Homemade Andouille Sausage Recipe

This easy homemade Andouille sausage recipe will be your new favorite. So much flavor and a lot less fat and calories!

What Is Andouille Sausage?

Andouille sausage originated in France, though some believe it is originally from Germany, and features a sharp, smoky, and spicy flavor. In Louisiana, Andouille is popular with Cajun cuisine and often used in gumbo, jambalaya or even a southern classic shrimp and grits. Andouille sausage also appears in many New Orleans Creole recipes, too.

Andouille Sausage Ingredients

• Country-style pork ribs: Country-style ribs are boneless and don’t actually come from the rib area of a pig. They come from pork butt which is actually the shoulder area, where you’ll get the best meat to fat ratio of about 80/20. County-style ribs are meaty and tender with some fat marbling, making them easy and delicious to cook with. Stick to a shoulder cut if you can’t find country-style ribs and use high-quality meat for this Andouille sausage recipe.
• Pork fat: The pork fat adds moisture and richness to lean cuts of meat. For a healthy version of this recipe, you can reduce or eliminate the pork fat from this recipe.
• Smoked paprika: The smoked paprika adds a smoky and spicy flavor with hints of sweetness. If you need to use regular paprika, feel free to substitute but you’ll need to add about 5 teaspoons of hickory-flavored natural liquid smoke to keep that smoky flavor.
• Cayenne pepper: The neutral peppery flavor of cayenne adds true spiciness without taking away from the other ingredients in this sausage.
• Garlic cloves: The cloves add a soft, sweet buttery flavor to the sausage.
• Crushed black peppercorns: Whole peppercorns offer the freshest aroma and a stronger flavor than regular table ground pepper.
• Dried thyme, sage & kosher salt: These seasonings intensify and enhance the natural flavor.

Add your own intensity of spiciness and adjust the flavors by modifying the seasonings to your preferences. 

(Scroll down to the bottom for the printable recipe card with exact measurements and recipe instructions.)

How To Make Andouille Sausage

1. Mix the Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl mix all the seasoning ingredients.
2. Grind the Meat: Grind pork ribs and pork fat using a meat grinder (I use and LOVE the KitchenAid meat grinder attachment). Grind directly into the bowl with the seasonings already in it. Using your hands, mix seasonings into the meat, taking care to mix thoroughly (but don’t overmix).
3. Form into Patties: Traditional andouille sausage is prepared in a casing made into sausage links using a meat grinder/sausage stuffer. To make this recipe easier to prepare, and for those without a sausage hopper, I like to turn my Andouille sausage recipe into slider-sized patties. Below are instructions on how to stuff sausages as well.
4. Cook the Andouille Sausage: Heat skillet to medium and add sausage patties. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until sausage is cooked through and browned, turning patties often.

How To Stuff Sausage At Home

Sausage patties make this recipe easy but if you have a sausage stuffer here are a few easy steps to stuffing the sausage.

1. Casings:
   • Natural Casings: Remove the excess salt by soaking the casing in cold water for at least 30 minutes and thoroughly rinse under running cold water.
   • Synthetic Casings: Soak the casing in water for at least 5 minutes to make them more pliable and easier to work with.
2. Grease the tube with shortening.
3. Cut a casing so that it’s 2 to 3 feet long. Tie a knot to one end or use butcher’s twine to tie it closed.
4. Slide the open casing end onto the stuffer tube until the knot is right at the tip.
5. Feed the hopper with the sausage mixture, turn the machine on and feed the stuffing gradually into the hopper. Make sure if you see air bubbles, that you force the air out of the casing. Leave enough room to twist the sausage into smaller links and to allow for expansion, which most often occurs during cooking.
6. Using butcher’s twine, tie off the open end of the sausage tightly.
7. Form the links by measuring off the desired length of sausage, twist between the first and second sausages about three times and repeat on the next links.

Continue to Content

Easy Homemade Andouille Sausage Recipe

Yield: 24

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

This easy Andouille sausage recipe is made with country-style pork ribs (pork butt) and Cajun spices and is perfect for anything that calls for smoked sausage.

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Ingredients

• 4 pounds country-style pork ribs, or other shoulder meat
• 1-2 pounds pork fat, use less than 2 pounds for a leaner sausage
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely crushed black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 10-12 garlic cloves, minced

Instructions

1. Mix all seasoning ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Grind pork ribs and pork fat using a meat grinder (I use and LOVE the KitchenAid meat grinder attachment). Grind directly into the bowl with the seasonings already in it. Using your hands, mix seasonings into the meat, taking care to mix thoroughly (but don't overmix).
3. Form into patties or use sausage casings with a sausage stuffer to make links.
4. Heat skillet to medium and add sausage patties. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until sausage is cooked through and browned, turning patties often.

Notes

If you prefer a leaner, healthier sausage with a lower fat content use less or no pork fat. I use country-style pork ribs since they have just the right amount of fat and a lot of flavor.

I use a slider press to form small, equally shaped patties to use for sausage slider "burgers".

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 674Total Fat: 63gSaturated Fat: 24gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 35gCholesterol: 135mgSodium: 683mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 26g

This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix.

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Kristy Bernardo

Kristy Bernardo is the recipe creator behind The Wicked Noodle. She's a five-time cookbook author, has taught cooking classes to both kids and adults, and has been creating recipes for nationwide brands since 2009. She learned most of her cooking skills from her mom and grandmother, then honed those skills at boot camp at the Culinary Institute of America.

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