Sausage Balls
Jan 19, 2026
My family usually celebrates major holidays together, or at least within a day or two of said holidays.
We used to celebrate Thanksgiving with the extended family, but, as often happens, when our widowed matriarch passed away, the joy found in that gathering was diminished. Her passing was followed shortly after with the passing of another of my siblings, and subsequently the effort required to get others to commit - and stay committed - to participate became too much.
This was exacerbated by the fact that a fair number of our family members are employed in emergency services of one kind or another, and could only rarely get the necessary time off from work during holidays - especially for those whose homes and jobs are many hundreds of miles away from the venue. As a result of those problems, the timing of annual reunion for the extended family was changed to early Spring; but our little nuclear family still gathers (when possible) for a family Thanksgiving.
Christmas is another story. All of our children are grown, and have families of their own. They naturally want to celebrate with their children, before joining with others. A complicating factor has been the competition for time with grandchildren, between two sets of grandparents. With all that going on, we often celebrate Christmas on Boxing Day (one day later), or on the following Saturday.
As most such celebrations involve food, it should come as no surprise that the gatherings involve consumption of a variety of appetizers, and one of our favorite appetizers is sausage balls. The original recipe on which this modified version is based was from a ladies church group cookbook titled Celebrate (South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville, Florida, November 13, 1988), commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the church.
Suggested Equipment:
- Stand mixer with 5 to 7 quart bowl, paddle and dough hook; or large stainless steel mixing bowl and prepare to knead meat mix by hand
- Baking sheet, 11" × 17", 3 each
- Food scoop, size #100 (1" diameter bowl)
- Common kitchen measures and tools
Ingredients:
| 1 | lb | Hot breakfast sausage, bulk pork | |
| 1 | lb | Mild breakfast sausage, bulk pork | |
| 1 | lb | Cheddar cheese sharp, grated | |
| 3 | cup | Baking mix -Bisquick® or other |
Directions:
If you are mixing by hand, combine all ingredients in a large stainless steel mixing bowl, and knead the mixture until all components are evenly distributed throughout the mix mass.
If you are using a stand mixer, first make sure that it is large enough and powerful enough to do the job. I use a KitchenAid® mixer with a 7-quart bowl. I think the motor is one-half horsepower or better.
Use a #100 food scoop to form balls of the mix that are about 1" in diameter. Place the balls on a 11" × 17" baking sheet. With proper spacing, you can get 35 balls on each sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes in a pre-heated 350℉ oven, then turn the sheet around 180° (orientation, not temperature) and bake for another 10 minutes at 350℉ , for a total of 20 minutes cooking time.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow to cool. After cooling, the cooked sausage balls should be easily removed with a spatula. The cooled balls are ready to be eaten or stored in the refrigerator. When necessary, they are easily reheated in a microwave oven.
If this mix of sausages is too mild, you can substitute 1 lb of hot or medium sausage for the mild sausage. Conversely, if it's too hot, you can substitute a medium or mild sausage for the hot sausage.
For a serving size of two (2) sausage balls this recipe yields upwards of 50 servings. Of course, nobody eats just one serving...
The recipe is easily divided, especially if you can find medium pork sausage.
Even using the stand mixer, this recipe is labor-intensive. Much of the labor involves measuring and shaping the balls after mixing. Without the mixer, the additional labor of mixing the meat might lead one to question whether the product is worth the trouble. That's a judgement call, but for myself, I would make (and have made) them, even without the mixer. They're a tasty appetizer, that has been known to sub for a full meal!
Catagories: Meat, Pork, Appetizer, Snack, Party Food