How To Cook Sausage Patties In A Cast Iron Skillet

Everyone loves a sausage patty with their breakfast, but what’s the best way to cook them in a cast iron skillet?

Follow these simple steps and you’ll get the perfect patty every time.

How To Cook Sausage Patties In A Cast Iron Skillet

  1. Prepare your preferred sausage patty mix.
  2. Divide the mixture into portions as outlined in your recipe.
  3. Roll each portion into a ball.
  4. Wrap each ball in film, and them press them flat into a patty shape (the film will help maintain an even shape)
  5. Remove the wrap from each patty.
  6. Place your cast iron skillet over a medium-high heat.
  7. Cook the sausage patties for 3 minutes on each side.
  8. Check the temperature inside has reached 160F / 71C.

Pretty simple stuff! In the rest of this guide you’ll find answers to some of the most common related questions readers have about this topic.

(Head back to my massive cookware guide when you’re done for more help with this side of kitchen life!)

A sausage patty, cheese and fried egg in a muffin, next to a glass carafe of coffee

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s get on with the questions and answers.

Are Sausage Patties Keto Friendly?

If you’ve made them at home and not used any carb ingredients, your sausage patties are keto-friendly.

What if you’ve bought them from a store though?

As always, check the packaging carefully. Some sausage patty brands produce patties that are specifically made for a keto-friendly diet.

Can Sausage Patties Be A Little Pink?

It’s not uncommon at all for minced meat of all types to show a little pink after cooking.

The best guide to doneness is a fast-reading meat thermometer. 

The USDA posts the following advice on this subject:

“To prevent foodborne illness, uncooked sausages that contain ground beef, pork, lamb or veal should be cooked to 160 °F.”

Can Sausage Patties Be Baked?

Baking sausage patties in the oven is an easy, mess-free alternative if you’re tired of cleaning up a mucky skillet.

Alternatively, you may prefer to use your oven-safe skillet. Do check it can be used in the oven first though.

If you’re not using a skillet, make sure your oven pan has some kind of lip to it. Otherwise you’ll end up with a load of grease all over the floor of the oven (I’d rather clean a skillet than my oven every time…)

If the pan you’re using isn’t non stick, you might consider adding a baking sheet first as well.

As for the cooking temperature, 400F / 205C is a good benchmark to aim for. I can’t give a cooking time as it will depend on the size and contents of your sausage patties.

I’d recommend investing in a good meat thermometer and referencing your recipe for the target temperature.

This is the meat thermometer I have in my own kitchen. It reads the temperature quickly, and it also has a temperature guide for different meats, printed on the exterior surface.

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Can Sausage Patties Be Cooked In An Air Fryer?

You can cook sausage patties in an air fryer, and you’ll end up with less grease on the stovetop by doing so!

Heat the air fryer up to around 400F / 205C, and then add the sausage patties to the basket in a single layer. 

After they’ve cooked on one side for 5 minutes, remove the basket, turn the patties over and then continue cooking them.

The second side will need less time (around 3 minutes), but check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer before serving. See above for my own thermometer recommendation.

The flip side of this method? 

Because you have to add the patties in a single layer, you may have to cook them in batches if you’re cooking for the whole family. It depends entirely on the size of your air fryer.

Can You Make Sausage Patties From Sausages?

Yes! It’s something I very often do when I have a favorite type of sausage and I want to use the meat inside for patties and other meat mixes.

To make sausage patties with sausages, just run a knife along the entire length of the sausage.

From here, it’s easy to peel off the casing, and then crumble the meat into the mixing bowl.

How Many Sausage Patties Make A Pound?

This depends on the exact recipe you follow.

As a rough rule you can assume that one pound of meat mix will make around 8 decent-sized patties.

How To Freeze Sausage Patties

If you want to make a big batch of sausage patties and then freeze them, that’s fine (and convenient too!)

You don’t want them all to fuse together in a container though, so I recommend clearing enough space in the freezer to for a sheet pan to fit inside.

Place your sausage patties on that pan – single-layered and separated – and then put them on ice until they’ve fully frozen.

Now put them all together in a storage bag or box, mark the date they were frozen on the outside, and store it inside the freezer.

This will stop the patties from clumping together and sticking inside the container. It’s then much easier to take them out one by one.

Like all frozen meat, sausage patties should be fine to store in the freezer for around 6 months. Just make sure you thaw them out in the refrigerator at least 24 hours before you plan to eat them.

Pay attention to the date you marked the box with! As always, your own sense of smell is the best guide to storing frozen food.

If in doubt, throw it out.

Which Sausage Patties Taste Like McDonalds?

McDonald’s uses a brand of sausage patties that’s exclusive to the company. 

The recipe’s a closely guarded secret, and you can’t buy them unprepared from either the store or the company’s supplier.

Curiously enough, in my research for this article I discovered an interesting Quora post on this topic.

A user there ordered a case of frozen Jimmy Dean sausage parties, and they bore a remarkable resemblance to those famous McDonald’s patties.

I can’t guarantee this is proof-positive! If you’re looking for a brand of sausage patties that are at least a lot like McDonalds’ though, this might be a good lead to follow…

Wrapping Up

Now you know how to cook sausage patties in your cast iron skillet, and I hope you’ve found the answers to those other questions useful too.

However you prepare your sausage patties, do consider adding a meat thermometer to your kitchenware collection. Having one to hand makes life much easier for all kinds of meaty meals.

Happy cooking!