A food product having a pre-cooked loose meat filling along with a seasoning mix is provided in an edible casing. The edible casing is filled with the pre-cooked loose meat filling and the seasoning mix to produce a filled casing that is subsequently cooked to produce a meat link. The food product also may have a raw meat batter that is combined with the pre-cooked loose meat filling and filled into the edible casing along with the pre-cooked loose meat filling prior to subsequent cooking of the meat link. The pre-cooked loose meat filling may include discrete, not fully ground meat material including meat finely chopped, diced, chunks, shred, and splinters of meat. Alternatively, the pre-cooked loose meat filling may include cooked ground meat, though the pre-cooked loose meat filling will still have individual pieces larger than an emulsified product.
