These Sausage Stuffing Balls are ultra soft and bursting with flavour. They’re easy to make and perfect with a roast dinner!
Why You’ll Love These Sausage Stuffing Balls
I’ve made my fair share of stuffing over the years, and after plenty of tweaking, I’ve found it’s the little things that make all the difference:
- Grated apple & onion – Both add moisture, whilst the apple brings a subtle sweetness that works so well with the savoury sausage meat.
- Fresh breadcrumbs – They soak up the moisture from the apple and onion, helping keep the stuffing balls tender without becoming dense.
- Classic stuffing flavours – Sage brings that unmistakable stuffing flavour, with a little nutmeg for extra warmth and sausage meat for richness.
Stuffing Balls vs Meatballs
Although they’re similar in principle, these have a much softer, more stuffing-like texture thanks to the fresh breadcrumbs soaked in grated apple and onion. They also have those classic sage and onion flavours you’d expect from traditional stuffing, with a little sweetness from the apple.
Making the Sausage Stuffing Mixture
The main thing to get right here is the breadcrumbs. You’ll want to use fresh breadcrumbs, not dried or Panko, otherwise you won’t get quite the same soft texture. Just pulse some slices of bread in a food processor until you get fine crumbs.
Before adding the sausage meat, I recommend mashing the breadcrumbs with the grated apple, onion and garlic. This allows them to soak up all those lovely juices and helps everything combine evenly; kind of like a Panade. Once the breadcrumbs have absorbed the moisture, add the sausage meat, herbs and seasoning, then mix until just combined. Try not to overwork the mixture!
Process shots: add grated garlic, onion & apple and breadcrumbs to a bowl (photo 1), mash with a fork and allow bread to soak up moisture (photo 2), add in sausage meat, sage, nutmeg and seasoning (photo 3), combine then begin scooping out meat (photo 4).
Baked Sausage Stuffing Balls
The quickest and easiest method to making the stuffing balls is individually scooping out all the meat, then rolling one by one from there (see photo below).
The best cooking method by far is oven baking. This gives you the perfect ratio of browning on the outside, whilst leaving the stuffing balls ultra soft in the centre. Because of the high bread content, I don’t recommend pan frying these as you run the risk of them sticking to the pan.
Process shots: place chunks of meat on chopping board (photo 1), roll into balls (photo 2), transfer to baking tray (photo 3), spray with oil then bake (photo 4).
Serving Sausage Stuffing Balls
As I mentioned earlier, I usually serve these as part of a Roast Dinner spread (they really shine on Christmas Day). They’re also perfect as a Thanksgiving Side. The sage, onion and subtle sweetness from the apple work beautifully alongside roast turkey, and the individual portions make them ideal for a big dinner.
You could however, stick some toothpicks in them and serve them as an appetizer. I recommend a side dip of Cranberry Sauce or Gravy!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these sausage stuffing meatballs shall we?!
Yes, and this is my preferred ‘get ahead’ method. Fully assemble and roll the stuffing balls up to a day ahead, then tightly cover and refrigerate. When ready, spray with oil and bake as instructed, adding a few extra minutes if needed when baking straight from the fridge.
Yes, just allow them to completely cool, then cover and refrigerate for 2–3 days. Reheat in the oven at 180C/350F, loosely covered with foil to prevent them drying out, until piping hot throughout.
To freeze, I recommend first placing the uncooked balls on a lined tray in the freezer, then transferring them to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as instructed. You can also freeze cooked stuffing balls; just thaw and reheat as above.
How to make Sausage Stuffing Balls (Full Recipe & Video)
Sausage Stuffing Balls
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Box Grater
- Peeler (for apple)
- 1 tbsp Measuring Spoon
- Large Greaseproof Baking Tray
Ingredients
- 1lb / 500g Sausage Meat (see notes)
- 1.5oz / 45g Soft White Bread (see notes)
- 1 medium Red/Sweet Apple, peeled, cored & grated
- 1 medium White Onion, peeled & grated
- 1 medium clove of Garlic, peeled & finely grated/minced
- 2 tsp Dried Sage
- 1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4-1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- Oil Spray, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
- Bread: Pulse the bread in a food processor until it forms a crumb-like texture. In a large mixing bowl, add the breadcrumbs, grated apple, onion & garlic. Use a fork to mash everything and allow the bread to absorb the moisture.
- Balls: Add the sausage meat, sage, nutmeg and salt & pepper. Give it all a good mix until everything is evenly combined. Use a 1 tbsp measuring spoon to scoop out the meat and space the chunks out on a greaseproof baking tray (or use baking/parchment paper). Once you've scooped out all the meat, roll the chunks of meat into balls.
- Bake: Give them a good spray of oil, then bake in the oven for 20 mins or until golden and piping hot through the centre.
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
For more festive goodness check out my Cranberry, Sage & Turkey Meatballs!
For more similar recipes check out these beauties too:
Roast Dinner Recipes
- Easy Yorkshire Puddings
- Goose Fat Roast Potatoes
- Pigs in Blankets
- Broccoli & Cauliflower Cheese
- Bread Sauce
- Classic Sage and Onion Stuffing
So delicious!
Been looking for something different for New Years eve and these Sausage Stuffing Balls will be perfect. Thanks for such great recipes and emails, keep up the good work. Stay safe and healthy and let’s hope 2021 is a great year for all of us.
That’s awesome to hear! Hope they go down well on New Years Eve. Thanks so much for following along! Sending lots of well wishes your way too, Jacquie. Chris x