This chicken based sausage recipe is my very accurate chicken based replica of the traditional Swedish Potato Sausage (As sold by Ingebretson's ). No pork or beef here, but you’d never know it by tasting it!
Originally published December 19, 2018, Updated on 11/21/22
As I’ve mentioned before, my husband is no longer able to eat pork or beef, which has been ... interesting... to work around.
It’s not a religious or ideological thing, his body just can’t handle either any more.
SO, for the most part, he just eats chicken, fish, or vegetarian dishes, and doesn’t normally miss the pork or beef - save for the odd cheeseburger craving.
For the few favourites that he didn’t want to give up, I’ve had great success with replicating the taste and texture, using non-pork ingredients.
For instance, my Chicken and Mushroom Tourtiere, or my Vegan Donair “Meat”.
His extended family all went in on a bulk order of the stuff from some unnamed (to him) supplier, and they’d split it up, freeze it all, and eat it over the following month or two.
We bought a few different kinds over the years, all of which he found to be “meh” - they weren’t THE ONE. He knew.
Last year - our final Christmas in the US - I happened across a little Scandinavian store in Minneapolis, and picked up a bit of their sausage for the hell of it. As luck would have it, that was THE ONE.
Note: Ingebretsen’s, for anyone in the Minneapolis area who may be interested!
Potatiskorv - Swedish Potato Sausage
Swedish Potato Sausage, Potatis korv - or “ värmlandskorv” as it’s known in Sweden - is a traditional sausage that’s generally served at Christmastime.
It’s made from ground beef cuts, ground pork butt, potatoes, onions, and spices.
While my husband’s family isn’t Swedish, Minnesota has a lot of people of Scandinavian heritage, so it’s not surprising that it was a tradition in his family as well.
Unfortunately... yeah, it’s a beef and pork sausage.
It felt like big shoes to fill, having seen how “meh” he was over everything that wasn’t IT.
I played around with chicken, mushrooms, potatoes, and spices, and came up with a recipe that was BANG ON, bringing him right back to his childhood on the first bite!
Even his father was shocked and in disbelief - He seemed to think we were pulling his leg when we told him that we’d made it at home, and it was chicken!
The only problem?
When frozen and thawed, my sausage turned all kinds of ugly colours - like blue-black, marbled in.
After making some calls, we learned that this was safe - if unappetizing - it was just the raw potato oxidizing.
The solution?
Cook the potatoes first.
I tweaked my Swedish potato sausage recipe, tested it out, and here we are!
Once stuffed into casings, this sausage can be boiled right away, put in the fridge for a day or two if needed, or frozen - so do whatever makes the most sense for your needs, without worry about discolouration!
Ingredients
This Swedish potato sausage recipe uses super basic ingredients, most of which will be readily available at pretty much any grocery store.
The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, but here are a few ingredient notes for you:
Chicken
We use a mix of chicken breasts and chicken thighs for this, as we like to control the texture and composition of the ground meat.
That said, you don’t necessarily need to use these specific cuts / proportion.
More chicken breasts will be a leaner (and drier) sausage, more chicken thighs will make for a higher fat sausage.
If you don’t want to mess with grinding the meat, you can use 6 lbs of ground chicken - either fresh, or good quality frozen ground chicken that has been fully thawed and drained well.
Potatoes
I recommend using russet potatoes for this recipe, as I don’t find Yukon Gold or red potatoes to give the right flavor or texture.
It’s ok to use them, I just like to go for accuracy!
Raw Onion
I use yellow onions for this recipe, but white onions would work as well, as long as they’re not super sweet.
Haven’t tried with red onions - I think it would look weird, even if it tastes fine. Again, going for accuracy!
Crimini Mushrooms
I like to use Baby Bella / Crimini mushrooms when making chicken mimic the taste of beef / pork.
IMHO, they're a bit more earthy & robust tasting that white mushrooms / button mushrooms, and I think that goes a long way to making this such a great fake for red meat.
White mushrooms would probably work, though.
Casings
We used hog casings - available at most butchers - as pork casings don’t cause a problem for my husband, and they’re easy to find.
If you need it to be NO pork, you’ll want to use either beef casings synthetic casings – I have no experience with those, so I don’t have any advice there.
Personally, I prefer sausages with natural casings, so I can’t see experimenting with the synthetic versions.
Would love to hear from people who use them, though!
Everything Else
Rounding out this recipe, you will need:
Milk
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Allspice
Nutmeg
... but I don’t have anything else to say about these ingredients!
Sausage Making Equipment
I have a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, as well as the Grinder Attachment and Sausage Stuffer Kit for it.
If you don’t have a Kitchenaid, you can always buy a Manual Meat Grinder fairly cheaply - a fun thing to have on hand, as it’s key to making all kinds of homemade sausages.
An Electric Meat Grinder is always another option.
If you really don’t want to mess around with grinding meat, you can always buy some ground chicken - just be sure to have a mix of lean and .. Not lean ... so your sausage isn’t dry.
Making Sausage
We tend to go the traditional route and stuff casings with the meat mixture to make the sausage as you see it here.
The sausage that my husband used to have as a kid was sold in coils, so that’s how we do it.
Alternatively, feel free to make individual sausages out of it, pinching off and twisting it into appropriate lengths as you go.
Finally, you can also roll the sausage meat into wax paper chubs, freeze, and slice off patties of what you need from there.
This would be the SUPER lazy option, but - again - no judgement! This is by far the easiest - and least messy - path to Tasty Sausage Goodness!
Note on Scaling
Sausage making can be a bit of an... undertaking. I created this recipe to make enough to make the effort and mess worth it.
However, this Chicken Potato Sausage recipe can easily and successfully be halved, for a smaller batch!
Conversely, you can also multiply the batch to make much larger batches, should you need even MORE Swedish Potato Sausage.
Serving Swedish Potato Sausage
It sounds like this sausage is traditionally served boiled (on Christmas), and either cold OR warm throughout the rest of the year.
Many people grill or pan fry the sausage whole, and serve it with pickled beets and green beans.
In my husband’s family, the potato ring was boiled, sliced in half lengthwise, and then pan fried - on both sides - in butter.
This is usually how we’ve been serving it, since we started making it.
We love the flavour and texture that the browning gives to the sausage, and cutting it in half allows for more surface area to brown!
For a quick comfort food dinner, a potato skillet with sliced *canned* potatoes (don’t judge!) fried up with chunks of this potato sausage is *chef’s kiss*.
It’s also great as part of a breakfast potato hash. Fry up some 1-inch pieces of sausage in a little olive oil with bell peppers and fried eggs.
Top with some shredded cheddar and serve with hot sauce - SO good.
... you just might get some dirty looks if you are also married to a Minnesotan, LOL.
More Holiday Recipes
Looking for more inspiration for your holiday spread? Whether Thanksgiving or Christmas, here are a few ideas for you!
Charcuterie Christmas Tree
Cranberry Chicken
Cranberry Jello Salad
Egg Nog Sticky Buns
Gluten-Free Candy Cane Cookies
Gluten Free Fruitcake
Gluten-Free Fruitcake Cookies
Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies
Gluten-Free Maple Pumpkin Pie
Gluten Free Stuffing Recipe
Honey Roasted Carrots & Parsnips
Maple Bourbon Glazed Carrots
Noelles
Easy Pumpkin Cheese Ball - Classier Version
Pumpkin Cheese Ball - Trashier Version
Spiced Pumpkin Mead
Pumpkin Spice Nanaimo Bars
Savoury Mushroom Chestnut Stuffing
Southern Comfort Glazed Ham
Southern Comfort Pecan Pie
Sweet Potato Souffle
Traditional Cranberry Mousse
Traditional Pumpkin Mousse
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Swedish Potato Sausage Recipe, Chicken Version
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 4 lbs Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
- 3 lbs Russet Potatoes
- 1 ½ lbs Yellow Onions
- 1 lb Baby Bella / Crimini Mushrooms
- 3 tablespoon Salt
- 2 tablespoon Ground Pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon Allspice
- ¾ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ¼ Cup Milk
- Casings*
Instructions
- Peel potatoes, chop into 1″ cubes. Place in a large microwave safe dish and cook on high for 10-15 minutes, or until fork tender. Set aside
- Peel and chop your onions, chop mushrooms. Add both to a food processor, process until finely chopped / pureed. Add to bowl of cooked potatoes, mash until not quite smooth. Set aside.
- Set your food grinder with the coarse disk, and process the chicken down. In a large bowl, combine chicken with potato mushroom mixture. Add remaining ingredients, mix well.
- Following the instructions on your meat grinder / sausage stuffer, set it up with the appropriate nozzle to make sausages. Make the sausages whatever size you like – we usually aim for about the diameter and length of a kielbassa ring, but you can make them longer or shorter – a whole coil, as pictured, or individual sausages. Tie off ends, use a fork to poke a few holes in each sausage.
- To cook, place in a pot of boiling water, turn heat down to a simmer, and allow to cook for about 30 minutes.
- To serve: Pan fry cooked sausage in butter, either whole or sliced up.
Notes
Nutrition
More Midwest Inspired Recipes
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Beer Battered Corn on the Cob
Boozy Sparkling Cider Float
Candy Bar Salad
Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Hotdish
Jalapeno Artichoke "Backfire" Dip
Midwest Goes Southwest HotDish
Spinach Hand Pies
Dawn Wiesner
This is thee BEST swedish potatoe sausage I have ever had! It has flavor!!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Michael
This recipe is great; excellent flavor. I'll definitely be making another batch once I run out (I froze most of it).