• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Pudge Factor

A food blog with everyday recipes, step-by-step directions and photos, and detailed recipes.

  • Cinco de Mayo Recipes
  • All Recipes
  • Meet Chula and Pudge Factor®
  • Recipes by Category
  • Just Recipes
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipe Index
  • Mardi Gras
  • St. Patrick’s Day
  • Just Recipes
  • Meet Chula and Pudge Factor®!
  • Subscribe
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Appetizers

    Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls

    By Chula King · November 15, 2020 · Updated October 12, 2022 44 Comments

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Yummly
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls

    Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls are a perfect appetizer. With only three ingredients, these little gems have it all. They’re super simple to make, taste incredible warm or at room temperature, freeze beautifully, and are just as good reheated. Who could ask for more?

    Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls

    The first time that I took these to a family holiday gathering, they were really an afterthought. I always take Sausage and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms which use, among other ingredients, a half pound of Jimmy Dean hot sausage. To use up the other half pound I thought, what about sausage cheese balls? I hadn’t made them in years, but remembered how good they were and how easy they were to make.

    Needless to say, they were a total hit. I like to pair them with Cranberry Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce (recipe below) for a more festive presentation.

    Ingredients

    The three ingredients for these Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls are Bisquick, sausage, and shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese. I like to use Jimmy Dean hot sausage for a more spicy taste.

    Sausage Balls Ingredient

    Making the Cheesy Sausage Balls

    For the easy part I used my food processor to do most of the work. I broke the sausage up a bit and put it, along with the Bisquick in the food processor fitted with the steel blade. Then I processed the mixture for around 15 seconds, or until the sausage and Bisquick were thoroughly combined.

    Sausage and Bisquick combined in food processor

    Next I added the shredded cheddar cheese and processed the mixture for another 15 seconds or so, until it resembled a very thick dough.

    Mixture for Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls

    After that, I used my 2-teaspoon (1-⅛ inch) ice cream scoop to partition out the individual pieces. Being the cooking nerd that I am, I weighed each piece – 11 grams each!

    Then, I rolled each piece into a ball and placed it on a non-stick aluminum foil lined baking sheet with sides.

    Sausage balls ready for the oven

    Finally I baked the Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls for 25 minutes in a 350° F oven, until they were golden brown and perfectly cooked. When I removed the sausage cheese balls from the oven, I transferred them to a paper towel lined baking sheet to absorb any grease.

    Sausage Balls out of Oven

    I ended up with 4-dozen incredibly tasty Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls (remember that this is only half a recipe.) Did I mention that they freeze and reheat beautifully? Yum!

    Sausage Balls dipped in Cranberry Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

    If you’re looking for some more great Appetizers, that are always a hit, for your next potluck check out my Marinated Cheese, Crunchy Cheese Wafers, or Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bites.

    I hope you liked this recipe for Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls as much as I do. If so, please consider rating it and leaving a comment. Also, if you’d like to receive notifications of new posts by email, enter your email address in the Subscribe box.

    Thank you so much for visiting Pudge Factor. I hope you’ll come back!

    Dipping Sausage Balls in Cranberry Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

    Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls

    Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls are a perfect appetizer. With only three ingredients, these little gems have it all. They’re super simple to make, taste incredible warm or at room temperature, freeze beautifully, and are just as good reheated. Who could ask for more?
    4.44 from 51 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Appetizer
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 25 minutes
    Total Time: 40 minutes
    Servings: 48
    Calories: 44kcal
    Author: Chula King

    Ingredients

    • ½ pound (8-ounces) uncooked Jimmy Dean Hot sausage
    • 1 cup (5-ounces) Bisquick
    • 2 cups (8-ounces) extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

    Cranberry Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

    • 14 ounce can jellied Cranberry Sauce (See Tip 1)
    • ¼ cup (2-ounces) Dijon Mustard
    • ¼ cup (3-ounces) Honey

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350° F.
    • Line a large baking sheet with sides with non-stick aluminum foil. Set aside.
    • Add sausage and Bisquick to the bowl of a food processor, fitted with a steel blade. Process for 10 to 15 seconds, or until mixture is well combined. Add shredded cheddar cheese, and process another 15 seconds or until the cheese is well incorporated into the sausage/Bisquick mixture.
    • Using a 2-teaspoon ice cream scoop, partition dough into balls about the size of a quarter. Place on prepared baking sheet.
    • Bake at 350° F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and drain on paper towels.
    • Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: 4 dozen. (See Tip 2)

    Cranberry Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

    • Whisk together the cranberry sauce, honey and mustard until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use. (See Tip 3)

    Chula's Expert Tips

    1. Be sure to use jellied cranberry sauce.
    2. May be frozen, and reheated at 350° F for 5 minutes, or until heated through.
    3. The Cranberry Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce can be served either warm or at room temperature.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 44kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 91mg | Potassium: 20mg | Vitamin A: 50IU | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 0.2mg
    Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment below and/or give this recipe a rating. On Instagram? Take a picture and tag @pudgefactor or #pudgefactor.
    Easy Cheesy Sausage Balls

    More Appetizers

    • Old-Fashioned Ham Salad – Quick and Easy
    • Make Ahead Spinach Artichoke Tartlets
    • Easy Crispy Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
    • Chicken Caesar Salad Cups

    Filed Under: Appetizers, Christmas, Holiday Side Dishes

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Julia says

      December 23, 2016 at 10:35 pm

      These really are easy to make and oh so good. Makes your kitchen smell so good.

    2. c2king says

      December 24, 2016 at 1:23 pm

      I’m making a batch right now. Yum!

    3. Dee Schneck says

      December 25, 2016 at 2:35 pm

      Made these for Christmas morning & everyone loved them! I only had mild sausage, so I used pepper jack & cheddar cheese (made a double batch). So good!

    4. c2king says

      December 26, 2016 at 3:48 pm

      I bet they were delicious with the pepper jack and cheddar cheese!

    5. Cody Fortney says

      December 29, 2016 at 11:17 am

      Just to make sure I understand the reheating… can you form the balls and then freeze without any cooking? Or would you recommend cooking the balls all the way through, freezing and then just reheating for 5 mins?

    6. c2king says

      December 29, 2016 at 12:43 pm

      Sorry, I should have been more specific. I cook the sausage balls all the way through, let them cool completely, put them in a Ziploc bag, and put them in the freezer.

    7. Anonymous says

      December 30, 2016 at 11:48 am

      Turned out great. What sauce could you use to dip them in?

    8. c2king says

      December 30, 2016 at 12:10 pm

      I’ve never served them with a sauce, but suspect that a mustard-type sauce would be good with them.

    9. Anonymous says

      December 30, 2016 at 4:57 pm

      can regular italian sausage be used.
      instead of jimmydean

    10. c2king says

      December 30, 2016 at 6:46 pm

      Yes. Just use the same amount of Italian sausage as you would the Jimmy Dean sausage.

    11. Dee says

      May 17, 2017 at 7:18 pm

      I made these for an office potluck breakfast everyone commented on how delicious they were. Next time I will double the recipe. They disappeared really quickly

    12. c2king says

      May 17, 2017 at 7:39 pm

      I’m so glad that they were a hit!

    13. YKK says

      December 13, 2017 at 7:49 am

      Do you think it would be okay to use an electric kitchenaid mixture to combine rather than a food processor?

    14. c2king says

      December 13, 2017 at 8:02 am

      I don’t think that it would work that well. It would be like making biscuits or bread dough in a blender. You would probably be better off mixing it by hand.

    15. Anonymous says

      January 08, 2018 at 5:43 pm

      Killer!

    16. Anonymous says

      January 11, 2018 at 9:59 am

      Go ahead and double the recipe! If you have family its hard to get any! They eat them as fast as they come out!!

    17. Abigail says

      January 30, 2018 at 8:27 am

      These look delicious! But I’m new to cooking and not really familiar with kitchen common sense. After freezing, what would be the best way to reheat these, in your experience?

    18. PudgeFactor says

      January 30, 2018 at 9:20 am

      They are delicious! To reheat from the freezer, I placed the sausage balls in a single layer (where they’re not touching each other) on a foil lined baking sheet. I put them in a preheated 350° F oven for about 10 minutes.

    19. Jess Pruett says

      February 14, 2018 at 7:30 am

      Hopefully these don’t swell!!! I doubled the recipe and made 30!! Haha, pretty sure I messed up lol.

    20. Hannah says

      July 01, 2018 at 10:40 pm

      LOVE! So easy to make. I did use mild sausage because I’m a baby.

    21. PudgeFactor says

      July 02, 2018 at 8:18 am

      So glad you liked them!

    22. Anonymous says

      August 18, 2018 at 4:47 pm

      Love the recipe I used others but this one was the best

    23. PudgeFactor says

      August 19, 2018 at 9:01 am

      Thanks! It’s my favorite!

    24. Carrie says

      October 25, 2018 at 6:15 pm

      Do you shred your own cheese for this or buy pre-shredded cheese? Thanks!!

    25. PudgeFactor says

      October 25, 2018 at 8:48 pm

      I always shred my own cheese. The pre-shredded cheese has some sort of a coating that may or may not interfere with the sausage balls. In all honestly, however, I’ve never tried the pre-shredded cheese. If you do use the pre-shredded cheese, will you let me know how it works?

      Chula

    26. Anonymous says

      December 14, 2018 at 9:34 am

      Can you make these up the night before and bake them off in the morning?
      Thanks, Donna

    27. PudgeFactor says

      December 14, 2018 at 10:52 am

      Absolutely!

    28. Jacque says

      December 18, 2018 at 7:17 pm

      I just fixed a batch to save in the freezer for Christmas. The problem is the good smell in the house attracted my husband to the kitchen and 1/3 of them were gone in a flash. I had to make more. We love them.

    29. PudgeFactor says

      December 18, 2018 at 9:00 pm

      That’s too funny! I’m so glad that you liked them.

    30. Barbara Baker says

      December 22, 2018 at 5:39 pm

      I’m 72 years old and have made these for many, many years. Had never thought of using my food processor — always had hubby mix up 2 lbs of sausage, 2 lbs of grated cheese, and Bisquick by hand — not an easy task. Well, hubby’s hands are painful now with arthritis; so, when I came across your recipe, he and I both were ever so grateful. I just made a double batch using my food processor, as you detailed. Oh, my! I’ll never do it any other way again. Thank you sooo very much! And, Merry Christmas!

    31. PudgeFactor says

      December 22, 2018 at 5:44 pm

      Merry Christmas to you as well!

    32. Barbara Baker says

      December 22, 2018 at 5:45 pm

      Forgot to add, I also used my melon baller this time, as you detailed, rather than roll by hand. Wow! Love it! Thanks!

    33. PudgeFactor says

      December 22, 2018 at 5:58 pm

      Thank you so much for letting me know. Your replies brought a huge smile to my face!

    34. Brian Heinz says

      December 25, 2018 at 5:16 am

      I promised to make some of these for my Wife on Christmas morning with bagels and coffee looked at about 50 different ones and decided on using yours. Will give it a try and come back and let you know how they turn out. Merry Christmas

    35. PudgeFactor says

      December 25, 2018 at 7:48 am

      I hope that they turn out as well for you as they do for me. Merry Christmas!

    36. Donna Guzman says

      December 13, 2019 at 6:37 am

      I found your recipe last night looking for the right portions to use & baking instructions. This is the same one I’ve used over the year. With so little time, I made them up last night to bake today just before company arrives. Unfortunately, I didn’t read your full blog. Using the food processor would have saved me a lot of time. Thank you for the great tip! Bookmarked it!!!

    37. PudgeFactor says

      December 13, 2019 at 7:39 am

      They’re one of my favorites! You’re right – the food processor saves a ton of time!

    38. Deb says

      December 28, 2019 at 11:59 am

      5 stars
      These are the best and easiest sausage balls I’ve ever made. My family begged for more.

    39. Sandi says

      December 28, 2019 at 2:20 pm

      How do you store after baking? Refrigerated or just in an airtight container?

    40. PudgeFactor says

      December 28, 2019 at 8:17 pm

      Sandy,

      I store them in the refrigerator in a Ziploc bag.

      Chula

    41. PudgeFactor says

      December 28, 2019 at 8:18 pm

      I’m so glad that they turned out for you!

    42. Deborah Sparrow says

      May 19, 2020 at 12:12 am

      Delectible!

    43. les brown says

      January 18, 2021 at 2:56 pm

      I have used the store bought shredded cheese for years and have no problem I am 83 and Will try the food processor in the future it sounds like my hands could use a break. Thanks for the update

    44. Chula King says

      January 18, 2021 at 7:47 pm

      I always use the food processor to make these sausage balls – so easy!

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Photo of Chula - PudgeFactor Blogger

    Chula King is an award-winning photographer and videographer behind Pudge Factor. She’s a professor by day and foodie by night, showcasing her favorite tried and true recipes.

    More about me →

    Delicious Mardi Gras Recipes

    • Cajun Chicken Fricassee
    • Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya
    • Easy Pecan Praline Morsels
    • Classic Shrimp Cocktail
    • Pancake Day Pancakes
    • New Orleans Shrimp Remoulade
    • Mardi Gras Cinnamon Roll King Cake (Bread Machine)
    • Beef Grillades and Smoked Gouda Grits

    See more Valentine Recipes→

    Sites Featured In

    Popular Recipes

    • Easy Peasy British Sausage Rolls
    • Chicken Schnitzel with Mustard Cream Sauce
    • Homemade Waffle Cones
    • Twice Baked Potato Casserole

    See more Recipes→

    Footer

    © 2012–2023 · Pudge Factor®, LLC · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer