Sugar-Free Low Carb Maple Pork Sausage

Pork sausage is one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast.

If you’re diabetic like me, you can appreciate a good low carb maple pork sausage recipe that won’t have much affect on your blood glucose levels.

However, the store-bought kind is loaded with sugar and/or corn syrup, dextrose (yeah, DEXTROSE!), and other trashy ingredients that do nothing but send my blood sugar through the roof and aren’t good for anyone, anyway.

Because of all that, I’ve been determined over the last couple of years to not just make my own, but make it GOOD.  I bought ground pork from the store and added stuff to it, but for me, it’s just not the same.

When it comes to the pork,

To get the best flavor and texture in a maple pork sausage while still being low carb, the right type and amount of herbs & spices are the key, and so is a medium-coarse grind of the meat, in my opinion.

I’m happy to say this is a close copy of Jimmy Dean, after all the experimenting I’ve done to get this the way I like.  I hope you like my sugar-free low carb maple pork sausage as much as I do!

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground pork
1 ½ teaspoons maple extract

Spice blend:
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon crushed dry thyme leaves
½ teaspoon ground fennel
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
A dash of smoked paprika (optional)

Salt & pepper to taste

Optional:
1 tablespoon granulated sugar substitute
(Swerve, Sukrin, erythritol, monk fruit, etc.)
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper and/or ground cayenne
(I use both!)

DIRECTIONS

Combine the ground pork and maple extract and using a sturdy wide-toothed potato masher (or a food processor) until mixed well. Making sure to use cold tools/blades to do this is better than using your hands so you don’t toughen the meat. If you must use your hands, work quickly and make sure they’re clean (washing well with cold water helps keep them cool).

Add in the dry ingredients and salt & pepper to your liking, and mix or pulse further until well-combined.

If using, add the sugar substitute and red pepper/cayenne and mix again.

To make patties, pick up about 2 ounces or so (slightly bigger than golf ball size) using a spoon or scoop and place it onto a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap, then flatten with the palm of your hand or another piece of paper/plastic until you form a disk of your preferred thickness.

Lay the patties in a cold skillet or non-stick fry pan on the stove top and and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook the patties, flipping them over after 3-4 minutes.

Continue cooking patties until they are browned on both sides and the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees if serving immediately. *

Sugar-free low carb maple pork sausage recipe notes:

SAUSAGE NEWBIES: If you never made your own flavored sausage before and would like to make sure it’s spiced to your liking and/or not too sweet or hot (or weird), here’s a tip: Add only the spices &  herbs you are familiar with/like the smell of, and in the amounts you are comfortable with. Then pinch off a small amount of the sausage mixture once you’ve added the base ingredients and heat it in a small skillet or fry pan and taste it, then add more sweet, heat, or spices as needed.

This recipe is customized easily, so if you don’t like the heat or the maple flavor, you can leave whichever of those out that you wish.

* If freezing sausage patties you want to reheat later, you can go to 145 F, and they will usually cook up to safe temperature in the microwave or skillet.