Liver, Heart, & Kidney Breakfast Sausage
Organ matter, or offal, is one the most nutrient-dense categories of food that we can eat, and food archaeologists now believe that developing the tools needed to access the blood, fat, bones, and organs of animals was responsible for our brains growing to their current size. However, if you didn’t grow up eating offal, it can be a physical and psychological challenge to find ways to integrate it into your diet.
I’ve found sausage and homemade pate to be the easiest ways. Pork, bacon, and lard do excellent jobs at balancing and/or overwhelming the taste of organ matter so that you barely know it’s there. Our kids find this sausage delicious and regularly ask for seconds and thirds!
I buy both the pork and the organs from my local farmer, Meadow Ridge Farms, and grind my own organs. You can search for a regenerative farm near your location here. Some farms (including Meadow Ridge) will sell organs already ground or ground meat already mixed with ground organs. Explore these alternatives if you’re not ready to invest in a meat grinder!
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Liver, Heart, & Kidney Breakfast Sausage
Equipment
- stainless steel meat grinder or meat grinder attachment for a stand mixer
- 2 extra large sheet pans 20.25" x 14.25"
Ingredients
- 10 lbs ground pork organic and/or pastured is best
- 1 lb chicken livers & hearts organic and/or pastured is best
- 1 lb beef or pork kidney organic and/or pastured is best
- 4 whole eggs organic and/or pastured is best
- 2 tbsp mineral salt
- 2 tbsp ground pepper
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp dried sage
- 2 tbsp dried rosemary
- 2 tbsp cordyceps mushroom powder optional
Instructions
- Set up meat grinder or attach grinder attachment to kitchen mixer.
- Rinse organs in cold water and use kitchen scissors to cut organs into pieces that will fit into the grinder.
- Place a clean bowl to collect the ground organs beneath the grinder attachment. Turn the mixer on medium speed and begin feeding the grinder with organ pieces.
- Continue feeding the grinder, piece by piece, using the insert to pack down the organs gathering in the feeding tube.
- Continue until all organs are ground, then disassemble the grinder attachment, adding any collected organ matter to your bowl.
- Place all grinding equipment in the sink and rinse with soapy water for easy clean-up later.
- Place 5 lbs of ground pork on each extra large, rimmed baking sheet. Evenly distribute ground organ matter between the two sheets.
- Add two eggs to each sheet, then add 1 tbsp per baking sheet of salt, pepper, sugar, and spices.
- Use your hands to evenly combine and spread the pork and organ mixture to all four corners of each baking sheet.
- Use a silicone spatula to cut sausage into pieces.
- Place sausage in oven and cook at 350℉ for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove sausage from oven and pour off the gathered juices into a heat-safe bowl.
- Allow sausage to cool prior to breaking it into pieces. Store in an airtight container. Place in the refrigerator for cooling overnight, then move into the freezer.
Notes
It’s a definite relief some mornings to open the freezer and know I can quickly fry up nutritious and satiating sausage for us and the kids. When I make this recipe, we tend to go through our sausage supply too quickly because it’s so popular! Processing animal viscera can be a pungent, and, well–visceral–experience, but it helps me feel more connected to my food and the animals that gave their life to feed my family.
Have you ever used a meat grinder or cooked with organs before? How would your kids react if you served them organs in your sausage? Leave a comment and share your experience below!
