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.
Like everyone else, I’m changing my lifestyle. Iade these the morning after Thanksgiving 2021, and definitely do not omit the brown sugar. With wiggle room, I added some parmesan cheese and some Weber Gourmet Burger seasoning…it has a smokey flavor. I will use this recipe from now on.
I made this to go along with the copy cat mcgriddle recipe and was pleased. I will say next time though I’ll be sure to flatten the patties a bit more, they really puffed back up and didn’t seem as flat as one would want them for a breakfast sandwich.
These breakfast sausage patties are so good, and honestly so much better than store bought pork sausages! I love to batch cook them on Mondays and have them the rest of the week. I tend to use less of the spicy spices because they are quite hot otherwise. Love these!
This recipe is so good that I stopped buying pre-made sausage! It freezes well and is super impressive if you have guests or a brunch because the flavor screams homemade in a great way!
Do these freeze well? If so, what’s the best way to freeze them?
Thanks!
They do! I would use small parchment squares in between patties and place them in an airtight container or bag. To reheat, wrap in a paper towel and microwave for a minute or so at 50% power and then another 60-90 seconds at full power. Or toss them in a covered skillet over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
I have been making this ever since you posted this recipe. No more sodium laden store bought for me. I have been remiss in telling you how much I enjoy all your recipes thank you so much.
Made this today and it’s a keeper.
Hi! I haven’t made these yet, but I got some ground chicken to make breakfast chicken sausage so I was going to try this recipe. I do have a question though, I got 85/15 ground chicken because it’s all my grocery store had, and because that has a higher fat content than what you recommend, should I add any breadcrumbs or some thing so they aren’t too wet?
Sorry I’m late getting back to you! How’d they turn out? I think higher fat ground chicken would work fine without any additional ingredients.
These are fantastic! Your recipes really help me make good food & ways to keep it low carb. I appreciate you posting your recipes. Thank you!
Thank you, Sherry!
If you have a food processor you can grind up chicken tenderloins for ground chicken with no problem.