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Need a potato sausage primer

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Potato sausage was mentioned in passing on Prairie Home Companion, so I assume it is well-known in the upper midwest but this northeasterner had never heard of it before. Googling shows Scandinavian and eastern European recipes, some vegetarian, others with various meat ingredients.

Is there a consensus for what potato sausage means in America? Any examples of a classic, traditional recipe that would be well-accepted as legitimate potato sausage in the midwest?

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  1. I grew up in "the upper midwest" amongs lots of Swedes, Norwegians and Finns eating plenty of nordic holiday traditions like herring, lutefisk and lefse, but I've never heard of potato sausage and can't recall it being in the markets when I was younger. Perhaps its a UP tradition, it certainly wasn't a tradition in my suburban mpls youth. Nevertheless, there are some good sites out there that you surely found, this one is a real gem:


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    1. Bruce Aidells has a recipe in one of his sausage books, but he uses so many seasonings that I don't think he really likes the plainness of the sausage. I've made it from a recipe in Victoria Wise's American Charcuterie, and the seasoning is much closer to that in the linked recipe provided by janniecooks.

      What's not to like? Pork? Potatoes?