Two Delicious Sausage Recipes

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Jimmy Dean®. All opinions are entirely my own.

Every day is a great day for good food! We love to experiment and really enjoy trying to replicate certain items we have seen on menus at restaurants we have gone to. Now that the kids are a bit older, we really enjoy working with them in the kitchen too. It is a blast to see them enjoy themselves, ask tons of questions and be amazed at how some things come together when you are cooking them.

Of course every great meal has to start off with a great item. So we went to Meijer in search of Jimmy Dean® Roll Sausage to duplicate some of our recipes we have seen at restaurants. Meijer is the place we always turn to for family grocery shopping, they have everything, their prices are very competitive and there’s one just a couple of minutes away from home, so it’s perfect!

Jimmy Dean® Roll Sausage is perfect for many recipes, I love crumbled sausage, it is a great texture and can be added to just about anything. Jimmy Dean® has 3 flavors to choose from, Original, Hot and Country Mild.

For our two sausage recipes we picked up Original and we were feeling a bit spicy, so we also picked up the Hot! Yummmmm! Of course while we were at Meijer, we picked up everything else we needed for our 2 recipes which prove that sausage is for every meal, and not just breakfast!

Sausage Smashed Burger – Recommended by our friends over at Jimmy Dean®

This restaurant trending burger is coming to your home. Use Jimmy Dean® Roll Sausage with caramelized onions smashed together in a skillet or char-grill and topped with jarlsberg cheese. Layered between brioche bread, charred tomato, pickled cucumbers, shaved Brussel sprouts with garlic mayonnaise.

Here’s how to make it at home

Serving size: 4
Prep time: 25 minutes
Inactive time: 1 hour
Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound Jimmy Dean® Original Sausage
½ cup Homemade Pickles, see recipe below
1 cup Sprout Slaw, see recipe below
4 cups diced onions
2 tablespoons oil
¼ cup unsalted butter
8 slices brioche bread
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 cup shredded jarlsberg cheese

Homemade Pickles

¼ cup sugar
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup water
½ cucumber, seeded and sliced

Sprout Slaw

2 cups shaved Brussels sprouts
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon garlic paste

Instructions

Combine sugar, vinegar and water in a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add cucumber slices. Refrigerate for an hour before use, the cucumbers will be tender yet still have texture.
Combine Brussels sprouts, mayonnaise and garlic paste in a mixing bowl; keep refrigerated until use.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium. Add onions, butter and cook on medium-low heat for 30 minutes, stirring often until onions are tender. Drain and reserve excess butter to toast bread slices, refrigerate onions until cooled.
Heat 1 tablespoon of reserved onion butter in the same skillet over medium. Toast 2 slices of bread at a time until desired doneness, repeat with remaining ingredients and set aside.
In the same skillet, heat the tomato slices until a slight charring occurs, set aside.
Combine the sausage and caramelized onions together in a mixing bowl. Divide the sausage mix into 4 equal parts and roll into individual ball-shapes. Using the same skillet, smash the sausage into the skillet with a flat spatula until you have your desired thickness. Cook over medium heat for 12-15 minutes or until the natural juices run clear. Finish with the shredded cheese and let melt before removing from the skillet. You can cook them all in the same skillet or two at a time. Layer the burger between toasted bread with tomatoes, pickles and slaw. Enjoy!

Sausage, Spaghetti Squash One Pot Meal

Serving Size 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour

Ingredients

1 pound Jimmy Dean® Original Sausage (or Hot if you are feeling spicy!)
1 larger spaghetti squash
2 cups of chopped fresh kale
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp oil or butter
Salt
Pepper

Ingredients

– Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
– Cut spaghetti squash in half, remove seeds, brush with olive oil, add salt and pepper to your choice
– Bake for 40 – 50 minutes until nice and tender – longer for a larger squash
– Brown Jimmy Dean Sausage Roll in a skillet
– Sauté your kale with oil or butter, you want to sauté it until it is nice and wilted (If you do not sauté it long enough, it will be a bit chewy – still good, but chewy)
– Once squash is done cooking, use a fork to scrape out the strands.
– Combine squash, sausage and kale in one skillet. Heat the skillet on low, add the Parmesan cheese and stir. Make sure everything is mixed together
Serve and enjoy

These are some of our favorite ways to enjoy Jimmy Dean® Roll Sausage. Remember sausage is great for breakfast, but don’t forget how awesome it tastes for dinner too!

Try one or both of these recipes at home and get your children involved too. Teach them how to cook while they are young, it makes for some great family time. What meal would you like your children to surprise you with one day?