How to Cook Fresh Kielbasa

Visiting any deli near you can make your taste buds dance in excitement. The colorful variety of meats on display make you want to try each.

Oh, and the smell of a delicious Kielbasa invites you to try it. And once you taste it, there is no going back to eating regular sausages.

The good news is that you can always cook fresh Kielbasa at home and enjoy it whenever you wish. All you need is the right ingredients, tools, and the proper instructions on cooking Kielbasa.

This post will look at what Kielbasa is and provide you with easy ways to cook it at home.

Feel free to jump ahead!

What’s a Kielbasa?

Kielbasa is one of the most popular and best food in Poland. People worldwide love it, and here is why: it’s tasty, filling, and is made from the highest quality meat.

The traditional Polish Kielbasa is made of pork meat. However, you can purchase Kielbasa made of fish, poultry, and even vegetarian Kielbasa.

There are many types of Kielbasa, with the most famous ones being zwyczajna, wiejska, biala kielbasa, parowki, kaszanka, serdelki, kabanosy, etc.

Buying fresh Kielbasa

You can buy fresh smoked Kielbasa in supermarkets near you, including Walmart. Go to the sausage sections and look for a white kielbasa sausage with encased tubing.

The fresh polish Kielbasa will likely be wrapped in a plastic bag like other fresh ground meat. Ensure you confirm its date of expiry before paying for it.

If your local market doesn’t sell fresh Kielbasa, don’t fret. You can easily make your own Kielbasa at home, as discussed below:

Making a Kielbasa at home

To make a fresh homemade Kielbasa is very easy. You’ll need hog casing, black pepper, four pounds of well-marbled hog meat, garlic cloves, and teaspoon marjoram.

Grind the raw pork and mix it with spices – adding your favorite spices will make your sausage unique and tasty. Make a small batch of the sausages first to ensure that you get the right spices and the proper proportions.

Once you finish making your fresh Kielbasa sausages, you’re now ready to cook them. Let’s see how to cook a fresh homemade Kielbasa.

How to cook Kielbasa

Perfectly cooked Kielbasa is flavorful, sweet, and filling, giving you all the reasons to cook it again and again. We want you to have the best homemade Kielbasa, so we made a step-by-step guide for you.

But before we look at the procedure, let’s first look at the appliances you need to get started.

What you need

Stove:

Also known as a gas range, cooker, or ranger, a stove is a kitchen appliance that depends on direct heat to cook a meal. In most cases, the stove has an oven companion.

Oven:

This is the thermally insulated cooking appliance used for baking, heating, and drying substances. You may buy an oven from your local store or supermarket.

Slower cooker:

Also known as a crock-pot, a slower cooker is a countertop kitchen electrical appliance used to simmer at low temperatures. This device cooks food by boiling, baking, roasting, and broiling.

Saucepan:

Mainly used for boiling and stewing, this round pan has depth and straight sides.

Skillet:

Commonly known as a frying pan, a skillet is a kitchen appliance that has slanted sides, making it ideal for quick cooking and stir-frying.

Barbecue grill:

This kitchen appliance uses applied heat from below to cook meals. There are several barbecue grills, including electric grills, charcoal grills, and gas grills.

Step-by-step procedure

Before cooking your fresh Kielbasa, make sure that it is completely unfrozen. You may leave it to unfreeze for about an hour or so.

Once it’s unfrozen, you can begin cooking it as follows:

Preparing your fresh Kielbasa sausage by boiling it

This is perhaps the easiest and most common method of preparing a Kielbasa. To get started, you’ll need a cooking pan, enough water, spices, and natural flavors, and you can cook it as follows:

1. Place your fresh Kielbasa sausage into a cooking pan and add your spices and flavors, including onion slices, garlic cloves, and peppercorns. Then, add the right amount of water into it.
2. Set your burner to medium settings and place your pan onto it.
3. Let the water boil for 20-50 minutes, after which you should lower the heat.
4. Cover the pan, simmer the sausage on top of your stove and leave it for about 25-30 minutes until the water is gone.
5. If water remains on the pan, drain it and serve your sausage on a plate. You can store your sausage for about three weeks to one month in a fridge.

Note: Although fast, this cooking method is not always recommended as your Kiebalsa sausage may lose some flavor.

Browning your Kielbasa Sausage

After boiling and preparing your sausage, you may brown it to improve its taste. You may do this using several cooking methods, including slow-cooking, oven-backing, pan-frying, and grilling.

Here is a step-by-step method for browning your Kielbasa sausage:

Method #1: Oven-Baking

1. Preheat your oven to around 400 degrees F
2. Add a tiny amount of oil to coat your baking pan and place your Kielbasa sausage inside
3. Place the oven on an oven
4. Leave your Kielbasa sausage to cook for 15-20 minutes
5. When the Kielbasa’s outer skin expands and splits, remove the pan from the oven and serve the sausage with your favorite meal

Method #2: Slow-Cooking

1. Cut your fresh Kielbasa sausage into 1-inch pieces
2. Add one can of sauerkraut onto your slow-cooker
3. Add enough water and place your sausage in the cooker. You may also use beer in the place of water
4. Cook on low heat for about 5 to 6 hours, until the meat is soft and tender
5. Remove it from the cooker and serve it how you like it the best.

Method #3: Pan-frying

1. Add little oil onto a saute pan or hot skillet, spreading it to cover the pan
2. Set your stove to medium heat.
3. Cut your sausages into slices of your choice.
4. Place your sausage slices onto the frying pan, place them on the stove, and leave them for some time to cook. Turn the sausage slices after around a minute and a half
5. Once both sides are brown, serve your Kielbasa how you like.

Method #4: Grilling

This is a popular way of cooking Kielbasa. To grill your authentic Polish sausage:

1. Set your grill to a medium-high setting and leave it for some minutes to preheat. If you’re using a charcoal grill, hold your hand about five inches above the grill to test if it’s preheated
2. On the hot grill, begin grilling your sausage by flipping once until it’s browned and heated through. One side may take about 5-10 minutes, depending on the heat you apply.
3. Once the sausage turns brown, serve it how you like the best.

How do I know if my Polish sausage is cooked?

Uncooked Kielbasa sausage may lead to several health complications, including trichinosis. So, make sure that your Kielbasa is well-cooked before enjoying it.

Here are the best ways to tell if the pork sausage is well cooked:

• If the little pink color on your sausage disappears
• If the meat’s internal temperature is 165 degrees. You can use the meat thermometer to test the temperature.
• If the sausage’s outer skin turns rough and it explodes while cooking

Helpful tips

You can cut your polish sausage into round-sized pieces and place them inside pastry dough or rye bread for a treat. Apply small amounts of melted butter to the outside of the dough.

Then, bake your sausage inside the oven for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees F. it’ll turn brown when fully cooked.

You can then add brown mustard sauce and extra flavor when serving your sausage. You may use pepper, salt, coriander, ginger, sugar, onion, sage, and garlic for your spices and seasoning.

Serving Kielbasa

Kielbasa sausage is best served on a plate or roll with horseradish, mustard, or sauerkraut. However, you can also combine it with other stews, casseroles, soups, and sauces.

It’s gratifying to try your Kielbasa with different recipes – you may discover something better!

Can you eat Kielbasa raw?

You may or may not eat your sausage raw, depending on the type of sausage. If the meat is dry-cured, you can eat it raw.

Otherwise, cook your Kielbasa sausage well before eating it.

The Kielbasa sausage is typically smoked sausage which is cooked before packaging in the U.S. This is the same as the American hot dogs that are fully cooked before packaging instead of raw sausage links.

Final thoughts

There you have it, guys: the different easy ways to cook a fresh homemade Kielbasa sausage. After boiling it, you may grill, bake, fry, or slow cook it, depending on your preference.

Now it’s your turn to try cooking the Fresh Kielbasa sausage. Have fun!