Breakfast sausage substitutes
Breakfast sausage substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Ground pork plus homemade breakfast seasoning
Same amount by weight as the breakfast sausage
Per 1 lb pork use 1 tsp dried sage, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp brown sugar, ¼ tsp thyme, pinch of nutmeg and cayenne
The best substitute is plain ground pork plus your own seasoning, and it takes 30 seconds: for every pound of pork, mix in 1 teaspoon dried sage, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon dried thyme and a pinch of nutmeg. That is essentially the whole recipe. If you have Italian sausage, use it at 1:1 and add ½ teaspoon sage to push it away from fennel. Ground turkey or chicken works too, but it is far leaner, so add 2 tablespoons of oil or butter to the pan, because in biscuits and gravy the rendered sausage fat is what makes the roux.
- Verdict —
- Works
- Best for —
- biscuits and gravy
Updated 26 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of breakfast sausage | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ground pork plus homemade breakfast seasoningbiscuits and gravy | Same amount by weightPer 1 lb pork use 1 tsp dried sage, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp brown sugar, ¼ tsp thyme, pinch of nutmeg and cayenneWorks | Works |
| 2 | Italian sausage, casings removedbiscuits and gravy | Same amountTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Ground turkey or ground chicken plus seasoning and added fatlighter breakfasts | Same amount by weightPlus 2 tbsp butter or oil per poundYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Bratwurst or fresh kielbasa, casings removedbreakfast casserole | Same amountTweak it | Tweak it |
| 5 | Mexican chorizo (fresh, bulk)breakfast burritos | Same amountOr use half chorizo and half ground porkTweak it | Tweak it |
| 6 | Plant-based sausage crumblesvegetarian breakfast casserole | Same amount by volumePlus 2 tbsp oilYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Ground pork plus homemade breakfast seasoning
similar taste and texture
Not a compromise, this is the real thing. Commercial breakfast sausage is ground pork with sage and pepper, so mixing your own gets you an identical result and you control the salt. Fresh sage, tripled in quantity and chopped fine, is even better.
- Best for
- biscuits and gravy, sausage patties, breakfast casserole, stuffing and dressing, sausage balls
Mix with your fingertips only until the seasoning is distributed. Overworking ground pork makes it springy and bouncy instead of tender and crumbly. If you have 20 minutes, let it rest in the fridge so the sage blooms.
Italian sausage, casings removed
different taste, similar texture
Same fat content, same crumble, wrong herb. Italian sausage leads with fennel seed and garlic, so a sausage gravy made with it tastes vaguely of pizza. Adding ½ to 1 teaspoon of dried sage per pound and a pinch of nutmeg closes most of that gap.
- Best for
- biscuits and gravy, breakfast casserole, stuffing, pizza and pasta breakfasts
Use sweet or mild Italian, not hot, unless you want heat. If you can spot whole fennel seeds in the mix, pick out what you can, they are the loudest signal that you swapped.
Ground turkey or ground chicken plus seasoning and added fat
different taste and texture
Season it the same way as ground pork. The problem is not flavor, it is fat: 93 percent lean turkey renders almost nothing, so the meat browns dry and tight and there is no grease in the pan. Expect a leaner, slightly grainier crumble and a paler brown.
- Best for
- lighter breakfasts, breakfast burritos and tacos, casseroles where other fat is present, pork-free cooking
For sausage gravy this is the swap that trips people up. Add 3 tablespoons of butter to the pan before you sprinkle in the flour, or the roux will be dry and pasty and the gravy will taste like flour.
Bratwurst or fresh kielbasa, casings removed
different taste, similar texture
Fatty fresh pork sausage that crumbles well. Bratwurst is seasoned with marjoram, nutmeg and white pepper, so it lands surprisingly close to breakfast sausage once you add sage. Fresh kielbasa is more garlic-forward and reads as savory rather than herby.
- Best for
- breakfast casserole, stuffing, gravy, hash and skillet breakfasts
Squeeze the meat out of the casing and break it up in a cold pan so the fat renders before the outside seizes. Add 1 teaspoon sage per pound.
Mexican chorizo (fresh, bulk)
different taste, similar texture
A deliberate detour rather than a match. Chorizo brings vinegar tang, dried chile and a lot of red-orange rendered fat, so a breakfast casserole made with it is spicy, bright and stains everything orange. It is delicious. It is not breakfast sausage.
- Best for
- breakfast burritos, migas and scrambles, hash, breakfast tacos
Pour off some of the rendered orange fat before you add eggs or flour, chorizo throws off much more than breakfast sausage does. Half and half with plain ground pork gives you a middle ground.
Plant-based sausage crumbles
different taste and texture
Modern plant-based breakfast crumbles get the sage and pepper profile right and crumble convincingly. What is missing is rendered fat and the browned, chewy edges pork develops, so the result is softer and tastes seasoned rather than roasted.
- Best for
- vegetarian breakfast casserole, vegan biscuits and gravy, breakfast burritos, stuffing
They contain no raw meat, so they will not release fat and cannot overcook the way pork does. Brown them in oil first, hard, before adding liquid, or the dish tastes flat.
Questions
5 questionsCan I just leave it out?
In a breakfast casserole, yes, if you replace both the savory depth and the fat: sauteed mushrooms with a splash of soy sauce plus 2 tablespoons of butter get you a genuinely good vegetarian version. In sausage gravy, no. Without the sausage you have milk gravy, which is a real Southern dish in its own right but a different one, so make it deliberately with butter, flour, milk and a lot of black pepper rather than expecting sausage gravy without sausage.
What is the difference between breakfast sausage and Italian sausage?
Almost entirely the seasoning. Both are fresh ground pork of similar fattiness. Breakfast sausage is sage, black pepper and a little sugar. Italian sausage is fennel seed, garlic and often red pepper or, in the sweet version, a touch of basil. Swap them freely as long as you understand the finished dish will lean American breakfast or Italian accordingly, and add sage if you want to move Italian toward breakfast.
How do I make breakfast sausage seasoning from scratch?
Per pound of ground pork: 1 teaspoon dried sage, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon coarse black pepper, ½ teaspoon brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon dried thyme, a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of cayenne or red pepper flakes. Marjoram instead of thyme is a common regional variation. If you use fresh sage, use about a tablespoon, chopped very fine.
Can I use ground beef instead?
You can, and it will taste like seasoned ground beef rather than sausage. Beef fat has a heavier, more mineral flavor than pork fat and no sweetness, so the sage sits on top of it rather than blending in. Use 80/20 so you have enough fat for the gravy, season a little more aggressively, and add a small pinch of sugar to soften the beefiness.
Is breakfast sausage already cooked?
No. Bulk rolls, patties and fresh links are raw pork and must be cooked to 160 F. The exception is fully cooked heat-and-serve links sold in the refrigerated or frozen case, which are labeled as such. If you are substituting a fully cooked product into a recipe written for raw sausage, add it late, because it will not render much fat and will only dry out with long cooking.
Tips for substituting breakfast sausage
5 tips- Know what job the sausage is doing before you swap. In biscuits and gravy it does three things: it seasons the dish with sage and salt, it supplies the browned meaty bits, and critically it renders the fat that becomes the roux. A lean substitute breaks the third job, so add 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter before the flour goes in.
- Sage is the single flavor that says breakfast sausage. If you take away nothing else from this page: any fresh pork sausage plus sage tastes like breakfast sausage. Bloom the dried sage in the hot rendered fat for 20 seconds before adding liquid and it tastes far less dusty.
- The sugar in breakfast sausage is what makes patties develop that dark, almost lacquered crust, and it is also why they scorch. Cook patties over medium, not high, and expect a browner surface than plain ground pork gives you.
- It is raw pork, so it needs to reach 160 F. In a casserole or stuffing, brown it fully before it goes in, because a casserole hits temperature unevenly and the sausage may look done while the center of a clump is not.
- Bulk roll, patties and links are interchangeable by weight. Links are usually seasoned slightly more aggressively and a 1 lb package of links yields the same as a 1 lb roll, just chop or squeeze them out of the casings.