These easy sausage cheese balls are the best holiday appetizer! They're super easy to make without Bisquick for the perfect Thanksgiving and Christmas party finger foods. All you need are 4 simple ingredients to make enough appetizers to feed a large crowd! Let's oven bake and air fry these savory snacks.
What Ingredients Do I Need?
Sausage balls can be made with 3 simple and cheap ingredients, which you can find anywhere. Sausage, cheese, and Bisquick. But what if you're out of baking mix? You can use flour to substitute for Bisquick easily!
No Bisquick? All you need is sausage, cheese, flour, and a dash of baking powder. For under $5, you can feed a hungry crowd.
The Magic Ratio of Ingredient
Lucky for you, there's no right way to make this recipe. Some people use a lot of flour, and others don't. I tried two recipes. Grandma's recipe calls for a minimal amount of flour. I also make a recipe with double the flour. That said, some people have failed this recipe by using pre-shredded cheese, so be sure to grate your cheese fresh!
Since grandma's recipe doesn't have much flour, I don't need to add liquid to the mixture. If you use more flour, then you'll need to add milk or water while mixing everything.
If your ingredients are thoroughly mixed, but you still see flour at the bottom of your bowl, then add a tiny amount of milk or water (as little as 1 TB and as much as ½ cup).
Using Lots or Little Flour
I made multiple batches of sausage balls, some with lots of flour and some with less. The more flour, the more the balls will be like bread rolls or biscuits. They don't have yeast, and we're using such dense ingredients that these won't be fluffy. But the added starch gives it that familiar bread-like quality.
My husband liked the flour heavy recipe better. He could eat more of them without hitting that wall that rich food provides.
I like his grandma's recipe of less flour better. Yes, they're super rich by not cutting them with flour, but I always prefer sausage over rolls, so go figure that this was my favorite of the two recipes.
Oven or Air Fryer
If you're feeding a large crowd or want to make more than enough appetizers for your party, then I'd recommend baking them. This recipe makes approximately 45 sausage balls that can be baked at once in the oven.
Let's say you have leftover sausage that you need to cook up. If you're making a small batch, then use the air fryer! I fit about 10 balls into my air fryer. They cooked faster in the air fryer, were super golden but slightly more dried out.
I thought the oven produced the best overall ball! Because they took longer in the oven, the cheese crisped up perfectly on the bottom, making them beyond yummy! I ate way more than I was anticipating.
- OVEN BAKE at 350 degrees for 18 minutes. Optional 1-2 minutes of broiling for a golden upper crust.
- AIR FRY at 350 degrees for 7 - 10 minutes. Keep a close eye that these don't overcook!
Recipe Tips & Tricks
Beware of overcooking
- Overcooking these will make dry, tough meatballs - use a meat thermometer and call them done at an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
- Too much flour can dry these out.
- Using too lean of meat can dry these out.
- The more flour you use, the more milk or water will be needed in the mixture. Use approximately ½ cup milk for every 2 cups of flour. I didn't use liquid when using 1 cup of flour.
- Using a small cookie scoop will give you uniform balls for even cooking.
- Lightly wet hand before rolling each ball for a beautiful round ball.
Bring on the flavor
- For added flavor, mix in chopped jalapeno, chives, and spices!
- Use your favorite cheese. Just make sure to grate the cheese freshly. Some people have failed this recipe by using pre-shredded cheese.
- Mix in dried cranberries for a bit of sweetness.
Dip!
- Ranch
- Ranch or French Onion flavored Sour Cream
- BBQ Sauce
- Mayo & Mustard Mix
- Russian / Thousand Island Dressing or Big Mc Sauce
- Spicy Honey Sauce
Need more recipes?
- The Ultimate Ham Gravy
- The Best Creamed Peas!
- Easy Broiled Pork Chops
- 2 Ingredient Fudge (with condensed milk)
- 2 Ingredient Fudge (with frosting)
Sausage Balls with Flour
Ingredients
- 1 lb grated sharp cheddar freshly grated
- 1 cup flour
- 1.25 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 lb breakfast sausage
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Freshly grate cheese.
- Mix flour & baking powder with the cheese.
- Break the ground sausage up into crumbles and mix into cheese. Mix well. There shouldn't be any dry flour left over. Add tiny amounts of milk or water if there's any dry bits that won't mix in. Start with 1 TB of liquid at a time and mix!
- Scoop mixture into small balls. Lightly wetting your hands with water will help smooth the balls.
- Bake sausage balls at 350 for 18 minutes. You can broil them for 1-2 minutes for a golden crust. Air Fry sausage balls at 350 for 7-10 minutes. Don't overcook them to avoid drying them out. They're done when internal tempature reaches 160 degrees.
Video
Notes
- Overcooking these will make dry, tough meatballs - use a meat thermometer and call them done at an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
- Too much flour can dry these out.
- Using too lean of meat can dry these out.
- The more flour you use, the more milk or water will be needed in the mixture. Use approximately ½ cup milk for every 2 cups of flour. I didn't use liquid when using 1 cup of flour.
Katie says
This is my favorite sausage ball recipe and I've tried A LOT of them. I don't like using Bisquick anymore and I find going a little more heavy on the flour makes these little fluffy sausage balls.
Melanie says
Wow! Great feedback! Thanks you!!