How to Make Sausage Stuffing Balls | The Best Stuffing Recipe (2024)

Sausage stuffing is quite a crowd-pleaser at dinnertime. And these are the best sausage stuffing balls to enjoy with your roast dinner. They are not as easy to make as a simple packet mix of stuffing, but with just a little more effort you can create a such a delicious side dish you’ll wonder why you didn’t make these sooner!

Plus, you can make prepare these sage sausage stuffing balls ahead of time and freeze them for later use.

Not to be mistaken for sausage balls. These sausage stuffing balls have breadcrumbs, onion, herbs (such as sage), and flavouring to make them a hearty accompaniment to a traditional roast dinner.

What exactly is sausage stuffing?

Sausage stuffing is another version of a traditional stuffing recipe that is usually made as an addition to roasted meats often served as Sunday Roast dinner or on occasions such as Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving.

The most popular stuffing version in the UK is sage and onion stuffing, which is essentially breadcrumbs flavoured with sage, fried onion, and lemon.

This recipe has the addition of sausage meat and lends a lovely porky, meaty, earthy flavour to a meal.

What is in this sausage and herb stuffing balls recipe?

The predominant ingredient in this recipe is the sausagemeat. Around the festive period, you can often find sausage meat sold in supermarkets. Otherwise, simply buy your favourite sausages and remove them from their casings.

As well as using sage, a popular herb to complement the pork of the sausage meat, we use fresh parsley in this recipe. This gives a nice fragrant and fresh element to the stuffing that cuts through the meatiness.

Other flavour notes include fresh lemon juice and zest for much-needed acidity. And of course, the caramelised diced onion lends a sweetness to the meat.

Plus, I use a little bit of chicken stock to help bind the stuffing balls. This isn’t essential, you could use a dash of water, but I find it adds another depth of flavour for extra tastiness.

How to make breadcrumbs for stuffing

We also use fresh breadcrumbs for our stuffing balls. You can make this yourself by blitzing stale bread in a food processor.

You can also use store-bought breadcrumbs if you wish. Just use the best quality you can find.

How to serve sausage stuffing balls

As there is a little more effort to make this stuffing over a packet of stuffing it can be worth making the balls ahead of time. Simply cook up the onions, combine with the other ingredients, shape into balls, chill, fry, then freeze until ready to cook with your meal.

The sausage stuffing can be served with all the usual meats or a roast dinner. We always make plenty of stuffing balls so we can enjoy them as leftovers the next day, or even sneak a cheeky bite out the fridge when no-one is looking!

We like to serve sausage stuffing balls with our Simple Roast Chicken, or Slow Roast Lamb. And of course, it is always served on Christmas Day with our Roast Turkey dinner.

SAUSAGE AND HERB STUFFING BALLS (SERVES 8-10)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 Large White Onion (approx 180-200g), finely diced
• 500g Sausagemeat
• 150g Fresh White Breadcrumbs
• 1 Unwaxed Lemon, juice and zest
• 3 tbsp of Chicken Stock
• 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp Fresh Sage, chopped
• Large pinch of Sea Salt
• Generous pinch of Ground Black Pepper

METHOD

1. In a large frying pan, fry the onions in 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil on a low-medium heat until softened and golden. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool a little.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sausage meat, breadcrumbs, lemon juice and zest, parsley, sage, salt and pepper, cooked onions, and chicken stock. Make sure the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
3. Cut some baking paper to size to fit on a large baking tray. With clean hands, take a small handful of the stuffing mixture and shape into balls. Place onto the baking tray. Depending on how small or large you like them, this should make between 12 and 20 stuffing balls. Cover the tray with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least an hour, two is best.
4. Heat the remaining vegetable oil in a large frying pan on high heat. Fry the stuffing balls for about 5 minutes, turning several times until each side is golden brown.
5. Place the part-fried stuffing balls back on the baking tray. At this point, you can refrigerate or freeze the stuffing balls once cooled ready to be baked.
6. Preheat the oven to 200C. Bake the stuffing balls for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

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