5 Breakfast Sausage Brands That Use High-Quality Ingredients (And 2 To Avoid)

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Breakfast sausage is a great addition to your breakfast by itself, on a biscuit as part of a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit, or as part of a scramble. But to make sure you're getting the best quality out there, we've created a list of sausage brands that use high-quality ingredients, as well as those you'd probably want to avoid. We looked at how the animals are treated, if they're given growth hormones or excessive antibiotics, and whether the resulting sausage is minimally processed. We also made sure there were no artificial ingredients or excessive fillers.

It might seem like a small thing to look for products with high quality ingredients, but the benefits are many. Chief among them is the positive difference in taste. Breakfast and dinner sausages already taste different, thanks to the addition of sage in the breakfast versions. But high-quality ingredients and meat also taste more savory and often keep you feeling fuller for longer because of the lack of fillers. That can keep the protein high, making the quality sausage a good choice for those watching their macros. So, if you want the best value for your money, alongside the best tasting breakfast sausages, keep this list handy the next time you visit the grocery store.

Applegate Organics has been in business for nearly 40 years, and in that time, the brand has earned a strong reputation as one of the meat industry's most trustworthy companies, thanks to its transparency with customers. The brand's various breakfast sausages are often cited by chefs as a high-quality product because the company takes animal welfare seriously and doesn't use antibiotics on any of the animals it sources.

The pigs used for pork sausage aren't kept in crates, which allows them to be less stressed and gain natural muscle from wandering. They're fed an all vegetarian diet, so there's no animal byproducts in the feed. Applegate's poultry, like turkeys and chickens, are also fed all plant-based diets and given more room to move. This keeps the air quality in the facilities better, which leads to fewer health problems for the animals.

The poultry even get environmental enrichments that allow them to keep their natural perching, scratching, and pecking behaviors, which keeps their stress down and leads to better tasting meat. All of the resulting sausages from the pigs and birds are made without nitrates, preservatives, or artificial ingredients.

Pederson's Natural Farms has been in the pork business since 1992. It only sold three types of bacon when it opened, but the business has greatly expanded since then. The brand now includes beef and bison in addition to a multitude of pork products. All of the meats come from animals that have been raised humanely through sustainable practices, and many of them are certified organic.

This company uses heritage Duroc swine for its breakfast sausages and other pork products. The swine are allowed to roam and fed a vegetarian diet. It has a no antibiotics policy and doesn't use steroids or other growth hormones on the pigs, and the resulting sausages are made without nitrates or nitrites as preservatives. If you're wondering why that matters (because you'll see them mentioned a lot on this list), nitrates and nitrites in processed meats have been linked with high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases.

The company doesn't add sugar to them during processing, making the sausages Whole30 Approved, as well as acceptable for those maintaining a keto or paleo lifestyle. The breakfast meat is made with simple ingredients, but no artificial ones are allowed. Pederson's sausages are also certified gluten free, as well as animal welfare certified.

Bob Evans is one of the most recognized names in dinner sides and meat products in supermarkets today. But not everyone is happy with the products Bob Evan's makes, primarily because of a lack of transparency around its practices and potentially problematic preservatives.

The mass-produced brand has no information about animal welfare on its website, unlike the Bob Evans Farmhouse Kitchen, which advertises a commitment to animal welfare and general sustainability. What is known about the breakfast sausages is that preservatives like potassium lactate, BHA, and BHT are used to keep the meat from spoiling. Potassium lactate acts as a way to enhance flavor, hold moisture and keep the product fresh longer, and is generally considered safe to consume.

However, BHA and BHT are a different story. BHA has been under investigation by the European Union since 2018 as a potential endocrine disruptor, which can have concerning effects on animal and human reproductive health. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration began its own inquiry into the preservative in early 2026. BHT is suspected to cause damage to the lungs, kidneys, and liver after repeated exposure, but no formal studies by the FDA are currently underway. Coupled with multiple complaints about animal welfare, Bob Evans is a brand you might want to avoid.

Primal Pastures bills itself as the cleanest meat in America. Started in 2012, this company uses domestically raised and slaughtered pigs that are made into sausage with no fillers. All of its swine are grass fed, with no soy or corn to supplement their feed, and pasture raised, which allows them to be less stressed and attain muscle naturally. All of the brand's meats are also certified humane in Southern California where its processing facility is located.

The pork used in Primal Pasture's breakfast sausages is raised in Nebraska, where they're allowed to roam freely and graze. The farmers rotate the swine from pasture to pasture, ensuring there's always new grass for them to eat. The pigs are never given vaccines or antibiotics, and the sausages are made with no preservatives or artificial ingredients. In fact, the ground pork sausage is made with only six ingredients, while the links are made with seven, including pork, black pepper, sea salt, allspice, sage, celery seed, and a collagen casing.

Jones Dairy Farm might seem like an odd name for a company that primarily sells pork products, but the brand has been selling sausages since the late 1800s. So even though the farm was originally for dairy cows, its claim to fame became high quality pork made from a family recipe. More than a century later, the company is still committed to the welfare of its animals and to using simple ingredients in its products, such as its large variety of breakfast sausages.

This brand makes the breakfast meats in pork, chicken, and turkey. None of the sausages have MSG, fillers, or nitrates included. There's a line of the meats that have no antibiotics ever used on the animals, and none of the sausages contain gluten. The All Natural Pork Sausage Roll has even qualified for the Master Chefs' Institute's Seal of Excellence, thanks in part to its excellent flavor. Jones Dairy Farm breakfast sausages have also earned a spot as one of the items Food Republic taste-testers will always repurchase.

If you frequent the freezer aisles in nearly any grocery store, you'll be familiar with the yellow and red packaging Banquet uses for its Brown 'N Serve breakfast sausages. This budget brand has been around since the 1950s and makes everything from pot pies to frozen dinners to family meals. But it might be most famous for its large selection of breakfast sausages. Unfortunately, many people know the meat for its poor quality, with some calling the brand the worst sausages in the freezer aisle. The brand even took last place on Food Republic's ranking of popular breakfast sausage brands in 2025.

Along with using lower-quality meats, the brand uses BHA and BHT as preservatives. The sausages have a high percentage of soy protein concentrate added as a filler to give the meat more volume and inflate the amount of protein. The meat is also ultra-processed. All in all, this is one to avoid, despite the brand's nostalgic allure.

Niman Ranch might've started as a cattle-based operation in the 1970s, but as soon as the company began partnering with hog farmers in the mid-1990s, the brand never looked back. The company now has a network of over 600 farms and ranches working to raise the best cattle, sheep, and swine in the country. Every animal that Niman Ranch uses for its meat products never has antibiotics or added hormones given to them, and each supplier has to meet strict guidelines for the treatment of the animals and sustainability practices. All of that hard work shows in the taste and quality of the breakfast sausages the company sells.

The breakfast meats are gluten-free and come from pigs that are Certified Humane by the Humane Farm Animal Care program. The swine are fed a 100% vegetarian diet with no animal byproducts, which greatly reduces the chances of the pigs getting sick. The resulting sausage is minimally processed and uncured, so there are no added nitrates or nitrites. You could even try this breakfast meat in this upgraded take on pigs in a blanket.

To find the best and worst breakfast sausages, we combed through the numerous brands that make the product before honing in on how the companies raised and treated the animals. If they were given growth hormones, excessive antibiotics, or low-quality feed, they went on the avoid list. If the animals were treated well and the resulting sausage was minimally processed with no fillers or artificial ingredients, it went on the buy list.

We then narrowed down the buy and avoid lists by looking specifically at customer's reactions to the product's taste and overall value on social media, user review sites, message boards, and professional reviews. The resulting list has what we believe are the best and worst breakfast sausages determined by multiple quality indicators and customer satisfaction.