This elk sausage recipe is a great way to enjoy a healthy, protein-packed and delicious meal. Whether you are an experienced or new hunter – or if you bought elk at the store: you’ve come to the right place to find a recipe for elk breakfast sausage patties!
Making elk sausages is easy with this recipe because they are in patty form. This means you don’t have to buy hog casings or have fancy sausage stuffing equipment!
Elk are one of the largest types of deer, making it a wild game meat that is similar to venison.
This meat is growing in popularity because it is nutritious and lean. The first time I tried elk I bought it as ground meat and cooked it for tacos; I loved how it wasn’t as greasy as ground beef and it had such a mild, clean and almost a sweet taste!
You can substitute elk with ground venison or even ground beef in this recipe, but the cooking process will be a bit different because of the amount of fat. We suggest carefully monitoring the sausage patties on the stove with whichever meat you decide to cook.
Health Benefits of Elk Meat:
Compared to regular beef, elk has about half the fat and more protein. It is high in B vitamins, zinc and healthy types of fat. Most farm raised elk are able to free range and have a varied diet including many different types of plant material. Make sure to look up the company and ensure they are a good farm if you are purchasing meat from the store, confirming you are buying a high-quality product.
While we don’t think many types of animal fats are bad for you (if you are eating grass-fed, grass-finished red meat and organic, pasture-raised poultry), we do think it is easy to have too much fat when eating a diet that includes animal products. For example, we include butter and cream in our diet, so we often get plenty of fat from dairy products. Having a lean meat option is a nice way to help balance the appropriate amounts of fats, carbohydrates and proteins in a meal.
Elk hunted from the wild:
As we are not hunting professionals, we don’t have instructions for how to properly skin or butcher wild game. There are many resources for this online! This recipe calls for ground meat which means you will need a good meat grinder or hand grinder if you haven’t bought it pre-ground. Once you have your ground meat, you can follow this easy recipe!
Storage:
- You can freeze the prepared raw meat mixture in a non- BPA freezer bag or reusable silicone bag for up to 4 months. Make sure to seal the meat air tight to prevent freezer burn. Only keep the raw meat mixture in the refrigerator for 1-2 days in an airtight container or it will begin to spoil.
- You can refrigerate the cooked sausage patties for up to 3 days by allowing them to cool to room temperature and sealing them in an airtight container or in a dish covered tightly with plastic wrap.
- You can freeze cooked sausage patties by allowing them to cool to room temperature and sealing in a non-BPA freezer bag or reusable silicone bag for up to 4 months (again, sealing airtight to prevent freezer burn.)
Tips for Best results when cooking elk sausage:
- Combine the dry spices in a small or medium bowl before adding the seasoning mixture to however many pounds of meat you are preparing. This will ensure your sausage seasonings will be uniform throughout your meat.
- Fresh herbs can be used in place of dry by multiplying the quantity by 3. For example, instead of adding 1 teaspoon of dry thyme you can add 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme. We made this recipe in the winter so we only had dry herbs – but can’t wait to try this recipe with herbs from the garden in spring and summer!
- Preheat the stove to medium heat and add butter until it begins to bubble before adding the sausage patties. This will allow better browning and less sticking.
- You will want to turn the heat up to medium-high for proper browning but monitor the heat to ensure the sausages are not burning .
- Carefully monitor the sausages when cooking: you don’t want to overcook these because the low amount of fat can cause the sausage to be quite dry if overly well-done.
- I do not recommend using most “non-stick” pans as most have a coating made with toxic chemicals that can leach into your food. I suggest sticking with stainless steal or cast iron for cooking.
What to eat with Elk Breakfast sausage patties:
Enjoy these patties with the same sides you would normally eat with breakfast sausage. Sourdough flatbread, sourdough crepes or pancakes, crispy hash browns, sourdough bread toast with apple butter…
One of our favorite healthy side dishes for this recipe is sauteed apples in butter and maple syrup, topped with sour cream and a little cinnamon and nutmeg. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Elk Sausage Recipe: How to Make Elk Breakfast Sausage
Equipment
- 1 Large Bowl
- 1 small bowl
- 1 mortar and pestle (If any of your spices are not ground. You can use a well cleaned coffee grinder or blender if you don't have a mortar and pestle.)
- 1 large stainless steel or cast iron pan
- 1 spatula for flipping
- 1 fork or spoon for mixing spices and herbs
- 1 knife and cutting board if you need to chop fresh herbs
- 1 plate for placing on once cooked
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground elk
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup (you can substitute with 1.5 Tbsp brown sugar)
- 2 tsp dried sage (or 2 Tbsp fresh sage)
- 1.5 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground coriander seed
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh thyme)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp fennel seed
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional- if you want a little spice)
- 2 Tbsp grass fed/ pasture raised butter for cooking (you can substitute with grass fed tallow or ghee)
Instructions
- If you are using fresh herbs, finely chop herbs on cutting board
- Crush and blend any whole spices (like fennel seed, coriander seed or pepper corns) in a mortar and pestle, clean coffee grinder or blender
- Combine sage, sea salt, coriander, thyme, fennel seed, black pepper, and red pepper (if using) into a small or medium bowl
- Add ground meat to a large bowl
- Pour spice and herb mixture into large bowl with ground meat
- Add maple syrup (or brown sugar) to large bowl with meat and spice/herb mixture
- In large bowl combine ground elk, herbs, spices and syrup (or brown sugar) with your hands until thoroughly and evenly mixed
- Form 10 small balls out of meat mixture by separating a small piece at a time and rounding into a ball with your hands
- Preheat a large stainless steal pan or cast iron pan to medium/medium-high heat on largest stove top size for even cooking
- Add 2 Tbsp butter to pan and allow it to melt and begin to bubble
- Place each ball onto pan and carefully press down with your fingers until a 1 inch thick patty shape is formed
- Cook in first side for about 3-5 minutes or until first side is browned
- Adjust heat as needed if patties are not browning within 5 minutes or are browning too quickly
- Carefully flip each patty, cook on second side and cook for about 5 minutes or until second side is browned
- Check for completion by cutting one patty open to ensure the center is fully cooked
- Place patties onto a plate when browned on each side and cooked through the center
- Serve with your sides of choice and enjoy!
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