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    Home » Meat and Game

    How To Make Homemade Blood Sausage

    Published: Mar 17, 2020 Modified: Apr 15, 2023 Author: Alan Bergo

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video

    Blood sausage is a delicious piece of charcuterie with a rich tradition. In this post, I'm sharing my favorite blood sausage recipe I've worked on for years. My recipe is a Creole hybrid. It's mildly spicy, flecked with onions and a bit of meat for structure. It goes without saying you're in for a bloody good time.

    a coil of fresh homemade blood sausage

    What is blood sausage?

    Also known as black pudding, blood pudding, mutura, kaszanka, boudin noir, zungenwurst, blutvurst, biroldo, morcilla, sanguinaccio. Blood sausage is a sausage made from blood, or blood and meat, mixed with rice, oats, barley or another starch, herbs and seasonings.

    There's many different traditions of making blood sausage around the world: some use mostly blood, some, like this recipe, use a combination of blood and meat. Any type of blood can be used, and I've used goat, lamb, pork and chicken in the past.

    Chicken blood sausage
    Chicken blood sausage.

    Most traditional recipes include a grain or starch to help give body to the sausage. I like to use rice or wild rice. Scandinavian recipes call for oatmeal, barley or other grains while others use breadcrumbs. French, Spanish and Italian recipes usually call for rice. My recipe also includes meat to make it easier to handle.

    What does blood sausage taste like?

    Black sausage isn't gamey or strong tasting. Blood has a mild, lightly salty flavor and is very different from sausage made from liver or kidneys. In short, blood sausage tastes like mild meat sausage, just tell people what it is after they enjoy it. The particular flavor of the sausage will depend on the culinary tradition used to make it, and your personal preference for seasonings. I like mine spicy, with lots of herbs, onions and garlic.

    Creole Blood Cake
    Creole blood cake is a cousin to boudin noir.

    How to Make Blood Sausage

    This sausage comes together easily, but there's a few components and it's definitely a project. First you cut up lots of parsley or other herbs, onions, garlic and scallions. The onions are cooked before adding to the sausage.

    In this recipe fresh or frozen blood, rice, herbs and cooked onions and garlic are mixed together. If your blood is frozen, you'll want to puree it before using. You'll also want to use gloves to do this.

    Once the sausage mixture is combined, you'll want to cook test batches to double check the seasoning. Adjust the seasoning until the mixture tastes good to you, then pack the sausage into casings.

    After the sausage is packed into casings, it can be vacuum sealed and frozen, or cooked as-is. It is usually par-cooked to hold its shape, then cut into pieces and fried.

    Fried blood sausage.
    Fried blood sausage. It may look funky, but nothing ever tasted better with a plate of eggs.

    How to cook blood sausage

    Traditionally blood sausage is par cooked by simmering in water. Do not cook blood sausage in a pan like a regular sausage or it may break open. After par-cooking the sausages are cut into pieces and fried cut side down. You can also sous-vide your sausage and that works very well.

    Sous vide lamb blood sausage
    Sous vide lamb blood sausage

    Above: sous vide blood sausage to par cook it before cutting into pieces and frying.

    Different cultures may serve blood sausage in different ways. In the U.K. black pudding is part of a full English breakfast. In Scandinavia, blood pancakes (palt) may be served with sauteed apples.

    Chicken blood sausage pancakes with apples
    Sauteed apples are a traditional accompaniment to some Scandinavian blood sausages.

    I like to fry the sausages up for breakfast myself.

    Blood Sausage Cake with eggs and mushrooms
    Blood cake was born to be served with eggs.

    If you make the recipe as is, you'll love it. If you want to use it as a template, shoot me a message and I'll help you trouble shoot as best I can.

    Fried blood sausage and potato hash
    Blood sausage hash with handfuls of parsley is also great. See that recipe here.

    Other Recipes Using Blood

    I have a few other recipes that use blood you might like. Creole Blood Cake is fantastic. Chicken Boudin Noir is similar to this one but with Scandinavian flavors. Scandinavian Blood Bread is the most interesting, and probably the oldest recipe I have.

    a coil of fresh homemade blood sausage
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    4.67 from 9 votes

    Blood Sausage

    A spicy creole-inspired blood sausage made with rice, onions, herbs and spices.
    Prep Time1 hour hr
    Cook Time10 minutes mins
    Mixing, packing, poaching and cooking2 hours hrs
    Total Time3 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
    Course: Appetizer, Snack
    Cuisine: American, Creole
    Keyword: Blood Sausage, Parched wild rice
    Servings: 20 Servings
    Calories: 406kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo
    Cost: 20

    Equipment

    • Sausage stuffer
    • Meat Grinder
    • Sheet trays or cookie sheets
    • Large mixing bowls with 2-3 gallon capacity

    Ingredients

    • 4 lbs ground pork lamb or chicken
    • 2.5 lbs (5 cups) blood lamb or chicken
    • 1 lb (4 cups) finely diced yellow onion
    • 1 lb (4 cups) sliced green onion
    • ¼ cup minced garlic
    • 40 grams (1.5 tablespoons) kosher salt plus more to taste (see note)
    • natural hog casings, as needed 37 mm size
    • 6 cups cooked rice drained and preferably day old
    • 1 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley roughly 2 bunches
    • 3 tablespoons smoked paprika
    • 1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper or to taste
    • ½ cup rice flour *see note

    Instructions

    Wild rice

    • Cook the rice the night before, it's better if it's dried out a bit.

    Onion mixture

    • Saute the yellow onions and garlic lightly in the oil with the paprika and cayenne and cook in the lard for 15 minutes on medium-low, until the onions are completely cooked. Stir in the green onions off the heat and allow them to wilt.
    • Cool the onions and reserve.

    Blend the sausage and adjust the seasoning

    • Combine the onion mixture with the ground pork, blood, and remaining ingredients.
    • Cook a little of the mixture to double check the seasoning and adjust as needed, then pack into casings. Chill overnight to hydrate the flour and make it easier to case (optional).
    • I like to keep the blood sausages around 2 feet, so they can fit easily into a pot of simmering water.

    Poach, portion and store

    • Poach the sausages in simmering, lightly salted water until hot throughout, and firm, about 10-15 minutes, then dry, portion, vacuum seal and freeze.
    • To serve the sausages, saute or roast them until browned, then cut into thick coins and fry crisp. Nothing could be better with eggs.

    Video

    Notes

    Salt

    I suggest 40 grams as a starting point, which is just under 1% of the weight of the meat in salt. It's very important to taste the sausage before you pack it into casings. Adjust the seasoning until it tastes good to you, but remember that blood is saltier than typical meat. 

    Rice Flour

    This is not exactly traditional, but it works well. To make rice flour, grind rice in a spice grinder until fine, then sift. 
    Spices and Herbs
    Fresh or dried marjoram is traditional here, but fresh oregano is a good substitute. 
    If I don't have access to fresh herbs, I may add warm spices, especially quatre epice (equal parts cinamon, clove, nutmeg and black pepper)  just a tiny amount--1-2 teaspoons for this entire batch would be fine.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 8oz | Calories: 406kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 882mg | Potassium: 603mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1100IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 4mg
    Where to buy blood

    Some butchers can order frozen blood and it will work just fine. It's legal to sell in the United States.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. margarete hopkins

      February 08, 2025 at 5:49 pm

      2 stars
      hi, i live in oklahoma and make german bloodsausage all the time, but it is a pork/blood/bacon sausage, no rice, but i am going to make yours, necause i like boudin and this recipie sounds great. anhow, the reason i wrote is the blood. i tried years ago to find some and found it impossible until i went to AMAZON, GB, they have freezedried blood and mail it to the us. this product is really great, easy to portion and stayes fresh as long as it is vacuum packed again (at least thats how i keep it fresh). i have it now for 5+ years and no change in looks, taste or smell. hope this helps someone who has problems getting blood in the US

      Reply
    2. Malinda Mirando

      June 05, 2023 at 12:43 pm

      5 stars
      Hello I’m a professional chef I don’t really agree with the parched wild rice but you like that so I won’t judge you.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        June 05, 2023 at 12:52 pm

        I'm so glad you commented.

        Reply
    3. Noisa

      May 26, 2023 at 10:26 am

      5 stars
      This recipe is outstanding for spring it was delicious when I tried it.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        May 26, 2023 at 12:08 pm

        Thanks Noisa. I just made a batch myself a few weeks ago.

        Reply
        • Noisa

          May 31, 2023 at 1:02 pm

          That is very nice your the best Chef in the world (in my opinion).

          Reply
          • Alan Bergo

            June 01, 2023 at 8:52 am

            Oh thanks that's very nice of you to say. 🙂

            Reply
            • Noisa

              June 01, 2023 at 9:30 am

              5 stars
              Your welcome 😊

            • Noisa

              June 01, 2023 at 9:35 am

              5 stars
              No problem ☺️

    4. prepper jay

      April 01, 2023 at 10:56 pm

      5 stars
      i am a survivalist,and am all ways looking for things one could make in the wild with small issues but still doable. this one is making the book,but now heres my mainquestion,insted of white rice,could one do this recipe using wild rice? i ask due to my state has it everywhere, i assume one can,but figured i would ask,hell to be honest the recipe i will be using deer meat,deer blood,and foraged wild spices,like wild onion/garlic,using boiled hickory root for the salt. and deer intestines for the casings, once done i will be tossing the 50% done sausages in the smoke house to finish. whats your thought on this?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 02, 2023 at 3:05 pm

        Hey Jay

        Absolutely you can use wild rice, and it was actually the first rice I used to make this sausage. That said, you want to use parched, naturally harvested wild rice-the good stuff. Don't use the black paddy rice as it absorbs more water as it cooks, which will make the sausage extra heavy. The rice is an easy substitution-just switch it out. The other things you're talking about here: spices, intestines cleaned at home, deer blood, are all fine. Boiling hickory roots is a process I haven't done though, and I wouldn't do that for safety reasons. It isn't an aged sausage, and it's usually boiled and then fried, but using an alternative salt that doesn't have a known potency makes me nervous. If I was familiar with the end product made from boiling the roots I could give you a more informed opinion.

        Reply
    5. Mike Moranz

      June 08, 2022 at 4:25 pm

      Alan, you demon of the night! Blood sausage where I grew up was an annual spring thing. They even had a festival called St Mary's Founders day/Beaverville Homecoming in Illinois where hundreds of pounds of blood sausage was devoured. I lived in St Anne IL a few miles North and ever since moving to MN in 1987 I have missed the wonderful breakfast of blood sausage and eggs. So, I appreciate your efforts, offer this article, https://www.daily-journal.com/life/food/taste-for-boudin-sausage-is-in-blood/article_6d169213-103b-5821-9951-ee0afb3e3915.html and have a question.
      Your recipe says 1lb 4 cups. Is that one or the other, or is it 1 lb plus 4 cups?

      By the way I have spoken with the meat man,Kelly Langellier who made the sausage for 20 years until the festival ended, and he says no fillers like rice but he does use ground pork to firm it up. If you want his phone # I can provide by private email. His recipe which I don't have is in the traditional French/ Cajun style flavored with marjoram, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, parsley and some milk.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        June 09, 2022 at 8:45 am

        Hey Mike, so the recipe needed some parenthesis. It's one pound or 4 cups. Obv weight is the best here but so many Americans are addicted to cups I feel like I need to add them.

        Reply
    6. Ashley Boursin

      August 18, 2021 at 12:28 pm

      5 stars
      Using Rice In The Sausage Will Soak Up The Blood. Personally, I Prefer To Drink My Blood Instead Of Eat It Because That Gets The Best Vampire Juices To My Energy Cortex.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        August 18, 2021 at 12:38 pm

        I laughed at this, but you’re a troll. I hate trolls. Leave another silly, irrelevant comment I’ll ban you faster than you can say Nosferatu. -Alan

        Reply
        • Ashley Boursin

          August 18, 2021 at 12:49 pm

          Dear Friend Alan. I Am Sorry That You Thought I Was A Troll. My Comment Was Relevant Because While I Liked This Recipe, I Wasn't A Big Fan Of The Rice. I Am Also Just A Tad Bit Hurt That You Find My Comment Silly. This Has Been My Life's Work For Twenty Years. Additionally, Per Your Comment, Actually, A Long Time Ago Nosferatu Was In A Rival Vampire Family From The Slade Ragar Vampire Family. I Am Alight For Cooking, So I Would Greatly Disappreciate A "Ban".

          Reply
    4.67 from 9 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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