Butifarra substitute

Best substitute

Fresh Bratwurst (uncooked)

Use the same amount as the butifarra you are replacing

Best for grilling whole with white beans (mongetes)

Close match

Fresh bratwurst is the closest substitute for butifarra at 1:1, because it is also a pale, unsmoked pork sausage seasoned with pepper and nutmeg. Mild fresh Italian sausage also works 1:1 if you can find one without fennel, and fresh white Polish sausage is a good third choice. The best option of all is to season ground pork shoulder yourself: per pound use 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 2 tablespoons white wine. Do not reach for chorizo or any smoked paprika sausage; butifarra's whole character is that it is plain.

Other butifarra substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Ground Pork Shoulder, Seasoned Yourself
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Genuinely the best answer, and easy, because butifarra's seasoning is minimal by design.
What changes
Per pound of ground pork shoulder, mix in 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg and 2 tablespoons dry white wine, then form fat links or patties. The result tastes right in a way no supermarket sausage does, because you are not fighting someone else's fennel or paprika.
Best for
butifarra amb mongetes, grilling as patties, crumbling into escudella or rice, any Catalan recipe
Use shoulder rather than lean ground pork; butifarra needs roughly a quarter to a third fat or it will be dry. Rest the mixture in the fridge for a few hours so the salt and pepper distribute.
3Mild or Sweet Fresh Italian Sausage
Different taste
Use the same amount
Right size, right fat content, right unsmoked pale-pink meat, and it grills exactly like a butifarra.
What changes
The obstacle is fennel, which almost all Italian sausage contains and which butifarra never does, so the dish picks up a distinct anise perfume that reads Italian instead of Catalan.
Best for
grilling with white beans, roasting, stews with tomato where the fennel blends in, quick weeknight substitution
Look for a plain breakfast-style or fennel-free sausage if your butcher makes one. If the sausage is loose rather than in casings, you can pick out visible fennel seeds.
4Fresh White Polish Sausage (biala kielbasa, uncooked)
Different taste
Use the same amount
Pale, unsmoked, peppery and coarse-textured, which lines up well.
What changes
The difference is garlic: fresh Polish white sausage is markedly more garlicky than butifarra, so a plate of it with beans tastes sharper and more assertive, and if you were also planning to fry the beans in a lot of garlic the dish can end up one-note.
Best for
grilling, with beans and greens, stews and cabbage dishes, roasting
Make sure it says fresh or surowa rather than smoked, since smoked kielbasa is a completely different flavor and will overwhelm the dish. Ease off the garlic elsewhere in the recipe.
5Plain Fresh Pork Sausage or British Bangers
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Mild, unsmoked and easy to find, so the flavor direction is broadly correct.
What changes
British bangers contain rusk or breadcrumb, which makes them softer and springier and gives them a distinctly bready background taste, so they eat less meaty than a butifarra and can go a little mushy in a stew.
Best for
grilling with white beans, roasting with potatoes, weeknight cooking, family meals
Add a grating of nutmeg and extra cracked black pepper to the pan to nudge the flavor toward Catalonia. Do not simmer them long or the rusk swells and the texture suffers.
6Boudin Blanc
Different texture
Use the same amount
Pale and mild like butifarra blanca, the cooked Catalan style, and it slices neatly.
What changes
It is far softer and creamier because it usually contains milk, bread and egg, so it spreads rather than holding a firm bite, which is lovely on a plate and wrong on a grill.
Best for
slicing cold or gently warmed, cheese and charcuterie plates, dishes where the sausage is sliced into a stew at the end, when the recipe calls for cooked butifarra blanca
Do not grill it hard; it will split and the filling will run. Warm it gently in butter or in the residual heat of a stew.

What is Butifarra?

Butifarra is a fresh, pale pork sausage from Catalonia, seasoned with little more than salt and coarse black pepper and sometimes a scrape of nutmeg or a splash of white wine, and it is deliberately neither smoked nor reddened with paprika, so the job it does in a dish is to add plain rich pork and rendered fat without bringing any spice of its own.

Cooking tips

Butifarra is a grilling sausage, not a boiling one. Medium heat, turned once or twice, twelve to fifteen minutes, until the skin is bronzed and taut. High heat splits the casing, forces out the fat and leaves you with a dry sausage in a wet pan.
For butifarra amb mongetes, cook the sausage first and then fry the white beans in the rendered fat with a lot of sliced garlic. The fat is the sauce for that dish, so if you substitute a leaner sausage you may need to add a spoonful of olive oil to make up for it.
You will see the sausage spelled botifarra in Catalan and butifarra in Spanish, and they are the same thing. But if your recipe says butifarra negra, it means blood sausage, not a white sausage, and you should be reaching for morcilla or black pudding instead. Substituting a white sausage there changes both the color and the whole flavor of the dish.
Peruvian butifarra is a different thing again: a sandwich of thinly sliced cooked spiced pork with salsa criolla. If that is your recipe, buy jamon del pais if you can, or use thin-sliced roast pork loin or a mild cooked ham, and do not buy a fresh sausage at all.
Resist the urge to add more seasoning. The point of butifarra is restraint, because in Catalan cooking it is the beans, the escalivada or the mushrooms that are meant to carry the flavor, and a heavily spiced sausage will bulldoze them.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave butifarra out?

Not in a dish named after it, such as butifarra amb mongetes, where the sausage is half the plate. In a big mixed stew like escudella i carn d'olla, which already contains several meats, you can leave it out and the pot still works. If you want the flavor without the sausage, cook the beans in olive oil with plenty of garlic and add a pinch of nutmeg and a good amount of black pepper.

Can I use chorizo instead of butifarra?

You can, but you will be making a different dish. Chorizo is defined by smoked paprika and garlic, so butifarra amb mongetes made with chorizo turns orange-red and tastes smoky, which is good in its own right but nothing like the original. If chorizo is your only option, use less of it than the recipe says so the paprika does not take over completely.

What is the difference between butifarra and Italian sausage?

The seasoning. Butifarra is salt, black pepper and sometimes nutmeg, cinnamon or a splash of wine, and nothing else. Italian sausage centers on fennel, and often adds garlic, wine and chile flakes. Structurally they are almost identical fresh pork sausages, which is why Italian sausage is a workable swap; the fennel is the only real tell.

Is butifarra cooked or raw when you buy it?

Both exist, which is a common source of confusion. Butifarra cruda is a fresh raw sausage that must be cooked through, and it is what most Catalan recipes mean when they say butifarra. Butifarra blanca and butifarra negra are cooked sausages, sold ready to slice, and they behave more like a cooked sausage than a grilling one. Check whether your recipe grills it or slices it.

Can I make butifarra without a sausage stuffer?

Yes, and this is the most practical route for most home cooks. Season ground pork shoulder as described above, then form it into thick patties or short fat logs and pan-fry or grill them. You lose the snap of the casing, which is a real loss, but you get the correct flavor and the correct fat, which matter more in a dish where the sausage is served with beans and its own fat.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Butifarra substitute

Other butifarra substitutes

2Ground Pork Shoulder, Seasoned Yourself

3Mild or Sweet Fresh Italian Sausage

4Fresh White Polish Sausage (biala kielbasa, uncooked)

5Plain Fresh Pork Sausage or British Bangers

6Boudin Blanc