How Many Calories Are in an Italian Sausage?
One bun-size Italian sausage link weighs 75 g and carries 238 calories. Cooked, the sausage itself runs 317 calories per 100 g, with 26.2 g of fat and 766 mg of sodium in that same 100 g. Nearly all of the energy is fat and protein; there are only 2.15 g of carbohydrate.
You'd need to walk about 48 minutes to burn the 238 calories in one bun-size link (75 g).
How long does it take to burn off Italian sausage?
One bun-size link (75 g) is 238 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 238 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 48 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 30 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 34 min |
| Jogging | 28 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 53 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (75 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Italian sausage quick facts
- US servings, from a breakfast link to a cup of crumbles
- Links, patties and crumbles
- Sausage on a bun: sandwich numbers
- Sodium is the row to watch
- How does Italian sausage compare?
- Most popular italian sausage brands
- Italian sausage FAQs
Italian sausage quick facts
The record behind every number on this page is FNDDS 2706189, "Italian sausage", the cooked sausage on its own. That is deliberate. USDA also publishes sausage-sandwich records, and those land lower per 100 g than the plain link, because a white bun is lighter than fat-rich pork. If you are logging the thing on the fork, you want the sausage record; if you are logging a whole sandwich, jump to the sandwich section further down.
The link column below is the USDA household portion for a bun-size or griller link, 75 g of cooked sausage. Weigh yours once if you buy a specific brand, because retail links run anywhere from about 69 g to 113 g.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 bun-size link (75 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 317 | 238 | — |
| Total fat | 26.2 g | 19.7 g | 25% |
| Saturated fat | 9.15 g | 6.9 g | 34% |
| Carbohydrate | 2.15 g | 1.6 g | 1% |
| Dietary fiber | 0 g | 0 g | 0% |
| Total sugars | 1.46 g | 1.1 g | — |
| Protein | 18.2 g | 13.7 g | 27% |
| Sodium | 766 mg | 575 mg | 25% |
| Cholesterol | 80 mg | 60 mg | 20% |
| Potassium | 310 mg | 233 mg | 5% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Two rows you might expect are missing. Added sugars and trans fat are not published in this edition of FNDDS for any of the sausage records, so neither one appears here rather than being guessed at. Total sugars stay in the table, but sugars have no Daily Value of their own, which is why that cell is a dash. Percentages follow the FDA Daily Values printed on the Nutrition Facts label.
US servings, from a breakfast link to a cup of crumbles
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 breakfast-size link | 20 g | 63 kcal |
| 1 oz, cooked | 28 g | 90 kcal |
| 1 patty | 35 g | 111 kcal |
| 1 bun-size or griller link | 75 g | 238 kcal |
| 1 cup, crumbles | 138 g | 437 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 317 kcal |
Every serving in that table is a USDA household measure with its own gram weight, and the 100 g line is the base record itself. The ounce is USDA's own 1 oz cooked portion of 28.35 g, rounded to 28 g here.
Two traps live in this list. The first is the word "link": a breakfast-size link is 20 g and 63 calories, while the bun-size link on the grill is 75 g and 238 calories. Same sausage, 3.8 times the number. Log the wrong one at breakfast and you have swallowed 175 calories that never made it into the app.
The second trap is the cup. Browned crumbles pack tightly, so 1 cup is 138 g and 437 calories, almost double a single link, plus 1,057 mg of sodium. A cup of crumbles stirred into pasta sauce is the single biggest number on this page, and it is the serving people eyeball rather than weigh.
One more practical note: the USDA record is the cooked sausage. Raw links lose water and rendered fat on the grill, so a raw link weighed in the package will always outweigh what ends up on the bun. Weigh after cooking, or use the cooked serving weight your brand's label gives.
Links, patties and crumbles
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bun-size or griller link | 317 kcal | 1 link (75 g) | 238 kcal |
| Patty | 317 kcal | 1 patty (35 g) | 111 kcal |
| Breakfast-size link | 317 kcal | 1 link (20 g) | 63 kcal |
| Crumbles | 317 kcal | 1 cup (138 g) | 437 kcal |
| Hot Italian link, Johnsonville | 317 kcal | 1 grilled link (82 g) | 260 kcal |
Shape does not change the density. A patty, a link and a spoonful of crumbles are the same meat at 317 calories per 100 g, so the only variable is how much of it is on the plate. A 35 g patty is 111 calories, 9.2 g of fat and 268 mg of sodium, all scaled by us from the USDA 100 g figures rather than published as a separate record.
Brands are where the spread shows up. Boulder Sausage lists 228 calories per 100 g while Primo lists 347, a 52% difference for a product with the same name on the label. Johnsonville's hot link is 260 calories for an 82 g grilled link, Carando's is 230 for 69 g, and Mendolia's fat 113 g link is 360. Sweet and hot are not separated by USDA at all, because the heat comes from red pepper rather than from fat.
Sausage on a bun: sandwich numbers
Once bread joins in, the arithmetic flips in a way that confuses people. The sandwich records are less calorie-dense than the sausage, because the bun is lighter per gram than pork fat, but the finished sandwich is a bigger number than the link on its own.
| Sandwich | Per 100 g | Serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italian sausage sandwich on white | 300 kcal | 1 sandwich (135 g) | 405 kcal |
| Italian sausage sandwich on wheat | 293 kcal | 1 sandwich (135 g) | 396 kcal |
Nine calories separate the two breads, which is nothing. Fiber is the real difference: 0.8 g per 100 g on white against 2.4 g on wheat, three times as much. Sodium is close as well, 645 mg per 100 g on white versus 621 mg on wheat, so the bread choice moves texture and fiber far more than it moves the calorie count. If you add peppers and onions on the grill, they cost almost nothing next to the sausage itself.
Sodium is the row to watch
Saturated fat and sodium are the two rows that jump. One 75 g link is 6.9 g of saturated fat, 34% of the Daily Value, and 575 mg of sodium, 25% of it. That is roughly a quarter of a teaspoon of table salt in a single link.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans put the adult sodium limit at 2,300 mg a day and ask that saturated fat stay under 10% of calories. Two links at a cookout land at 1,150 mg of sodium and 13.8 g of saturated fat before the bun, the mustard or anything else on the table, which is half the day's sodium ceiling from one item.
There is a genuine upside on the protein side. A link delivers 13.7 g of protein, 27% of the Daily Value, and MyPlate counts sausage in the protein foods group. It is simply a fatty member of that group: per 100 g the sausage carries 26.2 g of fat against 18.2 g of protein, so it earns its place as a flavor anchor next to leaner protein rather than as the everyday default. If you are watching sodium, a turkey and pork blend is the easier swap.
How does Italian sausage compare?
| Sausage | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italian sausage | 317 kcal | 1 oz, cooked (28 g) | 90 kcal |
| Pork sausage | 325 kcal | 1 oz, cooked (28 g) | 92 kcal |
| Bratwurst | 333 kcal | 1 oz, cooked (28 g) | 94 kcal |
| Turkey or chicken and pork sausage | 307 kcal | 1 oz, cooked (28 g) | 87 kcal |
Of these four, the poultry blend is the only one lighter than Italian sausage, and only by 10 calories per 100 g. Scale them to a 75 g link, which is our own arithmetic from the 100 g figures, and the gaps stay small: 230 calories for the poultry blend, 238 for Italian, 244 for plain pork sausage, 250 for bratwurst.
Our take: switching sausage styles to save calories is not worth the effort, because every one of them sits between 307 and 333 calories per 100 g. The poultry blend is still the pick, but for a different reason: 22.7 g of protein and 23 g of fat per 100 g, against 18.2 g and 26.2 g in the pork version, so you get more protein per calorie. The number that actually moves is portion size. One bun-size link instead of a cup of crumbles saves 199 calories, which is more than any brand or meat swap on this page will ever give you.
Most popular italian sausage brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Johnsonville Hot Italian Sausage | 317 cal |
| Perri Hot Italian Sausage | 299 cal |
| Mendolia's Italian Sausage | 319 cal |
| Boulder Sausage Italian Sausage | 228 cal |
| Primo Italian Sausage | 347 cal |
| Carando Classic Italian Sausage | 333 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Italian sausage FAQs
How many calories are in one Italian sausage link?
A bun-size Italian sausage link weighing 75 g carries 238 calories, since the cooked sausage runs 317 calories per 100 g. That link also brings 19.7 g of fat and 575 mg of sodium. Grocery-store links vary from about 69 g to 113 g, so weigh yours once and reuse the number.
How many calories in a hot Italian sausage?
A grilled hot Italian link from Johnsonville is 260 calories for 82 g, which is 317 calories per 100 g, the same density as the generic USDA record. Heat comes from red pepper flakes, not from fat or sugar, so hot and sweet links land on the same calorie line.
How many calories in an Italian sausage patty?
One 35 g Italian sausage patty is 111 calories, less than half a bun-size link. It carries 9.2 g of fat, 6.4 g of protein and 268 mg of sodium. Two patties on a breakfast sandwich put you at 222 calories of sausage before the bread and egg.
Is Italian sausage high in sodium?
Yes. One 75 g link holds 575 mg of sodium, 25% of the Daily Value, and a cup of crumbles reaches 1,057 mg, or 46%. The Dietary Guidelines cap adults at 2,300 mg a day, so two links alone use half of that.
How much protein is in Italian sausage?
A 75 g link gives 13.7 g of protein, 27% of the Daily Value, alongside 19.7 g of fat. Per 100 g the sausage is 18.2 g protein against 26.2 g fat, so it is a fatty protein food rather than a lean one. A turkey and pork blend runs 22.7 g per 100 g.
Sweet vs hot Italian sausage: is there a calorie difference?
USDA publishes one Italian sausage record at 317 calories per 100 g and does not split sweet from hot, because the difference is red pepper and fennel rather than fat. Brand labels vary far more: 228 calories per 100 g for Boulder Sausage against 347 for Primo, a 52% spread.
How many calories in an Italian sausage sandwich?
An Italian sausage sandwich on white bread is 405 calories for a 135 g sandwich, and the same sandwich on wheat is 396. The bread pulls the density down to 300 and 293 calories per 100 g, but per 100 g it adds 23.5 g and 21.4 g of carbohydrate that the plain link does not have.
Is turkey Italian sausage lower in calories than pork?
Slightly. The USDA turkey or chicken and pork sausage record is 307 calories per 100 g against 317 for pork Italian sausage, about 3% less. The real gap is composition: 22.7 g of protein and 23 g of fat per 100 g, versus 18.2 g and 26.2 g in the pork version.
Similar foods
- Coconut Shrimp — 250 cal for 4 shrimp
- Italian sub — 610 cal per regular sub
- Sausage — 210 cal per link
- Sausage Link — 75 cal per link
- Chuck Roast — 257 cal per 3 oz
- Falafel — 170 cal for 3 patties
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the link, the crumbles and the bun for you.
