The Best Breakfast Sausage Links Are Ultra Juicy And Flavorful

Whatever time of day you decide to eat it, nothing really hits like a full breakfast. You've got your eggs and your starches, be they hash browns, pancakes, waffles, or toast. But in our opinion, it's the sausage that really ties everything together, giving that perfect salty punch to cut through the sugary components and the silky smoothness of eggs.

When it comes to sausages, we have a lot of opinions. Take a peek at this curated list of breakfast sausages, ranked from worst to best, if you want our advice on what brands to swerve and which ones to make a mad dash for. To us, the clear winner is Villa Roma breakfast sausage. In a world of microwavable and kind of mediocre sausages, this pan-fried beauty takes the cake.

It only takes about five minutes to cook up a few links to a perfect doneness, and the payoff is well worth the time. You also avoid the phenomenon of sausages screaming and exploding in the microwave by cooking them this way. These links are succulent and tender, while the outer layer provides a bit of snap and bite when you sink your teeth in. The sage subtly comes through, pairing well with the other spices and flavors to make for a home-style sausage that feels comforting and rustic. If you really like a golden, crispy crust, you can cook your sausages a little longer in the pan, too. We definitely suggest going the cast iron skillet route for that, but you can build up a good crust even with a nonstick pan.

It's primarily the seasonings that make breakfast and dinner sausage taste so different. Breakfast sausages are often more lightly seasoned and sweeter. Dinner sausages, on the other hand, are typically more savory and salty. They can be spicy or smoky, and they're meant to feel more hearty — think main dish vibes, as opposed to one component of a meal. Villa Roma, to us, actually bridges the gap between a breakfast and dinner sausage. It's savory and well-seasoned, but it still has a touch of sweetness and a versatile flavor profile.

To that end, you can dress up Villa Roma breakfast sausages so they lean more toward dinner rather than breakfast. Use them in place of smoked sausage for an easy one-pot rice dish along with beans, veggies, and spices like cumin, turmeric, and ginger. Or, you can cook them whole and serve them with a side of garlic mashed potatoes for a classic meat-and-potatoes kind of dinner. You can even make a quick and easy sheet pan meal by roasting sliced sausage, shrimp, and asparagus all together in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven. This is a go-to for me — the combination is especially tasty when liberally seasoned with Old Bay. Next time you see Villa Roma at your grocery store, know that you can use those breakfast sausages for any meal of the day.