How to Cook Beef Sausages in a Pan

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Sausages are a delicious addition to just about any meal. Smoked sausages are already cooked, but frying them can help improve their flavor. Uncooked sausages will need to be boiled first, regardless of how you cook them. Try a few different ways of cooking sausages to find the method you like the best!

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   Heat a pan on the stove. Light a burner on the stove and set it to medium or medium-high heat. Set a sturdy pan or skillet over the heat. Let it sit for a minute or two to get hot.

   • When the pan is ever-so-lightly smoking or a drop of water immediately starts sizzling when it touches it, you're ready to cook.

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   Add a little oil. Sausages are fairly fatty, so you don't need to add a lot of extra fat to the pan. However, this fat will be trapped inside the casing at first, meaning there is a window of several minutes where the sausages can stick to the pan and burn. A 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of cooking oil (canola, etc.) spread around the pan can keep it slick until the fats inside the sausages make their way into the pan.

   • Use caution with olive oil. It has a lower smoke point than many cooking, which means that it will start to smoke at lower temperatures. This isn't dangerous, but it can set off your smoke alarm and may have a minor effect on the taste of the sausages.^[1]

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   Lay the sausages on the hot surface. Carefully put the sausages in the pan one-by-one. Leave enough space so that none of the sausages are touching. This helps them cook evenly on all sides. If you're cooking many sausages, this may mean that you need to cook them in batches.

   • If the sausage casings are connected, cut them apart before putting them on the pan.

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   Cook until brown on both sides. Let the sausages cook without disturbing them at first. After about two minutes, flip them over. Continue turning the sausages every few minutes until they are brown on all sides. Depending on the size of the sausages, this should take between about 10 and 15 minutes.

   • When the sausages are well-browned, cut into one at its mid point. The meat should by firm and cooked all the way through. There should be no pink remaining and any juices should run clear. If not, continue cooking.
   • A long set of tongs can help protect your hands from sputtering grease.

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   Flatten or butterfly the sausages to reduce cooking time. Waiting for sausages to cook all the way through can be frustrating. Luckily, there are a few ways to cut down on the time you need to spend in front of the stove:

   • One way is to butterfly the sausages. Take a sharp knife and slit the sausage down one side from end to end. Open the sausage up (like a "butterfly") and lay the exposed filling face down on the pan. Cook this way until well-browned.
   • You can also flatten the sausages to spread them thinner so that they cook faster. To do this, press down on them with the bottom of a heavy pan or skillet before you start cooking them.

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   If needed, finish off by steaming. Some sausages (especially large ones) take forever to cook all the way through. If you'd like to keep cooking your sausages but are worried about burning them, try using this technique. You'll need a lid that fits snugly over your pan.

   • Cook the sausages as normal until well-browned but still raw on the inside.
   • Pour a half cup of water into the hot pan. Cover the pan with a lid. The steam from the water will get trapped underneath and start heating the sausage from all sides.
   • Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for five to ten minutes, then carefully remove the lid so as to avoid steam burns. Cook the sausage for another few minutes to restore some of the "crispness" to the casings.

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   Start your grill. Cooking sausages on a grill is similar to cooking them in a pan, but not exactly the same. To get started, light your grill and let it build up heat. If you're using a gas grill, set the burners to medium-high. If you're using charcoal, light a generous pile of briquettes and let them burn to the point that they are ashed-over and glowing orange.

   • If you're using charcoal and are unsure how to get started, see our guide to lighting charcoal grills for detailed instructions.

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   Make a "hot" and "cold" side of your grill. Once your grill is hot, it's time to make a minor adjustment. You want to leave one side of the grill hot but reduce the heat on the other side. This isn't hard — see below:

   • If you're using a gas grill, just turn down the burner(s) on one side to low.
   • If you're using a charcoal grill, carefully use a metal grill tool to pull most of the hot coals to one side, leaving just a thin layer on the other side. Put the grill over the hot briquettes carefully.

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   Sear the sausages on the hot side. Now, lay the sausages on the hot side of the grill one-by-one. Take care that there is a little space on either side of each sausage so that they can cook evenly. As when pan-frying, if the sausage casings are connected, cut them apart before cooking them.

   • Turn the sausages after two minutes. The underside should have a healthy dark-brown sear. Let the second side sear for about a minute before proceeding.

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   Transfer to the cold side to cook through. Once the sausages are well-browned, use a long fork or a set of tongs to move them to the other side of the grill. Here, they'll continue to cook, but you won't risk burning them like you would on the hot side. Let them cook for about 10 more minutes, turning occasionally.

   • As noted above, the sausages are done when they are well-browned on the outside and have meat that is firm all the way through with no pink. Juices should run clear.

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   Fill a pot with 3/4 of the way with liquid. You can use plain water, but this won't add any extra flavor to the sausage. You may instead want to try making a mixture of water and your favorite liquid cooking ingredients. For instance, broth, stock, wine, beer, and tomato sauce can all transfer their flavor to sausage as it cooks.^[2]

   • Boiling sausages won't give them a crisp exterior, but it will preserver the moisture and fat content within them. This makes boiling a good choice for emulsified sausages — those filled with a smooth mixture of finely-ground meat, fat and water. Examples include Bratwursts, Hot dogs, Frankfurters, Weisswurst, Knockwurst, and Serdelki.^[3]

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   Boil the water. Use the highest possible setting on your burner — you're dealing with a lot of water, so you'll need a lot of heat to boil it. This may still take some time.

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   Place the sausages into boiling water. To prevent hot splashes, lower the sausages in one-by-one with a set of tongs or another long utensil. Don't drop them in. When all the sausages are in the water, turn the heat down so that the boiling reduces to a gentle simmer.

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   Let the sausages cook. Cover the simmering water with a lid. If the sausages were previously cooked (as is the case with most hot dogs), you'll only need to cook them until they're hot all the way through (about 10 minutes). If they weren't pre-cooked, you may need to cook them for up to 30 minutes before taking them out. In either case, stir occasionally so the sausages cook all over.

   • Boiled sausages look a little different than grilled or fried sausages when they're done. They won't have a brown exterior — instead, they'll simply be firm and uniform all the way through, with no remaining pink. Depending on the type of sausage, they may be an unappealing grey waxy color. This is OK as long as they are cooked all the way through.

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   Optionally, brown them in a frying pan. The boiled sausages are now ready to eat. However, if you miss the crisp brown exterior from the other methods, you can still get this by applying a little dry heat. Get a frying pan or skillet hot, add a spoonful of oil, and fry the sausages on either side for a few minutes until browning occurs.

   • Many sausages from Central or Eastern Europe are traditionally eaten boiled. However, they still taste good browned, so don't be afraid to cook them this way.

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   Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). While you wait for the oven to heat up, proceed to the next few steps.

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   Prepare a baking pan. There are a lot of ways to cook sausages in the oven — the simplest is just to lay them directly on a metal baking pan. However, for even better results, try this method, which allows excess grease to drip away from the sausage like on a grill:

   • Line the pan with aluminum foil. This will make cleanup much easier.
   • Set metal baking racks over the foil-lined pan. The bars should be close enough to each other that sausages won't fall through.

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   Place the sausages on the pan. As with the methods above, the sausages should have an inch or so of space on either side so that they can cook evenly. If the sausage links are connected by their casing, cut them apart so that you can spread them out.

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   Bake for 20 minutes. Set the sausages into the center of the oven. Let them cook for 10 minutes before turning once, then let them cook the remaining 10 minutes undisturbed.

   • Use a set of tongs to handle the hot sausages — they can sometimes grease unpredictably.

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   Check for done-ness before serving. When cooked in the oven, a "done" sausage looks roughly like one that's been cooked on the grill. The exterior should be brown and crisp all over. The inside should be moist and firm, with no pink remaining. Juices should run clear.

   • If the sausages don't appear done, continue to cook them in five-minute increments until they cook all the way through. Big, thick sausages can take lots of time to finish cooking.

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Add New Question

• Question

  When I boil or steam my sausage, there is always got a pocket of water and fat mixed inside the casing. Is there a way to fix this?

  

  Prick the sausage with a fork during the boiling or steaming process; this will allow the extra fat and water to escape.

• Question

  Can sausages be microwaved?

  

  Yes. Just be sure there's a way for the moisture to escape so the sausage doesn't explode.

• Question

  Can sausage patties be boiled?

  

  No. They will most likely fall apart.

• Question

  How do I cook sausages if I am going to use them in soup in a crock pot?

  

  Fry them first, this will prevent them falling apart in the slow cooker/crock pot, then let them cool. Once they are cool, slice them to the desired thickness. Then you can add them to the slow cooker with the rest of your ingredients.

• Question

  Can they simply be boiled?

  

  You can fry them, grill them, or boil them -- just make sure they're done.

• Question

  What kind of meat is in sausage?

  

  Most sausages are pork, unless otherwise labeled.

• Question

  Does sausage require any sauce before cooking?

  

  No, but depending on the type of sausage and what you like, you may want to add condiments after cooking.

• Question

  Will butterflying the sausages before they are cooked cause them to fall apart?

  

  It depends on the quality and the compactness of the sausages. If they are loose and don't have as much filling, they would fall apart easily. But with most, they won't

• Question

  Is it better to pan-fry or bake sausages?

  

  Frying is best; by baking, the sausage loses its fat.

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VideoRead Video Transcript

• Some sausages (often those purchased in supermarkets) will have preparation guidelines on the packaging that bear no resemblance to these methods. Do not be alarmed! Sausages sold in the UK, New Zealand and Australia can be safely consumed after their preparation as described on the packaging, for example, frying only, grilling or cooking on a barbecue grill.

• When pan-frying sausages, try using the leftover grease in the pan to fry other foods (like vegetables, toast, etc.). These dishes will pick up some of the sausages' flavor.

• A perfectly-done sausage should have an interior temperature of 140-150 F (60-66 C) when it finishes cooking. If you have a meat thermometer, feel free to check during cooking to get your sausages just right.

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Article Summary X

To cook sausages, first add them to a large pot then fill it with enough water to cover them. Then heat the sausages over medium-high heat until the water starts to simmer, which will cook them through and make them tender. Next, remove the sausages from the pot, set them aside, and heat some oil in a pan over high heat. Once it's hot, add the sausages to the pan, and sear them on each side until they're crispy. Transfer the sausages to a plate, and enjoy! If you're cooking sausages to add to sandwiches or another dish, cut the links into halves or coins before searing them in the pan. To learn how to boil and grill sausages, read the article!

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