Tips for buying the perfect sausage

A great low-cost meat option for family weekday dinners, sausages deliver big on flavour without stretching the weekly budget and there’s no limit to their versatility. You can quickly feed a crowd with sausage sandwiches, jazz up a heartwarming pasta bake or add flavour and texture to a fresh seasonal salad. Whatever you plan to cook, our sausage shopping guide will help you select the best sausages for your needs and budget.

What to look for when buying sausages

A wide range of sausages can be found in your supermarket's chiller and freezer. The most important part of selecting a delicious sausage is ensuring it’s fresh when you purchase, or tightly sealed if frozen. Check the use-by-date to make sure your sausage will keep for a few days before cooking. Then check the ingredients for any additives or allergens that affect family members and fat content if you are looking to make healthier choices.

Look for a high quality sausage

High quality sausages have a high meat-to-fat ratio creating a succulent, juicy snag. The best sausages contain 20-30% fat and have a meat content above 65% made up of prime meat cuts like pork leg, shoulder, beef topside and brisket. They have minimal fillers, additives or preservatives and a natural, edible casing.

Lower quality cheap sausages are made from meat trimmings and mechanically recovered meat. Breadcrumbs, rusk, rice and other starchy ingredients help to bulk out cheap sausages to reduce production costs and the retail price.

What are flavoured sausages?

A flavoured sausage normally contains multiple types of meat. So a beef-flavoured sausage could contain blended beef, chicken and pork, whilst a pork-flavoured sausage could contain blended pork, chicken and beef. Flavoured sausages are often made from low-grade meat trimmings and are economical.

How to tell if your sausages are fresh

A fresh sausage will look plump and pink with an aroma of delicious herbs and spices. The first sign that a sausage is bad is a strong fish-like odour. It will look slimy and wet on the surface and may have a grey or green tint. These sausages are unsafe to eat and should be thrown away.

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