Cooking sausage in the oven is the best and easiest way to cook any sausage, like breakfast sausage patties or links, smoked sausage, Kielbasa, Italian sausage, or even brats—perfectly moist and tender results.
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👍Why you should bake your sausage
- No standing at the stove and making a mess—cook your sausage in the oven for less work, less mess, and better results. Just pop it in the oven, flip it once, and be done.
- Baking breakfast sausage patties or links only takes about 15 minutes, and they are perfectly moist and tender. Make breakfast while you get ready for your day.
- Larger tube sausages like smoked, kielbasa, Italian, or brats will take about 25 minutes to bake.
- Leftovers reheat perfectly in the microwave, so you can bake the whole package and reheat leftovers later.
🐖Ingredients
- Sausage—breakfast sausage patties or links or larger sausages like smoked sausage, Kaulbasa, Italian sausage, or brats. You can use pork, turkey, or chicken sausage.
- PAM cooking spray or parchment paper to prevent sticking. Or aluminum foil for easy cleanup.
👨🍳How to Cook Sausage in the Oven
- Preheat oven to 400° convection. Any oven temperature from 350° to 425° with or without convection will work with some time adjustment.
- Prepare a rimmed baking pan like a sheet pan with a spray of PAM or parchment paper.
- Arrange the sausage on the prepared pan in a single layer, not touching.
- If cooking sausage patties, dimple the patty center by about ¼ inch deep and ¾ inch diameter.
- For thinner sausages like breakfast patties or links, cook for about 15 minutes. For larger diameter sausage, bake for about 25 minutes.
- While baking, flip the sausage about halfway through cooking,
- Finish cooking to an internal temperature of 165°. If you want more browning, do a few minutes under a broiler.
⏲️How long does it take to bake sausage in the oven
In a 400°F convection oven, breakfast sausage patties or links take about 15 minutes, while larger sausages take about 25 minutes. Cook to a final internal temperature of 165°.
Baking time will vary by the thickness of the sausage, oven temperature, amount of preheating, and even the pan. So use an instant-read thermometer and check the temperature early.
✔️Tips
- For breakfast sausage, use either patties or links. It will cook fast, in as little as 15 minutes.
- Use pork sausage, turkey sausage, or chicken sausage. It will all cook the same.
- If you cook sausage patties, dimple the center by ¼ inch and about ¾ inch in diameter to prevent puffing.
- The same simple technique will work with time adjustments for larger sausages like smoked sausage, brats, kielbasa, or Italian sausage.
- Use a baking pan like a sheet pan with sides. Line the pan with foil for easy cleanup if doing link sausage, but if doing patties, use a spray of PAM or parchment paper since the foil will frequently rip with the spatula.
- A convection oven and a high oven temperature will both promote the browning of the sausage, so use convection if you have it and use a pan with low sides like a sheet pan. But a conventional oven will also work.
- The oven temperature can be varied to match other dishes you are cooking. I have cooked as low as 350° and as high last 450°. The time will vary but cook to 165°.
- Cook to 165° internal temperature and use a few minutes under the broiler if you want more browning.
- Add sliced bell pepper and onion to sweet Italian sausage, making a great sandwich and a complete meal.
❓FAQs
No, the casing holds the juiciness in; it may break during cooking but do not drain your moisture.
Yes, since you are cooking to a temperature endpoint, it will take longer. The thicker the sausage and the colder your freezer, the longer it will take.
According to the USDA, ground meat is safe to eat at 160°, except ground poultry should be cooked to 165°. If you are sure there is no poultry in your sausage, you can safely stop at 160°.
Most precooked sausage is safe to eat out of the package—check the package. So you usually don't have to cook it thoroughly but just heat it through.
I prefer to cook precooked sausage for moisture and texture reasons thoroughly. Try it both ways and see which you like.
❄️Storage and reheating leftovers
This is a perfect recipe to cook for leftovers by cooking a whole package at once.
To store: Seal airtight in a container or storage bag and refrigerate for 4 days. Or freeze for 3 weeks.
To reheat: If frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Microwave to reheat.
📖Breakfast Recipes
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
Oven Baked Blueberry Pancakes
Cinnamon Roll Cake
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°convection. Any oven temperature from 350° to 425° with or without convection will work, but you will need to adjust time and perhaps need a couple of minutes under a broiler at the end to brown up some.
Prepare a sheet pan baking tray with a coat of PAM cooking spray, aluminum foil, or parchment paper.
Make breakfast sausage patties ¾ inch thick, then dimple the patty center by about ¼ inch deep and ¾ inch diameter. This will prevent the puffing of the meat during cooking.
Spread sausage on the prepared baking pan, so they don't touch.
If cooking breakfast sausage patties, flip in 8 minutes. Links or round sausage should be rotated halfway through the estimated cooking time.
The cooking time for breakfast sausage is about 15 minutes, and for thicker sausage, about 25 minutes. Cook to an internal temp of 165°. You can do a few minutes under the broiler if you want more browning.
📖 Recipe
How To Cook Sausage in the Oven
Ingredients
- 1 pound sausage
- PAM or Parchment Paper - to prevent sticking
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°convection. Any oven temperature from 350° to 425° with or without convection will work, but you will need to adjust time and perhaps need a couple of minutes under a broiler at the end to brown up some.
- Prepare a sheet pan baking tray with a coat of PAM cooking spray, aluminum foil, or parchment paper.
- For breakfast sausage patties, make them ¾ inch thick, then dimple the patty center by about ¼ inch deep and ¾ inch diameter. This will prevent the puffing of the meat during cooking.
- Spread sausage on the prepared baking pan, so they don't touch.
- If cooking breakfast sausage patties, flip in 8 minutes. Links or round sausage should be rotated halfway through the estimated cooking time.
- The cooking time for breakfast sausage is about 15 minutes, and for thicker sausage, about 25 minutes. Cook to an internal temp of 165°. You can do a few minutes under the broiler if you want more browning.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Use the sausage you want, breakfast links or patties, or larger sausage. Use pork or other ground meat like turkey or chicken.
- You can use uncooked or cooked sausage.
- Cooks well with other dishes since you can use different oven temperatures
- Using a sheet pan works very well. You need a pan with some sides.
- If you have sticking, use some parchment paper.
- Be sure to dimple if using patties.
- Be sure to flip or rotate about halfway through cooking.
- The only really important thing is an internal temperature of 165°. Bigger sausages like brats will take longer.
- A few minutes of the broiler may be needed at the end to get the browning you want.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published February 14, 2015. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Ni
Thanks you for this post. I’ve always had trouble making ground sausage patties to my liking. The oven is the perfect hack. Not overdone. Just perfect!
JE Reading
The sausage turned out beautifully. Clean up was a snap. Looking forward to the oven baked, blueberry pancakes. Just have to clean and reseason our old, weather-worn, cast iron griddle. Thanks for the oven baked directions.
Aly
Many thanks! Worked wonders with parchment paper. :)
Susan
I'm an avid bacon in the oven gal and looked to try sausage too. Thanks for your blog, I've got 2 pounds of sausage patties in the oven now. And, I'm actually a health inspector for food safety and greatly appreciate you throwing in the repeated reminders to use a thermometer!
Mary
Hello, Dan!
Thank you very much for your detailed answer. Indeed, a deep-fryer is not the best choice, I wanted to consider a more budget option. Plus, my kitchen is not very spacious and it is difficult to fit large-sized appliances there. I think I better wait a little, save more money and choose an oven.
Many thanks for your advice and helpful articles. Inspiration to you!
Mary
Mary
Tell me, please, if a deep-fryer is suitable for such cooking technique? The manufacturer claims that it can cook not only French fries, but also battered chicken strips. So, I’m wondering if I will be able to cook sausages like in your recipe using this deep-fryer. I don't have an oven.
DrDan
Hi Mary,
Welcome to the blog.
I don't see that deep frying sausage is related to baking it but it will definitely work. Stovetop works well but is a mess for me. I can not give you an estimate on the time needed for deep frying sausage.
I don't see a deep flyer as a good substitute for an oven. If give a choice between an oven and deep fryer, the oven wins hands down for usefulness. Maybe look at a countertop convection oven.
I have lots of stories, here's one. A local restaurant was getting well know in the "health crowd" for their excellent turkey sausage. Of course they were looking for low fat. Turned out that they were deep frying it. Not really healthy or low fat.
Dan
Chris J
It would definitely give a great flavor to anything you deep fry after the sausage though.
Erik
What is the cook time/flip time if you are coking frozen sausage patties?
DrDan
Hi Erik,
Welcome to the blog.
I have never used frozen. Having said that, I believe it would work well. I will "guess" how I would do this. But my guesses are usually fairly good.
I would think you would need about 20% more time. Flip at about 11-12 minutes. Cook to 165 internal temperature and hit it with a little broiler if needed at the end to get more browning.
If you try it, please report back. Somebody else may benefit.
Dan
Pam
Have you ever baked the the sausage roll as one whole piece?
DrDan
Hi Pam,
Welcome to the blog.
Baking a whole roll of sausage intact is just not going to work. You need to get the temperature of the thickest part to 165 degrees to be safe. That will be tough without the outside being overcooked and dry.
Dan
diane senft
How do you cook link sausages in the oven?
DrDan
Hi Diane,
Welcome to the blog.
While I have never done it, I would say a definite yes but the time might be a bit less to get to the required 165 internal temperature and I think they won't brown very well so you will probably want a little broiler time at the end.
Dan
S
Thanks for the recipe. During the summer, I use my gas grill instead of the oven to help keep the house cool. I preheat the grill to 400F, place the sausage on heavy duty aluminum foil and follow your instructions.
Jim
How much mess is made I'm the oven from the splatter??
DrDan
I have never had any significant issues. But I use very lean sausage. If you are having some, switch to a pan with a higher side like a cake pan.
Dan
Alyssa R
I am so happy I checked this out. I been doing bacon in the oven and called myself being lazy today so without a thought I put the sausage in the oven then searched to see if i could do this lol. Thanks for these tips!!!
Charlie Holloway
Thank you Dan for this recipe. It probably seems pretty simple to some people, and it is -- just what I was looking for!
I tried it with turkey roll sausage, formed into patties. They didn't cook very well on an earlier attempt in the skillet because there was very little fat, but with your recipe in the oven, perfect! I did not heed your advice about using parchment or a greased pan, so there was significant sticking. That was my problem. Next time I'll do as you suggest.
Thanks,
Charlie
DrDan
Hi Charlie,
You are right that it seems a little like a how to boil water recipe but I took me 60 plus years to figure it out, so I thought I would not be alone. It is just so much easier and better in almost every way at least for me.
You are right about a lean sausage sticking but I have a non-stick quarter sheet pan that works great.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Barb
Any suggestions for cooking ground (crumbled) sausage in the oven?
DrDan
Hi Barb,
I have never done it but I will guess if you promise to report back. At the 10 minute flip, it has a fair amount of firmness. Try crumbling with a wooden spoon at that point and stick it back in. It may work, it may not...
Dan
Ray E. Murphy
I liked your article / recipe about cooking sausage in the oven. I cook two to three pounds at one time so this saves me time and a lot of mess. Thanks for the tip about the broiler that should crisp the tops up just enough. When I do it I use half sheet pans and cooling racks in the pans but first I wrapped the pans in aluminum foil this helps on cleanup. The cooling racks gets the sausage up out of the grease. Thank You Ray
Stewart
This is just what I was looking for! Ran it on convection oven and it worked great. I lined the pan with aluminum foil to eliminate the cleanup on the cookie sheet and then put parchment on that, just to be sure it didn't stick, Nothing like wearing a belt and suspenders! First time I found a use for the full convection setting too. LOL
Dinee
Thank you. I want to cook a couple of pounds of sausage for make ahead breakfasts. I thought of oven cooking and hoped someone else had done it to provide me with temperature and times to start with.
DrDan
Hi Dinee,
This is the only way to do sausage and it is so much better also.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Jessaca Mattox
I have been doing my sausage patties/links & bacon in the oven for YEAR'S! I had no idea it was such a foreign concept to so many. I just assumed it was the lazier version of what others did only I managed to figure a simpler & quicker way of doing it lol. Glad I am not the only one out there.
Jakey Snakey
Hush
Larry
Thanks for the info this will be a lot less mess
DrDan
Thanks for the note Larry,
I find the sausage also is better since I don't over cook.
Dan
Pam
When you flip them do you cook another 10 minutes on the other side?
DrDan
Yep about. Cook to an internal temperature of 165 and nice color. That is usually about 8-10 minutes on the second side for a total cooking time of 18-20 minutes. If you get to 165 and the color is still not what you want, hit it with a minute or two of the broiler.
Dan
Karen
Wow!!! Why didn't i think of this before. Cook bacon in oven all the time.. Today cooked the whole tube in slices, we ate 4 and i saved 4 for tomorrow!!!! I would rate this an 8!!!!
DrDan
I like oven so much better. I get it all to the right temperature and don't overcook and dry them out. Not to mention the mess.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
K Mahon
Good stuff; it is the only way I will cook patties from here on. To keep the wife happy and oven clean, I line the rack with foil to catch any spatter. But there is less oil jumping all over the place because it is a much more even cook in the oven... in my opinion.
DrDan
I haven't done stovetop for a long time. You are so right, the cooking is so much more even and it stays moist.
Thanks for the note.
DrDan
Susan Ramseur
I've also been cooking bacon in the oven for many years and wondered about cooking sausage that way. Thanks for your instructons. I'll be doing this tomorrow.
Michelle
Perfect? just made this, this morning! Will forever cook my sausage this way now!
Sharon Whittemore
I was looking for an alternative to the skillet this morning. I will try this technique.
Cash Jinkins
Oh my gosh. My hole tire life I been cookin sausage in a skillet spittin grease all over my linoleum! After a few weeks/months of that my kitchen flore is like a ice skatin rink covered in dust! This way is the best way to make sausage! I can't believe I never thunked of this ever in my hole life! No more greasy floors! Muchyass grassiass omigo!
Karen Hord
You're a smartass!!!
Jack
Tried your recipe this morning. Will never fry again. Trying the bacon tomorrow . I definitely rate as a5
DrDan
Thanks for the note and rating. I wonder why I didn't do it before.
DrDan
Jack
Tried your recipe this morning. Will never fry again. Trying the bacon tomorrow .
Linda
wow. The sausage looks so delicious. Will try it later.
DrDan
Thanks for the note. It is as good as it gets.
DrDan