These chicken breakfast sausage patties have all the same sausage flavor you love with a fraction of the fat and calories. Now you can have peppery, smoky breakfast sausage for just 60 calories a piece.
And if you think making your own sausage might be complicated, think again. Mix a few spices together, add to ground chicken, form patties like you’re making burgers, and throw ’em in a pan. That’s it!
Chicken Breakfast Sausage Ingredients and Substitutions
If you’re familiar with my recipes, you know I love using reduced fat pork sausage. While it’s a great ingredient, it’s still rather high in fat and calories—even for a reduced fat version.
These chicken sausage patties use a leaner source of meat in ground chicken. Not only is ground chicken much leaner, it takes on the breakfast sausage flavors really well.
In case you have trouble finding ground chicken, you’re welcome to use ground turkey or even ground pork. You may also be able to have chicken breast ground for you in the butcher section of your grocery store.
Chicken Breakfast Sausage Seasoning Recipe
After testing SO many spice blends, I think I finally nailed the classic breakfast sausage flavor. Here’s everything you’ll need:
- salt
- black pepper
- crushed red pepper
- smoked paprika
- allspice
- sage
- brown sugar
With all the testing, I’ll say that there’s plenty of wiggle room with the ingredients. I tried adding a bit of thyme, ground cloves, and sweet paprika without any failures. So, if you’re missing an ingredient, you can probably substitute something else and get pretty close.
The only ingredients I’d try to nail 100% would be the salt, black and red pepper, and brown sugar.
Side note: For another fun seasoning blend, check out my ground chicken chorizo (seasoning from scratch) or lean pork Mexican chorizo (pre-mixed chorizo seasoning option) recipes.
Tips for Cooking the Chicken Sausage
As I mention in the recipe notes below, stainless steel or cast iron will work best for creating a sear and crispy crust. A nonstick skillet should work just fine but if you’re lacking that fatty-like sausage exterior, this could be the culprit.
And in case you’re wondering if the oil is necessary, it’s not, but I highly recommend using it. The olive oil provides a ton of flavor and, once again, helps create the crust on the chicken breakfast sausage. You can, however, use another type of oil if you don’t have olive oil on hand.
Freezer Storage and Bulk Meal Prep Tips
I think making an even bigger batch is smart since this a more labor intensive breakfast recipe to begin with. It’s not much more effort to mix an extra pound or two of ground chicken with the seasoning blend and get a second pan going.
The sausage patties should refrigerate well for 3-4 days, and you can freeze them in an airtight container or bag for later. I would recommend placing small sheets of parchment paper between them inside whatever freezer container you use. That way they’re easy to separate and pop in an air fryer or microwave to reheat.
I always like to thaw proteins before reheating instead of reheating from frozen, if possible. So you might freeze the chicken sausage patties in smaller portions to easily transfer from the freezer to refrigerator the night before. This also makes it easier to submerge the bag or container in water for 30 minutes to thaw on the day of.
Healthy Breakfast Sandwiches and Other Ways to Serve Your Homemade Breakfast Sausage
These sausages make the perfect breakfast sandwich. Try my Greek yogurt biscuits or pair them with folded eggs to make Homemade McGriddles. Or feel free to keep it simple and serve this recipe up with a fried egg on toast or biscuits, or with a side of my air fried breakfast potatoes and peppers.
That should be plenty of inspiration. If you have any recipe questions, drop a comment below. And don’t forget to snap a pic of your healthy breakfast sausage and tag me on Instagram!
Chicken Breakfast Sausage Patties
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Chicken, I used 97/3
- 2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1/2-1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt, or 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp Rubbed Sage
- 1/4 tsp Allspice
- 2 Tbsp 24g Swerve Brown Sugar (or dark brown sugar)*
- 1 Tbsp 16g Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
Making the Sausage Patties
- Mix the dry spices and brown sugar in a small bowl before adding to the ground chicken. Work the chicken and spices together until evenly mixed.
- Divide the ground chicken into 10 pieces (about 48 grams or 1.8 ounces each) and press between your palms to flatten.
Cooking the Chicken Breakfast Sausage
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with the olive oil. (I used a 12" cast iron skillet. If you’re using a smaller skillet, you may need to cook in batches.)
- Once the oil is hot, carefully add the sausage patties to the skillet. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the bottoms are a crispy brown. Flip each patty and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until the patties are cooked through and reach an internal temp of 165ºF. Transfer to a plate and let the sausage patties rest for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
- Each sausage patty has 0 WW SmartPoints (blue).
- With 92/8 ground chicken, each chicken breakfast sausage patty has 80 calories, 9g protein, 0g carbs, and 5g fat
- Check out my sausage gravy and sausage egg and cheese breakfast skillet casserole if you love the flavor of this breakfast sausage and want more ways to use it.
Amazing! I use a food processor to ground up some chicken breast in lieu of ground chicken. I make these everytime I travel so I can make a breakfast sandwich individually wrapped with a muffin. Super easy for grab and go when on the road. Seriously can’t go without these !!
These are SO simple and taste exactly like a full fatty breakfast sausage! I made some mini kodiak cakes pancakes and made little sweet/savory breakfast pancake sandwiches with them! Just when I thought the recipe couldn’t get easier, I made mason’s healthier sausage gravy which is basically a deconstructed version of this recipe and it was PERFECT! will be making these again soon.
These are SO simple and taste exactly like a full fatty breakfast sausage! I made some mini kodiak cakes pancakes and made little sweet/savory breakfast pancake sandwiches with them! Just when I thought the recipe couldn’t get easier, I made mason’s healthier sausage gravy which is basically a deconstructed version of this recipe and it was PERFECT! will be making these again soon.
This is my go-to breakfast! I cut the recipe in half (freeze the extra half pound of ground chicken for next week) and make 4 patties on Monday that I eat until Thursday morning. I don’t put pepper on anything I make myself so after scaling back the black pepper each week I decided I like it best with 1/4 tsp black pepper for a half recipe. By making four patties it fits perfectly on a 100 calorie English muffin with 100 g of egg whites done in the microwave and is such a delicious and filling breakfast sandwich for the weekdays!
This is my go-to breakfast! I cut the recipe in half (freeze the extra half pound of ground chicken for next week) and make 4 patties on Monday that I eat until Thursday morning. I don’t put pepper on anything I make myself so after scaling back the black pepper each week I decided I like it best with 1/4 tsp black pepper for a half recipe. By making four patties it fits perfectly on a 100 calorie English muffin with 100 g of egg whites done in the microwave and is such a delicious and filling breakfast sandwich for the weekdays!
I have made chicken sausage in the past using similar spice mix however after combining the ground chicken and spices I cover and refrigerate overnight. That allows for a richer flavor I also have made several rolls of the mixture and wrapped in foil. Then I steam the packets giving me sausage links that when ready to serve I fry them in a pan to get the crispy sausage link.
I make this ahead of time usually a double batch and keep them in the freezer for easy breakfast on the go!! I love the sweetness that the sausage has . It tastes so good on a breakfast sandwich ! I use ground turkey instead of chicken and it turns out great!! Thanks for the recipe it’s definitely a favorite of mine !!
These are great to make over the weekend, so you can enjoy them all week. The spice blend is great, but also neutral enough, so these are very versatile. I love that this sausage can hold its own, but can also be crumbled into eggs of gravy.
Mason, we were looking for a sausage recipe to replace Owens hot pork sausage. Found your recipe and tweaked it a bit and now is a breakfast staple in our house! Used ground turkey, less brown sugar and pumped up the crushed red pepper. Now we go to your recipes when making our weekly meal lists! Thank you!
The sage really gives it the breakfast sausage flavor.. I have made this with ground turkey too. A little oregano added is good too! With a couple carbquik biscuits, make a breakfast sandwich! Or chop into crumbles and throw into an omelet!
My family of 5 love this recipe. I’ve even tried it with ground turkey and the flavor was still just as amazing. We eat this separate and with the Greek yogurt biscuits.