How to Cook Sausages in the Oven

Last Updated on October 11, 2021 by Boniface Muriuki

Are you in a hurry and hungry? If so, then you should consider cooking sausages since they offer a quick fix. Within a few minutes, you’ll be enjoying your sausage delicacy – either plain or with your favorite dessert.

But how exactly do you prepare the sausages? Most people are used to cooking them in an air fryer or deep fry them in an ordinary nonstick pan. 

However, you can also use an oven to obtain a unique taste of evenly baked sausages. This article elucidates how to cook sausages in the oven within a few minutes! Read on.

Can I Cook Sausages In the Oven?

Yes, cooking sausages in the oven is one of the fascinating ways to make your snacks. It gives your sausages a unique crunchy taste that will leave you asking for more. 

Even better, cooking sausages in the oven is relatively straightforward. You can regulate the temperature and time to achieve your desired doneness.

Why Cook Sausages in the Oven?

There are several reasons why you should make the oven your favorite sausage cooking technique. This unique technique offers the following benefits:

It is Healthy

While deep frying is a common technique of preparing sausages, it involves using a lot of oil. 

Many cooks try to use parchment paper or serviette to drain the oil, but still, your lips will remain with a shiny, oily appearance. The use of too much oil can be unhealthy, mostly when you eat the sausages regularly.

If you opt for baking the sausages in the oven, you will minimize the sausage’s oil. As such, you will have healthier yet tastier sausages that you can without the worry of accumulating too much fat in your body. 

Highly Convenient

Baking your sausages in an oven offers one of the easiest cooking methods. Unlike grilling, you can bake your sausages in the comfort of your house.

Read how you can use the smokeless grill for baking sausages here. 

Additionally, baking your sausages doesn’t require constant checking. All you need is to place your sausages in the oven, set the temperature & time, then wait. 

Reduced Clean Up 

Using an oven to bake your sausages rarely results in any mess. Since you’ll use foil and parchment paper, very little, oil/grease will get to the oven surface/grates. 

As such, cleaning the oven will be a breeze. On the contrary, pan-frying, grilling, and deep frying will leave you with a lot of mess to clean up! 

Evenly Cooked Sausages 

Cooking sausages in the oven is almost foolproof. You will almost be sure that you’ll get the results you anticipated. Unlike when using a skillet, you will not be required to turn over the sausages regularly. 

Once you set your oven’s temperature, the sausages will cook evenly. If you want to quicken the cooking process, you’ll adjust the temperature to reduce the cooking time. 

To avoid overcooking your sausages, we recommend that you use a meat thermometer. This way, you’ll quickly tell when the sausages get to the right temperatures (approximately 160 degrees Fahrenheit) for eating. 

Ideal for Cooking Many Sausages 

When you have many visitors, you may be required to serve many sausages. Pan-frying or deep frying them will surely be a hassle.

Fortunately, you can use your oven to make a large number of sausages simultaneously. 

How to Cook Sausages in the Oven – Step-by-Step Guide

What you Need

• An Oven 
• Sausages (Your ideal number)
• An aluminum foil or a parchment paper
• Meat thermometer (optional but very helpful)

Method 

• Remove your sausages from the refrigerator approximately 15 minutes before cooking them
• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
• Take out your baking pan and layer it with parchment paper or an aluminum foil
• Place your sausages on the parchment paper/aluminum foil (ensure that they do not touch each other)
• Place your baking pan (with sausages) in the heated oven
• Cook the sausages for approximately 30 minutes (turning them halfway)
• Remove them from the oven and serve with an accompaniment of your choice

What Temperature to Use When Cooking Sausages in the Oven

You should bake your sausages at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes. They start browning at 15 minutes when you should turn them. 

Always ensure that you avoid charring or blackening the sausages since it may change the taste and have an adverse health effect on the consumer. 

How to Know When Oven Baked Sausages are Cooked 

While baking your sausage for 30 minutes at 400 degrees will almost always achieve even doneness, we recommend that you use a meat thermometer.

The change of color and the timing can be quite misleading. You should always be keen to avoid undercooked sausages since they may cause adverse health effects.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), undercooked meat may introduce the Trichinella parasite to the body, which will result in a Trichinosis disease.

As such, you must ensure that your sausages are well done. To achieve this, ensure that you use your meat thermometer to ensure that your sausages’ internal temperature is at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Alternative Methods of Cooking Sausages 

Sausages offer high-level versatility, and there are a plethora of options that you can use to cook them. Besides baking them in the oven, you can also use the following methods to cook your sausages:

Boiling

Boiling your sausages is one of the easiest and healthiest methods to prepare your sausages at home. 

To boil your sausages, you should place them into a pot of boiling water and let them simmer for a few minutes.

If they are pre-cooked, your sausages will be ready after 10-15 minutes. If they are raw, you should boil them under low heat for approximately 30 minutes. 

Boiling your sausages will not offer any browning or crispy appearance on the outside. If you need the crispness, we recommend you use a pan-frying method. You can only boil sausage links and not patties. 

Grilling and Broiling 

These sausage cooking techniques use high-temperature to achieve an exceptional browning and irresistible crispness. 

The difference between grilling and broiling is primarily on the method of heating used. For grilling, the heat is below the sausages, while broiling involves heating the sausages from above. 

To achieve the unique flavor, ensure that you grill your sausages for approximately 10 minutes while turning them after every few minutes. 

If you use the broiling option, you should place the sausages on a broiler pan and place them in an oven for 10 minutes. Ensure that you turn them halfway to ensure even doneness and well-distributed browning. 

Stir-Frying/ Pan-Frying

Stir-frying involves cooking your sausages in a skillet, pan, or a wok. You will be required to flip the sausages regularly to achieve uniform doneness. 

To pan-fry your sausages, you should add a few drops of oil into your pan and let it heat. Add your sausages and turn them regularly until they brown both sides. The entire cooking process may take 10-15 minutes. 

The use of oil makes stir-frying is a relatively unhealthy sausage cooking method. However, you can use healthy/vegetable oil such as canola oil, avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil, or butter.

Avoid frying your sausages for long since they may form undesirable compounds that may have adverse health effects. After cooking for 15 minutes, you can cut one sausage to check whether the inner is firm, in which case it will be ready. 

Deep Frying 

This is the unhealthiest method of cooking your sausages. It involves complete immersion of the sausages in fat. Consequently, the sausages will absorb quite a large amount of oil, which may not be drained entirely even with the use of serviettes. 

To deep-fry your sausage, you should into a deep fryer containing heated oil (of up to 375°F). Cook the sausages until they are done (after approximately 5 minutes).

To get the best results, use oils with a high smoke point. Viable options include coconut oil, olive oil, and avocado oil.

Additionally, you can egg wash (eggs and cream/milk) and cover them with breadcrumb to make them even tastier.

While this method is widely used, the final product has higher calories and fat content than all other cooking methods. 

Which is the Healthiest Method to Cook Sausages?

The two healthiest options that you should consider are baking and boiling. These methods offer sausages with low calories and fats, thus ensuring that you enjoy the delicacy without worrying about fat/bad cholesterol built up in the body. 

The most unhealthy option is deep frying. This method increases the calories and fat content of your sausage. As such, you should avoid them, especially if you’re dieting. 

How to Cook Sausages in the Oven -The Bottom Line 

Cooking sausages in the oven is one of the healthiest cooking options you can have. It assures you of delicious meals with relatively low calories and fat levels.

If you’ve been wondering how to cook sausages in the oven to get the best results, then this article offers you a step-by-step guide. 

You will also get viable alternatives that you can use to cook your sausages and the best oil to use. 

How to Cook Sausages in the Oven -FAQs