Ariana Losch
Turkey sausage. What’s to love? Sorry, sorry, I meant what’s not to love. It’s lean! It’s protein-packed! It’s… almost never anyone’s first choice! Turkey sausage lives in the shadow of other sausages, and we get it. When it’s bad, it can be dry, bland, and sometimes a little birdy? Like, you can taste the coop. But good turkey sausage does exist. I promise. I went into this taste test as a skeptic and came out with a fridge full of leftover turkey sausages I plan to happily consume over the next few weeks. Let’s discuss.
How we sourced the turkey sausage for our taste test
Hopping from grocery store to grocery store, I was shocked by how few turkey sausages exist compared to their chicken and pork counterparts. Some stores had more options for vegan sausage than turkey sausage. I only found about eight brands of turkey breakfast sausage, and only a handful of brands making long sausage loops. Luckily, even with a limited stock (flock? heh), I found six strapping sausages worth recommending. (And you’ll be pleased to know I kept the dick jokes to a minimum.)
What we looked for in the best turkey sausages
I was looking for a few different types of turkey sausage to recommend here: breakfast links, breakfast patties, and long kielbasa turkey sausage loops. Ideally, the best turkey sausages have a juicy texture with a looser ground and a strong savory flavor that distracts you from how lean the meat is. The less it tastes like a bird, the better. If they’re going for bolder seasonings, they need to get the blend right—weird herby aftertastes and straight sodium bombs have no place in this ranking. (Also, I’m sorry to say that two picks on this do have beef collagen casings, like the delicious little cheaters they are.) So without further ado, here are the best turkey breakfast sausages, patties, and kielbasa, ranked.
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- Good & Gather Turkey Sausage Roll
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When it comes to the best turkey sausage patties, I wanted to find a product that’s worth buying over plain ground turkey, especially for those of you who keep your spice cabinets well stocked. This raw turkey breakfast blend from Target’s Good & Gather brand has a red pepper and smoked paprika spice to it that’s fairly subtle but still quite nice. Even when I charred the patties on the stove, I found the texture wasn’t too chewy. If you want a hassle-free way to cook up some small turkey patties, I think it’s a good option!
Credit: Merc / Target
- Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Links
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Jimmy Dean’s turkey sausage links are a comfort pick for me. They taste like all the other Jimmy Dean meats, which is hard to describe if you’ve never had them. It’s like this one-note, extra savory and salty thing, without much else in terms of seasoning or herbs—and honestly, the simplicity works. Even better, it barely tastes like turkey sausage. The average layperson probably wouldn’t be able to pinpoint what kind of meat is being used. These give small-town diner breakfast in the best way—something you order on the side with scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits, and a mug of diner coffee. Yes, lawd.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Hilshire Farms Smoked Turkey Sausage Rope
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Hilshire Farms might be the best turkey sausage brand on the market right now, at least on the West Coast. Their turkey sausages have a juicy, butcher-shop quality ground and beef collagen casing (yes, beef collagen—sorry!) that gives it a great snap. This smoked turkey sausage rope is easier to find than our #1 (which, spoiler, is also Hilshire Farms), but I think the flavor is just a slight step down. Don’t get me wrong, it’s genuinely delicious, but this version adds smoked salt and garlic in a way that I don’t think is necessary.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Wellshire Smoked Turkey Kielbasa Sausage Loop
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This turkey sausage loop from Wellshire is pretty glorious. It’s slightly spicy, with a pretty vibrant paprika and spice mix going for it. I actually preferred the flavor of this blend over Hilshire’s smoked rope, but the casing doesn’t have much of a snap. Unlike both of the Hilshire Farms kielbasa on this list, Wellshire’s casing isn’t made of beef collagen. If you don’t eat red meat and crave that classic savory kielbasa loop, this is definitely the best turkey sausage to pick up.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Applegate Savory Turkey Breakfast Sausage
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I know they call it “savory turkey breakfast sausage,” but Applegate’s turkey sausage has a light touch of sweetness that is simply to die for. Perhaps that’s an exaggeration. There are foods I would die for, and turkey sausage ain’t one of them. But the sweeter, rosemary-infused flavor here really reminds me of their apple chicken sausage, which is something I would probably die for. Between Jimmy Dean and Applegate, you’ve got two options for the best turkey breakfast sausage that really come down to your taste preferences. For super savory, go with Jimmy Dean. If you want a touch of brightness, Applegate all the way, baby.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Hillshire Farm Turkey Polska Kielbasa Smoked Sausage
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Hilshire Farms knows its way around a long, supple sausage. Yep. I said what I said. It’s the only brand to make this list twice, and for good reason. Every bite of this thick Polish sausage rope is bursting with juice and layers of garlicky, slightly smoky flavor. The meat has that loose, butcher-shop quality texture. I asked several people if they could tell this was a turkey sausage, and everyone (including our resident chef Josh Scherer) said no. The major downside (or upside, depending on how you look at it) is the beef collagen casing, which tastes delicious but does make this one a harder sell for people who avoid eating cow. Still, I can’t deny that this is the best turkey sausage out there, hands down.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
Best Turkey Sausage Patties
Best Diner Food
Best Snap
Best All-Natural Turkey Kielbasa
Best Turkey Breakfast Sausage
Best of the Best
Other turkey sausages we tried:
Butterball Turkey Sausage, Banquet Brown & Serve Turkey Sausage, Jones Dairy Farm Golden Brown Turkey Sausage, Johnsonville Turkey Breakfast Sausage, Jennie-O Turkey Breakfast Sausage
Luke Field
Danny Palumbo
Justine Sterling
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!