Sausage balls are an easy-to-make, poppable, snackable, loveable recipe.
Pork sausage, biscuit mix, cheddar cheese, and milk meld together, then bake to a golden perfection.

You’ll Love This Easy Appetizer Because…
- It’s a super easy recipe—3 ingredients and 3 steps.
- Cheesy bisquick sausage balls can be prepped and frozen, or baked then cooled and frozen for easy entertaining.
- Mix and match the cheeses and add zesty seasonings to create a new recipe every time.
Ingredients for Sausage Balls
Sausage: You can use either breakfast sausage or mild or hot Italian sausage. Just like sausage rolls, this recipe also works with turkey sausage.
Biscuit Mix: Bisquick is ready-made, but a store-brand baking mix works too. If you don’t have any, make a homemade biscuit mix recipe!
Cheese: I love using sharp cheddar cheese as it has lots of flavor. Shred your own or use pre-shredded to make it quick.
Variations
- Swap the cheddar for Monterey Jack, pepper jack, or a Mexican blend.
- Add diced jalapenos or a pinch of cayenne pepper for a little bit of heat.
- Use ground chicken or turkey instead.
How to Make Sausage Balls
- Combine biscuit mix, cheese, and ground sausage in a bowl (recipe below).
- Scoop it into balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake until golden brown.
Prep Ahead & Storage
- Place uncooked sausage balls on a baking tray and cover with plastic wrap for up to 2 days or store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- If baking from frozen, add an additional 8 minutes to the cooking time.
- Leftover sausage balls can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 4 months.
Delish Dipping Sauces
Every great appetizer needs a great dipping sauce! Serve these sausage balls with any of the folllowing:
Did you make these Sausage Balls? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below.
Sausage Balls
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups biscuit mix such as Bisquick
- 1 pound shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 pound ground pork sausage or Italian sausage
- up to ¼ cup milk as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine biscuit mix, cheese, and ground sausage. Mix thoroughly until the mixture holds together, adding up to ¼ cup of milk as needed.
- Using a cookie scoop or spoon, scoop 1 tablespoon of sausage and roll it into a ball. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the sausage balls for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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I use cheese whiz in my sausage balls.
Under biscuit mix, there seems to be some content missing.
Sorry about that, I’ve updated it.
Everyone seems to rave about them. I found them to be gross. They are way to dry for us. Even with the dipping sauce it was dry. I can see this due to the bisquick. Oh well
Sorry to hear that Mm. We find these to be so yummy!
What is biscuit mix. Never herd of it in Australia. Is there an alternative?
Julie, biscuit mix, such as Bisquick, is a flour based mixutre that can be used to make various baked goods, including biscuits, pancakes and even crust for chicken pot pie. You can find a homemade bicuit mix here, and you can see biscuit mix by checking out these options on Amazon. Hope that helps!
Man, these are GOOD! I don’t know if I used too much Bisquick, but I had trouble mixing everything together. A couple of tablespoons of water solved that problem. The taste almost reminds me of biscuits and gravy.
Mmmm, biscuits and gravy! That sounds yummy Dyan! So happy you enjoyed them.
Do you serve them warm, or cold, or does it not matter?
I serve them warm, but I bet they would taste amazing room temperature!
What is biscuit mix, we don’t have this type of thing in the UK. Our biscuits are sweet not savoury
Biscuit mix, such as Bisquick, is a flour based mixutre that can be used to make various baked goods, including biscuits, pancakes and even crust for chicken pot pie. You can find a homemade bicuit mix here, and you can see biscuit mix by checking out these options on Amazon. Hope that helps Cheryl!
Hi Holly, I’m from Australia. What is this ‘biscuit mix’ please?
Sarah
Biscuit mix, such as Bisquick, is a flour based mixutre that can be used to make various baked goods, including biscuits, pancakes and even crust for chicken pot pie. You can find a homemade bicuit mix here, and you can see biscuit mix by checking out these options on Amazon. Hope that helps Sarah!
Hi Holly can I make these a day ahead and store them before cooking or do I need to freeze them? Thank you I enjoy your website and wonderful recipes! Happy holidays!
One day in the fridge should be okay, any longer and I would freeze them. Enjoy!
Mine went flat like cookies. Thoughts on what I did wrong? I followed the recipe.. I think. Lol
Did you use biscuit mix such as Bisquick and real cheddar cheese? Was your sausage raw?
I’m checking to see if there’s an error in amount of bisquick and cheese. I have made these since the 70’s and use 2 cup bisquick and 12oz cheese to one pound sausage.
The ratios in the recipe are the ratios I use. There are many variations of this recipe and it can certainly work well with different amounts.
Hi! Do you serve these warm in a crock pot?
I haven’t but it would work to keep them warm (if they were baked first).
I just made these sausage balls and they are indeed very tasty and look exactly like the photos. The only thing I have to say is that there was nothing to bind the three ingredients together! There was no way I could have formed balls out of just the cheese, bisquick and sausage, so I added about 2/3 cup of milk. Was the sausage supposed to be cooked before it was mixed with the other two ingredients?
The sausage should be raw. When you first start mixing the ingredients it’ll be a bit crumbly but once you work it a bit, it all comes together. I’ve added a video for your reference.
Best trick I’ve ever found for these is to use the dough hook on my mixer. Gets them right past the crumbly stage
Great tip Lynette!
Yup – just keep on mixing. I mix it with my hands…soon you can easily roll balls about the size of a large marble.
Sounds amazing, but as someone that has to watch sodium, how many balls are a serving?
The nutritional information is per sausage ball.
Are you using a breakfast sausage like Bob Evans or Jimmy Dean, or Italian sausage? Just wondering because of the type of cheese you’re using. Cheddar/breakfast sausage or you could possibly do mozzarella/Italian sausage. Maybe a marinara sauce with the Italian version. Either way, I think it would be fantastic. Versatile for a brunch or a cocktail party. I’m always looking for new recipes like this one. Thank you!
You could mix and match any type of sausage/cheese with this recipe!
Sounds like a marinara sauce would also be tasty!
I agree Stacy! Yum!
Il sorry i do not kno what biscuit mix is.woukd toi post à posture please
Claire, this link will show you some biscuit mix. Hope that helps!
It is usually called bisquick, or other brands, in box where flour is, these are delicious.
I use Jimmy Dean Sausage, Country mild or hot, 1lb. , 1 lb. or 8 cups Colby/jack cheese, and 3 cup’s bisque looks, we love them, turns out perfect every time
Can these be frozen ahead of time? If so, do you freeze them before or after baking them?
You can freeze them before baking. Enjoy!
I first had these about 40 years ago. They were delicious then and delicious now. As an alternative to the ranch dip, try with a sweet chili sauce.
Yum! I’ll have to try the sweet chili sauce for sure!
These look AMAZING, and I’ve brought a pound of sausage out of the freezer to try them.
Have you tried browning them after baking either in a skillet or deep frying, for extra crispy goodness?
The texture is more biscuit-like inside as the biscuit mix absorbs the juices from the sausage. I haven’t tried browning them, but do find the come out pretty crispy. Let us know how it goes if you try it!!
They are great! Second time to serve them today. They seem to be crunchy to me.
They came out a little “squishy” when I made them; hard to pick up with the fingers…even after an extra 10 minutes in the oven. So I did deep fry them. Which made them extra crisp and certainly solved the problem of them being too soft to handle.
And they are super-tasty!
Glad you enjoyed them Erik!