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If you’ve already tried my popular turkey breakfast sausage, you know how delicious homemade sausage patties can turn out. I’m seriously blown away every time I taste them! That’s why I knew I wanted to tackle a chicken variation next. I had wondered if I could just swap the meat and get the same result, but if you’ve ever tried that, you know it doesn’t always work perfectly.
Chicken and turkey have distinct flavors, so they require slightly different spice ratios. Luckily, this chicken sausage is just as easy to prepare, as long as you bake a sweet potato ahead of time.
Yes, you heard me. You’ll need a baked sweet potato for this recipe, and if you’re like me, you might not have one on hand. I purposely bake one or two of these each week solely to make a recipe like this one. My family doesn’t love baked sweet potatoes as a side dish, but they are so helpful as a binder and flavor-booster in recipes.
So, pop one in your oven the next time you’re in the kitchen and making dinner anyway. Then store it overnight in the fridge so you can make these the next morning! These chicken patties taste like they have maple syrup inside, but there’s NO added sugar. It’s magic!
Chicken Sausage Ingredients
- Ground Chicken. You’ll need one pound of ground chicken for a batch of this sausage. I usually use the kind that isn’t labeled “breast” so it’s about 93% lean. I think chicken breast, which is up to 99% lean, would also work, but the texture might be slightly tougher.
- Sweet Potato. This recipe moves quickly when you have leftover baked sweet potato in the fridge. As I mentioned above, I don’t usually cook these as a side dish, but I don’t mind tossing them into my air fryer while I get other things done around the house. You don’t need to rub oil or season it at all. Just pop it in the oven at 400º for 45-60 minutes, then let it cool before refrigerating.
- Pantry Spices. You’ll need ground sage, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and ground black pepper to create flavorful sausage. It’s so easy!
How to Make Healthy Chicken Sausage
Step 1:
In a large bowl, combine 1 pound of ground chicken and 1/2 cup of baked sweet potato. I measure the sweet potato by scooping the center of a baked sweet potato into a measuring cup and packing it down with a fork until it’s soft and mashed.
Season with 1 1/4 teaspoons of fine sea salt, 1 teaspoon of ground sage, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper.
Step 2:
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Use a spatula to mix everything together. It should look mushy and lightly orange/peach color from the sweet potato.
Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat on the stove and lightly spray it with cooking spray. Then get your hands wet (to prevent sticking) and use a cookie scoop to drop the chicken mixture into your hand. I use approximately 2 tablespoons per patty. Flatten and shape the mixture into a sausage patty, then place it directly in the hot pan.
Step 3:
Repeat the process by making 3 more chicken patties and adding them to the skillet as you go. As soon as you’ve added the 4th patty, the first one you added should be ready to flip.
Cook all 4 chicken patties until the centers reach 165ºF.
Remove the cooked chicken patties from the pan and repeat the cooking process with two more batches, for a total of approximately 12 sausage patties. (Sometimes I get one extra, so it may vary based on how “heaping” your scoops are.)
These are ready to serve warm as soon as they are done cooking!
Healthy Chicken Breakfast Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- ½ cup baked sweet potato
- 1 ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- cooking spray/oil , as needed for cooking
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, sweet potato, salt, sage, garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Use a rubber spatula to mix it together evenly; it will be very sticky when you're done.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and lightly spray it with cooking oil. While it warms up, shape 4 chicken sausage patties. I do this by getting my hands wet (this prevents sticking), then using a cookie scoop to drop 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture into my hands. Shape the patty to be about 4 inches wide and 1/2-inch thick, then place it on the warm skillet. Repeat until you're cooking 4 patties at a time.
- When the bottom of the chicken patties starts to turn opaque, after about 2 minutes or so, flip them over and cook the other side. They should look golden when you flip them. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF in the center. Then remove this batch and repeat cooking 4 more patties. I usually get 12 total from this batch, so you'll need to cook in 3 batches about 5 minutes at a time. (15 minutes of cooking total.)
- When all of the chicken sausage has been cooked, serve them warm with your favorite breakfast. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
More Recipes to Try
- Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps (with extra fiber)
- Healthy Chicken Burgers
- High Protein Vegetarian Breakfast Casserole
- Greek Yogurt Ice Cream (high protein!)
If you try these Chicken Breakfast Sausages, please leave a comment and star rating below to let me know how you like them.
