A breakfast sausage is a type of fresh pork sausage usually served at breakfast. It is not cured or smoked. It is essentially seasoned ground meat so does not keep and should be stored and handled appropriately. Variations made from pork and beef mixtures as well as poultry can now be found. There are also vegetarian varieties that use textured vegetable protein in place of meat.
Most commonly served as patties or slices from a large roll, breafast sausage also come in links of various lengths and diameters. It is normally fried or grilled. Fresh or raw, it is also used as an ingredient of other dishes.