List of Spices Good for Sausage (Quantity Guide also)

When it comes to the spices, herbs and aromatics you can use in a sausage, it’s pretty endless. The combination and synergy definitely can produce more then the ingredients separately.

However, not all things work together in terms of spices and herbs!

Over the 20 odd years I’ve been making and studying sausages.

I’ve had friends and acquaintances that have come with some interesting “concoctions” of sausage spices, some spices were not so good together – to say the least.

I’ll give you an expansive list of the spices I know, and I will talk about quantities I used as a guide based on weight. This will help you to come up with your own creations.

I’ll also highlight the ‘proven’ spices for sausages that have lasted decades of at times, hundreds of years. Becoming classics of a culture.

Many foodies seek new and exciting flavors, including myself. Though, simplicity has its beauty, like Butifurra Spanish Sausage – GOOD Quality Pork, Salt, Pepper.

Good Spices for Sausage

In a list format here are the common types. However, this is not exhaustive or limited to these!

It’s the more common sausage spices I’ve seen across the globe in classic recipes that have lasted hundreds, sometimes over a thousand years!

You really can’t go wrong with a few spices like:

• Garlic
• Peppercorns, crushed or ground.

Nutmeg and cinnamon are some of my favorites. They are powerful, for pork-based sausages you need to go easy on them like 0.05 to 0.2% spice weight to the full weight of the meat.

First let’s start with some classics based on regionality.

Common Styles	Styles/Recipes	Common Spices/Herb	Taste
Spanish Spices	Spice forward, flavor rich	Pimentón/Paprika – Hot/Sweet/Smoked, Garlic, Peppercorns	Spicy, Smoky
Italian Spices	Fennel, Basil, Subtle	Fennel, Garlic, Oregano	Aromatic, Balanced
English Spices	Very Subtle	Sage, Peppercorns	Earthy, Herbaceous
Eastern European Spices	Kielbasa, Garlic, Often Smoked	Black Pepper, Paprika	Rich, Hearty
German Spices	Wurst, Subtle	Allspice, Mace, Marjoram	Subtle, Rich
Asian Spices	Ginger, Soy Sauce, Spice Forward Flavor	Star Anise, Garlic	Savory, Umami

Since sausage can mean fresh raw stuffed into a casing, cooked, or dry cured salami sausage. I will list various examples.

In certain countries, like Scotland and the USA sausage could mean a sausage patty.

Like the patty you find in a burger. I’ve focused here more on the cased type of sausage.

The sausages that interest me the most are included in this article. They are based on classic styles that have lasted, at times hundreds of years.

For example, the Nuremburg Sausage, which has a 500-year-old recipe (family connection) It’s also street-food showcased with food carts all across Nuremburg, Bavaria, Germany.

From my experience making sausages and salami for decades, I sometimes cross over the spices for dried or fresh sausages.

Also, sausages like Spanish Chorizo, have Fresca aka Fresh or dried versions also.

Grouping spices for different flavor styles of more classic and celebrated sausage spices. Here are some tables which highlight sausages from regions.

Spices for Spanish Sausage

Sausage	Style	Spices
Chorizo	Fresh or Dried	Paprika (sweet and/or smoked), Garlic, Black pepper, Oregano,
Sobrasada	Dried	Paprika (sweet and/or smoked), Cayenne pepper, Garlic powder, Black pepper, Nutmeg
Morcilla	Ready to Eat	Paprika (sweet and/or smoked), Cayenne pepper, Black pepper, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cloves (blood based sausage)
Longaniza	Dried	Paprika, Cayenne pepper, Garlic powder, Black pepper, Oregano, Allspice, Cloves
Salchichón	Dried	Black pepper, White pepper, Garlic powder, Nutmeg, Coriander, Cloves
Butifarra	Fresh/Raw	White pepper (only traditionally, quality of pig) optional – Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cloves,

Spices for Italian Sausage

Most Italians I’ve met made sausage salami with red wine (garlic infused in wine), pepper and salt. This is a very, traditional homemade type of salami.

I’ve mixed both the fresh sausage that you cook, and also the salami dried sausage. Just to showcase the spices in various forms.

Sausage	Style	Spices
Luganega di Monza	Fresh/Raw	White pepper, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Parmigiano Cheese
Cotechino	Fresh/Raw	Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cloves, Black pepper, Coriander, Garlic powder
Salsiccia di Bra	Fresh/Raw	White pepper, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Mace (Fresh, Eaten Raw!)
Soppressata	Dried/Ready to Eat	Peppercorns, Chili, Garlic
Mortadella	Ready to Eat	Black pepper, Pistachios, Nutmeg, Coriander

Spices for United Kingdom Sausage

Mild flavors here, from what I know and what I’ve researched

Welsh Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices
Glamorgan Sausages (Selsig Sir Forgannwg)	Veg, To Fry	Parsley, Thyme, Nutmeg, Welsh Cheese, White Pepper
Laverbread Sausage/Patty	Raw to Cook	Laverbread (Seaweed), Bacon, White Pepper, Salt

English Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices
Cumberland Sausage	Fresh/Raw	Black pepper, White pepper, Sage, Thyme, Nutmeg, Mace
Lincolnshire Sausage	Fresh/Raw	White pepper, Sage, Thyme, Nutmeg, Mace
Pork and Leek Sausage	Fresh/Raw	Black pepper, White pepper, Sage, Thyme, Leeks

Spices for Eastern European Sausage

Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia – these countries have overlapping traditions. Since modern day country borders are often meld cultures together.

Paprika is more common in Hungary, although, you will find a lot of crossovers with other spices.

Czech Republic Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices
Klobása	Ready to Eat or Dried	Garlic, Marjoram, Caraway seeds, Black pepper
Jitrnice (Liver)	Ready to Eat, Reheated	Garlic, Marjoram, Thyme, Allspice, Black pepper
Utopenec (Pickled)	Ready to Eat	Garlic, Black pepper, Bay leaves, Allspice

Polish Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices
Kiełbasa	Ready to Eat (Cooked/Hot Smoked)	Garlic, Marjoram, Allspice, Black pepper
Krakowska	Ready to Eat (Cooked/Hot Smoked)	Garlic, Coriander, Allspice
Kabanosy	Ready to Eat (Cooked/Hot Smoked)	Garlic, Black pepper, Caraway seeds
Wiejska (Country Sausage)	Ready to Eat (Cooked/Hot Smoked)	Garlic, Black pepper

Hungarian Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices
Debrecener	Ready to Eat (Cooked/Hot Smoked)	Black pepper, Sweet Paprika, Garlic, Marjoram,
Gyulai Sausage	Dried/Ready to Eat	Paprika, Black pepper, Garlic, Caraway seeds
Csabai Sausage	Dried/Ready to Eat	Paprika, Black pepper

Slovak Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices
Krvavničky (Blood Sausage)	Ready to Eat	Garlic, Marjoram, Black pepper, Allspice, Thyme
Jaternice (Liver Sausage)	Ready to Eat	Garlic, Marjoram
Oškvarková Klobása (Scrapple Sausage)	Raw/Needs Cooking	Garlic, Cuman, Pork Crackling

Spices for German Sausage

Sausage	Style	Spices
Bratwurst	Raw	White pepper, Black pepper, Nutmeg, Mace, Coriander
Frankfurter	Ready to Eat	White pepper, Nutmeg
Bockwurst	Ready to Eat	White pepper, Nutmeg, Coriander
Knackwurst	Ready to Eat	White pepper, Black pepper, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cardamom
Thüringer Rostbratwurst	Raw/Needs Cooking	Caraway seeds, Mace, Garlic, Marjoram, White Pepper, Cardamom

Bavarian Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices
Weisswurst	Ready to Eat (Warmed)	White pepper, Mace, Lemon zest
Nürnberger	Raw/Needs Cooking	Black pepper, White pepper, Marjoram, Mace, Allspice

Spices for Asian Sausage

Chinese Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices
Lap Cheong (Southern China)	Ready to Cook With	Soy sauce, Rice wine, Five-spice powder, White pepper
Xiang Chang (Hunan)	Ready to Cook With	Chili, Garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, Fennel seeds

Chinese Variations of Lap Cheong:

• La Chang: Dried, hard sausage made from pork with high fat content, smoked, sweetened, and seasoned
• Run Chang: Duck liver sausage
• Xiang Chang: Fresh, plump sausage with chopped pork and un-rendered fat, sweet taste
• Nuomi Chang: White sausage of glutinous rice and flavorings, sometimes containing blood, steamed or boiled
• Xue Chang: Blood sausage with blood as primary ingredient
• Bairouxue Chang: Blood sausage with chopped meat in blood mixture, popular in North East China

Thai Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices and Seasonings
Sai Ua (Northern Thai Sausage)	Raw/Needs Cooking	Lemongrass, Galangal, Kaffir lime leaves, Red curry paste, Coriander
Sai Krok Isan (Fermented)	Raw/Needs Cooking	Garlic, Shallots, Sticky rice, Cilantro, Pepper

Vietnamese Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices and Seasonings
Nem Chua (Fermented)	Eaten Raw	Garlic, Shallots, Chili, Sugar, Rice vinegar, Fish sauce
Nem Nuong (Fermented)	Raw/Needs Cooking	Garlic, Lemongrass, Fish sauce, White pepper
Gio Lua (Vietnamese Ham)	Ready to Eat	Fish sauce, Black pepper

Korean Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices and Seasonings
Sundae (Korean Blood Sausage)	Ready to Eat	Sweet rice, Pork blood, Garlic, Ginger, Black pepper

Filipino Sausages:

Sausage	Style	Spices and Seasonings
Vigan Longganisa	Raw/Needs Cooking	Garlic, Paprika, Annatto seeds, Black pepper

Toasting or Dry Frying Spices for Sausages

For any dry spice you can often dry fry then in a frying pan, until aromatic over a medium heat. This can add another layer of complexity to your sausage spice!

Whole spices are ideal for this, then wait until they cool.

Once cool, then smash in a mortar and pestle or use a spice grinder.

Guide to How Much of a Spice for Sausages

Often 0.1 to 0.2% spice weight as a percentage of the total weight of the meat.

Metric is easy for these calculations.

ie. 1000 grams of meat / 1 kilogram

0.1% of 1000 grams = 10 grams

Which approximate to about 2 level teaspoons.

Be aware, teaspoon and tablespoon are very inaccurate for measuring recipes, weight should be used.

For ingredients like salt, the shape and size of salt varies ALOT. Therefore, the volume of teaspoon can be very different between salt brands/types.

For some classic recipes like Nuremberg sausage, the same percent of salt and marjoram is used. 1.5% for my recipe. Since marjoram is a dry green leafy herb, it’s like often ALOT!

Another example is classic Chorizo, again, the same amount of good quality dulce paprika as salt. Which is ALT of paprika!

Take note, these recipes were developed over hundreds of years!