Sausage Balls Recipe

This Sausage ball recipe is made with flour and no Bisquick. They’re a classic favorite at our house. Less greasy than the traditional recipe making them perfect for game days, brunch, and holiday get togethers.

Sausage balls have always been a treat in our house around the holidays. Everyone loves them for breakfast but they are just as delicious as appetizers for parties or get togethers.

The Bisquick recipe for sausage balls was on the back of the box of Bisquick when I was growing up. My mom used Bisquick for everything. I don’t really like the idea of using processed foods so I recreated a sausage ball recipe without Bisquick.

If you read the ingredients on the box, it’s flour and shortening and some chemicals.  I decided that I should be able to use flour with a little butter and baking powder to get the same results.

We were all thrilled with the results. Using flour with a little butter instead of shortening made the same delicious sausage balls but they were less greasy. I first tried baking them on a wire rack on a cookie sheet but you don’t need it;  there was hardly any grease that dripped through. Not only were they not as greasy but the texture was so much better than the Bisquick version. They were almost biscuit like.

If you’re going to serve this at a party, get some helpful tips along with 25 delicious game day appetizer recipes to choose from.

Why you’ll love sausage balls

• They’re a tasty finger food appetizer that can be eaten hot or room temperature!
• The sausage adds a lot of flavor to the melty cheese
• They aren’t greasy
• Great for breakfast, brunch or apps!

What you’ll need

• Sausage – this needs to be uncooked so it mixes into the flour and cheese to form balls, any breakfast sausage will work. I love Neeses.
• Cheddar cheese – take the extra minutes and grate the cheese yourself so it melts better. If you’re using a food processor, grate the cheese first.
• Flour – this helps bind the ingredients – almond flour is a healthy substitution
• Butter, salt, baking powder

How to make sausage balls from scratch

Step 1

Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor or large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter and process until combined or use a pastry cutter.

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Step 2

Add uncooked sausage and process until well combined. If you don’t have a food processor, use your hands or a stand mixer to combine. I used my hands for years and they turned out beautifully.

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Step 3

Use a small ice cream scoop to form into balls and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Once the ingredients are combined, you can roll them into balls, but it’s quicker and you will get prettier shaped sausage balls if you use a small ice cream scoop.

Step 4

Bake for 15 minutes until browned.

Pro tip: You can mix the ingredients with your hands, but if you have a food processor, I highly recommend letting it do the work! It binds all the ingredients and then you just scoop out perfectly shaped balls.

If eating them for breakfast or brunch, try serving them with a crustless quiche or with a slice of honey oat bread.

The worst thing about making sausage balls has always been getting all the ingredients combined. The only way I knew to do this was to use my hands. But this time, I was making the flour butter mixture in the food processor and just dumped the cheese and sausage in and OMG, it was perfectly blended and I didn’t even have to get my hands dirty.

I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of the food processor before. If you don’t have one, then try putting it in a stand mixer and mix it together or you can use your hands to combine the ingredients. Put a food processor on your Christmas list if you don’t own one, this is my second one which I’ve had for at least 20 years. I had to replace one of the parts, that I broke, but it’s still going strong.

More ways to use a food processor

I couldn’t live without my food processor. I use it to make biscuits, pie crusts, date balls, cheese crackers, macaroni & cheese, and chocolate Oreo balls to list just a few. It’s great for slicing potatoes for baked au gratin potatoes, or making the topping for peach crumble.Of course it’s ideal for grating cheese or making pesto. I could go on and on.

It’s one of just a couple of appliances I could not live without. It makes a great wedding or graduation gift and of course is perfect for Christmas.

Can you microwave sausage balls

NO!! Don’t microwave them, you’ll get rubbery sausage balls. That doesn’t mean I haven’t done it in a pinch, but they are so much better if you can warm them in the toaster oven. I use my toaster oven all the time, I don’t think they sell it anymore but it’s similar to this toaster oven.

FAQs and tips

Need more GAME DAY recipes

More finger food appetizers

• Try a French appetizer, croque monsieurs with puff pastry
• Savory puff pastry pinwheels
• Family favorite mushroom cream cheese balls
• Addictive cheesy crackers