Loukanika-Greek Pork Sausage

Loukanika is Greece’s signature pork sausage, and making it from scratch gives you something you’ll never find in a grocery store. Ground pork shoulder, boiled pork rind, and fatback get blended with a seasoning mix that’s distinctly Greek: orange zest, allspice, marjoram, ground bay leaf, garlic, and a splash of dry red wine.

The orange zest is the ingredient that makes loukanika unmistakable. It adds a bright, citrusy fragrance that cuts through the richness of the pork fat and lifts all the warm spices around it. Combined with allspice and marjoram, it creates a flavor profile you won’t find in any Italian or German sausage tradition.

The pork rind ground into the mix adds a silky, gelatinous texture that keeps the sausages moist and gives them a satisfying snap when you bite through the casing. After stuffing, the sausages poach for an hour before a final pan-fry to crisp the outside.

Kitchen Tips

• Grind all the meat through the fine blade for the smoothest texture. Coarse grinds make a crumbly sausage
• Knead the seasoned meat thoroughly. Good kneading distributes the spices and develops a sticky, emulsified texture that binds the sausage
• Rinse the salted casings under cold running water several times. Do this in a large pan so the slippery casing doesn’t escape down the drain
• Poach before frying. The hour-long poach cooks the sausage through gently; the fry is just for the crispy exterior

Variations

• Use coriander in place of allspice for a slightly different, more citrusy spice character
• Add a teaspoon of fennel seeds for an Italian-Greek crossover flavor
• Skip the casings and shape the mixture into patties for pan-frying if you don’t have sausage-stuffing equipment