I finally got around to making and testing out spice levels for a Homemade Spicy Hot Pepperoni, totally clean eating sausage for anyone on Whole30 or the Paleo diet, or into Clean Eating and even for Gluten Free folks.
It’s a variation on one of my most popular posts from last year, Homemade Pepperoni, just worked over a bit for more heat. I hope you like this Spicy Homemade Pepperoni, it’s a real hit at my house.
Homemade Spicy Hot Pepperoni Recipe
Spices for Hot Pepperoni
It took me a while and a few goes at the spice levels but I think I have the heat figured out. It involves a few powdered peppers that you can find at most good spice stores and real smoked sea salt.
I know the local spice shops or Penzeys will usually carry both of these powders and the salt. But I also found it on Amazon and most places that carry Frontier Spices too.
Whole30 Compliant Pepperoni
When you’re shopping be sure to look for powdered chipotles and jalapenos only with no added ingredients. And the same goes for the smoked salts IF YOU’RE USING THEM TO BE WHOLE30 COMPLIANT buy the real ones actually smoked and not just flavored with liquid smoke.
If you don’t even care about Whole30 well then use about 2 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke instead and add the same amount of plain salt.
If you like this easy tasty recipe you might also like a couple of my other recipes:
Easy Homemade Ground Beef Jerky
Spicy Homemade Pepperoni
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper or 3peppercorns*
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon dried red pepper or 1of dried pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons mustard seed
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon jalapeno powder
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked salt
- 2 pounds very lean beef
- 2 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 2 teaspoons honey
Instructions
- *grind the peppercorns (if using), fennel seeds and the dried red pepper together in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder
- mix all the dry spices together in a bowl and set aside, leave out any spices you don't care for, be aware this will change the flavor
- break up the ground beef in a mixing bowl
- sprinkle the dry spices over the meat and mix well
- once mixed add the smoke flavor and the honey and mix well
- cover tightly and refrigerate for 48-72 hours
- to cook: pre-heat oven to 200˚
- cover a baking sheet with foil and place a baking rack over it
- form the meat into two long sausages, about 12 inches each
- roll them firmly on a clean surface until they are well compacted
- gently transfer to the prepared baking sheet
- bake for 8 hours
- try to roll them over every two hours, they will be firm and this will help them maintain their shape and evenly cook
- remove after 8 hours and wipe them off
- let them cool and wipe again
- wrap and store in the fridge until chilled
- slice and use as desired
This looks super interesting! I've never thought about making my own. On the rare occasions I buy pep for homemade pizza, I find an uncured kind, but I'm sure not all the ingredients are ideal, still.
Do you freeze the cooked rolls if you're not going to use them within a certain amount of time? I would assume that the same rules for beef apply for these, but I'm sure they are drier…
Checked out the not-as-spicy version too. Thanks for sharing these!
Do you use ground or whole mustard seed?
Use WHOLE mustard seed–or you can experiment with how much ground mustard to put in
What temperature do you cook that for the eight hours please
oooh, good catch–200˚ for Homemade Pepperoni! I will make sure to put that in the recipe!
why can’t I get to your homemade hot spicy pepperoni
all clicks keep putting me back to homemade pepperoni
I need the hot spicy one
thanks so much
So sorry! I just switched recipe cards and the program has replaced a couple of cards for recipes. I’m working through the issue. Thanks for letting me know! I’ve updated this and it’s good to go.
Just mixed this up! So excited to see how it turns out. Is it a big deal if it doesn’t sit for 48 hours before cooking?
I think the longer it marinates the better it tastes!
For the very first time in my life…I have purchased extra lean ground turkey. Would this recipe “work” using turkey?
This will be my second attempt at making sausage. My first was your Summer Sausage made with beef! How delighted I was seeing how easy it was to prepare and how delicious!
Easier than preparing a meatloaf for dinner! I thank you for that you have taught me so much. Trying a new recipe every week has been my New Year resolution for at least a decade… I fail at it miserably every year. I simply want to be a better keto cook. I will forge ahead with your sausage recipes in hand.
Now back to the ground turkey…any suggestions?
I also have extra lean Black Angus ground beef.
I don’t know! Turkey is much more juicy than beef, and I don’t know if cooking it slowly for so long would be a safe way to cook it. I would be afraid that a slow cook might lead to bacteria because it needs to be cooked to a higher finished temp.