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Help Build Breakfast Sales with Chicken Sausage

Written by Nation's Restaurant News

Published: October 07, 2025

Fully Cooked Options Can Help Operators Drive Traffic and Save Labor Costs

As breakfast sales rebound, operators are developing new menu items to attract consumers craving a delicious morning meal. The challenge for operators is to develop exciting new menu items while managing back-of-house costs. Consumers want on-trend foods, while kitchen crews need to streamline prep and cooking processes. One solution is to use fully cooked, flavorful chicken sausage.

According to a 2025 report from Technomic titled Daypart Dynamic, 54% of operators offer brunch and 18% added brunch in the last 12 months. To help capitalize on the breakfast and brunch opportunity, operators should promote products to fit “brunch-like” offerings, support cravings-oriented breakfast solutions, include better-for-you offerings and be mindful of the rise of “in-car” dining which calls for portability. 

What Consumers Want

Consumers of all ages are looking for foods that taste good and have better-for-you attributes. That includes chicken instead of pork and low sodium versions of legacy foods. Price matters too. Foodservice operators know that consumers are still feeling inflationary pressures. According to Technomic, in its Breakfast Multi-Client Assessment 2024, 82% of operators say it’s important to customers to get good value. Technomic also reported that breakfast is a daypart that consumers show great affinity for, particularly in food-away-from-home.

Back-of-House Ease

Operators who want to drive traffic at breakfast can offer innovative, flavorful menu items that require minimal back-of-house prep. Jimmy Dean® brand from Tyson Foodservice offers a line of fully cooked, seasoned, easy to prepare sausage links and patties that make a great starting point for many breakfast items. For decades, the Jimmy Dean® brand has been known for traditional solutions like sausage and bacon and now offers on-trend products such as chicken sausage.

By using fully cooked items, the kitchen staff can more easily prepare traditional breakfast sandwiches and have time to perform other tasks. Even better, the operational ease gives them freedom to find new ideas for on-trend breakfast sandwiches and more. Try substituting rolls for an everything bagel, brioche or waffle, or add a global twist with Venezuelan arepas, Brazilian cheese bread or any variety of flatbreads. Other globally inspired breakfasts include bowls, quesadillas and tarts, and fully cooked sausage can be a flavorful protein in any of these.

Here are some products that can help operators attract breakfast customers without adding complexity in the kitchen:

Jimmy Dean® Chicken Breakfast Sausage Patties and Jimmy Dean® Chicken Breakfast Skinless Sausage Links are the lower-fat, full Jimmy Dean® brand flavor alternative to pork sausage.

Jimmy Dean® Low Sodium Chicken Breakfast Sausage Patties and Jimmy Dean® Low Sodium Chicken Breakfast Skinless Sausage Links are the lower sodium* and fat alternative to pork sausage with the same famous flavor.

All can be served as the center-of-plate protein surrounded by eggs, veggies, fruits, hash browns and a trending toast option.

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* Compared to 1.5 oz. Jimmy Dean® Chicken Breakfast Sausage Patty