10 Delicious Ways To Use Canned Vienna Sausages

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You might be used to walking right by the canned meat at the grocery store, but hang on a second — you could be missing out. Come on back around and take a second look, because it turns out that those canned Vienna sausages you don't usually notice are actually super versatile, convenient, and, most importantly, pretty dang delicious.

Now, you might be asking, "What is Vienna sausage made of?" which is a very valid question. Vienna sausages usually consist of beef and pork (and sometimes chicken), and the canned versions are chopped up and basically ready to eat straight from the can. And while that's perfectly acceptable (heck, stand over the kitchen sink while you do it — no judgement here), canned Vienna sausages can also be enjoyed in a ton of other tasty and inventive ways. In fact, they can be used as a substitute for just about any other type of sausage or hot dog in all kinds of dishes. Here are 10 delicious ways to use canned Vienna sausages in your meals.

The sausage platter of your dreams is just a can of Vienna sausages (and a few other items) away. Adding canned Vienna sausages to a charcuterie board or platter with other meats and cheeses is perhaps the simplest way to enjoy these little guys, and many fans of the meat swear by it.

People on Facebook report that they specifically love putting the sausage on saltines, with a little bit of cheese and possibly a dill pickle. Mustard is also an option to add here. It's easy, it's quick, it's the perfect snack. You could even turn it into a mini kebab situation and skewer a piece of the sausage with cheese and an olive (or pineapple, if you like living on the edge). This would be great for parties or even a midnight snack. If you want to get super fancy, you could air fry the Vienna sausages beforehand to give the skin a bit more bite, but this is optional, as they come fully cooked.

Vienna sausages are different from bologna, but they're very similar in taste, especially when you use them in a sandwich. Think of this method of eating your Vienna sausages as the slightly elevated version of our last suggestion. This time, instead of putting them on crackers, you're cutting the links in half lengthwise, pan-frying them like bologna, and making them the key ingredient in an easy yet delicious toasted sandwich. And, sometimes, simply toasting a sandwich makes it so much better.

Many people like to slather some mustard or mayonnaise (or both) on their toasted sausage sandwich and call it a day. However, you could also cook a cheese and sausage sandwich in a pan just like you would a classic grilled cheese. If you're feeling especially creative, you could garnish the Vienna sausages with okonomiyaki sauce and turn your toasted melt into a Spam-adjacent Katsu sandwich situation.

Another way to enjoy canned Vienna sausages is to fry them up with some onions, peppers, and tomatoes to create a hearty and vibrant Caribbean breakfast dish. It's super easy to make and just involves pan-frying the veggies and Vienna sausages in some olive oil and adding some ketchup.

In addition to these ingredients, you also have the option to add some eggs if you want to turn this comforting dish into a veggie and canned Vienna sausage scramble. That said, many people consider eggs and Vienna sausage to be a fantastic pairing on their own, so nobody's going to judge you should you want to omit the vegetables and go full protein. Just be sure not to add any more salt when you're frying it up — you won't need it. There's enough sodium already in those little Vienna sausages, and adding more salt would definitely be too much.

Canned Vienna sausages are perfectly acceptable substitutes for other meats in your pasta dishes and sauces. For example, they could easily take the place of meatballs, or you could chop them up and add them to marinara for a new spin on bolognese sauce. Vienna sausages are also said to be quite good when combined with a can of SpaghettiOs, and could even possibly be our new workaround after losing the beloved SpaghettiOs with Franks — just one of the many discontinued canned goods we wish would make a comeback.

Canned Vienna sausages could also be an easy and delicious swap for chopped-up hot dogs, and they would no doubt be an amazing ingredient to upgrade your mac and cheese. Hey, mac and cheese with hot dogs is a perfectly acceptable meal for adults and children alike — and therefore so is mac and cheese with some canned Vienna sausages tossed in.

Canned Vienna sausages are a perfect addition to many different types of soups and stews because they're already cut into small pieces and fully cooked. (However, you'll still want to fry them up a little bit and cut them into slightly smaller chunks for the tastiest results.) For example, Frankfurtská polévka, or Frankfurter soup, might sound like it comes from Germany, but it's actually a hearty soup hailing from the Czech Republic. This authentic Czech soup is quite popular (and very tasty) and combines Vienna sausages with potatoes, onions, garlic, paprika, bone broth or stock, and vegetables.

Or, you could go with a sausage goulash for a quick and simple meal. All you have to do is saute diced bell peppers, onions, garlic, Vienna sausages, tomato paste, and paprika in a pan, then add some broth and crème fraîche. For even more heartiness in your goulash or soup, throw in some cooked kidney beans and rice.

You could add Vienna sausages to a mustard-based potato salad for an authentic German experience. German potato salad is often served warm due to its use of vinegar and mustard instead of mayonnaise. And although it's usually also made with bacon pieces (Bobby Flay's preferred method of dressing potato salad), canned Vienna sausages would be an easy swap. All you have to do is cut them into tiny pieces and decide whether or not you want to pan-fry them to make them crispy before tossing them into your potato salad.

Additionally, many people like to keep their potato salad and Vienna sausages separate – they eat them side by side rather than all mixed into one recipe. If you're one of those people, you could simply fry up the Vienna sausages on their own and serve them alongside your authentic German potato salad for a similar experience. Not a fan of mustard? No big deal. There are plenty of potato salad ingredient swaps that diced up Vienna sausages are sure to taste great with.

Canned Vienna sausages were practically destined to be turned into pigs in a blanket at some point — they're the perfect size right out of the can, after all. And there are several unique ways to prepare them, too.

Sure, you could wrap those little Vienna sausages up in regular crescent rolls and call it a day. It's a classic snack for a reason (that reason being: delicious). Or, you could take it a step further and wrap them in Trader Joe's pizza dough for jumbo-sized pigs in a blanket. If you're feeling super adventurous, you could even cook the sausages wrapped inside prepared buttermilk pancakes for breakfast pigs in a blanket (and maybe even drizzle them with maple syrup).

But don't limit yourself — there are more fried bread recipes to wrap those little sausages in. Try swapping out regular hot dog pieces for canned Vienna sausages when you make mini corn dogs – just dunk those little guys into prepared cornbread batter and fry them up for the perfect party snack.

Arroz con salchichas is an authentic Cuban yellow rice dish made with cut-up Vienna sausages and a tomato-based sofrito sauce (a blend of veggies and herbs cooked in oil and tomato sauce). It's also super easy to make and takes only about 30 minutes, which is perfect for a quick and tasty weeknight meal.

You basically just combine all of the ingredients (including green peppers, garlic, onion, olive oil, achiote, and pimentos) with the yellow rice, broth, and Vienna sausages in a saucepan and saute them until the rice is soft. You could also prepare arroz con salchichas in a Dutch oven or an Instant Pot — it truly is a dish that pretty much cooks itself. All you have to do is follow the (very simple) directions, and there are many recipes online that can help you do this. Try serving this dish with some stewed red kidney beans – they complement the flavors well and add texture.

Despite being a different shape, canned Vienna sausages are actually a great ingredient swap if you don't have Spam. And, if you're feeling really inventive, you can cook canned Vienna sausage just like you would little bits of Spam to make a version of traditional Hawaiian musubi with Vienna sausage. All you have to do is fry the sausages until they're super crispy, lather on some soy sauce, add them to a little clump of furikake rice, top with omelet, and wrap it all up in seaweed. If you don't want to wrap the whole thing, you can also layer the eggs, rice, and Vienna sausage and wrap them in a single strip of seaweed (like it's wearing a little belt).

You could also turn this entire situation into a big casserole by making a Vienna sausage sushi bake. It includes all of the ingredients already mentioned (plus a few more) and is basically just a deconstructed version of Vienna sausage musubi layered in a casserole dish.

An easy way to incorporate canned Vienna sausages into a meal is to fry them up and add them to a salad of your choice. This could be any salad you normally add meat to, no matter the dressing — though honey mustard would likely be very delicious, given how good a Vienna sausage and mustard combo typically is.

Vienna sausages are also great when paired with a classic cabbage salad – you could dice the sausages up and mix them in, or just eat the two foods side by side. Additionally, Vienna sausages would be tasty chopped up and added to a wurstsalat, which is a sausage salad popular in Germany consisting of thinly-sliced meat, cheese, onions, vinegar, oil, and pickles. Or, for all you bean fans out there, you could also make a Vienna sausage and bean salad. A classic recipe can consist of mashed hard-boiled eggs, mustard, and cannellini beans (plus a few other ingredients like seasonings, vinegar, olive oil, and chopped onions).