Easy Sausage Balls
You’ll love these delicious 4-ingredient no egg sausage balls with a honey mustard dipping sauce!
Inspired by the original sausage ball recipe by the Bisquick company, these little pops of savory are perfect for a quick and easy game day, tailgate or holiday appetizer! Serve them by themselves or with savory cheddar cheese wafers! They’re great for brunch or breakfast, too!
Some folks call these “3-2-1” Bisquick Sausage balls or “Jimmy Dean Sausage Balls” because of the original and classic recipe which calls for 3 cups Bisquick biscuit mix, 2 cups cheese and 1 pound of sausage. This recipe is similar, only I add a little ground black pepper and garlic.
You’ll love this recipe!
These party sausage balls are a great appetizer and ideal for entertaining large groups! Make them ahead of time and store in the fridge or freezer!
- These savory appetizers are a perfect complement to your appetizer cheese board, tailgate party or as a breakfast snack!
- Make a batch of these and serve them on New Year’s Eve (the protein will assist in making sure everyone gets home safely!)
- Roll your cheeseballs into one or two-bite size, or make some ahead and pop them in the oven if unexpected company shows up!
- Great for brunch, with a low carb breakfast casserole, a side of quiche and a Bloody Mary!
Here’s what you need
All you need is four simple ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen:
- Bisquick Baking Mix
- Type of Sausage (use whatever you like for this easy recipe – ground sausage with sage, plain ground, or ground italian sausage, hot sausage, spicy sausage or mild sausage
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese – if you like a little spice, use 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 pepper jack cheese
- Ground black pepper, garlic salt and perhaps a little cayenne pepper if you like spicy food!
At first glance, you’ll notice there’s no egg in the sausage mixture, which seems odd because it is a binding agent in many recipes.
But the oil from the cheese and pork sausage work in tandem with the baking mix and the result is a semi-crunchy, cheesy ball of delicious! These low carb sausage balls pair beautifully for breakfast when served with my Low Carb breakfast casserole and they’re the perfect party appetizer when served with my Jalapeno Cheese Bites.
Honey mustard dipping sauce
Make this quick and easy dipping sauce for sausage balls: plain yogurt, honey, Old Style grain mustard, white vinegar and salt. Mix it all together and dip away! See recipe card below for exact ingredient proportions.
Here’s how to make sausage balls
The easiest way to make these delicious traditional sausage balls is to dump all the ingredients into a food processor or stand mixer and pulse or combine it until well blended. The sausage takes a while to separate, so be patient for about 5 minutes.
The sausage mixture will be a little dry-that’s okay. When you form it into balls, the warmth from your hands will warm the dough.
After that, use a spoon, small ice cream scoop or cookie scoop and simply scoop out a tablespoon or two of the meat mixture, smash it into your palm and squeeze. You’ll feel the mixture soften and when that happens, shape it into 1-inch balls.
Place sausage balls on a slotted baking sheet (or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper) in a single layer and bake 18-20 minutes at 375°F until they’re a nice golden brown
Remove and rest on a wire rack before serving.
Recipe tips
The first time I made these sausage balls, I did not have success “rolling” the bisquick mixture into balls-the baking mix kept falling off.
I recommend you put a dollop in one hand, press both palms together until you can feel it soften, then gently shape into a ball.
The warmth from your hands helps them soften and form into balls. If that doesn’t work for you, add a tiny smidgen of water to the dough…just a smidgen.
Recipe FAQ
No. Combine raw sausage in the food processor and pulse. Then add the cheese and pulse again.
For best results, use any ground pork sausage for these two-bite meaty appetizers! This recipe calls for sage-seasoned ground pork; however, you can use plain, hot, or sweet ground Italian sausage.
If you want a sage flavor, but cannot find sage sausage, add ¼ teaspoon of ground sage to the baking mix.
I do not recommend using turkey sausage simply because it doesn’t contain enough fat to bind the dry ingredients.
Make in advance
These appetizers are perfect for preparing ahead of time! To refrigerate raw, uncooked sausage balls, make them and place them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. When ready to serve, remove and bake.
If you want to freeze raw or baked sausage balls, wrap securely in a freezer bag. When ready to prepare or serve, remove them from the freezer and allow to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
Cook raw, frozen sausage balls about 50 minutes at 375ºF; bake cooked sausage balls (wrap in foil) at 375ºF for about 25 minutes.
The internal temperature of the center of the sausage ball should reach a minimum of 160ºF on a meat thermometer.
Storage and reheating
Store these in an airtight container or zipper plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To reheat from the fridge, allow the sausage balls to get to room temperature, and place on baking sheet; cover with foil and reheat 15-20 minutes in a 325°F oven on the middle rack.
To reheat frozen sausage balls, let them thaw in the refrigerator, then bring them to room temperature and bake as noted above
Variations
Feel free to add additional herbs to this recipe! Thyme and/or sage work really well.
Want a spicier sausage ball? Use a little Pepper Jack cheese in the mixture! That will pair beautifully with the sweet dipping sauce!
These classic sausage balls are perfect for Christmas morning, game day appetizers or low carb party appetizers!
Related recipes
- Low Carb Breakfast Casserole
- Spinach Feta Pie
- Foolproof Quiche
- Easy Cheddar Wafers
- Spinach Balls
- Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
- Jalapeno Fudge
- Classic Cheese Fondue
- Eggnog Pound Cake
If you make this recipe, please scroll down and leave a comment and a rating! I love to hear from you! Thank you!
Easy Sausage Balls
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
Sausage Ball Ingredients
- 3 cups Bisquick baking mix
- spray oil
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (buy a 16 oz. block then shred to equal 2 cups
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 lb. Pork sausage (you can use plain, sage or ground Italian sausage)
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
Dipping Sauce Ingredients
- 1 cup yogurt , plain (can be Greek or non-Greek)
- ⅓ cup Old Style grain mustard
- 4 tablespoons honey , or agave nectar
- 3 teaspoons white vinegar
- salt , to taste
Instructions
Make the Sausage Balls
- Preheat oven to 375ºF; lightly oil baking sheet or baking sheet lined with parchment (spray parchment paper with oil)spray oil
- Combine Bisquick, ground pepper and uncooked sausage in food processor; pulse until blended⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 lb. Pork sausage
- Gradually add shredded cheddar to mixture; pulse between each addition of cheese2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
- Pour mixture into large mixing bowl
- Use a tablespoon to measure two tablespoons of mixture; place in the palm of your hand
- Using the other palm, smash the dough mixture until you feel it begin to soften; once it's softened, shape into a ball
- Place on oiled baking sheet or oiled parchment paper
- Bake at 375ºF for 18-20 minutes or until internal temperature is at least 160ºF
Make the Dipping Sauce
- Combine all dipping sauce ingredients into bowl; serve slightly chilled1 cup yogurt, 4 tablespoons honey, ⅓ cup Old Style grain mustard, 3 teaspoons white vinegar, salt
Notes
- At first, this grainy dough seems impossible to “roll” into balls; do not give up. Warm the dough mixture in your palm (put some in your left palm and press your right palm over the dough; you’ll begin to feel the mixture soften)
- Use 1 heaping tablespoon per sausage ball; this results in a “two-bite” appetizer!
We enjoyed this recipe very much. Only addition we made was adding 1/4 cup of milk. Seemed to add a bit more fluff like texture to the Bisquick. YUM!
Thank you for sharing this idea! They are a bit tricky to form into balls and the addition of milk seems perfect!
Yum!!!!! I added pepper flakes because we are spicy kinda folks.
What a great idea, Julie! Thank you for sharing!
These sausage balls look AMAZING! Can’t wait to try them out!
Thank you! They’re a bit tricky to form into balls, so be sure and read the blog instructions! Happy Holidays:)