<p>Probiotic meat products represent an emerging segment of the functional food market, offering the potential to combine probiotic health benefits with the sensory qualities of traditional meat products. However, their successful development is challenged by the need to maintain probiotic stability and viability throughout processing and storage. This study aimed to develop a cooked sausage enriched with <i>Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus</i> GG (LGG) using a faba bean starch-based microencapsulation strategy to enhance probiotic viability without compromising product quality. LGG was microencapsulated with octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA)-modified faba bean starch and incorporated into sausages, which were evaluated for proximate composition, residual nitrite content, color, texture, LGG counts, survival under simulated gastrointestinal conditions, and sensory attributes. A 30-day refrigerated shelf-life study was conducted to monitor physicochemical stability, texture, and probiotic survival. Microencapsulation preserved probiotic levels at 6–8 log CFU/g after thermal processing and in vitro digestion. The formulated sausages achieved high sensory acceptability, minimal lipid oxidation, and stable texture during storage. These findings highlight the effectiveness of the succinylated faba bean starch as a protective matrix for probiotics in thermally processed meat systems and demonstrate the potential to create stable, consumer-acceptable functional meat products.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>