Chicagoans favor an aggressively seasoned, coarsely ground sausage thatโs stuffed into a natural casing with an epic amount of garlic and then smoked. Usually, itโs made of a mix of pork and beef, though not universally.
Most restaurants griddle it on a flat-top to crisp up the casing, though some prefer a level of crisp attainable only by dunking it in a deep fryer. Placed in a bun, the sausage is traditionally served with a swipe of yellow mustard, a heaping pile of soft sauteed onions and a few spicy pickled chiles.
Tap on our bio link for Nick Kindelspergerโs favorite places to score a Maxwell Street Polish sausage in Chicago.
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Pictured above: Onions are placed on a Polish sausage sandwich at Jimโs Original hot dog stand in 2022; The deep fried and grilled smoked Polish sausage sandwich at Harczak's Sausage Company, dressed with cooked onion, mustard and giardiniera; Polish sausage on the grill at Jimโs Original; Aleks Lazic, owner of Harczak's Sausage Company on Higgins Avenue in Chicago, stands at the smoker in 2022.
? Nick Kindelsperger / Chicago Tribune
? Chris Sweda, Terrence Antonio James and Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune
Chicagoans favor an aggressively seasoned, coarsely ground sausage thatโs stuffed into a natural casing with an epic amount of garlic and then smoked. Usually, itโs made of a mix of pork and beef, though not universally.
Most restaurants griddle it on a flat-top to crisp up the casing, though some prefer a level of crisp attainable only by dunking it in a deep fryer. Placed in a bun, the sausage is traditionally served with a swipe of yellow mustard, a heaping pile of soft sauteed onions and a few spicy pickled chiles.
Tap on our bio link for Nick Kindelspergerโs favorite places to score a Maxwell Street Polish sausage in Chicago.
โโโ
Pictured above: Onions are placed on a Polish sausage sandwich at Jimโs Original hot dog stand in 2022; The deep fried and grilled smoked Polish sausage sandwich at Harczak's Sausage Company, dressed with cooked onion, mustard and giardiniera; Polish sausage on the grill at Jimโs Original; Aleks Lazic, owner of Harczak's Sausage Company on Higgins Avenue in Chicago, stands at the smoker in 2022.
? Nick Kindelsperger / Chicago Tribune
? Chris Sweda, Terrence Antonio James and Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune