Sausage Balls. The culinary equivalent of taking your top off.

Appetizers, Christmas, Originals, Pork, Southern / Thursday, February 11th, 2010

“Have a nice glass of wine, and take your top off.” – Julia Roberts, on how to have a great Valentine’s Day

Last Valentine’s Day, I made a big mistake. Well, actually, four small ones. A lovely little set of pastel Conversation Heart Mini Cakes. Elisa Strauss (from Confetti Cakes!) linked to them on her blog. My photo of them popped up on other food and design sites.

They were cute, but they were so not for my man. All that fondant? I might as well have shown up for Valentine’s dinner in a turtleneck and sensible pants.

So, this year, it’s not about handmade truffles or homemade lollipops or anything that looks like it would fit right in at the unicorn-themed birthday party of a 4-year-old girl. Nope. This year, Jeff’s getting a huge candy heart full of the culinary equivalent of taking one’s top off: Sausage Balls.

If you’ve never encountered sausage balls – potent little nuggets of spicy sausage and biting Cheddar cheese, held together with a blessing of Bisquick – you’ve never been to a Southern party. You can’t have a potluck dinner, bridal shower or tailgate party here without sausage balls. You most certainly can’t have Christmas. I’m pretty sure one of the Wise Men was carrying sausage balls.

I’m surprised we don’t hang sausage balls over our doorways instead of mistletoe.

Why are they so ubiquitous? Well, generally Southerners have a taste for sausage, cheese and anything remotely biscuity, which makes the sausage ball a flavor and texture trifecta most of us can’t resist. You can also make mass quantities of them for just a few dollars. And the process is simple: dump everything into a bowl, mix it by hand, divide the mixture into balls, and bake.

I like to add a few pulses in the food processor, just to make sure the sausage is evenly dispersed, but it’s important to mix the ingredients by hand before you form the balls. Otherwise, you can end up with crumbly balls, which I’m sure your health teacher warned you about.

OK, let’s talk Valentine’s packaging. If I were a craftier girl, I would have whipped out a glue gun and made my own fabric-covered candy heart box, but I’m not, and I didn’t. I bought the cheapest heart-shaped box of chocolates I could find, dumped said chocolates (you get what you pay for), and replaced them with the sausage balls. Jackpot!

However, a plastic container or paper bag also would do nicely.

Oh, and don’t forget to take your top off.

Sausage Balls

From Rebecca Crump (EzraPoundCake.com)

Makes about 40

  • 1/2 pound ground country sausage (mild or hot, preferably with sage)
  • 2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, grated, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups Bisquick® (regular or gluten-free)
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, using a fork or your fingers, mix the sausage, cheese and Bisquick until just combined.
  3. Place the mixture into a food processor and pulse a few times, until the mixture completely comes together.
  4. Transfer the mixture back into the original bowl, add the black pepper and cayenne, and mix one final time with your fingers.
  5. Divide the mixture into 1-inch balls (using a small ice cream scoop or your hands), rolling the mixture between the palms of your hands.
  6. Place the balls on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Gluten-Free Tip: Use Bisquick® Gluten Free®.

Nutritional Information (Per Sausage Ball) – calories: 60, fat: 4g, carbs: 3g, fiber: 0g, protein: 3g. (WW PP+ = 2)

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46 thoughts on “Sausage Balls. The culinary equivalent of taking your top off.”

  7. Ah yes. The sausage ball. On the buffet table right next to Aunt Ida Mae's nana puddin' made with Nilla wafers…of course. You have flung a craving on me now!

  9. This post is, in short, amazing. Hilarious. And who knew that sausage balls could promote such V-day happiness? And here I was getting all freaked out by chocolate molten cake this and oyster rockefeller that.

    That quote from Julia R is golden.

  12. Rebecca,
    You made my day with laughter. I've packed on many a pound eating this over the years. Northerners will often look at them with scorn, moving them to the white trash category. So not the case. I will admit to dipping them, room temp, in RoTel dip. How's that for a big bomb?
    Steve
    http://www.myfavoriteflavours.com

  14. This looks yummy! I have a recipe for bisquick, so I could make this totally homemade. Yummy!!! Thanks for posting this.

  15. They are also upper-Midwestern! My friend's MIL was from Michigan and made them every New Year's Eve, but she called them Hotsie-Totsies.

  16. Thank you for saving Husband's valentines. I have been chewing nails over what to do. I was thinkg about covering myself with reese's peanut butter cups like rich men do with women and sushi, but they melt… and that could be gross. Could be fun, but I'm betting on gross. Bless you my sweet sister.

  17. Thank you for saving Husband's valentines. I have been chewing nails over what to do. I was thinkg about covering myself with reese's peanut butter cups like rich men do with women and sushi, but they melt… and that could be gross. Could be fun, but I'm betting on gross. Bless you my sweet sister.

  19. I've made these for a long time-when I told my sister in law about them, she exclaimed "SAUSAGE BALLS? That sounds disgusting!" I explained what they were, but she had this image of big wads of sausage and couldn't get that out of her mind.

    Well, if she doesn't want to have any-more for me, I personally LOVE sausage balls.

  23. I moved down south about a year ago. The first time I saw sausage balls I was a little suspicious. And when I tried to look up what they were in my google reader nothing came up. That made me leary. If it's that good surely a foodie would have a post somewere out there on it. I ended up seeing a recipe on Cooks.com. But now I know. Yours look great and it's a great idea to make for the carnivorous boys.

  24. I showed this post to my hubs because I knew I wouldn't have time to surprise him with these for Valentines day (I was totally going to steal your idea of putting them into the heart, brilliant!) and he had a fit. "Are those in a HEART!? SAUSAGE BALLS!!". It's one of his all time favorites and I will indeed be making these for him this weekend.

  26. OK – I don't even like sausage much but I might make this just based on the post title. That's the most awesome thing I've read in a while. Great post :)

  29. OMG these sound good, and CHEAP!!! I am having a martini party this saturday, and was going to make my usual of sweet n sour meatballs, but I think i'll be making these instead. They will save me money, are different, and sound delicious. plus, they are hearty so the ladies will have something in their bellies that will soak up all that martini goodness! Thanks for this recipe, and as always your fabulous stories!

  30. Made me laugh out loud…not just LOL, but seriously my toddler just looked at me and thought I was having a fit! Sausage balls are awesome!! Maybe someone SHOULD start the tradition of hanging them in doorways!

  32. At times like this, I strongly suspect I may be wearing a really, really convincing Yankee Doodle costume (albeit one with a top). How could I not be Southern? I LOVE this.

  35. So I did as Ms. Roberts advised: I had a lovely glass of wine and took my top off. And then nothing happened. I tried to look as seductive as possible, but my only audience was a variegated rubber plant. Should I have WAITED to take my top off until AFTER drinking the wine? I think I am unclear on the precise procedure.

    On an encouraging note, I did manage to get a small reaction from the rubber plant– it dropped a leaf as I was sitting there shirtless and buzzed. I think perhaps it was trying to get in on the action. So I watered the damned thing.

  36. Living in the City that Tolerates Paula Deen Because She Brings In Tourists, I'm a sausage ball afficionado. We've always made them with the addition of half a cup of milk. Just makes them more tender and, of course, delicious.

  37. ok, so I made these up for my Martini Party this past weekend. I only made the single batch, which for me yielded 50 sausage balls. I figured that was good, because not EVERYONE is a fan of sausage. well, they were GONE so fast it's like people had never eaten! I actually heard my sister-in-law say to my friend 'did you really just eat the LAST sausage ball????' i thought there may be bloodshed. luckily noone was harmed. whew.
    so they were a total hit, and i loved them. and will be making them again, just because. I was a little weirded out about the whole no liquid ingredients, but the grease from the sausage and the cheese def bound everything together nicely. Since i was short on time, I skipped the food processor step and everything still turned out great. So thank you for this recipe. and they go great with green apple, blue bikini, sidecar & cosmo martinis!

  38. Oh, I love love love this idea! You are the clever one, always. I have never had a sausage ball, so guess it is time I tried to make these. I am thinking they will go well with the Final Four extravaganza we are throwing here in Indy this year? Don't worry, I will give you full credit.

  39. These are one of my husband's favorite breakfast foods. I always keep some frozen in the freezer that I can just pop in the oven. In fact, he took a batch to work for their morning meeting today. They are always a hit!

  40. I just made a big batch of these, so I could take some to work for a shindig and leave some at home for my darling. I'm known mostly for my baking and desserts, so this sounded like a wonderful departure for me. Quite simply, these are some of the most deliciously evil things I've ever put into my mouth. Spicy, savory, meaty, glorious! This is one of my favorite blogs and now I get to share your awesomeness around. Thanks!

  41. I just made a big batch of these, so I could take some to work for a shindig and leave some at home for my darling. I'm known mostly for my baking and desserts, so this sounded like a wonderful departure for me. Quite simply, these are some of the most deliciously evil things I've ever put into my mouth. Spicy, savory, meaty, glorious! This is one of my favorite blogs and now I get to share your awesomeness around. Thanks!

  42. We Southern girls love the SEC where we serve sausage balls and chili con queso and all things cholesteral during college football season. Sausage balls are also good funeral food in the South.
    Loved your post and I know you must have seen Alex Baldwin's comedy routine on SNL about the Schwetty family making Christmas cookies called Schwetty Balls. I fall off my chair whenever I see it.

  43. This might be sacrilageous to ask (sorry) but is there an alternative to using Bisquick?

    And has anyone tried making these using chorizo? I bet they'd be fantastic!

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