Sausage Crepes
These Sausage Crepes feature a savory filling with ground sausage, chopped mushrooms and fresh spinach topped with a creamy Gruyere cheese sauce. They’re very easy to make and always a great idea for a light brunch, lunch or dinner!
Serve with a crisp green salad with homemade Buttermilk Dill dressing and you’ve got a beautiful meal!
When most people think of crepes, they think of sweet dessert crepes, however in France, crepes, particularly buckwheat crepes, are a standard menu item in just about every French bistro or restaurant. The paper thin crepe is made from a thin batter that only takes a few minutes to cook.
The quick and easy filling pairs deliciously well with the creamy Gruyere cheese sauce. Plus that, you can easily make these in advance!
Ingredients
There are three components to this sausage cheese crepe recipe: the filling, the crepe and finally, the sauce.
You need a total of 12 ounces, or 1 ½ cups of shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese for this recipe.
- The filling calls for: ground sausage, fresh spinach, onions, mushrooms and a little ground sage.
- The thin crepe batter is flour, butter, eggs and milk.
- And the finishing touch, the savory cheese sauce is simply flour, butter, milk and Gruyere, or Swiss cheese, a little Dijon mustard, salt and ground black pepper (to taste).
Here’s how to make it
I’ve found the best way to prepare this recipe is as follows:
- Cook the filling first
- Next, make the crepes and stuff them with the filling
- Make the sauce
- Put a thin layer of sauce in a baking dish, place crepes seam side down in the baking dish.
- Drizzle with more sauce; cover with foil and bake 15 minutes
Tips for making crepes
If you’ve never made a crepe or French pancake before, don’t be intimidated by the process! It’s actually quite easy once you practice a little.
The secret is to getting the heat on the pan just right and knowing when the crepe batter is done.
- Use a 6 – 8″ non stick skillet and Spray a light coat of oil on the pan before each crepe
- Heat saucepan to low heat
- Don’t flip the crepe; cook one side only
- Use a spatula or slide crepe out onto parchment paper
- Don’t worry if the edges are “feathery” or “runny”; this means either your pan was too hot and the batter cooked too quickly or there isn’t enough liquid in your batter.
- If your crepe batter isn’t spreading out in the pan, add a little more milk.
- Practice, practice, practice
Storage and Make Ahead
If you want to make the crepe sauce ahead of time, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. The cheese sauce thickens in the fridge and needs to be thinned prior to serving- you might have to add a little water or milk upon reheating.
The crepes can be made up to 3 days in advance; store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
When ready to serve, reheat the cheese sauce on the stove and reheat the stuffed crepes in the microwave.
Serve this savory sausage crepe recipe with a Caesar salad, marinated cucumber salad and warm French bread!
Related recipes
♥ If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and rating. I love to hear from you!
Sausage and Mushroom Crepes with Gruyere Cheese Sauce
Equipment
- Non-stick skillet 6-8"
- Food Processor (optional)
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
Crepe Filling
- 1 lb. sausage
- 2 lbs. mushrooms
- 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- ½ teaspoon ground sage
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
Crepe Batter Ingredients
- spray oil for skillet
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1⅓ cup milk
- 3 large eggs , lightly beaten
- ½ tsp. salt
Cheese Sauce
- 1 stick butter, unsalted
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 2½-3 cups milk
- ¾ cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Prep
- Shred Cheese: you need a total of 12 ounces (1½ cups) of shredded cheese: ¾ cup for the sauce¼ cup for the filling½ cup for garnishClean mushrooms with damp paper towel; remove stems; pulse in food processor to small pieces; chop onions; set aside2 lbs. mushrooms, 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
Cook the Filling
- In one skillet, brown sausage until no pink is visible; add onions and cook 5-7 minutes; drain, return pan to low heat, add ground sage; season with salt and pepper to taste1 lb. sausage, 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion, ½ teaspoon ground sage, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. black pepper
- In a second skillet, melt butter, add chopped mushrooms and lemon juice; cook 7 minutes until mushrooms are tender2 lbs. mushrooms, 1 stick butter, unsalted, 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Add cooked mushrooms to the sausage pan; add ¼ cup shredded cheese to the skillet; combine well¼ cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
- Add raw spinach to sausage/mushroom mixture (by the handful, one at a time) until all spinach is incorporated into sausage mixture; season with salt and pepper4 cups fresh spinach, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. black pepper, ¾ cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
Crepe Batter
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, eggs, milk and salt1½ cups all purpose flour, 3 large eggs, 1⅓ cup milk, ½ tsp. salt
- Heat non-stick skillet and spray a light coat of oil on the pan; turn heat to mediumspray oil for skillet
- Add ¼ cup of crepe batter to the warm skillet; spread batter out in pan by rotating pan over heat
- Cook 1 minute or until the color of the crepe is consistent and opaque throughout
- Place cooked crepe on parchment paper
- Repeat process (yes, spray oil in the skillet before you cook each crepe)
Cheese Sauce
- In a large saucepan, melt butter on medium heat; gradually sprinkle in flour; whisking constantly1 stick unsalted butter, ½ cup all purpose flour
- Gradually add two cups of milk, (one cup at a time) whisking constantly until smooth;2½-3 cups milk
- Add Dijon mustard and ¾ cup of shredded cheese to pan; continue to whisk2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, ¾ cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
- Add another cup of milk and continue to whisk
- At this point, taste, season with salt and pepper and turn heat to low;salt and pepper to taste
- Ladle one cup of sauce in a 9 x 13 baking dish
Assemble the Crepes
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Put ¼ cup of the sausage/mushroom/spinach mixture in each crepe; roll it up and place the crepe seam side down in the baking dish
- Ladle a little bit of sauce over the crepes and sprinkle a little shredded cheese on top
- Cover with foil and bake 10-15 minutes; remove crepes from the oven, plate and drizzle a little more of the warm cheese sauce over the top
- Garnish with remaining cheese and serve
Notes
- Each crepe takes less than one minute.
- Spray oil in non-stick skillet for each crepe; just a little spray oil, not a lot.
- The color of the crepe changes as it cookes and the bubbles go away (like making pancakes)
- The crepe will easily come out of the skillet when the batter is cooked; use a spatula and if the crepe won’t come out in the center, it’s because the center isn’t done yet. Don’t force it–just wait a few seconds then nudge it again with the spatula.
- Place each cooked crepe on parchment paper; do not stack the crepes on one another as they tend to stick together
