Southern Sausage Balls
The recipe was likely floating around the post-WWII south before Bisquick printed it on their boxes in the 1960s.
Known in the south simply as "sausage balls," this is more or less the classic Bisquick recipe that has appeared on their boxes since the 1960s, although Bisquick was first introduced to the American market in 1930. Bisquick is just a ready-made biscuit and pancake mix that contains flour, corn starch, vegetable oil, baking soda, sugar and dextrose, salt and monoglycerides which keeps the oil from separating. The Internet is crowded with people who don’t like it because it’s “processed food” and the monoglycerides are supposed to be bad for you. For the two or three time as year that I use this product, I’m just fine with the convenience of having it as a staple in my pantry.
Sausage balls are easy to make and you can make them ahead of time and freeze them. They keep quite well and can be then cooked from a frozen state. If you do freeze them, freeze them first on a sheet pan or cookie sheet, then transfer them to zip lock freezer bags. Upon cooking from a frozen state, just add 7 minutes to the cooking time.
Serve sausage balls along side traditional yellow mustard or a dip made of 1/2 Dijon mustard and honey.
The original recipe said this will make 102 sausage balls. We obviously like larger balls and this recipe yielded about 70.
Southern Sausage Cheese Balls
Ingredients
- 3 cups Bisquick
- 1 lb spicy breakfast sausage (like, Jimmy Dean "Hot")
- 4 cups (16 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (like, the Kraft green can)
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1/2 tbsp crushed dried rosemary
- 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
- fine sea salt to taste
- non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
- 2-3 oz dipping sauce of your choice (traditional yellow mustard, honey Dijon mustard, barbecue sauce, chili sauce, etc.).
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the Bisquick, cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, rosemary, parsley and salt, and stir to combine.
- Crumble the sausage over top of the Bisquick mixture and loosely mix it into the batter.
- Add the milk to the mixing bowl. Using wet hands, thoroughly mix all the ingredients of the the dough together until it appears more or less homogeneous.
- Using hands or spoon, roll out the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on a cookie sheet or sheet pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
- Bake 25-30 minutes until browned.
- Dust them with fine sea salt when they first come out of the oven.
- Serve warm, or at room temperature alongside the dipping sauce of your choice.
Notes
- Sausage balls will freeze and keep well, but freeze them on a sheet pan or cookie sheet first, then transfer to a zip-lock bag.
- If cooking from a frozen state, add 7 minutes of cooking time to the recipe.
