Homemade Merguez Sausage Recipe - Spicy North African Lamb Sausage

Merguez is a fresh, spiced sausage from North Africa - made throughout Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, and hugely popular across France and the Middle East. Unlike most European sausages, merguez is made with lamb, and it's the combination of harissa, cumin, coriander and garlic that gives it its characteristic deep red colour and fiery, aromatic kick.

It's a sausage that's equally at home on a charcoal grill as it is braised into a tagine, stirred through a shakshuka, or served alongside couscous and a heap of roasted vegetables. The fat content of lamb means it stays juicy over high heat, which makes it one of the best sausages you can throw on a BBQ, watch out for flare ups mind you. Goodbye Eyebrows.

Merguez is traditionally made with lamb casings (thinner than hog casings, and more delicate), which gives it the characteristic slim, finger-length links. You can use hog casings if that's what you have, the flavour is identical, they'll just be a little wider.

I’ve tried a number of Merguez recipes, from a variety of sources and largely I’ve wanted a little more poke! The following recipe is based upon many others but I’ve altered it to include a lot more garlic and harissa and also some sweetness with the sugar and cinnamon.

Please take a look at how-to-make-sausages, how-to-cook-sausages and the-science-of-great-sausages. These guides will apply to all the sausage recipes on this site and will provide you with a great primer!

• 150 g lamb fat
• 250 g pork fat
• 1.5 kg diced lamb
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp coriander
• 8 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp fennel
• 4 tsp fiery Harrisa
• 4 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 handful coriander chopper
• 250 ml iced water
• 3 meter lamb casings soaked in warm water

• Place the fat in the freezer well ahead of time
• Place the diced lamb in the freezer about an hour ahead of time
• Soak about 3 meters of lamb casings in warm water
• Cool the metal parts of your grinder and stuffer before use, if possible
• Remove the diced lamb from the freezer when its got a frozen crust to it
• Remove the fat and chop roughly so that it will go into the grinder
• Grind the lamb and the fat into a bowl. Keep the bowl chilled whilst you prepare the spices
• Roast and grind to a coarse powder, the cumin, coriander and fennel
• Mix all the spice mix ingredients together in a bowl
• Add the spice mix and water to the ground lamb, lamb fat and pork fat and mix thoroughly, then chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
• Re-grind the mixture into a chilled bowl
• Stuff into casings, taking care – lamb casings are more delicate that hog casings and will burst more easily if over stuffed
• Cook under a medium grill for 15 mins on a foil lined tray – watch out for the odd flare up!