Roasted Garlic and Feta Chicken Sausage

This Greek-inspired link is a crowd-pleaser.

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated September 11, 2024
Two links of roasted garlic and feta chicken sausage, browning on the grill.

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

Why It Works

  • Chicken thighs with their skin are ideal for sausage-making, as the meat is rich, flavorful, and remains tender and moist. The skin provides enough fat for the links to cook up and eat like regular pork sausage.
  • Cubing the chicken and then tossing it with flavorings ensures the sausage is evenly seasoned.
  • Pre-chilling the meat keeps the fat from smearing as it's ground, which can cause the sausage to turn greasy and gritty during cooking.

I feel a sense of shame having let the entire summer go without churning out a few different sausages. When I first made the switch from the slow and cumbersome KitchenAid stuffer to a true five-pound vertical stuffer last year, the ease at which I could stuff sausage into casings had me churning out great links like chorizo and spicy mango. It's time to bust out the grinder again get back into the game.

I've had the most success with chicken sausages, like this one for roasted garlic and feta chicken sausage. It's a nod to my Greek-dominated neighborhood of Astoria, New York. I tried to keep it simple, letting the garlic and feta do most of the work flavoring the sausage, but also added in appropriate additional seasonings of shallots, oregano, vinegar, and lemon juice.

I was quite pleased with the results, having a sausage that didn't overwhelm with too much flavor—something pre-packaged grocery store sausages do too often—letting the chicken gently meld with the garlic and getting a nice bite of sharp and salty feta here and there. It reminded me why homemade sausages are so great, and that I really need to ramp up production and get back on the sausage wagon.

October 2012

Recipe Details

Roasted Garlic and Feta Chicken Sausage Recipe

Prep 40 mins
Cook 60 mins
Active 90 mins
Cooling Time 15 mins
Total 115 mins
Serves 20 sausages
Makes 4 pounds

Ingredients

  • 3 small heads garlic

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 4 pounds skin on, boneless chicken thighs, cubed

  • 10 ounces feta cheese, crumbled, divided

  • 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano

  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt

  • 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, chilled

  • 2 tablespoons juice from 1 to 2 lemons, chilled

  • Natural hog casings, soaked in lukewarm water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Cut top quarters off of heads of garlic. Place garlic cloves, cut side down, in center of a sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Seal foil and place directly on oven rack. Cook until cloves are browned and very soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, then squeeze cloves out of the skin into a small bowl.

    Closeup of a head of roasted garlic, ready to squeeze into a bowl.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

  2. Combine garlic, chicken, 1/2 of the feta cheese, shallots, oregano, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Chill until ready to grind.

    Closeup of the seasoned, cubed chicken, ready to chill.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

  3. Grind the mixture through a meat grinder, fitted with small die, into a bowl set in ice.

    The ground sausage emerges from the meat grinding attachment of a stand mixer.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

  4. Using paddle attachment of a standing mixer, mix on low speed for 1 minute. Add remaining feta, vinegar, lemon juice, increase speed to medium, and mix until liquid is incorporated, about 1 minute more.

    Blurred shot of the sausage being mixed on low speed in a stand mixer.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

  5. Form a small sausage patty; place rest of sausage mixture in refrigerator. Cook patty in a small frying pan over medium-high heat until cooked through. Taste and adjust seasonings of sausage if necessary.

    A test portion of the sausage is cooked in a skillet to check seasonings.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

  6. Stuff sausage into hog casings and twist into 6-inch links. Refrigerate until ready to cook.

    Closeup of the finished links of sausage, ready to grill.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

  7. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over entire surface of coal grate. Alternatively, set all the burners of a gas grill to high heat.Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Grill over medium-high direct heat until sausage registers 160°F (71°C) when an instant-read thermometer is inserted in middle of link. Remove from grill, let rest for 5 minutes, and serve.

    Two links of roasted garlic and feta chicken sausage, browning on the grill.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

Special Equipment

Aluminum foil, stand mixer, meat grinder or meat grinding attachment with sausage stuffing cone (or stand-alone sausage stuffer), grill, chimney starter (optional), instant-read thermometer

Read More

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
212Calories
12gFat
3gCarbs
25gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 20
Amount per serving
Calories212
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g15%
Saturated Fat 5g24%
Cholesterol 126mg42%
Sodium 700mg30%
Total Carbohydrate 3g1%
Dietary Fiber 0g1%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 25g
Vitamin C 3mg13%
Calcium 101mg8%
Iron 1mg7%
Potassium 295mg6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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