The aim of this research was to prepare curdlan-based emulsion micro-gel particles with different concentration of the curdlan (0.5 g/100 mL, 1.0 g/100 mL, 1.5 g/100 mL, 2.0 g/100 mL, 2.5 g/100 mL), which respectively named as CEM(0.5), CEM(1.0), CEM(1.5), CEM(2.0), CEM(2.5). And the microstructural, rheological and texture properties of the emulsion micro-gel particles were investigated. Then, CEM(1.0) was used as a compound fat replacement in pork sausages and the effects of different replacement rates on the caloric value, texture and sensory quality of pork sausages were investigated. The results showed that the WPI and curdlan aggregation, the hardness, shear stress, the G′ and G″ moduli of the curdlan-based emulsion micro-gel particles significantly increased with increasing curdlan concentration. CEM(1.0) has the closest sensory quality to pork back fat and uniform inner structure. Digestion behaviors of CEM(1.0) showed that the curdlan gel network can not only delay the lipid digestion, but also inhibit the lipid digestion. The results showed that curdlan-based emulsion micro-gel particles can be used to replace 40% fat to produce low-fat pork sausages which had similar sensory acceptance with full-fat samples. •The curdlan-based emulsion micro-gel particles (CEM) prepared by heat-shearing.•The influence of the curdlan concentration on the CEM was investigated.•CEM(1.0) could be selected as a replacement of pork back fat.•The curdlan gel network can delay and inhibit the lipid digestion.•CEM(1.0) can be used to replace 40% fat to produce low-fat pork sausages.