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These Southern Sausage balls are the definition of dangerously easy — just Breakfast sausage, shredded cheddar, and Bisquick rolled into bite-sized balls and baked until the edges are golden and the cheese is melted into every bite. They’re always the first thing to disappear from the table, and once you make them, you’ll understand why.
Why you’ll love these:
Only 3 ingredients — sausage, cheese, and baking mix, nothing more
Ready in about 30 minutes — no chilling, no fancy equipment, no fuss
Crowd-proof — kids, picky eaters, people watching what they eat — everyone grabs them
Great for make-ahead — bake a batch, freeze the extras raw, and pull them out whenever you need them
Travels and reheats beautifully — just as good the next day as they are straight out of the oven
A few notes on the ingredients:
The sausage is the thing you can play with most. I use Jimmy Dean most of the time, the mild roll. But hot sausage works great if your people can handle it, and I’ve done half-and-half when I wasn’t sure about the crowd. Just don’t use anything pre-cooked. You need raw sausage — it all sort of melts together as it bakes.
The cheese. Use sharp cheddar. Extra-sharp if you want to be bold about it. Freshly shredded is better, and I know that’s annoying to say because it means you’re standing there with the box grater, but the pre-shredded stuff has a coating on it that keeps it from melting into the dough the way it should. If you only have the bag stuff, use it, it’ll be fine, but — you’ll notice a difference. I’m just being honest.
Bisquick is what I use and what I’d recommend. You can use another biscuit mix if that’s what you have. I tried once with a generic store brand and the texture was a little off — a little drier, maybe — but still totally edible. I’ve seen people make these with homemade biscuit mix and I respect the commitment but I don’t share it.
Ingredients:
1 pound raw Pork breakfast sausage (mild or hot)
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese — packed, don’t be stingy
2 cups biscuit baking mix (Bisquick or similar)
That’s it. Three things. I feel like I should add something else here but there is genuinely nothing else to add.
To make them:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment. If you don’t have parchment, grease it well — these won’t stick terribly but they will stick a little and you’ll lose the bottoms if you’re not careful.
Put everything in a large mixing bowl. All three ingredients, just dump them in. And then you have to use your hands, which I know some people hate, but there’s no way around it. A spoon won’t get it done. You need to really work it together — knead and press and squeeze — until there are no dry pockets of baking mix left and the sausage and cheese are fully integrated. It takes a few minutes and your hands will be a mess and that’s just part of it.
The mixture will be thick and a little sticky and might look like it’s not quite coming together — just keep going. If it genuinely crumbles and won’t hold a shape, work in a tablespoon of milk. If it feels like wet clay, sprinkle in a little more baking mix. These small adjustments matter more than you’d think.
Roll the mixture into balls about an inch, inch and a quarter across — roughly a tablespoon each. Place them on the baking sheet with a little room between them. You should get around 24, give or take, depending on how consistent you are, which I am not. Mine are always slightly irregular and I’ve stopped caring about that.
Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. You’re looking for the edges to go golden and for little melted cheese spots to appear on the surface. The inside should be fully cooked through — no pink. If you’re unsure, pull one apart. It should hold together and look like a very dense, cheesy biscuit all the way through.
Let them cool on the pan for five minutes before you move them. They firm up a little as they sit and they’ll fall apart less. Serve warm.
Variations:
Some people add a pinch of garlic powder and some cayenne and honestly they’re really good that way. I’ve seen versions online with cream cheese mixed in, which I tried once and found a little too rich, almost heavy, though I’ve seen people love it. The core three-ingredient version is what I always come back to. Sometimes a thing is right because it’s simple, not despite it.
If you want extra cheese — and a lot of people do — go up to 2½ cups. Pack it in when you measure. They’ll be greasier but in a good way.
Storing and reheating:
Once they’re fully cool, they’ll keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about three days. Reheat them in the oven at 325°F for eight to ten minutes and they come back really well — crisp edges, warm center, almost like fresh. The microwave works if you’re in a hurry but they go a little soft, which bothers me more than it bothers most people.
For make-ahead, you can roll the raw balls and freeze them on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a zip bag. Bake from frozen at 350°F and add three to five minutes to the bake time. I always mean to have a stash of these in the freezer and I never quite manage to keep them there long enough for it to matter.
Serve warm. With ranch if you want