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The best introduction we ever get is somebody else’s table. A while back it was a supper in Houston — a friend’s kitchen, a platter of smoked sausage, and one guest who couldn’t stop asking about it. That guest got in the truck not long after and drove nearly four hours to Fredericksburg, to the deli on Washington Street, to stand at the case and taste the whole lineup at once. They’ve been coming back ever since, and every trip, somebody new rides along.
That’s what one package can start. Most people meet Opa’s the other way, though: the refrigerated case at a grocery store somewhere across Texas and the South. You tried it. It earned a permanent spot on the weekly list. The kind of purchase you stop deliberating about because the deliberating is done. That’s exactly how it’s supposed to work. The shelf is where most of our customers meet us, and it’s a good front door.
But sooner or later a question shows up in the cart next to the sausage: what else does the smokehouse make? The honest answer starts with a surprise most shoppers don’t expect. The sausage itself comes in more flavors than almost any one shelf can hold, and it doesn’t stop there. Behind those links is a full smokehouse table: peppered tenderloins, year-round hams, whole smoked birds, cured meats, summer sausage, and a few things that never see a grocery cooler at all. If you found us through a single package, here’s what to explore next.
Start With What You Know: The Smoked Sausage
The link lineup is the foundation, and it’s what grocery stores carry: eight smoked sausage varieties, every one fully cooked in the smokehouse before it’s packaged. Country Blend, Beef, Jalapeño, Jalapeño Cheddar, Hatch Green Chile, Habanero, Bratwurst, and Chicken Poblano Monterey Jack Smoked Sausage. Natural pork casing with a clear snap. A coarse grind on most of the lineup. A balanced, slow-developed smoke flavor that asks nothing from you but a little heat and a little color.
Here’s the first “wait, you make that?” most shoppers hit: the variety itself. Most stores carry a slice of this list, not all of it — shelf space varies, and so does the mix. The store locator maps Opa’s at leading grocery stores across Texas and the South, and it’s the fastest way to find the flavors near you. For everything past the cold case, keep reading.
Easiest First Online Order: The Sausage Sampler
If you’ve been loyal to one flavor for years, the Sausage Sampler was built for you. It answers the question the shelf can’t: which of the others would have been your favorite? Plenty of customers buy Jalapeño Cheddar for a decade and never learn they’d love the no-heat Beef at breakfast, or Country Blend in a pot of beans, or Bratwurst on a plate with mustard and sauerkraut. The sampler settles it the way the tasting station at the deli does — one flavor at a time, with enough variety that everyone in the house finds their answer.
Smoked Tenderloins: The One Nobody Expects
The product that surprises grocery customers most is the smoked tenderloin, and there are two. The Peppered Smoked Beef Tenderloin and the Peppered Smoked Pork Tenderloin are both fully cooked, crusted in black pepper, and ready the moment you open the package. Slice thin against the grain and serve cold, at room temperature, or gently warmed. No recipe. No timing. No risk. On a board, the beef does centerpiece work; the pork is the workhorse that shows up in Tuesday sandwiches and on the good platter Saturday night. Keep one cold in the refrigerator ahead of a busy weekend and the hardest part of hosting is already done.
Hams, Whole Birds & the Breakfast Side
The big proteins are where the lineup really opens up. Opa’s makes hams in three styles, all fully cooked and all year-round (bone-in hickory and bone-in honey glazed, both spiral sliced) the whole hickory can also come unsliced, for the carve-it-yourself table, and a boneless peppered ham in a range of sizes. They’re built for holidays and equally at home on an ordinary Sunday. Alongside them: whole smoked turkey, whole smoked chicken, and smoked turkey legs. All available from the deli and the online store, shipped nationwide. And for the mornings: Canadian bacon, fully cooked like nearly everything else here, and peppered bacon. The one product in the entire lineup that goes home raw for your skillet.
Cured Meats: Built for the Road
If you’ve ever searched for premium jerky, this is the category to know, with one difference worth knowing. Opa’s Cured Peppered Smoked Beef and Cured Peppered Smoked Turkey Breast do everything jerky does. The cooler, the road trip, the trail, but they’re more tender and higher in moisture than shelf-stable jerky, which is exactly why they stay refrigerated. The beef is rich and classic. The turkey breast is lean and light. Both are ready to eat straight from the package, and both earn their place next to sharp cheese and stone-ground mustard on a board that took four minutes to build.
Summer Sausage: The Slice-and-Serve Staple
Summer sausage asks nothing of you. No grill, no skillet — slice it and it’s done. Opa’s Summer Sausage is the classic, the original, and the Jalapeño Cheddar Summer Sausage carries the best-seller’s flavor into a form you serve cold. Both come as chubs or pre-sliced, both live in the refrigerator, and both keep for weeks rather than days, which is why one tends to stay on hand through football season, holiday hosting, and lake days. It’s also the fastest foundation for a board: rounds of summer sausage, a cheese, crackers, something pickled, a sharp mustard. If the gathering grows, the cured meats and a sliced tenderloin grow it with you.
Knackwurst: The Deli-and-Online Exclusive
Part of the lineup you’ll only find by coming to the source. Knackwurst is a fine-ground blend of beef and pork with a spice profile all its own, smoother and more traditional than the coarse-ground links in the retail case. For now, it comes two ways: from the case at the Deli & Market in Fredericksburg, or shipped nationwide from the online store. If you want the deepest Texas-German cut of the lineup, this is where to find it.
Three Ways to Shop, and What Each Does Best
The grocery store is the everyday door. The core sausage lineup, right where you already shop, week after week. The online store at opassmokedmeats.com is the whole shippable table: samplers, tenderloins, hams, whole birds, cured meats, summer sausage, combos, and gifts, cold-packed and shipped nationwide, and any item can become a subscription. And the Deli & Market at 410 S Washington St in Fredericksburg is the full experience. The case, the tasting station, the sandwich counter, and the things that never ship because they can’t: prepared boards, trays, sandwiches, and custom gift baskets are pickup-only, made for the people standing in front of us. Three doors, one smokehouse. Use whichever one fits the way you live.
What to Try Next, Based on What You Already Like
If the Jalapeño Cheddar Smoked Sausage is your flavor: the Jalapeño Cheddar Summer Sausage puts the best-seller’s profile (cheddar incorporated through) into a slice-and-serve form. Same character, zero cooking.
If you reach for the Beef Smoked Sausage: the Peppered Smoked Beef Tenderloin takes that beef-forward preference and upgrades it to centerpiece. One clarity worth having: the natural pork casing belongs to the smoked sausage alone. It’s what gives the link its snap, and it’s why the Beef Smoked Sausage isn’t a pork-free product. The Peppered Smoked Beef Tenderloin and the Cured Peppered Smoked Beef carry no casing at all.
If the Country Blend Smoked Sausage is the staple: the Peppered Smoked Pork Tenderloin is the Sunday-table version of the same easy versatility.
If the Hatch Green Chile Smoked Sausage is the one: the Cured Peppered Smoked Beef trades roasted chile for cracked pepper — big, layered flavor with nothing to cook.
If Chicken Poblano Monterey Jack Smoked Sausage is your pick: the Cured Peppered Smoked Turkey Breast keeps it lean — a lighter, ready-to-eat protein from the same smokehouse tradition.
Why the Full Lineup Matters
A single package can introduce a flavor. It can’t set a table. That’s what the rest of the lineup is for (sausage for the weeknights, the backyard barbecues, and the tailgates; tenderloins for the occasions; cured meats for the road; summer sausage for the board; hams and whole birds for the days when everybody shows up) the reunions, the watch parties, the wedding weekends, the catered spreads, and every friend-filled Saturday in between. Family-owned, Texas-German, and made in Fredericksburg since 1947. The same way behind every product, whether you found it on a grocery shelf, in a shipped box, or behind our deli case glass.
Somewhere tonight there’s another supper table doing the introducing — in Houston, or three states away. You don’t have to drive four hours for the rest of the tour. The full table is one order away.
Small batch. Craft made. German tradition — since 1947.
The easiest first order is the Sausage Sampler, and the full lineup ships nationwide, cold-packed, from opassmokedmeats.com. Shopping the shelf instead? The store locator points you to Opa’s at leading grocery stores across Texas and the South. And if Fredericksburg is in your plans, visit the Deli & Market at 410 S Washington St — open Monday–Friday 8 AM–5:30 PM, Saturday 8 AM–4 PM · 830-997-3358.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Opa’s sold in the grocery store?
Opa’s smoked sausage is in the refrigerated meat or deli case, usually near the bacon. Selection varies by store, and not every location stocks every variety. The store locator is the fastest way to find the flavors near you.
Does every grocery store carry the full Opa’s lineup?
Grocery stores carry the core smoked sausage varieties. The broader lineup (samplers, smoked tenderloins, hams, whole smoked birds, cured meats, summer sausage, and gifts) ships nationwide from opassmokedmeats.com. Prepared boards, trays, sandwiches, and custom gift baskets are pickup-only at the Fredericksburg Deli & Market.
What should I order first if I only know Opa’s from the grocery store?
The Sausage Sampler. It covers multiple varieties in one box, so you can compare the lineup beyond the one or two flavors your store keeps on the shelf, and find the favorite you didn’t know you had.
Are Opa’s cured meats the same as jerky?
They serve the same purpose — protein for the road, the cooler, and the snack tray, but they’re a different product. Opa’s Cured Peppered Smoked Beef and Cured Peppered Smoked Turkey Breast are refrigerated, ready-to-eat cured meats, more tender and higher in moisture than dry, shelf-stable jerky. That’s why they’re kept cold rather than kept in a pantry.
Do Opa’s boards, trays, and custom baskets ship?
No, prepared charcuterie boards, meat and cheese trays, sandwich platters, and custom gift baskets are made at the Fredericksburg Deli & Market and are pickup-only. For gifting at a distance, the shippable combos, samplers, and boxed gifts at opassmokedmeats.com handle the nationwide side.
Is the Opa’s Beef Smoked Sausage pork-free?
No, but the distinction matters. The meat inside is 100% beef, the entire meat block. The casing is the exception: a traditional natural pork casing, which is what gives the link its snap, so the sausage as a whole isn’t pork-free. For beef with no casing involved, the lineup carries two: the Peppered Smoked Beef Tenderloin and the Cured Peppered Smoked Beef.