Equipment
* optional
Ingredients
Base Ingredients
- 454 g bulk pork sausage, room temperature
- 454 g sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- 340 g biscuit baking mix
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 106 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbohydrates
- 6 g
- Fat
- 7 g
- Fiber
- 0 g
- Sugar
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 245 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 3 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 1 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 0 g
- Cholesterol
- 8 mg
- Potassium
- 54 mg
- Calcium
- 84 mg
- Iron
- 0.4 mg
- Magnesium
- 6 mg
- Phosphorus
- 88 mg
- Zinc
- 0.6 mg
- Vitamin A
- 28 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 0 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.1 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 0.1 mg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.0 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.1 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.02 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.02 mg
- Niacin
- 0.6 mg
- Folate
- 0 mcg
- Water
- 5 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Preheat your oven to 175 C (350 F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the room temperature bulk pork sausage, freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese, and biscuit baking mix.
Using clean hands, knead the mixture together thoroughly. The mixture will seem very dry and crumbly at first, but continue kneading until the fat from the sausage and cheese binds the dry mix into a cohesive dough.
Pinch off small pieces of the dough and roll them into balls roughly 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter. Place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet. A small cookie scoop makes this process faster and more uniform.
Bake in the preheated oven at 175 C (350 F) for 20 to 25 minutes. The sausage balls are done when they are golden brown and the internal temperature of the pork reaches a safe 74 C (165 F).
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the sausage balls to rest for 5 minutes before transferring them to a serving platter. This helps the cheese set up so they do not fall apart.
Chef's Notes
- Always grate your own cheese from a block. Pre-shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents like cellulose that prevent the cheese from melting smoothly and binding properly with the sausage and baking mix.
- For the absolute best texture, letting your sausage and grated cheese sit at room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes before mixing is crucial. This slight warming makes the fat much easier to work into the dry baking mix.
- Customization is easy: swap the sharp cheddar for pepper jack, use a spicy hot breakfast sausage, or mix in some finely chopped chives and a pinch of cayenne pepper to elevate the flavor profile.
- When shaping the mixture, a 1-tablespoon capacity cookie scoop ensures uniform sizes so all the appetizers bake evenly at the exact same rate.
Storage
Refrigerator: 5 days — Store in an airtight container.
Freezer: 3 months — Can be frozen raw or baked. If freezing raw, bake from frozen and add 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time.
Reheating: Microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or bake at 175 C / 350 F for 10 minutes until warmed through.
Troubleshooting
The mixture is too dry and will not hold together as a dough.
Cause: The sausage and cheese were completely cold straight from the refrigerator, preventing the fats from binding the dry mix.
Fix: Continue kneading with warm hands for a few more minutes, or add a very small splash of milk (about 15ml) to hydrate the dough.
Prevention: Let the sausage and cheese sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes prior to mixing.
Sausage balls spread out and flattened into cookies while baking.
Cause: The ratio of fat to dry ingredients was too high, often caused by using a high-fat sausage or measuring the baking mix incorrectly.
Fix: Cannot be fixed once baked, but they will still taste delicious as flat discs.
Prevention: Use the spoon-and-level method when measuring the baking mix if using cups, or preferably weigh it to exactly 340g.
Cultural Context
Sausage balls are a quintessential Southern American party food, making their first major appearances in community cookbooks and holiday spreads in the mid-twentieth century. Their creation is heavily tied to the popularization of commercial biscuit baking mixes in the 1930s and 1950s, which offered home cooks a reliable shortcut for savory pastries. Today, they remain a beloved, nostalgic staple at tailgates, holiday breakfasts, and neighborhood potlucks.
