonfresh ground black pepper
1/4teaspooncrushed red pepper flakes
1/2teaspoondried sage
1/2teaspoondried thyme
1/4teaspoonnutmegTry grating whole nutmeg with a microplane!
Notes
Grate apple and onion with a box grater or the grating blade on a food processor.
If using a food processor, switch to the regular blade.
Add ground chicken, salt, pepper, spices, and herbs. Either mix very well with hands or, with a food processor, pulse several times until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
At this point, you can allow the mixture to sit in the fridge for 30 minutes or cover it and let it sit overnight in the fridge.
When you’re ready to make your sausage patties, prep your griddle, frying pan, or griddle pan with olive oil cooking spray and preheat it to medium-low setting.
I use my large cookie scoop to portion sausage onto the preheated pan.
To form patties, spray the bottom of a spatula with olive oil cooking spray and use the spatula to press the sausage scoops into patties. (Think of a smash burger!). You may need to wipe the bottom of the spatula with paper towels and re-spray every few patties.
Allow sausages to cook low and slow until golden brown. Keep an eye on them! The sugars from the apple and sweet onion can go from caramelized to dark quickly.
Once sausage patties are golden brown and cooked through, either serve now or allow them to cool a bit before storing them in an airtight bag or container.
These can be stored in the refrigerator for 5 days or in the freezer for 1 month.
Reheat in the microwave whenever you need a quick breakfast!
These Homemade Chicken Apple Sausage Patties may be a little more work than buying them at the store, but they’re worth it! They taste delicious – a little salty, a little sweet, a little spicy, AND you know exactly what’s in them!
Enjoy these, friends! And let me know when you make them!
I’m Chris. I’m a fifty-something Nurse and Empty Nester living, working, and playing in the Colorado Rockies. Elevated Nesting is a relaxed space to share and learn about Healthy Aging and how we can flourish in this stage of life!