Fresh Polish Sausage {Biała Kiełbasa}
Biała kiełbasa gets it’s name from nothing else but it looking white after being cooked. It’s a pork sausage spiced with garlic and marjoram always served at Easter in my home, and most homes across Poland. It’s like the American turkey on Thanksgiving. Everyone knows this is what you’re eating during Easter in Poland. I have not seen it for sale in America (other than at a Polish deli), and was forced to start making my own. When I was a kid, we would make it at home too. I was in charge of cranking the handle on the old iron meat grinder. That was the best part.
As scary as it sounds, sausage making is not that difficult. It only takes a bit of planning, but only if you can’t find natural sausage casings at a local sporting goods store. I order mine on-line [link here]. Go for the natural casings (not cellulose), as they are a lot more sturdy and won’t break while being stuffed.
I normally make a large batch of fresh Polish sausage and freeze it. When an opportunity presents itself, during a summer cook-out for example, just throw those suckers on the grill and you’ll have your guests asking for more.
You can watch us make our fresh Polish sausage using two different sausage stuffing set ups in the video below:
Polish White Sausage {Biała Kiełbasa}
Ingredients
- One 8 oz / 227 g package of natural 32 mm hog casings
- 8 lbs / 3 1⁄2 kg of ground pork (shoulder or pork butt)
- 1 lb / 500 g of pork belly
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tbsp / 72 g of fine sea or rock salt
- 1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
- 1 c / 235 ml of ice-cold water
- 2 tbsp of dried marjoram
Instructions
Soak and rinse the casings as directed on the package.
You can purchase pork shoulder whole and grind at home, or have your butcher grind it at the store. Pork belly will have to be ground up also. If you're grinding it at home, use the small grinding plate.
Place ground pork in a large container, add garlic, salt, pepper, water, and marjoram and massage with your hands for about 10 minutes.
Assemble sausage stuffer. Slide one casing on the sausage attachment fully, and feed the meat through the top of the hopper, filling each casing to the desired sausage length, twisting after each link.
If you’re using a kitchen mixer with a sausage attachement, turn the mixer to high; it will make it easier for the meat to go through. Leave a few inches of unfilled casing at the beginning and at the end of each casing, to prevent spilling. You can also tie the end off if you so choose. The meat should be packed pretty well, but careful with overfilling; the casings may break. Don't puncture casings at any point.
Consume within 2 days or freeze to store. Make sure to defrost in the fridge.
Enjoy with sour rye soup (pg. 45) or boiled (boil on low heat for 20–30 minutes). You can also grill or roast in the oven.
Notes
You can scale this recipe up or down. Remember to keep salt to meat ratio at 2 lbs to 1 tbsp of salt / 1 kg to 18 g of salt.
During Easter biała kiełbasa is served in sour rye soup {Żurek} with a hard-boiled egg, or on the side, topped with horseradish and beets.
Smacznego!
Anna
ps. This is a two person job, so invite a friend.
Tools and products used:
A sausage making attachment to a kitchen mixer (that’s what I use), or any kind of sausage stuffing device you have.
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I miss my mother in laws chicken soup. Anytime I was not feeling well I would call her up to request her chicken soup to make me feel better. She used the allspice and whole pepper corns in her spice ball and the aroma was heavenly.
My grandparent would hand stuff the Easter and Christmas Kielbasa when I was growing up . The smells in that house were pure heaven. My Mom and Aunts tried to make it one year wasn’t the same. I’m going to try this one looks easy enough.
Are you familiar with a stuffing for duck made with prunes, ground beef, seasoned with cinnamon or allspice? It was made by my mom and her sisters from my polish grandma’s recipe and no one wrote the recipe down. Thanks
Ground beef was/is rarely used solo in Polish cooking because it’s an expensive ingredient. In Poland it would most likely be made with a pork and beef mix. Give it a go and maybe you will surprise yourself with the outcome. Soak the prunes a bit before adding to meat. Good luck!
Did you notice a difference in the texture of the kitchen aid stuffed sausage vs. the sausage press? Curious which one you preferred if there was a difference?
I did notice the difference. I talk about it in my video, here: https://youtu.be/wzc5SRKQqII 😀
Hello I would love to know what kind of hopper and where you purchased it in your video? I’m beginning to make my own kielbasa and think that’s the perfect tool.
Hi Anna,
We are going to make this sausage. I’m new to cooking so fogive my simple question. The instructions do not tell me when to add the following ingredients.
1 tbs of sea salt
2 tbs marjoram
1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
Thanks for your help.
Oops, sorry. Add before mixing the meat. Good luck!
Thanks Anna. I made this last night and it is amazing. So full of flavors and easy to make. Do you know why the sausage would shrink so much? I’ve never made sausage before so I don’t know if shrinkage is normal. Thanks.
Awesome job! Yep, shrinkage is normal. 😊
Lovely! My only option to enjoy these was to make meatballs with ground pork and diced bacon – not the exact same, but still very good!
I’ve been trying find out what actually makes white poilish sausage white in color. When I was a child my Polish grandmother always provided what appeared to be a lighter colored or white Polish saiuasage nothing like the kilebasa that we find in th grocery store today. That being said I’v been researching white polish saisage and have found a few recipes but none of the recipes clearly define what the difference id between white Polish sauasage and regular Polish sausage. What makes it white or lighter in color? Is it fat content? I’ve seen some say add 50% fat but nowhere can I find anything that confims this. What is the difference? What makes it a lighter color?
I am VERY new to this, but my understanding is that the pinkish colored sausage or kielbasa has a nitrite preservative in it (called a “cure”) to prevent botulism. It is added to sausages that are smoked or dried as they are left for significant amounts of time in the not-too-hot but not-too-cold range of temperatures that would increase the risk of food-borne illnesses. A fresh sausage, like the one made here, would not need the nitrite as it is kept cold until cooked and eaten, so it appears “white.”
You got it exactly! 🤓
what is the best way to cook fresh polish sausage so it is not dryed out
Boil/simmer it in water for about 20 min. on very low.
I grew up with the awesome smell of the homemade FRESH POLISH SAUSAGE {BIAŁA KIEŁBASA} that my Grandmother would make and serve every Easter. There is a difference in how she cooked it, however, and that tradition carried on with my Father and now me. In a skillet, I brown the meat in lard after which I put water in the skillet, cover it and put it in an oven for a good hour at 350 degrees. Pure heaven! I found it very interesting that a nearby proclaimed Polish market didn’t have the slightest idea of what I was talking about when I asked for fresh Polish sausage! Luckily I have been able to find it at a meat market near me and now I find that another Polish market has recently opened up and they have it!
Hi Anna, what grind size do you use for the pork and bacon? I have the KitchenAid attachment and have 2 grinding disks to choose from (if that helps). Thank you!
Is it possible to have this kielbasa without the casing.
Like you, I find it hard to find the REAL Polish food I grew up with in Chicago. Right now I have chicken stock simmering to go with my Kluski Kladzione tomorrow, just like I grew up with. And white sausage, like I grew up with, is near impossible to find. So my NON-Polish husband and I started making it from scratch. My now adult daughter even wrote an essay about cooking it when she was in the fourth grade. I haven’t tried your recipe. I’ve adapted the recipe from the official Polish Sausage cookbook (as in the Polish government regulated recipes) and even theirs doesn’t have enough garlic for what I am used to. But give me white sausage, kraut, little potatoes and horseradish, and I am one happy Polack – no offense to anyone intended.