I never buy Italian sausage. Well, never is a strong word… I may have purchased it once or twice. But, most frequently, I just use regular old “bulk breakfast sausage” in my recipes that call for Italian sausage. I need to point out here that I do not actually make any recipes that involve eating the sausage “as is” in that big ol’ tube… I just don’t like sausage THAT much.
Sausage purists won’t like this tip but, in a pinch, you can easily use a tube of breakfast sausage in any recipe calling for a pound of Italian sausage. Here’s how…
Brown the meat the same as you always would and, once most of the pink is gone, add 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, and 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. End of story. 
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I like your blog and have enjoyed looking all around it.
Over the years I too have substituted for Italian sausage more times than not. Many years ago a very thrifty friend told me to add a pinch of dried fennel seed to ground beef to make it taste like Italian sausage. I usually crush it or mince it. This has worked well for me in recipes. Next time, I’ll also use your add ins.
Oh, I’ll definitely have to try that fennel seed & beef tip, Ann– thanks so much for sharing that!