It’s funny how food cravings go.
Take a bagel, for example.
I’ll get the idea of the perfect bagel in my head, which for me either means an everything bagel lightly toasted with vegetable cream cheese, or a plain bagel untoasted with cream cheese, lox, red onion, and tomato. Either way, served with a cup of nearly black coffee on the side.
I build the idea up so much in my head, it’s like I’m almost ready to go to NYC for the weekend just to experience bagel perfection. (Ok, that’s just a smokescreen…I’m always ready to head to NYC.)
But then I get the perfect bagel and it’s not nearly what I’ve built it up to be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great, amazing even; it’s just not the mind-blowing experience I had in mind. Which is what I try to remind myself of when one of those random cravings strike.
The exception to that rule is my recent craving for breakfast sausage, but that’s only because I knew I could make a healthy version that would knock the socks off of any sausage-lover out there. I added a mix of sweet and savory sautéed onion and apple, plus herbs and aromatics like thyme, sage, fennel seeds, and nutmeg. The sausage is sweetly savory, super flavorful, and moist, and perfect on a bed of Cauliflower Hash topped with a fried egg.
The best part is that this makes a big batch so you can stock your freezer with the perfect breakfast food for those mornings when you don’t have time to whip up a batch.
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, plus more for frying
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 2 medium crisp, sweet apples, washed, cored, and diced small (not peeled)
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 2 lbs (910 g) ground chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves)
- 1¾ teaspoons sea salt
- 1½ teaspoons minced fresh sage (or ¾ teaspoon dried, crushed sage leaves)
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds, gently crushed in your palm
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (see Note below)
- Melt the coconut oil (if it’s not already melted) in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and apple, and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down to medium-low, add the garlic, and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and cool completely.
- Combine the cooled apple/onion mixture, ground chicken breast, thyme, salt, sage, fennel seeds, black pepper, nutmeg, and vinegar in a large bowl. Mix just until the apples and onion are incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.
- Scoop the sausage mixture into 3-tablespoon-sized balls (I use an ice cream scoop for this), and then flatten the balls into 2½ to 3-inch circles. (Like making mini hamburgers.)
- To cook on the stovetop, heat a large skillet or griddle (I use my cast iron griddle, but a nonstick surface will also work) over medium to slightly medium-high heat. Add coconut oil and spread it around to coat the skillet or griddle. Add the sausages and cook until they’re golden on both sides and fully cooked inside, about 3 to 4 minutes per side, flipping once. You can work in batches if they don’t all fit at once. (Don’t press down on the sausages as they cook because this will release the juices that keep them moist.)
- To cook in the oven, preheat the oven to 425F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and grease it with a little coconut oil. Line the sausages up on the prepared baking sheet, and bake until they’re fully cooked, about 5 to 6 minutes per side, flipping once. (Note that if they’re cooked in the oven, they won’t be golden on the outside unless you briefly run them under the broiler or brown them in a skillet.)
- Serve the sausage with eggs or vegetable hash, if desired.
To Freeze and Reheat: I like to store extra sausages wrapped in batches of 2 (which is a serving size) in the freezer. To reheat, unwrap the sausages and put the frozen sausages into a skillet with a splash of water; cover the skillet and cook until warm throughout, flipping once.
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
I’ve never even considered making my own sausage. Truth be told, I don’t enjoy sausage…but I think its because its usually that overly processed version that I try…this I could get behind!
A tasty combination! These sausages sound mighty delicious.
Cheers,
Rosa
Love this recipe! I always keep my freezer stocked with some type of homemade sausage and I think my son would like the apple in this!
My husband has been very interested in making his own sausage, these sound delicious!
It’s hard to stop a bagel craving, I’ll concede, even though you’re quite right – they never really live up to the hype! These patties, though…totally trump bagel, in my opinion!
im doing whole30 right now and bagel sounds perfect! I have been making chicken kebabs regularly for the past week or so and it worked wonderfully. I should do these for a change.
Chicken sausage with apple sounds delicious…and yes,perfect for breakfast Faith…
Hope you are enjoying your week :D
Oh,my goodness, that looks good! I love breakfast sausage, but I can never just enjoy it without having to wonder exactly what’s in it! Now I can! Thank you, Faith!
Ooh, these look delicious! I love the combo of chicken and apple – I’ve never tried making my own breakfast sausage before, but these look tons better than the ones I’ve bought in the store in the past. Yum!
Just made these – I’m a fan! Used ground turkey instead of chicken b/c that’s what I had in the fridge, I followed the instructions to a T otherwise, turned out great! The only thing I’ll change next time (and there will definitely be a next time!) is that I’ll try grating the apple instead of dicing, hoping that will help them stay together in the pan a bit more. Spices were perfect – not a fan of fennel but it married so well with the other herbs, I’ll keep making them with it! Thanks for the recipe, it’s a keeper.
In the notes you have about freezing and reheating cooked patties. Can these sausage patties be frozen uncooked?
Pamela, I haven’t tried freezing the uncooked sausage patties, but yes, I think it would work fine. If you do that, be sure to freeze each wrapped in parchment paper so they don’t stick together; or you could flash-freeze the patties in a single layer and then stack them once they’re frozen. If you try it, let me know how it goes!