Homemade Chicken and Pearl Barley Sausage

There's something incredibly satisfying about making your own sausage from scratch, and this recipe for Homemade Chicken and Pearl Barley Sausage is a true rustic delight. Forget store-bought options with questionable ingredients; this recipe uses wholesome chicken thighs, nutritious pearl barley, and a clever, all-natural casing made from chicken skin. The result is a juicy, flavorful sausage with a wonderful texture, perfect for sandwiches, breakfast plates, or a hearty dinner. It's a taste of traditional home cooking that's both inventive and deeply comforting.

Cooking: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Quantity: 4 Servings
Per serving
Calories: 243 kcal
Proteins: 28.7 g
Fats: 12 g
Carbohydrates: 14 g

Ingredients for Homemade Chicken and Pearl Barley Sausage

  • 550 g chicken
  • 70 g pearl barley
  • 3 g cumin

How to Make Homemade Chicken and Pearl Barley Sausage

For the casing of the baked homemade sausage, we’ll use a whole piece of skin from a chicken breast. The sausage itself will be made from the thighs, from which you need to remove the skin and bones.

Sew the chicken breast skin with cotton thread. Form the skin into a long tube, and tie off one end with the same thread. Dice the chicken meat into medium-sized cubes and mix with sautéed onion and carrot. Sauté the onion and carrot with finely chopped pieces of chicken fat to make the sausage juicier.

A piece of whole chicken breast skin being carefully removed to be used as a sausage casing.

Removing the skin from the chicken

A bowl containing diced chicken meat mixed with sautéed onions and carrots for the sausage filling.

Dicing the meat and mixing it with sautéed vegetables

Cooked pearl barley being added to the bowl of diced chicken and vegetables.

Mixing cooked pearl barley with the minced meat


Parboil the pearl barley until it’s half-cooked. Once the barley has cooled, mix it with the meat filling.

An egg and spices are added to the sausage filling before it's spooned into the chicken skin casing.

Adding an egg and spices to the filling and starting to stuff the casing

Add an egg, half of the hot paprika, cumin, and salt to the filling. Use a teaspoon to stuff the casing.

A raw homemade chicken sausage being tied securely at both ends with kitchen twine.

Tying the sausage on both ends

Tightly tie both ends of the sausage with heavy-duty cotton thread (kitchen twine) to prevent the filling from escaping during baking.

Cut a large onion into thick rings. Place them on the bottom of a greased baking dish. Place the sausage on top of the onion, seam-side down, sprinkle with paprika, drizzle with oil, and add cherry tomatoes. The onion serves a great purpose in baking the sausage—it will be the first to burn if something goes wrong.

The raw chicken sausage placed on a bed of onion rings in a baking dish, ready for the oven.

Placing the sausage in a baking dish

The baking dish with the chicken sausage is covered with aluminum foil before being placed in the oven.

Covering the sausage with foil and putting it in the oven for 30 minutes


Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Bake the sausage for 30 minutes, covering the dish with foil.

The partially cooked chicken sausage in the baking dish after the foil has been removed to allow it to brown.

Removing the foil and baking until done

Remove the foil. Continue baking for another 10-15 minutes until fully cooked, basting with the juices that have formed. If necessary, add a little water to prevent the sausage from burning.

A plate with sliced homemade chicken and pearl barley sausage, served with roasted cherry tomatoes.

Homemade Chicken and Pearl Barley Sausage

A whole homemade chicken and pearl barley sausage on a plate next to slices and roasted tomatoes.

Homemade Chicken and Pearl Barley Sausage

A close-up of sliced chicken and pearl barley sausage on a white plate, showing its texture.

Homemade Chicken and Pearl Barley Sausage


Slice the finished chicken and pearl barley sausage after it has completely cooled. The roasted tomatoes will be a delicious addition to a sandwich with this homemade sausage.

Once your homemade sausage has cooled, slice it up and admire your handiwork! This Chicken and Pearl Barley Sausage is incredibly versatile. Serve it warm as part of a main course with roasted vegetables, or let it cool completely for the perfect sandwich filling, just as suggested with the delicious roasted cherry tomatoes. We hope you enjoy the process of creating this rustic dish as much as you enjoy its fantastic flavor. It’s a wonderful way to connect with your food and create something truly special in your own kitchen.