Chicken Feta Spinach Sausage
It’s grilling season and what better to throw on the grill than sausages. Being from Wisconsin, we are known for a few things, and one of them is the bratwurst. The brat is really a standard item on any grill in Milwaukee, and commonly found during the tailgates at any sporting event, be it the Milwaukee Brewers or the Green Bay Packers. I am coming out and saying that I love brats. While living in Dallas, Texas, you could not even find a brat at a grocery store, so it was good to move back and get some really good brats. Being home to Johnsonville, Klement’s, and Usinger’s, you are sure to find a great brat while in Wisconsin.
For some time now I have been making my own sausage for some time now, and it has a lot of Asian flavors. My wife tends to like them but one thing is for certain, her favorite specialty sausage is the chicken feta spinach sausage. As I often frequent Pick-n-Save for these types of specialty sausages, I thought what the heck, I am going to make my own, and make them better! So after a recent sampling and careful investigation of these sausages, I took some time and made my own. If you are looking to impress at your next bbq, and have a food grinder and sausage stuffer, then this recipe is right up your alley.
Ingredients:
- 7 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken (I used roughly 5 lbs of thighs, 2 lbs breasts), ground
- 1 bunch of fresh spinach, cleaned and stems removed, finely chopped
- 10 oz crumbled feta cheese
- 2 tbsp salt
- 3 tbsp white pepper
- 3 tbsp dried majoram
- Casings, cleaned and rinsed
If you do not have a food grinder, get your chicken ground up at your local butcher. I have my own grinder, so I cut all of my chicken into strips and fed them through my grinder. Add your chicken to a large bowl and mix in your spices, cheese, and spinach, and combine really well.
What I recommend you do now is to take a little bit and cook it in a skillet to taste for flavors. If it needs more spice, add some. Get your flavors right before you begin to stuff your sausages. Once you have perfected your flavors, it’s time to get stuffing. Prepare and lube your stuffer. I use a KitchenAid appliance with the proper attachments. This works well, however it does take a bit of time. Take about three feet of your casing and feed it onto the stuffer, tying a knot at the end. Slowly add in your chicken mixture, andwork out any air pockets that seem to go through into the casing. Stuff the sausage to your desired length, and continue this process until all the sausage has been stuffed. Spin sausage to make a good sealed ‘twist’, clip with a scissors, and store them in ziplock bags to store in the freezer for later use.
The seven pounds of chicken made about 19 brats, and saved me about $10.00 in the process. Was it worth it? Not sure, but my wife states they are spot on and now she has a surplus of them. Enjoy.
17 Comments
Esi
This sounds pretty simple to make and I bet it is better than stuff you can buy at the store.
Jen
Chicken sausage is my favorite grillable. Your homemade links look and sound so very tasty!
Lily
WOW- very impressive! Not a big sausage person, but these look fantastic! You also have great pics too!
Diane
I found this site through foodgawker,it’s one of a few thats gone into my faves.No endless restaurant reviews or “look at my kids on the beach” type stuff to plough through, just loads of recipes for food an ordinary kitchen slave like me loves to turn out for myself and “he who must be obeyed” (oh yeah?). Congratulations!!
lori blandy
i made theese but why did they come out dry what can you use to keep them
from being dry they are great but too dry
joey
I have not made this recipe, but have made chicken sausages in the past. I always ground the skins with the chicken, the skins add a lot of fat and will help keep your sausages more moist.
Dax Phillips
Hi Joey – That is actually a great idea. I will have to try that on the next batch I make.
Sean
Try adding some chicken skin. I know it doesn’t sound really appealing but if they were dry then they need more fat. Sausages generally need to have 20 to 25% fat
Steve
You need to add fat, i.e. Olive oil, pork fat, etc.
greg
great recipe- I added 4 tbs minced garlic, 1 tbs onion powder, 1 tbs basil, 1 tbs fresh ground corriander, and 3 chicken boulions mixed in 1 cup water.
Wisk all spices into the cooled broth mixture, and pour over diced chicken. Mix well and let sit for 24 hours. Stir in feta and run through grinder and stuff casings. Made great links and patties.
suziemc
I just got started in making my own sausage, and will try this one for sure next. My grinder and stuffer is an attachment from my Kitchen Aid mixer and so far works GREAT!
Margaret
This sausage was wonderful, with no changes to the recipe. I did not put it in casings. I will freeze some to put on pizza. I will make some into patties. In the morning I will have my daughters over and cook it with fresh mushrooms and add eggs. The list of ways that I plan to cook this goes on and on.
Dax Phillips
Thanks Margaret, glad you enjoyed it!
Mike
How would this recipe change if I preferred to use pork instead of chicken? Would the spices and / or amounts change as well?
Mike
Dax Phillips
Not sure Mike as I have not tried it with pork. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes!
don Rathwell
do you leave the skin on the chicken?
Holly K.
For a chicken, spinach, feta brat, what condiment would you use?