Smoky, spicy, and perfect for adding to soups, stews, gumbo, jambalaya and more. My homemade smoked chicken andouille sausage recipe isn't as easy to make as opening a package from a store, but flavor's worth it. Here's how to make your own at home.
Smoked andouille sausage is a favorite of mine, so much so that I served a version of this recipe with shrimp added for years on my charcuterie boards. This homemade sausage recipe using chicken thighs is basically the same as the one I used to make using pork.
How to Make Chicken Andouille Sausage
An important thing to know here is that you can't make sausage from boneless, skinless chicken alone as it's too lean. Chicken thighs contain more fat and they can make a good sausage.
First you trim the chicken thighs or chicken legs and season them. You'll want to remove the thigh bone and skin. Save the skin for rendering chicken fat, or you can freeze it, mince it, and add some to the sausage.
After the chicken's been deboned and trimmed it's seasoned with salt and spices like cayenne pepper, white pepper and a touch of cloves. I like to add a small amount of bacon for extra smoky flavor but it's optional. The next day, add the onion and garlic and prepare to grind the meat.
Grind the meat twice through the medium die of a meat grinder. You can also use the small die but it's easier for it to clog. After the meat's ground cook a small piece to test the seasoning and adjust as needed. It's nothing to cook and season a sausage 2-3 times before I pack it into casings.
When you're pleased with the flavor of the sausage it's packed into casings and tied into links. You can refrigerate it overnight to help dry out the casing, or smoke them right away. If you don't want to pack the sausage into casings you can leave it loose or make homemade chicken sausage patties.
Smoke the sausage over hickory or pecan wood chips or use a pellet smoker like a Traeger. Cook the sausages until the reach 145F-150F internal temperature. After smoking the sausage can be frozen until you need it.
How to Use Chicken Andouille Sausage
You can use the sausage anywhere you'd use regular andouille sausage-just remember that it's already cooked. You'll either want to cook it in a soup or stew or gently reheat it to prevent it from drying out. It's also good cool or room temperature added to charcuterie boards.
I love it in long cooked soups like turnip green soup, gumbo and etouffee.
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Smoked Chicken Andouille Sausage
Equipment
- 1 Meat grinder and sausage stuffer
Ingredients
- 5 lbs chicken thigh meat
- 12 oz bacon optional
- ¾ cup diced yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 2 teaspoons mixed ground cloves allspice and nutmeg (or a generous ½ teaspoon of each)
- 1-2 tablespoon cayenne pepper to taste
- 1 TBSP paprika or smoked paprika for color
- 2 teaspoons white pepper optional
- 1 TBSP coarse ground black pepper
- 22 grams kosher salt (1% of the weight of meat) roughly 4 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
- 2 T fresh thyme chopped (10g)
- 10 ft Hog casings or lamb casings
Instructions
- Soak the casings in water for an hour. Change the water twice to ensure they're not too salty.
- Remove the skin from each chicken thigh, then remove the thigh bones. Reserve the chicken skin for rendering chicken fat.
- Cut each chicken thigh into roughly 6 pieces.
- Combine the chicken thighs with the salt and spies and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, mix in the onion and garlic.
- Grind the meat twice through the coarse die of a meat grinder.
- Cook a small piece of sausage and test the seasoning. Adjust the seasoning for salt, thyme, pepper or cayenne. Cook another small sausage patty and repeat the process until the flavor's perfect.
- Pack the sausage into hog casings and tie them off at about 4 inch lengths. You can also make one large link rolled into a coil.
- Smoke the sausage at 200 F for 45 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145-150F. Remove the sausage and cool.
- Cut the sausage into links, vacuum seal, label, date, and freeze until needed.
Katherine
Came out wonderful. Thank you!
Alan Bergo
That’s what I like to hear! Glad it worked for you. I freeze big batches vacuum sealed to pull out as I need. Great for soups and stews.