Cotechino substitute

Best substitute

Zampone

Use the same amount by weight as the cotechino you are replacing

Best for lentils on New Year's Eve

Close match

The best substitute for cotechino is zampone, which is the identical filling in a different casing, at 1:1. Failing that, use sweet Italian sausage at 1:1 with a pinch of nutmeg and clove, poached gently rather than browned, and drop a strip of pork rind or a piece of pancetta into the pot to supply the gelatinous body that plain sausage lacks. A fresh ham hock simmered with the lentils is the best swap of all if you care more about the dish than the slice.

Other cotechino substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Sweet Italian Sausage Plus Nutmeg and Clove
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight, plus a pinch each of grated nutmeg and ground clove
The most available swap.
What changes
Poach the whole sausages gently in water or stock for about thirty minutes rather than browning them, add the spices to the pot, and drop in a strip of pork rind or a small chunk of pancetta for body.
Best for
lentils and sausage, with polenta, New Year's Eve dinner, braised beans
Gives you the right savoury pork bulk but it is much leaner, firmer and drier, with no gelatinous silkiness at all, which is precisely what cotechino is bought for. Most Italian sausage is also fennel-forward, where cotechino leans on warm baking spices, so the pinch of nutmeg and clove matters more than it sounds. Do not prick the casings; the fat is what you are trying to keep in.
3Fresh White Polish Sausage (Kielbasa Biala)
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Unsmoked fresh pork sausage that is designed to be poached, which makes it a better structural match than most Italian sausage.
What changes
Best for
lentils, beans, cabbage, with mustard and boiled potatoes
Coarse fresh pork with mild marjoram and garlic seasoning, and it takes to a slow simmer without falling apart. It is leaner than cotechino and often noticeably tangy if it is the soured variety sold for Easter, which pushes the lentils in a Polish direction. Add nutmeg and a bay leaf and it lands close.
4Boudin Blanc or Saucisse de Morteau
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
French cooking sausages made to be poached gently.
What changes
Both hold together over a long simmer and both are richer than supermarket sausages.
Best for
lentils, with potatoes, braised cabbage, bollito style boiled dinners
Boudin blanc is very rich, pale and delicate, so it gives you the unctuous quality but tastes creamy and refined rather than rustic, and it can break up if boiled. Saucisse de Morteau has the right coarse chew but is definitely smoky, which pushes the lentils toward a Franco-German flavour that is delicious and clearly not Emilian.
5Fresh Ham Hock or Pork Shoulder
Close match
Use 1 hock or 1 lb shoulder for every 1 lb cotechino
Not a sausage at all, and arguably the best answer if what you want is the dish rather than the slice.
What changes
A hock supplies exactly the gelatin, fat and pork flavour cotechino contributes to a pot of lentils.
Best for
lentils, bean stews, bollito misto, collar of a New Year's dinner
Simmer for about two hours with the aromatics until the meat pulls away, then shred it and add a pinch of nutmeg, clove and plenty of black pepper. The result is genuinely closer to cotechino's silky, gelatinous character than any lean sausage, and the broth is superb. What you lose is the sliced-sausage presentation, and the smoked hocks common in supermarkets bring smoke that cotechino does not have, so ask for fresh.
6Pancetta Plus Plain Fresh Sausages
Taste and texture differ
Use 2 oz pancetta plus 14 oz fresh sausage for every 1 lb cotechino
Two ingredients standing in for one: pancetta for the cured fat, salt and richness, plain fresh pork sausage for the meat.
What changes
Best for
lentils, beans, soups, greens
Render the pancetta first so the fat coats everything, then poach the sausages in the same pot. The dish comes out savoury and satisfying but reads more like lentil soup with bacon than like cotechino e lenticchie: saltier, faintly cured, and without the wobble. Cut the salt elsewhere in the recipe, since pancetta brings a lot.
7Smoked Sausage or Andouille
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
The last resort, listed because it is what many people have and because it does at least fill the plate.
What changes
Best for
lentils, beans, weeknight substitution
Smoke is the one flavour cotechino conspicuously does not have, and it takes over a pot of lentils completely, so the dish tastes American or Cajun rather than northern Italian. It is also fully cooked and firm, so there is no gelatinous quality at all. Perfectly good food; just do not expect it to resemble the tradition.
8No Honest Vegetarian Swap
Taste and texture differ
Nothing meatless reproduces cotechino, and it is better to make a good lentil dish than a poor imitation.
What changes
Cook the lentils in a soffritto of onion, carrot and celery with a bay leaf, a generous amount of olive oil, a Parmesan rind or a spoonful of white miso for savoury depth, and a pinch of the same nutmeg, clove and pepper.
Best for
vegetarian New Year's lentils, lentil side dishes
The result is genuinely good and tastes of the same spices, but there is no fat rendering into the pot and no gelatin, so the lentils are lighter and less silky. Finish with a hard glug of good olive oil off the heat to add back some richness, and call the dish lentils rather than cotechino e lenticchie.

What is Cotechino?

Cotechino is a large fresh pork sausage from Emilia made with rind as well as meat and fat and gently spiced with nutmeg, clove and pepper, so slow poaching melts its collagen into gelatin and the sausage turns soft and unctuous, which is what gives a dish of lentils its rich, sticky body.

Cooking tips

Check whether your cotechino is raw or precooked, because the difference is hours. Vacuum-packed supermarket versions are usually labelled precotto and only need twenty to thirty minutes in their sealed bag in hot water. Raw cotechino needs two to three hours at a bare simmer, and often an overnight soak in cold water first.
Never let it boil. A rolling boil splits the casing, renders the fat out into the water, and leaves you with a dry sausage and a greasy pot, which destroys the soft gelatinous texture that is the entire reason for buying it. Keep the water at a bare tremble, barely moving.
Do not prick the casing, and wrap raw cotechino in cheesecloth or muslin tied at both ends. Long slow cooking softens the casing and the parcel is what keeps the sausage in one piece so you can slice it neatly at the table.
Save a ladleful of the poaching liquid to finish the lentils. That is where the gelatin has gone, and stirring it in gives the lentils a glossy, slightly sticky body you cannot get any other way. This trick works just as well with a substitute, especially a ham hock.
Cook the lentils separately in a soffritto rather than in the same pot as the sausage. Simmered together they absorb too much fat and turn heavy. Slice the cotechino about a centimetre thick, warm rather than piping hot so it firms enough to slice cleanly, and lay the slices over the lentils to serve.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the cotechino out?

You can, and lentils cooked in a good soffritto with plenty of olive oil are a fine dish. But cotechino is contributing the fat, the salt and the gelatin that make the lentils rich and glossy rather than merely earthy, so plan to compensate: a Parmesan rind in the pot, an extra glug of olive oil at the end, and the same nutmeg and clove seasoning.

Is cotechino the same as Italian sausage?

No. Both are fresh pork sausage, but cotechino includes ground rind, which is where its name comes from, and that rind turns to gelatin during a long slow poach and gives the sausage a soft, slightly sticky texture. It is also seasoned with nutmeg, clove and pepper rather than fennel, and it is far larger, more like a small salami in size.

What is the difference between cotechino and zampone?

The filling is essentially the same seasoned pork and rind mixture; the casing differs. Cotechino is stuffed into a conventional casing, zampone into a boned pig's front trotter, which gives it more skin and a slightly richer result. They are used interchangeably, and both turn up in bollito misto and on the New Year table with lentils.

Why is cotechino eaten with lentils at New Year?

The tradition holds that lentils look like coins and so promise prosperity in the year ahead, and the rich fatty sausage represents abundance. That is why searches for cotechino spike sharply at the end of December, usually from people who discovered on the 30th that no local shop stocks it. A fresh ham hock or Italian sausage with nutmeg will get you through the evening.

Which substitute should I choose if I want the closest texture?

A fresh ham hock, simmered two hours and shredded, because collagen turning to gelatin is exactly what makes cotechino what it is and a hock has plenty of it. If you need something you can slice and present, use Italian or fresh Polish sausage and put a strip of pork rind in the poaching liquid, then use that liquid to finish the lentils.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Cotechino substitute

Other cotechino substitutes

2Sweet Italian Sausage Plus Nutmeg and Clove

3Fresh White Polish Sausage (Kielbasa Biala)

4Boudin Blanc or Saucisse de Morteau

5Fresh Ham Hock or Pork Shoulder

6Pancetta Plus Plain Fresh Sausages

7Smoked Sausage or Andouille

8No Honest Vegetarian Swap