For the juicy texture and hearty flavor, nothing beats scrumptious Sous Vide Sausage. It’s cooked in a sous vide water bath at a precise temperature with minimal effort. The sausage is then cut into rounds and tossed with cooked pasta and vegetables in a delicious sauce. It’s a perfect weeknight dinner that tastes like it came from a restaurant!
Sausages are great for breakfast and dinner. There’s a secret ingredient that adds tons of flavor to your sausage! You can pair it with vegetables, potatoes and salad, but my favorite is to serve it with pasta. Italian sausage and pasta are a magical combo. Heavenly delicious!
Sous vide sausage is perfectly juicy and flavorful
Pork sausages need to be cooked to 160°F with traditional methods such as grilling or pan frying. A common problem when cooking them too high and too fast is that they can be burned on the outside while still raw at the center.
Say hello to sous vide! It cooks the sausage at a low temperature for a long time, producing the perfect sausages:
- You can set the sous vide machine to a precise temperature, making the sausages juicer and more flavorful.
- Sous vide method cooks the food evenly all the way through, and you’ll get an even texture edge to edge.
- It’s a low-stress cooking as you can walk away while the sous vide machine does all the work for you.
How to cook sous vide sausage
This sous vide sausage recipe is so easy and incredibly delicious. There’s a secret ingredient…BEER, which adds a fabulous flavor to the sausage! You’ll also need to add salt together with the beer.
- Start with setting the Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 160°F (71°C).
- Place the sausages in a zip-lock bag, add salt, and pour the beer on top.
- Arrange the sausages in one single layer and vacuum seal the bag using the water displacement technique.
- Place the bag in the sous vide water bath and cook for 45 minutes. (You can cook the pasta in the mean time.)
- When the timer goes off, transfer the sausages to a cutting board.
- Pat dry with paper towels and cut them into bite-sized pieces.
- Sear the sausages for about 3 minutes, just to caramelize the surface. (You can skip this step and it’s completely fine.)
- Cook the vegetables in a skillet (see recipe).
- Add the sausages and pasta to the skillet and mix well.
Sous vide sausage time and temperature
I like my sausages to be firm, juicy, and close to the traditional texture, so I set the sous vide machine to 160°F/71°C. If you’d like to try other doneness, follow the chart below:
| Sous Vide Temperature | Texture |
| 140°F (60°C) | Extra juicy and very soft |
| 150°F (66°C) | Juicy, smooth and firm |
| 160°F (71°C) | Springy and firm, but still juicy. Close to traditional texture |
It takes about 45 minutes to sous vide cook average-sized Italian sausages, although you can leave the meat in the water bath for up to 3 or 4 hours. Thinner sausages can be cooked faster, and thicker ones will take about 1 hour.
Pro Tip: Although you cannot “overcook” the sausage with sous vide method, the texture can become mushy if they’re left in the machine for more than 4 hours.
Tips for the perfect sous vide Italian sausage
- Adding beer to the sous vide bag allows the sausages to absorb the flavor of the beer. Stronger beer will impart stronger flavors. Make sure to add salt with the beer so that the liquid won’t draw the flavor out of the sausage.
- No need to pierce the skin. Although this tip appears on many recipes but it will actually cause the lovely juices to escape, making your sausage dry.
- Make sure to arrange the sausages in one single layer in the vacuum-sealed bag, so that they can get cooked properly.
- It’s optional to sear the sausage slices, but I find it adds extra flavor and highly recommend it.
Seal the bag without a vacuum sealer
Usually it’s better to use a vacuum sealer as it removes as much air as possible for sous vide cooking, but this recipe is an exception because a vacuum sealer could over-compress the meat. As a result, it can give the sausages an unnatural pinched appearance.
I find Ziploc Freezer Bags are perfect for sealing the sausage, especially when there’s liquid in the bag. The trick is called the “water displacement method” by using the pressure from the water to force all the air out of the bag.
Can you sous vide frozen sausage?
Yes, the beauty of this recipe is that you can sous vide sausages straight from frozen. Just add about 30 minutes of the cooking time.
Other Sous Vide Recipes You’ll Love
Sous Vide Italian Sausage (with Pasta)
Ingredients
For the sausage
- 1 lb Italian sausage (or breakfast sausage)
- 1 teaspoon salt (This will prevent the beer from drawing salt out of the sausage.)
- 1/2 cup beer
For the pasta and vegetables
- 1 lb penne pasta (450g)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red onion sliced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 cup crushed tomato
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup chicken broth 125ml
- salt and black pepper to taste
- chopped parsley and grated parmesan for serving
Instructions
- Add water to the sous vide container or a large pot, set the Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 160°F (71°C)*.
- Place the sausages in a zip-lock bag, add salt and pour the beer on top.
- Seal all but one corner of the bag, and slowly place it in the water bath. Make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag.
- Place the bag into the water bath in the sous vide container. Make sure the sausages are completely submerged. Cook for 45 minutes (or you leave them in as long as 3-4 hours in total.)
- In the mean time, cook penne pasta according to package directions, until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- When the timer goes off, remove the sausages from the bag and discard juices.
- Dry sausage completely with paper towels and transfer to a cutting board. Slice sausage into 1/2–inch pieces. (If there are extra juices coming out, pat dry with paper towels.)
- In a skillet over medium heat, add 1/2 tablespoon oil. Once hot, add cooked sausages and sear for about 2-3 minutes until nicely browned. Transfer the sausages to a plate. (If you’d like to grill the sausage, you can do so before cutting them into pieces).
- In the same skillet, add oil, onions, and Italian seasoning. Cook for a few minutes, and then add garlic, crushed tomatoes, and sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Stir in chicken broth and cook until the sauce is thickened.
- Add back sausage slices and cooked pasta to the skillet and stir gently to coat everything with the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with herbs and parmesan cheese. Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
- Make it spicy: You can add red pepper flakes for a spicy sous vide sausages.
- Sous vide frozen sausages: You can cook sous vide sausages directly from frozen: just add 30 minutes of cooking time.
- *If you’d like to try other doneness, follow the chart below:
| Sous Vide Temperature | Texture |
| 140°F (60°C) | Extra juicy and very soft |
| 150°F (66°C) | Juicy, smooth and firm |
| 160°F (71°C) | Springy and firm, but still juicy. Close to traditional texture |
Nutrition
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