Are you tired of guessing if your sausage is cooked correctly? With Sous Vide Sausage, you'll get perfectly cooked, moist sausage finished with a crisp casing every time. See how easy it is to make great sausage with a sous vide.
👍 Recipe Features
- Perfectly cooked, edge-to-edge. Sous vide cooking allows you to bring the entire sausage, from casing edge to casing edge, to an exact temperature. Whether you like super juicy sausage or a firm bite, adjusting is a as simple as changing the temp on your water circulator.
- Way easy. This one is super, super easy. The seasoning is already packed inside the sausage, so all you need to do is seal the sausage in a vacuum tight bag. After their sous vide bath, pat them dry and sear them in a pan quickly for a perfect bite.
- Versatile. This recipe works for a variety of pork sausages. From Italian sausage or bratwurst to kielbasa or chorizo, these settings work perfectly every time. Want to add some beer to the bag? I'll cover the steps you'll need to take below.
🌭 Ingredients
- Sausage links. Pick your favorite fresh sausage. What's a fresh sausage? Any link where the meat inside the casing is raw, not already cooked or hot-dog like. For this cook, I'm using some sweet Italian sausage I picked up on my last trip to Costco. Whole Foods also has terrific sausage at their meat counter as well.
- Grapeseed oil. You can sub in another other clean, high smokepoint oil as well, like vegetable oil or avocado oil. We'll add a little bit to the pan with butter to help get a good sear.
- Butter. As mentioned above, this gets added to the pan at the end to help get a good sear on our sausage. We'll add enough to spoon some over the sausage as it cooks for some added flavor.
- Whole grain dijon mustard. Dress your sausage however you want, but my recommendation is to simply serve them sliced on a plate with a good grainy dijon mustard.
🌡 Temperature
The great thing about sous vide cooking is the ability to control exactly what temperature you're cooking things too. With sausage, that's especially critical. Too light and it's spongy and potentially raw. Overcook it and you will have dry, flavorless meat. But there's few things better than a perfectly cooked sausage.
My preference is to cook sausage to 150°, which gives you a smooth, juicy end product. But feel free to play around with these options and find your favorite.
| Time | Temp | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 45 minutes to 3 hours | 140° | Very juicy, soft texture |
| 45 minutes to 3 hours | 150° | Juicy with a smooth texture. |
| 45 minutes to 3 hours | 160° | Less juicy, firm springy texture |
There is a wide range here for cooking time, since the sausage can't cook over the temperature you set your bath too. After about 4 hours though, the texture will begin to break down to the point the it may become mushy, which is why I aim for a 3 hour upper limit (to be safe).
🔪 Instructions
Step 1: Preheat sous vide water bath to 150° (or your desired temperature from the chart above). Using a vacuum sealer, seal sausage links tightly in a vacuum sealer bag. Lower the sealed bag into the preheated water and let cook for 45 minutes to 3 hours.
Quick Tip: I hit my bag with a second seal, about ½ inch under the original seal. This helps create an extra guard against leakage in case one of the seals breaks during the cook.
Step 2: Remove sausage from sous vide bath and cut bag open. Remove sausage and pat dry with a paper towel. The dryer the better, as moisture will prevent the sausage from searing in the pan.
Quick tip: Place the sausage on a wire rack. Let sit for 10 minutes before searing to help dry everything out even more. Use this time to preheat your pan.
Step 3: Heat a large skillet or cast iron pan over medium heat. Add in grapeseed oil and butter and allow to melt. Add sausage to pan and cook, turning every thirty seconds to hit every side. Continue cooking until casings are nice and brown, about three minutes. Remove to a pan and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Step 4: To serve, cut sausage widthwise about ½ inch thick. Serve with whole grain mustard for dipping.
🎥 Video
💭 Top Tip
Want to make smoked sausage? Cook the sausage in the sous vide 1-3 days ahead of time. Instead of searing it, take the bag directly from the sous vide bath to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Place in the fridge overnight. When it's time to eat smoke at 225° for 30 minutes to get that flavor in.
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🍽 Equipment
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This recipe calls for a pretty basic preperation. However, I love to dress up my sausages in a variety of different ways. These are a few of my favorites:
- Italian sausage with peppers and onions. Follow the instructions above. After searing the sausage, remove sausage and add sliced bell peppers and onions to the pan. Season with salt, pepper and oregano. Saute until softened. Serve sausages in buns with whole grain dijon mustard, peppers and onions.
- Beer Brats: Add bratwurst to a vacuum seal bag as instructed. Add 1 cup of beer to bag. To seal, I use the manual "pulse" button on my vacuum sealer and hit "seal" when it is tight. Using an automatic "vacuum and seal" option can possibly leave you with liquid getting into your vacuum sealer.
- Bratwurst and sauerkraut. Heat sauerkraut in a small pot while sauteing sausage. Let sausage rest 10 minutes, then place in a bun and top with sauerkraut. For an extra step, place a slice of swiss cheese overtop and broil in the oven until cheese is melted and browned.
- Chorizo supreme. Cook chorizo sausage link according to steps above. Serve in a bun with guacamole, sour cream and sliced fresh jalapeno.
- Kielbasa and cabbage. Cook sausage according to this recipe. Meanwhile, in a large saute pan (affiliate), saute chopped cabbage in 1 Tbsp butter until slightly softened. Season with salt and pepper, then add 1 cup of chicken stock. Place a lid over the pot and steam until soft. Slice kielbasa into 1 inch chunks and serve it overtop of cabbage.
🥗 Side Dishes
Goes great with pierogi or crock pot cheesy potatoes. Go for a lighter router as well, like sauteed green beans or roasted brussels sprouts. Or, serve it with classic sides like air fryer tater tots or air fryer garlic parmesan fries.
🥡 Leftovers
Cooked sausage keeps well in the fridge for 3-5 days in an airtight container. If reheating in the microwave, I heat on half power until warmed through to help keep everything moist.
You can always repurpose leftover sausage to a new meal, like sausage and rice, sausage bahn mi or as a topping for homemade pizza.
🥙 Related Recipes
- Sous Vide Chuck Roast
- Sous Vide Pork Chops
- Crispy Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
- Sous Vide Steak
- Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin
Sous Vide Sausage
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
Description
Learn how to make perfectly cooked sausage with juicy meat and a crisp sear using a sous vide machine.
Ingredients
- 5 links fresh Italian sausage
- 1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
- 2 Tbsp butter
- Whole grain dijon mustard (for dipping)
Optional:
- Hot dog buns
- Sauteed peppers and onions
Instructions
- Preheat sous vide water bath to 150°. Allow 20-30 minutes to come to temperature.
- Seal fresh Italian sausage in a vacuum sealer bag, making sure to keep the sausage in a flat, single layer. Place sealed bag in sous vide water bath and cook for at least 45 minutes, up to 3 hours.
- Remove sausage from water bath and cut bag open. Pat sausage very dry.
- Heat cast iron pan over medium heat. Add grapeseed oil and butter and allow to melt. Add sausage links to pan, turning every 30 seconds. Cook until all sides are seared and brown, about 3 minutes.
- Remove sausage to a plate and allow 10 minutes to rest. Slice widthwise about ½ inch thick. Serve with whole grain dijon mustard for dipping.
Notes
- I hit my bag with a second seal, about ½ inch under the original seal. This helps create an extra guard against leakage in case one of the seals breaks during the cook.
- Place the sausage on a wire mesh rack and let sit for 10 minutes before searing to help dry everything out even more. Use this time to preheat your pan.
- To make smoked sausage, cook the sausage in the sous vide 1-3 days ahead of time. Instead of searing it, take the bag directly from the sous vide bath to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Place in the fridge overnight. When it’s time to eat smoke at 225° for 20-30 minutes to get that flavor in. The sausage is done when the skin is taught, but not broken.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Sous Vide
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Sous vide sausage, Italian Sausage, Tailgate recipes
