Sausage Rolls are classic British fare that are as versatile as they are easy to make. They can be served hot or cold, in smaller pieces as hors d’oeuvres or quick snacks, or in a larger roll for lunch, brunch, or a main meal.
In addition, the unbaked sausage rolls can be frozen for later use. Also, the cooked sausage rolls can be refrigerated and reheated at a later time.
Regardless of how you serve this classic British sausage roll, you’re in for a real treat.
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About British Sausage
The key to a good sausage roll is good savory pork sausage. British sausage tends to be different from American sausage in several ways.
First, British sausage often has a bread crumb or rusk filler, while its American counterpart doesn’t. Also, British sausage tends to have a finer grind and consistency than American sausage.
Both the Master Taste Tester and I personally prefer British sausage to American sausage.
Experimentation for the Perfect British Sausage
Over time, I’ve experimented with trying to replicate British sausage. I think that I finally have a winner that’s super easy to make and absolutely delicious!
Initially, I made the British sausage by using a combination of bulk American sausage and ground pork. When I first blogged about the British Sausage Rolls in 2017, I used the recipe developed with the combination of American sausage and ground pork.
Over time, however, I continued experimenting and ultimately decided to omit the American sausage and focus on making the sausage filling with just ground pork and seasonings.
This post is updated to include the British sausage made without adding any American sausage. Also, I’ve added new photographs, enhanced text, and a Web Story showing how I make my own sausage and these tasty sausage rolls.
For anyone interested, however, my original recipe using American sausage and British sausage, which was posted in 2017, included the following:
- 1 pound (16 ounces, 454 grams) of ground pork
- ยฝ pound (8 ounces, 227 grams) hot bulk sausage
- ยฝ cup (2.65 ounces, 75 grams) dry bread crumbs
- โ cup (2.65 ounces, 75 grams) of water
- 1 ยฝ teaspoons (0.35 ounces, 10 grams) Kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons (0.25 ounces, 7 grams) fresh sage, chopped
Here’s What You’ll Need: Ingredients for Sausage Rolls
- For the Sausage: For the delicious sausage, I used ground pork, dry bread crumbs, ground nutmeg, ground mace, Kosher salt, dried sage, black pepper, and water. I could have also used panko breadcrumbs.
- For the Pastry: I used store-bought puff pastry sheets to enclose the sausage. The premade puff pastry works quite well.
Here’s How I Made the Sausage
- To make the sausage, I added ground pork, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, dried sage, nutmeg, mace, and water to the bowl of my food processor fitted with a steel blade. I’ve found that using a food processor is the easiest way to make the sausage.
- I processed the sausage mixture for about 20 seconds. Then I took a small piece, microwaved it for about 20 seconds, and tasted it to see if additional seasonings were needed. The Master Taste Tester said that it was perfect!
Next, I continued processing the mixture for another 30 seconds, until it reached the proper consistency. If the mixture seemed too dry, I could have added a little water.
See how finely ground it is – almost like a pรขtรฉ, which is how we like it.
That’s it – British sausage with the food processor doing all the work!
Here’s How I Made the Sausage Rolls
- With the sausage made, I turned my attention to making the sausage rolls.
I rolled out a thawed puff pastry sheet on a floured surface of parchment paper to approximately 14 x 10 inches. Next, I cut the puff pastry in half, length-wise.
- I placed a roll of sausage down the center of each piece of puff pastry. Then, I brought the long side of the pastry together and pinched the edges to enclose the sausage and produce one long roll. I pinched the edge puff pastry together to ensure that it was completely sealed.
- I cut each of the puff pastry sausage logs into four equal pieces with a sharp knife. Each of the little rolls was the perfect size for us. Then, I placed the sausage rolls, seam side down, onto a rimmed baking sheet, that I had lined with non-stick aluminum foil.
Finally, to allow the steam to escape during baking, I cut two slits in each roll.
I placed the prepared sausage rolls into the refrigerator until I was ready to bake them.
- Before baking the sausage rolls, I brushed the top of the pastry with an egg wash (beaten egg with about a tablespoon of water). I could have also brushed them with milk.
I baked the sausage rolls in a preheated 425ยฐF oven for 25 to 30 minutes. The flaky puff pastry rose nicely and was a deep golden brown. More importantly, the sausage was fully cooked!
- Once the sausage rolls were done, I removed them from the oven. I allowed the sausage rolls to cool for about 10 minutes before serving them.
Even though sausage rolls are most often served as an appetizer, I also like to serve them as an entrรฉe.
Either way, the Easy Peasy British Sausage Rolls in flaky pastry are amazingly delicious.
Do yourself a favor and try this homemade sausage rolls recipe. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
Both puff pastry and phyllo dough utilize layering of dough. Puff pastry is created by incorporating butter into theย dough. On the other hand, phyllo dough, all by itself,ย is virtually free of any fat. Rather the fat is added right before baking.ย Phyllo doughย doesn’tย puffย when it bakesโit crisps.
Phyllo dough does not puff when during baking, whereas puff pastry, as the name implies, does puff during baking.
You can make your ground pork for the sausage rolls if you have a food processor. I typically use a Boston butt that I cut into 1 to 1 ยฝ-inch pieces. I process the pieces for 10 to 15 seconds before adding the other ingredients.
I make the sausage rolls with uncooked sausage. The sausage cooks as the sausage rolls are baked in the oven.
Some fat in the sausage is necessary. If my ground pork is too lean, the sausage ends up being very dry. In cases where the sausage is quite lean (90% lean or higher), I often add about a tablespoon of butter to the sausage ingredients.
If I use the food processor to “grind” the Boston butt, I make sure not to include too much fat in the pieces.
You can make the sausage rolls ahead of time. If you’re going to cook them on the same day as you make the sausage rolls, just refrigerate them until you’re ready to pop them in the oven.
You can also freeze the uncooked sausage rolls and bake them frozen. Just add 5 minutes or so to the cooking time.
These sausage rolls make delicious leftovers. I refrigerate the leftover sausage rolls and heat them at 350ยฐF for 10 to 15 minutes.
Other British Recipes
For a bite-sized treat, try my British-style Sausage Roll Bites. Also, if you’re looking for some more authentic British fare, you should try some of my favorites:
I hope you liked this Easy Peasy British Sausage Rolls recipe as much as I did. If so, please consider rating it and leaving a comment. Also, if youโd like to receive notifications of new posts by email, enter your email address in the Subscribe box.
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Recipe
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Easy Peasy British Sausage Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry thawed
- 1 pound (16 ounces, 454 grams) ground pork (See Tip 1)
- ยฝ cup (2.65 ounces, 75 grams) dry bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- ยฝ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Dash ground nutmeg
- Dash mace
- โ cup (2.65 ounces, 75 grams) water
- 1 egg for egg wash (optional)
Instructions
Sausage
- Add ground pork, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, sage, nutmeg, mace and water to bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Process 20 seconds. Cook small amount in microwave for 20 seconds; taste for seasonings and consistency. Correct seasonings if necessary. Process for additional 30 seconds, or until desired consistency is reached. Cover and refrigerate. Yield: About 20 ounces sausage. (See Tip 2)
Sausage Rolls
- Preheat oven to 425ยฐ F.
- Roll puff pastry sheet to approximately 14 x 10-inches on a lightly floured surface. Cut in half lengthwise. Place a roll of half of the sausage down the center. Bring sides together, and pinch to seal. Make sure that roll is thoroughly sealed. Repeat with other half of puff pastry and remaining sausage.
- Cut each roll to desired size (I cut each roll into four pieces). Cut 2 to 3 diagonalย slits in each piece. Place on rimmed baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil. (See Tip 3)
- Brush with egg wash. Bake at 425ยฐ F for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and sausage is completely cooked. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 4 servings. (See Tip 4)
Tips/Notes
- If you can’t find ground pork, you can grind your own with pieces of Boston butt. Cut Boston butt into 1 to 1 ยฝ-inches and process in food processor for 10 to 15 seconds. Add remaining sausage ingredients and proceed as above.ย
- If your ground pork is very lean (90% lean or above), you might want to add a tablespoon of butter to the sausage mixture. The finished sausage should have the consistency of a pรขtรฉ and be very finely ground.ย
- You can make the sausage rolls ahead of time up to this point. Refrigerate if you’re going to cook them later in the day or freeze for up to one month. You can cook the sausage rolls frozen. Just add 5 minutes or so to the cooking time.
- Cooked sausage rolls can be refrigerated and reheated at 350ยฐF for 10 to 15 minutes.
Willis in Alabama says
EXCELLENT!!! Thank you for the tips for seasoning and using the bread crumbs. I used half ground pork and half country sausage (us style) and added the suggested seasonings (minus half the salt since I used pre-seasoned meat for half). They are amazing – just like I remember having in London! We will definitely be making these again.
Chula King says
Thanks so much! These are definitely our favorites.
Chual
Val Christy says
I’m having trouble finding your tips. Can you help?
Chula King says
Val,
The Tips are in the recipe card below the Instructions. When I changed the recipe template some time back, it changed “Tips” to “Notes”. I’ve changed it back to “Tips”.
Sorry for the confusion.
Chula
Roger says
Hello Chula, I’ve tried different recipes and yours is the best! To make things less messy with the filling I used a disposable piping bag, worked a treat! Many thanks!!!
Chula King says
Hi Roger,
What a great idea to use a disposable piping bag! I never would have thought to do that, but I can definitely see that it would work like a charm!
Thanks so much for passing this on to me!
Chula
Maggie says
What a great idea!!
Belinda Quijada says
Thank you, Iโve been buying the sausage rolls at the English store and they cost nearly $20.00 for a pack of 4.
Now I can make them myself
Chula King says
Hope you enjoy them!
Anonymous says
These are soooo good!! Such an easy recipe to follow. I am British and these taste so close to what I would buy in a shop in downtown Chester. Glad I found this recipe!
marjorie hunter says
i am going to try this tomorrow using maple leaf pork sausage meat
Chula King says
Hope it turns out for you Marjorie!
Chula