Sausage Salad

Sausage Salad is a great way to serve up a favourite ingredient in the warmer months. In this easy recipe, a simple base of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber is made extra special with lightly roasted slices of apple and red onion. They’re joined by just-warm chunks of sausage plus crispy homemade garlic and herb croutons. Bringing everything together is rich, dark, sweet and tangy honey-mustard-balsamic dressing.

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Sausages are a hugely popular meal. But how can you serve them up a little differently? Don’t get me wrong. I love traditional bangers and mash, sausage casserole etc. just as much as the next person. However, don’t we all occasionally fancy something different? Especially in the warmer months, I’m often looking for lighter dishes too.

Thankfully, sausage-based meals don’t have to be heavy. As I hope you’ll agree, the Sausage Salad recipe I’m sharing today is a great example of that. I first made it last Summer when there was a horrible heatwave. I really fancied sausages for dinner, but the usual suspects didn’t appeal. The result was fantastic, and I could only wonder why I’d never made this tasty but lighter main course salad before.

SAUSAGE SALAD

While you could just add chopped cooked sausages to any old salad, I like to think my Sausage Salad has a combination of ingredients and textures perfectly suited to good old bangers. You’ll find a detailed recipe card at the end of this post. But read on for an overview with photos showing you the steps.

ONIONS & APPLES

Both onions and apples are classic partners to (and are sometimes used to flavour) pork sausages. Perhaps it’s their blend of acidity and sweetness that complements the rich meatiness. I think my Picnic Pie shows this off beautifully, as does a sausage variation of old-fashioned Homestead Eggs. I’ll often also add apples as well as onions to my Sage & Onion Sausagemeat Stuffing or the filling for Rough Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls.

So, I think it makes perfect sense to include them in a Sausage Salad. But rather than just throwing in slices of raw onion and apple, I think it’s nicer to first lightly roast them. After seasoning with salt and pepper and tossing in a little olive oil (plus a squeeze of lemon for the apples to stop them discolouring) just 15 – 20 minutes in the oven is plenty to get them tender and with a little taste-enhancing charring.

GARLIC & HERB CROUTONS

I love crispy croutons in a salad as well as scattered over soups. They’re so easy to make at home and a good way of using up stale bread. I’ve flavoured these with my own mix of dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, marjoram) plus garlic.

Tossed with salt and pepper plus olive oil, they can go in the oven at the same time as the onions and apples. Depending how crunchy you want the croutons, they’ll take 10 – 15 minutes.

HONEY-MUSTARD DRESSING

I think of the rich and dark dressing for my Sausage Salad as a sort of warm-weather gravy. I’ve combined the traditional sausage accompaniments of honey and mustard (which are also sometimes used to glaze them) with balsamic vinegar and olive oil to create a dressing both sweet and tangy.

All you do is shake everything up in a screw-topped jar. Have a taste to see if it needs any more sweetness or seasoning, and it’s done. I like a thick dressing for this chunky salad. But you can thin it with a teeny splash of water if preferred.

SALAD BASE

I’ve kept the salad base, into which all the other lovely ingredients will be tossed, pretty simple. Torn or shredded lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes. But you could add other things like celery, peppers (raw or roasted), grated carrot etc.

For a little extra greenery, I like fresh herbs such as parsley or chives. At the moment I also have a kitchen windowsill full of homegrown microgreens, so add some of those too.

THE SAUSAGES

No doubt you’ll have your own favourite sausages and virtually any will work in this salad. I would just ask that you buy as good a quality as you can afford. Free-range pork is the way to go in my opinion. Depending on appetites, and whether your sausages are thick or thin, you’ll need 2 – 3 per person.

I always fry my sausages, but grill if you prefer. This can be done while the apples, onions, and croutons are in the oven. For Sausage Salad, I like them warm rather than hot or cold, sliced into bite-sized pieces.

BRINGING SAUSAGE SALAD TOGETHER

So that all the goodies in Sausage Salad are evenly distributed, I find it best to first mix HALF of everything (i.e. sausage slices, onion, apple, croutons) into the salad base along with a few spoonsful of the dressing.

After tossing well, I transfer the salad to a platter or individual bowls. Then I place the rest of the ingredients evenly over the top, drizzling with more dressing. I think that having some of every element on top makes the salad visually more appealing too.

I keep a little dressing back so people who want more can help themselves. If you don’t use it all, the dressing will keep in the fridge for 2 – 3 days.

SERVING SAUSAGE SALAD

When I eat this salad, I don’t have anything else with it. With good quality sausages, lots of vegetables, plus croutons, I think it’s a filling main course all on its own.

But you could add some cooked new potatoes, just warm. Or, going in the lower carb direction, replace the croutons with a few toasted nuts and seeds.

Served semi-warm, with freshly cooked sausages, lightly roasted slices of red onion and apple, homemade herby, garlicky croutons, plus that moreish dressing, I think Sausage Salad makes a great meal. If you’re pushed for time, you could skip roasting the onion and apples, or even use cold leftover sausages.

I hope you’ll try the original version though and let me know what you think. Do leave a comment and rate the recipe.

5 from 1 vote

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Sausage Salad

A great way to serve sausages in the warmer months.

A simple salad base tossed with just-warm chunks of sausage, lightly roasted slices of apple and red onion plus crunchy garlic and herb croutons. Bringing everything together is a sweet and tangy honey-mustard-balsamic dressing.

Course Main Course, Salad, Lunch

Cuisine World

Keyword easy

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 2 - 4

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 4 - 6 sausages thick or thin
• oil for frying sausages or grill them

For the Dressing

• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 1 tbsp honey or more to taste
• salt and black pepper

For the garlic-herb croutons

• 2 cloves garlic grated or finely chopped
• salt
• black pepper
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 thick slices bread cut into bite-sized chunks

For the onions and apples

• 2 small red onions
• 2 medium apples
• ¼ lemon juice only
• olive oil, salt and black pepper

For the salad base

• 1 medium lettuce shredded or torn into bite-sized pieces
• ⅓ - ½ cucumber halved lengthways and cut into chunky slices
• 4 - 6 medium tomatoes cut into quarters or sixths
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs e.g. parsley, chives

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C / 200° Fan / Gas 4

2. Make the dressing

   Put all the ingredients in a screw-topped jar and shake well to combine. Taste and add more honey, salt or pepper if needed. The dressing should be thick, but if it seems too thick add a teaspoon of water. Set aside.

   Dressing can be stored in the fridge for 2 - 3 days.

3. Make the croutons

   Sprinkle a little salt on the grated or chopped garlic. With the flat side of a knife, squidge them together to form a paste.

   Put the garlic paste in a roomy bowl along with some black pepper, the dried herbs and the olive oil. Whisk together.

   Tip in the bread cubes and use your hands to toss everything together, making sure all the bread is covered in seasoning and oil.

   Put the bread on a non-stick or lined baking tray in a single layer. Transfer to the preheated oven on the top shelf.

   Bake for 7 minutes then turn the cubes and return to the oven. Bake for another 3 - 8 minutes until browned, crispy and done to your liking. Turn once more during the cooking if necessary.

   Set aside.

   Croutons can be stored in an airtight container for 2 - 3 days but won't be as crunchy.

4. Roasting the onions and apples (can be done at the same time as the croutons)

   Cut onions in half then each half into semi-circles: don't make them too thin.

   Cut the apples into quarters then cut out the cores and discard. Slice the quarters and toss in lemon juice to stop them browning.

   Put the onion and apple slices on a non-stick or lined baking tray in a single layer. Toss with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil. Transfer to the preheated oven.

   Cook until lightly browned and tender, turning halfway through (approx. 15 - 20 min).

5. While the croutons, apples and onions are cooking, fry or grill the sausages then set aside.

Build the salad

1. Put the prepared lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and chopped herbs in a roomy bowl.

   Cut the sausages into bite-sized pieces and add HALF of them to the bowl.

   Add HALF the onions, apples and croutons plus 1 - 2 tablespoons of the dressing and toss everything together well.

   Transfer to a serving platter or individual bowls and top with the remaining sausages, onions, apples and croutons. Drizzle over the rest of the dressing and serve.

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