How to Cook Pork Sausages: Top 3 Methods

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March 20, 2024

Whether served in a bun, mixed with rich tomato penne, or fried in a pan with eggs and cheese, protein-rich pork sausages are a versatile, delectable choice for a flavor-packed breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Not only are pork sausages rich, meaty, and delicious, but they can also make for a nutritious meal if you buy the right type. Some sausages include added sugar and are high in sodium and additives, which don’t bode well for a healthy diet.

However, if you choose pasture-raised, heritage pork sausages, you’ll get high-quality meat free of hormones, antibiotics, and GMOs. This makes for a healthier, ethical choice and better taste.

Not to “humble brag,” but we’re kind of known for our sugar-free breakfast sausage, so we feel really good about putting together this article. 🙂

But, for those of you who prefer to make your own sausage, our ground pork is perfect!

Here, we’ll discuss the top three ways to cook sugar-free, heritage pork sausages perfectly.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Servings: 6-8

What You'll Need

One of the appeals of cooking pork sausages is how quick and easy the process is. Because the meat is so naturally flavourful, all you’ll need is a tablespoon of oil, and you’re ready to go:

1 tbsp oil (Avocado or Extra Virgin Olive)
1 lb. Sugar-Free Pork Sausage

All our pastured pork sausage is made from the highest-quality meat raised on our regenerative family farm or within our trusted partner farm network.

With the cooking methods below, enjoy a variety of flavors, including kielbasa, Italian, bratwurst, and breakfast patties.

Instructions

Now, it’s time to explore our three favorite methods for cooking pork sausages: on the stove, in the oven, and on the grill.

Cooking on the Stovetop

This is the classic way to cook pork sausages–and it’s quick and easy.

Heat a drizzle of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.
Place four sausages in the skillet, cooking for 5 minutes on each side or until the middle of the patties reaches 160°F.
Once cooked, remove the sausages from the skillet and let stand for five minutes.
Repeat the process until all sausages are done.

Baking in the Oven

If you’re looking for an oil-free or low-effort cooking method, baking your pork sausages is the way to go.

Preheat oven to 375°F.
While it warms, line a baking tray with non-stick parchment paper and place the sausages or patties on it.
Put the tray in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until sausages or patties reach 160°F.
Halfway through baking time, flip so they’re nicely browned all over.
For extra crispy results, cook sausages in a skillet on high heat for two minutes after baking.

Option: You can also use a cast iron skillet as an alternative to a baking sheet.

Cooking on the Grill

In the mood for a barbecue? Grilled Italian sausages are some of the tastiest pork links you can prepare. Here’s what to do:

Preheat grill to medium-high heat and gently oil grates.
Place sausages on grill, cooking for roughly 5 minutes on each side or until the middle of the sausages reach 160°F.
Remove sausages from the grill and let stand for five minutes.

Why Sugar-Free Pork Sausage?

If you’re watching your carb intake, sugar-free is a given. But even if you don’t mind a touch of added sugar to your diet, it's a good idea to be mindful of the sugar content in products like bacon and sausages.

Added sugar in pork products indicates they’re highly processed, and highly processed foods have been linked to a variety of health problems, including increased risk of obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

To ensure you choose a healthy and tasty option, look for nutrition labels that are free of sugar and contain only a handful of ingredients: pork, water, and natural herbs and spices. All our pork product labels look like this because they’re all sugar-free!

Side Dishes to Pair with Pork Sausage

Pork sausages make for a hearty, delicious meal any time of the day. Here are some of our favorite ways to serve them for a mouth-wateringly tasty breakfast, lunch, or dinner:

Breakfast

Gooey egg, sausage, and cheese breakfast sandwich
Colorful fried sausage, veggie, and potato hash
Old-fashioned sausages, biscuits and gravy

Lunch

Sauteed peppers, sausage, and onions laced with red pesto
Grilled sausages with creamy coleslaw and a dressed summer salad
Spiced, baked eggplant stuffed with herbs and sauteed sausage

Dinner

Sweet, zingy tomato and sausage penne pasta
Grilled sausages served with baked sweet potato wedges and roasted vegetables
Crumbled spicy sausage and caramelized onion pizza

Expert Tips & Tricks

Before we dive into the cooking instructions, here are some helpful tips and tricks to keep in mind to get the perfect sausages every time:

Before cooking your breakfast sausage patties, gently press your thumb down into the center of each one. This will help the sausage to retain its circular shape during cooking.
When it comes to sausages, slow and steady wins the race. That means cooking them on low to medium heat. Otherwise, you risk a burned outside and undercooked inside.
While cooking as many patties or links as you can in a skillet might be tempting, it’s better to cook them in manageable batches. If you don’t, you may accidentally steam the sausages instead of browning them, and lose out on the crispy exterior.
Once your sausages are cooked, allow them to rest for a few minutes before serving. This will make every bite more juicy and tender.
For the perfect pork sausage, a meat thermometer is your best friend! You’ll want to ensure the sausage's innermost part reaches 160°F–that’s how you’ll know it’s ready.

Recipe FAQs

Is it better to cook sausages in the oven or pan?

How you cook your pork sausages depends on your preferences. The oven, skillet, and grill are all great options. The oven is the best option if you prefer a more hands-off approach to cooking, but we'd recommend the pan if you enjoy sizzling your sausages to perfection.

What’s the difference between Italian sausage and breakfast sausage?

Seven Sons’ Italian and breakfast sausages are both beautifully seasoned and sugar-free. The major difference between the two is our selection of herbs and spices in each. While the breakfast sausage is milder and lighter in flavor, with hints of sage and rosemary, the Italian sausage has a lightly spiced flavor thanks to the addition of paprika.

How should sausages be cooked?

Pork sausages are versatile and delicious. For best results, you can cook them in several ways, including in the oven, on a skillet, or on a grill.

Can you pan-fry pork sausages?

Absolutely! Heat a drizzle of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat to pan-fry pork sausages. Next, cook your sausage patties for five minutes on each side or until the middle of the patties has reached 160°F. Don’t forget to let them rest for a few minutes after cooking, so they’re extra juicy and tender.

Should I add any seasonings to the sausage patties?

Seven Son’s breakfast and Italian pork sausages are already perfectly seasoned with a delicate blend of herbs and spices, meaning all you need to do is cook them!

Can I store leftover cooked pork sausage?

Yes, it’s easy to store leftover pork sausage. First, let the meat cool completely. Then, transfer it to an airtight container. You can refrigerate it for up to 4 days.

Ready to Cook?

Try Seven Sons’ delicious, sugar-free pork sausage range today. As always, we’d love to know what you think! So, let us know if you tried our recipes and how it turned out!

Product Guides

25 Years of Seven Sons (Some OLD SCHOOL pics!) 📸

A few weeks back, at our annual team Christmas party hosted right here in the farm order fulfillment area, I took our team members and their guests on a trip down memory lane.While we served over 25,000 unique families in 2025, the truth is that our farm had VERY humble beginnings, rich with challenges, uncertainties, and failures.I’ll never forget one evening when I was probably 12 years old. Dad sat Blake and me down and asked if we’d be willing to invest the cash we had saved in glass jars to help pay for the first cattle fencing we needed to build.That was a lot of weight for young boys to carry.But we said yes.Looking back now, I never could’ve imagined that those jars of cash would one day multiply into what Seven Sons has become today.The purpose of my storytelling that night was to enrich the team's understanding of our farm's story, and celebrate 25 years of serving customers, regenerating the soil, producing nourishing, healthy food, and raising animals with care.It was a fun exercise. :)And, so, for just 2-3 minutes I invite YOU on this same journey. Take a trip down memory lane with me... The year was 1999, and Y2K (the fear of what would happen when all the computers rolled over to a new century) was on the horizon.Mom, Dad, Blake, and I worked hard to create our first-ever product, Canned Beef - a shelf-stable staple item in high demand at the time.It was the only product we sold.The good news is that it sold very well!!The bad news was that after Y2K passed without a hitch, people had too much, and demand plummeted. While we still sell our canned beef today, we had a BIGGER vision than selling one product, so we got busy innovating. In the late 1990s / early 2000s, the internet and "selling online" was just in its infancy. Mom and I agreed that a good home schooling project would be for me to build the first Seven Sons website. (pictured above).I'm happy to report I finished my project, but I'm unhappy to report we NEVER earned a single customer through this first version of SevenSons.net.(The marketer in me now understands why. 😂)Thankfully, the spark for online marketing was ignited in me, and I continued to learn and take steps to effectively reach customers online in the coming years. Our next step was to open a self-serve on-farm store so that customers could buy from us 7 days a week, and we could support our sales beyond the few sales we'd make at farmers' markets in the area.It was about this time that I started dating my wife, Charis.On one of my early visits down to visit her family in Warren, IN, I happened to notice this shed (pictured above) on the back of her family's property. I couldn't help but notice that it looked like a pretty ideal farm store.🤔She encouraged me to ask her parents if we could buy it to start our family's on-farm store, and they gave it to us. Interestingly, Charis' grandpa has started a business with the same shed years ago, and so her parents were more than happy to see the tradition carry on.We were in business shortly thereafter... With the vision of growth and packing more and more orders over time, we built our first fulfillment and packing "room".With the mix of a refrigerator, a few freezers, and an area to weigh and package goods, we were on our way to working more efficiently. My friend, this BIG truck, affectionately called "THE BEAST," is what we used to make our first home deliveries in the area, and eventually all the way to Chicago.There were many, many days of rolling down the interstate, first with Blake, and then with my other brothers as they got old enough to make the trip. There was no A/C, so those July and August trips were especially warm. And, sometimes the trips were adventurous...One memory stands out more than most...I remember standing in the back of that reefer truck on a cold November day in Munster, Indiana. Ice and rain were coming down, and there were more than 30 families lined up behind the truck waiting to pick up their Thanksgiving orders.As I think back on that moment now, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude.Every one of those families chose to skip the grocery store.Every one of them trusted us with their holiday meal.And those choices repeated thousands of times over the years, are the reason this farm is still here today. And that brings us to our first ever team Christmas party...The impact this year for our people, our greatest asset, was strong as they could look around the room to see the now nearly 100 people enjoying a meal, playing games and leaving with some thank you gifts.Each word of this story is only possible because of the folks reading it. If you read our Manifesto, you will learn that behind the scenes of this 25-year journey, there were many hardships that nearly ended the journey.The belief, patience, good will and partnership we've received from our customers over the years means more than you know to mom, dad, my brothers and I.THANK YOU.❤️Let me close by saying that 25 years in we are more inspired than ever and the vision we have is grand.We invite you to continue on that path with us...to enjoy healthy food you can eat with confidence, and help us continue to lead for much needed change in the food systems and agriculture