Chicken and apple breakfast sausage, destined to be a favorite, with ground chicken breast, apples, fennel, onions, thyme and smoky paprika.

Chicken and Apple Breakfast Sausage

When we lived in California we frequented a small cafe next to Gelson’s, our local market, off Topanga and Mulholland, for breakfast on Sunday mornings. Though that cafe is no longer there, the memory of their breakfast remains.

There was the usual fair of toast, eggs and potatoes but they served these huge homemade breakfast sausages, probably three ounces each, two to an order, made of ground chicken breast, apple, fennel, onion and who knows what else. OMG, they were wonderful.

When we left LA for NY we left behind those chicken and apple breakfast sausages but the recollection is clear and the taste ingrained. That’s when my wife Stella (so not her real name) decided to make our own.

If you web search this recipe you’ll find bazillions of variations, Stella’s time perfected version reflects our experience at the little cafe around the corner and we’ve been making them ever since. They taste amazing, are low fat and easy to make. Watch the video, it will make your mouth water.

Prep 30-minutes
Cook 15-minutes
Serves 60 small patties

Stuff needed:
Knife
Skillet for sauté
Large spoon
Large mixing bowl
Small cookie scoop or two spoons
Sheet pan
Parchment paper

Ingredients:
1.5 T butter
1 Small poblano pepper, diced small, about 1/3 of a cup
1 Granny Smith apple, diced small (Fuji apple is also good)
1 medium onion, diced small
2 tsp. fennel seed, ground
2 lbs. ground chicken breast, 98% fat free
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. smoked paprika
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

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Directions:
Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Add the poblano, apple and onion to the pan,

season with a little salt and add fennel seeds. Gently sauté the mixture about 5-minutes until onions are soft and translucent. Remove from heat to cool. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place the ground chicken in a large bowl and add the poultry seasoning, thyme, allspice and paprika.

Add a healthy drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. This will moisten the mixture.

Add the apple, poblano, onion mixture to the chicken and combine. Add more olive oil if mixture seems dry.

Use the cookie scoop, or spoons, to place the sausage balls on a parchment covered sheet pan.

Top each ball with a little olive oil and use the back of a spoon to flatten the balls into patties.

Pop the sheet pan into your preheated oven and bake for 10-minutes. You may also pan fry the sausages but we found baking was the easiest way to cook so many at once.

When your sausage patties cool you can freeze them or place in the fridge if you’re going to use them right away. We layer the sausage in a freezer container with parchment between the layers. That makes it easier to remove sausages as you need them.

When you’re ready for sausage, heat a little oil in your favorite skillet and cook over low-ish heat until the tops are golden brown.

Since the sausage is already cooked, you only want to brown them a bit.

Serve with your favorite egg dish, sweet cantaloupe and grainy bread.