I am a poultry scientist, and I also love sausages. Normally those 2 things are not spoken in the same sentence. However, the tide is changing, and chicken sausages are the new “cool” thing.

I remember when I first started in academia, teaching poultry further processing labs, we made a lot of chicken sausages. My students at the time were very hesitant to eat them; they were lighter in color and had a different texture and flavor profile than typical pork sausages. The meat scientists were not fans, either. But I held my ground. Chicken is not only the most consumed meat, but it is also the most versatile protein available, so why can't it be a sausage?

My students and I actually became really good at making chicken sausages, especially using dark meat (thighs and drums) as the raw material. The dark meat provided just enough fat and flavor to make the sausages taste delicious. We even started making them for our educational industry courses as demos. At first, we did get some strange comments on our evaluations. It took several years, but the faculty and students, and even industry started really enjoying the chicken and turkey sausages we made. In fact, we just made some amazing jalapeno chicken sausage at our Poultry 201 course this week. Delish, and everyone embraced it.

Fast forward to today. If you go to the retail stores, chicken sausages are now “cool.” There are many types and flavor profiles. The consumers perceive them as a healthier option, and the things once considered negative (color, texture, and flavor profile) have been overcome by processing technologies and custom ingredient profiles. Poultry sausages are now the “cool kids” on the block.

Some considerations when dealing with chicken sausage over pork sausage are the quality of the meat block, the fat content, and the flavor profiles. Thigh meat makes a great sausage meat block because of the lean-to-fat ratio. Thighs are made up of muscles with a layer of fat in between, so it makes a perfect starting material. If there happens to be a lower fat content and that is a problem for flavor profiles or for texture, pork fat can always be added. Labeling is a consideration when adding pork fat. Because chicken flavor is so much blander compared to other meats, we can be very versatile with flavor profiles. If you look at what’s on the market, there are many flavor profiles to choose from.

The fun thing is we can even make these chicken sausages at home. Thigh meat can be purchased and ground at home then mixed with your favorite spices and flavor profiles. Stuff them into a natural casing that can be purchased from a meat market. There are many online YouTube videos available for details. Always remember to cook to 165F and use a thermometer.

Be the chicken you want to be ... chicken sausage is now “cool” and we should embrace it. Chicken meat is versatile, convenient, cost effective, and we are the most consumed meat in the world. So, let's celebrate chicken in the form of a sausage.

Chicken sausage is now 'cool'

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