Venison Breakfast Sausage Recipe

This homemade Venison Breakfast Sausage recipe is the perfect way to add protein to your morning breakfast. Pair with eggs, toast, or add to a casserole. The added smoky flavor brings a lot of deliciousness to this cooked deer meat.

Wild game deer sausage is perfect for making a breakfast sandwich or can be a great recipe to pair with gravy and biscuits. I like to just grab a sausage patty and eat it because that's how I make them. Anything that can be picked up for breakfasts on the run is a win.

The family likes to have these venison breakfast sausage patties with a stack of pancakes, and I agree that just might be the perfect recipe for your weekend breakfast table.

Speaking of breakfast, be sure to check out my Smoked Breakfast Casserole for another simple recipe. This is one that you can prep and make the night before and have baking hot and ready in the morning hours.

Ingredients

Ground venison - You can grind your own sausage if you hunt and have deer meat at home, or you can buy a pound of ground venison at the local butcher. 

Brown sugar - Adds a nice sweetness that pairs well with the smoky flavor in this venison recipe. 

Thyme - We like how thyme tastes in breakfast sausage but you can omit it or swap it for another herb if you prefer.

Nutmeg - The flavor of nutmeg goes well with both the venison and light brown sugar flavors.

Salt & Black Pepper - To taste. 

See quantities in the recipe card.

How to Make Smoked Venison Breakfast Sausage

Step One: Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees.

Step Two: Mix the ground game meat with the seasonings in a large mixing bowl. You can use your hands to mix and combine.

Step Three: Form the meat mixture into 8 two-ounce sausage patties.

Step Four: Place the patties in the smoker for 60 minutes. The inside temperature should be 140 degrees to remove and enjoy.

Variations

Add different seasonings - Some optional seasonings that you could try in this homemade venison breakfast sausage recipe are fresh sage, smoked paprika, fresh thyme, garlic powder, and onion powder. Fennel seeds are often found in Italian sausage. While cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes are in spicy sausage. You can really use any other fresh herbs or spice blend that you want.

Change the meat - While this breakfast patties recipe is a great way to use venison, you can also follow the same instructions to make ground pork sausage, ground beef sausage, or even ground turkey sausage. Venison makes a leaner sausage than other ground meat.

Fattier sausage - If you find venison too lean on its own you can play around with the addition of pork fat, ground pork butt, or pork shoulder.

Check out our recipe for Wild Boar Sausage next!

Common Questions

How do I store leftover venison sausages?

Any leftover sausage needs to cool down and then be stored in an airtight container or sealable bag. The leftovers should be stored in the fridge and eaten within 2-3 days for the best results.

If you want to cook and freeze patties for later, you can. Just follow the same process as above, but put them in a freezer bag to prevent freezer burn before placing them in the freezer. I like to wrap them in plastic wrap before adding to the freezer bag to make sure they won't get freezer burn.

What foods pair well with this venison breakfast sausage recipe?

All the breakfast foods are fair game! You can pair them with waffles, English muffins, breakfast sandwiches, a slice of cheese, or scrambled eggs, or mix and match them all. 

The kids might even like to try a sweet and salty combination by having some maple syrup to dip their sausage patties into.

The great part about making sausage is that it's versatile and that gives you options. While I tend to make this for breakfast, that doesn't mean that we don't eat it for lunch or dinner. Try serving as a main dish along with some Roasted Sweet Potatoes.

Can I make spicy sausage?

Yes! The key to making your own breakfast sausage spicy is adding the right type of spices and ingredients. Cayenne pepper is going to be the quickest way you can add heat to the entire patty mixture.

Just keep in mind that not everyone may like heat, so you can also alter the homemade sausage recipe by only adding the spicy ingredients to half of the sausage mixture.

That way, you have smoked sausage and spicy smoked sausage without having to make two batches.

Just be sure to keep them separate so that you know which one is which.

Red pepper flakes are also a great seasoning to add to the mixture as well. As with any ingredients, just be sure that you mix together everything evenly so that the flavor and taste are dispersed evenly throughout the meat.

 

Recipe

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Originally Published January 25, 2023. Revised and Republished September 3, 2025.