How to Reheat Sausages (A complete guide)

From breakfast to dinner, sausage is the perfect food for any meal of the day. Sometimes we go a bit overboard and cook up too many leaving some leftovers. If that’s you, then you might be wondering how to reheat sausages properly. In this article, I will share all the easiest and best ways you can do that.  

Reheating sausages is not the most complicated process out there. All you need to be aware of is to reheat them thoroughly. You can check the internal temperature of your sausages and if it has reached 165° F, it’s perfect for consumption. You can use the microwave, oven, pan, or even an air fryer to reheat them so they are tasty and steaming hot. 

There are several methods you can use to reheat your sausages without ruining their amazing taste. In the rest of the article, I will share all the methods so that you can try the one that seems most convenient to you. So without further ado, let’s get right to it. 

6 Best Ways to Reheat Sausages 

Here I have listed 6 easy methods you can try to reheat your leftover sausages. You can go with any one of them based on the tools you have within reach and you’ll have fabulous results. So, let’s go through each of the methods. 

Method 1: Reheat Sausages Using a Microwave

Every home chef ever has thought of reheating their leftover sausages in the microwave. It is hands down the simplest, quickest, and most effective option among all the others. You can just put your sausages in the microwave to reheat them and forget about it. It will take only a few minutes and your sausages will be ready. 

This is especially useful when you need to reheat a whole platter for your meal. If you need to reheat your breakfast and you have some toast, sausages, and eggs on the plate, you can throw all of them in the microwave. It will take only a couple of minutes to become warm and delicious. Here are a few simples steps to reheating your sausages: 

Step 1: Place your sausages on a plate, dish, or microwave-safe container.

Step 2: Prick the sausages with a fork. This ensures the sausages are cooked throughout.

Step 3: Take a damp cloth or paper towel and place it over the sausages. If you do not have any damp cloth or paper towels at hand, you can simply add a bit of water to the container. 

Step 4: Heat the sausages in low heat for about 30-60 seconds.

Step 5: Not all microwaves are the same. So your sausages may not be ready to eat even after heating them for a minute. You can take them out to make sure the insides are not raw. If they seem cold, heat them again for another 30-45 seconds.

Step 6: You need to make sure the heat gets spread evenly throughout the sausage. So take them out once before they get fully cooked and give them a quick stir.

Step 7: When the sausages have finished getting heated, take them out and let them cool. 

Step 8: Serve them on a plate and enjoy steaming hot sausages. 

Using a microwave to reheat your sausages is the most efficient method out there. But you need to know your appliance and how powerful it is. Depending on the power, your microwave may take more or less time to reheat your sausages. 

Another thing you have to check is whether your microwave has a “defrost” option. If it doesn’t, you will need more time to reheat frozen sausages. For thin sausages, you will need about one minute and for thick ones, you might need three minutes. The most important part is to check whether they have cooked evenly throughout. 

Method 2: Reheat Sausages in an Oven

Another easy and effective way to enjoy your leftover sausages is by using your oven. It is a great method but may take a bit more time for good results. Depending on how long you cook them for, they will turn crispier and taste great every time. Let’s look at the steps you need to follow with this method:

Step 1: Firstly, you will need to preheat your oven to 325-350° F. You need to take a baking sheet and put it inside as well. 

Step 2: Take out the baking sheet and spray it with a non-stick spray. However, don’t spray it too much.

Step 3: Place your sausages on the baking sheet. Place them about 2 inches away from each other. They should not touch each other.

Step 4: Take an aluminum foil and cover the sausages. 

Step 5: Place your sausages in the oven. Let them be for about 10-15 minutes. 

Step 6: You can use a food thermometer and check the temperature of the insides of the sausages. 

Step 7: If the temperature is less than 165° F, you can cook them for another 5 minutes or so. 

Step 8: Take them out when they are done and let them cool. Serve your steaming hot sausages. 

With this method, you can get a bit crispier sausages. When your sausages are halfway cooked, you just need to remove the aluminum foil. Then bake them for a few more minutes and your sausages will turn out crispier and tastier. But do not overcook as the sausages will get too dry.

Method 3: Reheat Sausages in a Pan

The microwave method is unarguably the most convenient, fastest, and easiest way to reheat sausages. But maybe it’s not the best idea to reheat cooked sausages, frozen ones or ones that were left out for some time. Instead, you can choose to reheat them using a pan. 

If you have more time, you can go for this method and get better results. Your sausages turn out tender in the middle but crispy outside. It’s a bit fancier method as you can add butter, olive oil, and other spices to your sausages. You will need to follow the following steps:

Step 1: Take your sausages out of the freezer and let them thaw.

Step 2: When the sausages have thawed, remove them from the bag or the container. 

Step 3: Heat your pan or skillet. 

Step 4: Drizzle some oil on the pan. You can choose to go for olive oil or butter as well.

Step 5: Throw the sausages in when the pan is about medium hot. You don’t need to cover it.

Step 6: You can use tongs to turn them every now and then. It is ideal to let each side get cooked for about 4 minutes. 

Step 7: Cook both sides until the heat has spread throughout the meat. Make sure each side has gotten warmed enough and has turned golden brown.

Step 8: Take the sausages out on a plate or a dish. Let them cool and enjoy your delicious sausages. 

Method 4: Reheating Sausages with An Air Fryer

Air fryers are a popular kitchen appliance among those who have little time to prepare their food. It can cook your food from all angles easily using hot air. If you don’t have a microwave or just prefer the air fryer, then you can definitely use this machine to reheat your sausages. The simple steps you need to follow are:

Step 1: Preheat the air fryer to 400 ° F.

Step 2: Put your sausages in the air fryer basket. Spread them out so they are not touching each other. 

Step 3: Cook them for about 10 minutes. Make sure the heat has reached the sausages thoroughly and have a crispy outside. 

Step 4: If you want a more golden color, you need to turn off the air fryer halfway through the cooking process. Let it sit in the heat for about 5 minutes. Then cook it again for another 5 minutes in the air fryer. 

Step 5: Take out the sausages on a plate and enjoy. 

Method 5: Steaming the Sausages to Reheat Them

This is another great method to reheat your sausages. It may take a bit more time and is a bit more labor-intensive than the other methods. But if you are a student who has limited resources, you can use this method for great-tasting sausages. 

This is also a very useful method when you are camping when you don’t have access to a powered oven or microwave. The simple steps you need to follow are:

Step 1: First, take some water in a pan or some other vessel. Let the water come to a boil.

Step 2: When the water starts to boil, take the pan off from the heat source. Add your sausages to the water.

Step 3: Put in enough sausages to fill up the pan and cover it with a see-through lid.

Step 4: Cover it for about 10-15 minutes so that the sausages can get cooked properly. 

Step 5: When you have made sure they have cooked fully, take them out and they should be ready to serve.

Note: Avoid putting in the sausages when the water is boiling too much. You also need to make sure not to overcook the sausages so the casing gets split. With this method, you won’t get crispy sausages. But when you don’t have access to an oven or microwave, this is still a great method. 

Method 6: Pseudo-Sous-Vide

This is not a popular method known to many, but a great one nonetheless. If the sausages you want to reheat were grilled, this is one of the best methods to reheat them. The method requires you to put the sausages in a plastic bag and then in boiling then in water. This is another great method for heating up sausages during camping trips and in dorm rooms. 

Follow these quick steps to reheat your sausages:

Step 1: Take a pot and fill it up with water. Put it on a stove and bring it to a simmer. For this method, you need to make sure it doesn’t reach the boiling point.

Step 2: Take your cold sausages and place them in a plastic bag with a vacuum seal.

Step 3: Seal the bag completely and make sure no water will be able to slip in there. Then place the bag in the simmering water for about 5 minutes.

Step 4: The water should not be boiling too much or the casing of the sausages might split. After the sausages have finished cooking, they should be very tender and edible because of the humidity.

Step 5: Finally, take the sausages out. Serve them on a plate and enjoy your steaming hot tender sausages. 

Is It Safe to Eat Sausages Without Reheating? 

There’s a common myth that it is not safe to eat leftover cold sausages and you should always reheat them before consumption. In reality, if they are pre-cooked, it’s completely safe to eat them. However, I cannot guarantee that cold sausages will taste the best. 

There is always a risk of the meat causing food poisoning if you failed to store it properly or it is raw. The best way you can know more about the sausage is by checking the packaging or the label. It’s the best way to find out if the meat is safe to consume cold. If the label indicates that the meat was smoked or cooked, you can eat them cold without a problem. 

But if they are only partially cooked or raw, always make sure to cook them thoroughly first. If you don’t you might consume listeria or some other bacteria and fall ill. 

You should make sure to refrigerate all your leftover sausages. It is ideal to put them in the refrigerator within two hours after they have cooled down and store them properly. Then you can consume them hot or cold, next time you bring them out.  

How Can You Tell If Your Sausages Have Gone Bad?

Sausages are delicious food and an amazing source of protein. But do remember that it is not safe to eat leftover sausages left for four or more days. If sausages, cooked or raw, are kept out of the freezer for too long they can be infected by all sorts of bacteria and mold. Consuming them can result in a trip to the hospital or even worse. 

So before you reheat your sausages, you should always make sure they have not gone bad.  Here are all the ways you can check whether your sausages have gone bad:

• Look for visual signs of mold, decay, or discoloration on the sausages. If it has some weird coloring, it has probably gone bad. 
• Inspect the outer coating of the sausages. If it seems slimy to the touch, you need to throw it out immediately. 
• Check out the smell of your sausages. If it has a sour aroma and doesn’t smell like meat, it has gone bad.
• Check if there is any black spotting on the sausages. If there are such spots, it means the processing went wrong and there might be toxic and harmful bacteria present. 

Throw out any piece with these signs. Before you go on reheating your sausages check for these signs as leftover sausages have a huge chance of going stale.  

How Many Times is It Safe to Reheat Cooked Sausages?

If your leftover sausages have been sitting in the refrigerator for some time, you can reheat them using the various methods I have mentioned above. This way you can get them to taste just as amazing as they did when they were fresh. But if you have already reheated them numerous times, exactly how many times can you reheat them before reaching the limit?

The answer is that there is no limit to how many times you can reheat your leftover sausages. You can do it as many times as you want. 

But, the more you reheat the less tasty sausages you are going to get. This constant heating and reheating will ruin the texture of the sausages and also dehydrate them in certain methods of reheating. So, they won’t taste as good as they should. 

My advice would be to always measure the number of sausages you need before cooking them so you don’t have to bother with reheating at all. In the case of precooked sausages, keep the ones you won’t cook in the refrigerator as soon as you can. This will ensure you have your sausages at their tastiest every time. 

Conclusion

Every meat lover would agree that nothing beats a delicious sausage meal. We have them so often that we are bound to have some leftover sausages at some point. That is why it is important to know exactly how to reheat sausages properly so they are safe to eat every time.

In this article, I have shared various ways you can reheat your leftover sausages and the steps you need to follow. I hope the article has guided you through all you needed to know. Thank you for reading till now. Wishing you good health.