Bisquick Sausage Balls are a holiday staple and the perfect appetizer for any party platter! Using just 3 ingredients they’re a made from scratch finger food that is easy and cheesy. They’re a simple budget-friendly southern-inspired appetizer!
Need more easy appetizer recipes? Grape Jelly Meatballs or Crock Pot Lil Smokies are always a hit!
The original recipe requires just the sausage, biscuit mix, and cheddar cheese, but with the addition of the optional garlic powder and cayenne, it brings it up a delicious flavor notch. They’re a definite crowd pleaser!
The addition of cayenne is totally optional and although I love to use Jimmy Dean Sausage, you can really use whatever you’d like. You can also decide whether to enjoy them plain or served with a dipping sauce.
As if these easy apps weren’t already awesome, they can also be served for breakfast! Sausage and biscuits in one bite?! Made fresh in the morning or leftovers from last night enjoy with a glass of orange juice and hashbrowns and you’re set to serve breakfast or brunch your whole family will love!
How to Make Sausage Cheese Balls
Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease lightly with oil or cooking spray.
Combine the Bisquick mix, pork sausage, cheddar cheese, garlic powder, and optional cayenne pepper into a large bowl. Mix well with your hand or stand mixer.
Take a spoon (or cookie scoop – whatever you have on hand) and scoop out approximately 1 ¼ – 1 ½ tablespoon of mixture and roll them into balls.
Place them on the baking sheet about an inch apart and bake until they turn light brown.
That’s it! Easy peasy. And now you can decide how you’ll serve them 🙂 Enjoy!
Tips & Variations
- Using too much Bisquick can make your sausage ball more biscuit than sausage, which means they’ll be too try. Be careful when measuring. Use the back of a knife to scrape off any excess mix once it’s in your measuring cup. Alternatively, you can use a kitchen scale. This would be the most accurate way.
- I love to use Jimmy Dean Sausage, but you can use your favorite! It’s generally a breakfast sausage type of food, but if you have a different kind of sausage you like, go ahead and try it! Mild sausage, maple sausage, and even spicy sausage.
- If using a spicy sausage, go ahead and omit the cayenne pepper.
- The recipe mentions mixing by hand, but you can also use a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, if you have one. Use at a low speed.
- The dough/sausage mixture will be crumbly, so you’ll need to press the ingredients together slightly to make a firm ball. If it’s too crumbly, add ¼ cup of milk and mix well.
- If you can help it, don’t use packaged pre-shredded cheese. Grating your own cheddar not only enhances the flavor and sharpness, but it also doesn’t come with additives that keep the cheese dry and don’t allow for easy melting. If your balls are too dry, it can be because you’ve used pre-shredded cheese.
- A nice sharp cheddar is classic and delicious, but feel free to swap out with whatever cheese you’d prefer.
- Add some ranch seasoning or diced jalapenos for a flavor kick!
Make-Ahead Tip
Sausage balls can be made ahead of time by making them all the way to just before you bake them. You can flash freeze the balls and then add them to a freezer friendly bag to keep for up to 3 months. Just thaw for about 15 minutes at room temperature before baking them.
If you make a big batch, you’ll have them for numerous occasions! Or, you can just take out a few and use whatever you need when you need it!
How to Store Them
These sausage balls will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days once cooked.
Sausage Balls
Ingredients
- 3 cups Bisquick mix
- 1 pound pork sausage mild or hot
- 16 ounces cheddar cheese shredded
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- ¼ cup milk optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or light grease with oil
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well with hand.3 cups Bisquick mix, 1 pound pork sausage, 16 ounces cheddar cheese, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ¼ cup milk
- Scoop approximately 1 ¼ – 1 ½ tablespoon of mixture and roll into balls. Dough will be thick. If it's too crumbly, add the ¼ cup of milk.
- Place them on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart
- Bake for 20 minutes or until they turn lightly brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclosure
Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
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Vera
Would Jimmy Dean Sage sausage work and taste okay?
Cindy
Can they be made ahead of time and cooked later?
Paige
Yes. Mix the ingredients well, then form into balls. You can cook them as needed,
Jini
Do you cook the sausage before mixing it with the bis quick?
Tara
No mix raw sausage in. These are really good! And so simple.
Alicia
Don’t add cream cheese and pimento cheese for sure. Stick with the original.
Paige
Pimento, drained and diced might be a good addition, but no pimento cheese! The mayonnaise or cream cheese would ruin this recipe.
Amber
Did what the recipe said and they didn’t come out like they where suppose to.
Cindy case
They forgot one ingredient. Milk !!! Mix 3 cups of Bisquick with 2 cups shredded extra sharp cheese 1lb of jimmy dean sausage. Mix this in a large bowl then add 1/2 cup of milk. Make sure your hands are clean and start mixing everything together with your hands kinda like a meatloaf. On a ungreased cookie sheet using a tablespoon scoop out spoonfuls and roll into balls and bake at 350° for about 15 minutes. Maybe a little less depending on your oven. Enjoy !!!
Brenda
No, it’s in the ingredients, bottom of the list.
Paige
How did they come out?
I’ve used this recipe dozens of times over 50 years, using various brands, and ovens. It has worked great every time.
Note…I’ve never used pre-shredded cheese. The cellulose, which keeps the shreds from sticking, would keep the ingredients from melding. Perhaps that’s why someone suggested mild in the recipe. I’ve never used milk, either.
Barbara parsley
What would be a good dipping sauce for the sausage cheese balls?
Amanda
Some of my family don’t like sausage would it work the same with crumbled bacon
Sherri
I’m not sure that using only bacon would work. (The sausage helps to hold them together) But you can substitute ground beef and add 8-10 slices of bacon(cooked and crumbled) and they would be amazing! They would be more of a bacon cheeseburger ball, which I have seen. 🙂 Now I need to make them too!! Yum!
Cindy Case
Add 1/2 cup of milk and they will not be dry and crumbly !!! Your welcome !! Enjoy !!!
Nancy
3 cups Bisquick is way too much. I only use 1 1/2 cups. Jimmy Dean hot sausage is the best, as well as sharp cheddar.
Bette Wilkinson
i Would add more seasonings like chopped hot peppers onions fresh garlic chopped maybe some grated carrotts , cumin ,mushrooms too. Would be Killer !!!!