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Southern Sausage Balls, the Carolina Christmas-Morning Way (Sausage-Cheese Balls)

Sausage Balls

Three humble things — bulk pork breakfast sausage, a mountain of hand-grated sharp cheddar, and biscuit mix — become the most requested thing on any Southern buffet. The cheese far outweighs the sausage, and that lopsided ratio is the whole trick: crisp golden bottoms, tender middles, molten cheddar pockets. Roll them walnut-size, bake them just shy of done, and watch the pan empty.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 40 Balls
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Calories: 105
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb bulk pork breakfast sausage hot, mild, or sage; brought to room temperature
  • 1 lb sharp cheddar cheese grated by hand from a block, about 4 cups loosely packed
  • 2 cups biscuit baking mix Bisquick or equivalent, spooned and leveled
  • 3 tbsp whole milk as needed to bring the dough together
  • 0.5 tsp paprika optional
  • 0.25 tsp cayenne pepper optional, if using mild sausage
  • 0.5 tsp black pepper freshly ground

Equipment

  • 1 stand mixer with paddle attachment or a sturdy wooden spoon and clean hands
  • 1 box grater for grating the cheddar from a block
  • 2 rimmed baking sheets
  • 1 sheet of parchment paper optional, for easy cleanup
  • 1 1.5 inch cookie scoop optional, keeps the balls even

Method
 

  1. Take the sausage out of the refrigerator 30 to 45 minutes before you start. Cold sausage will not blend with the cheese and you will end up overworking the dough trying.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, or leave them bare if you want the bottoms extra crisp.
  3. Grate the full pound of sharp cheddar on the large holes of a box grater. Do not skip this for a bag of pre-shredded cheese, the anti-caking coating will fight the moisture and give you crumbs instead of balls.
  4. Put the room-temperature sausage and the grated cheddar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle. Add the black pepper and the paprika and cayenne if using. Mix on low for 1 to 2 minutes until the cheese is evenly distributed through the meat with no clumps. By hand, squeeze and fold the mixture until it looks uniform.
  5. Spoon the biscuit mix into a dry measuring cup and level it off with a knife, never scoop it from the bag. Add it to the bowl and mix on low for 2 to 3 minutes. It will look hopelessly dry at first, then suddenly come together as the cheese warms and binds it.
  6. If it still refuses to hold together, add milk one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each. Stop when a pinch of dough squeezed in your palm holds its shape. The dough should be stiff and slightly tacky, not sticky or wet.
  7. Roll the dough into walnut-size balls about 1 1/2 inches across, roughly 1 heaping tablespoon each. A cookie scoop keeps them even. Space them about 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. You should get about 40.
  8. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the bottoms and edges are golden brown and the tops are just set. Pull them the moment they look done, overbaking is the one thing that ruins sausage balls.
  9. Let them rest on the pan for 5 minutes, then move to a platter with a spatula. Serve warm or at room temperature. Leftovers keep covered in the refrigerator for 4 days and reheat at 325 F for 8 minutes.

Notes

  • Grate the cheddar yourself from a block. Bagged shredded cheese is coated in cellulose to stop caking, and that coating is the number one cause of dry, crumbly sausage balls.
  • Measure the biscuit mix by spooning it into the cup and leveling it off. Scooping straight from the bag packs in up to 25 percent extra and dries out the dough.
  • If the dough still looks crumbly after a few minutes of mixing, add milk one tablespoon at a time. It should be stiff and slightly sticky, never wet.
  • Serve warm or at room temperature with honey mustard, pepper jelly, or ranch for dipping.
  • Freeze raw: roll the balls, freeze solid on the sheet pan, then bag them. Bake straight from frozen, adding about 5 minutes.
  • For the Deep South style, work in 8 oz softened cream cheese for a softer, richer ball.
  • Overbaking is the only real way to ruin these. Pull them when the bottoms are golden and the tops are just set.