How Long Does It Take To Cook Fresh Polish Sausage

Homemade sausages are part of a salami-maker's repertoire; you can't make salami if you can't first make fresh sausages. Below are an eclectic list of homemade sausage recipes made with both wild game and domestic meats, mostly lamb and pork in that case.

Four varieties of fresh, homemade sausages on a plate — Photo by Hank Shaw

Why make your own sausages? Control.

You can add or subtract anything you'd like, adjust how coarse or fine the sausage is, make them skinny or fat, long or short, spicy or sweet. A well-made sausage is a symphony in a link, needing nothing more than a simple accompaniment to play harmony.

Note that while I am categorizing these sausage recipes by what meat is in them, understand that you can mix and match. There is no reason you cannot use pork or duck or whatever in what's listed as a venison sausage recipe.

Basics

If you've never made sausage before, I wrote a basic tutorial on how to make sausages at home on my friend Elise's site Simply Recipes. Start there.

There are a lot of companies that sell meat grinders, sausage stuffers, casings, etc., but I mostly use The Sausage Maker out of Buffalo, New York. Good people, family business.

Venison, Beef, Lamb or Goat Sausage Recipes

Keep in mind that when I say "venison," I am lumping in deer, elk, moose, antelope, caribou, etc…

A plate of smoked venison sausage

Smoked Venison Sausages

One of my go-to venison recipes, this is a perfect recipe for a sausage made in late fall or early winter. You can use any variety of sage, and dried porcini work just as well as fresh.

Venison Merguez Sausages

This is the classic North African sausage, normally done with all lamb – casings, too. Here I go with all venison, plus sheep casings. This is a spicy sausage great for grilling.

Read More about Venison Merguez Sausages

A bowl of venison sausages

Sage and Juniper Venison Sausage

I designed this recipe after deer hunting on Catalina Island, where there is lots of wild sage and juniper growing all over the place. This makes a pretty classic "hunter's style" venison link.

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andouille sausage recipe

A platter of garlic sausages made from venison and pork

Venison sausage with garlic

loukaniko sausage recipe

Buck Buck Moose Book

Like the Recipe? Buy the Book!

You'll find everything you need to know to master venison in Hank Shaw's cookbook Buck, Buck, Moose.

Wild Boar or Pork Sausage Recipes

If you have bear meat, these recipes would fit well here.

Italian sausage recipe

Sweet Italian Sausage

This is the classic, the basic sweet Italian sausage we all know and love. I normally make this with wild pig, but really any meat will do.

Portuguese Linguica Sausages

The essential Portuguese sausage, it is to Portuguese cooking what Andouille is to Cajun cooking. It's a spicy link with lots of paprika and garlic. My version is smoked.

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Cajun boudin recipe

Louisiana Boudin Sausage

Louisiana style boudin sausage, which is more like a meat stuffing with rice in a casing than a regular sausage. Damn good eaten on crackers with Creole mustard!

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A ring of boerewors sausage.

South African Boerewors

A traditional South African link made with a mix of pork and beef (or wild game) and flavored aggressively with coriander and other spices. I first learned of this sausage under, well, extreme circumstances.

Read More about Boerewors and Kindness in the Dark

wild boar sausages

Morcilla, Sanguinaccio, Boudin Noir

Blood Sausage. Yep, the real deal. My recipe is inspired by Portuguese morcilla, but it is a combination pork meat-pork blood sausage; many blood sausages only have blood, no meat.

Read More about Morcilla, Sanguinaccio, Boudin Noir

hmong sausage recipe

Hmong Sausage with Wild Boar

There is a strong sausage-making tradition in Southeast Asia, and unlike the smooth Vietnames sausages, the Hmong sausages are coarse and rustic. I prefer them. These are flavored with ginger, chiles and cilantro.

Read More about Hmong Sausage with Wild Boar

Mazzafegati — Italian Liver Sausages

An Italian sausage from Umbria that mixes liver and pork meat. This is my favorite thing to do with wild boar liver, which can be strong-tasting otherwise. In this sausage, flavored with oranges, the liver is barely noticeable.

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mexican chorizo recipe

Mexican longaniza sausage

Cooked crepinettes on a plate with bread and a salad.

Duck, Goose, Turkey and Other Poultry

I mostly make duck and goose sausages, but you'll find a few turkey sausage recipes here, as well as those using chicken and pheasant.

sheboygan bratwurst

Homemade Sheboygan Brats

Yep, this is the "white brat" you eat in Wisconsin while watching sports or drinking beer. I made this with wild turkey, but any white meat will work.

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snow goose bockwurst

German Bockwurst

A traditional German-American sausage meant to be poached in bock beer and eaten with potatoes, kraut, and more beer. You can use pretty much any meat if you don't have goose.

Duck L'Orange Sausages

Imagine all the flavors of classic duck l'orange – sweet, savory, spicy, orangey – in a sausage link, and that's what you have here.

Toulouse Sausage

A simple French recipe I do with duck, it's flavored with garlic, nutmeg and black pepper. Use this recipe when you are planning to make cassoulet.

Duck Mortadella Sausage

Mortadella is what baloney thinks about when it dreams at night. This is not an easy recipe, but if you've been making sausages for a while, give this a go. You will not be disappointed.