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Sausage balls. Have you ever heard of them?
If you are from the South, there is a strong chance you have and grew up eating them around the holidays and at any potluck. Personally, I grew up eating them at my best friend Lindy’s house. Her dad, Coach Davis, was also one of my track coaches in high school. He would always make us his famous “sausage balls” when we went over to their house for breakfast and I could still eat a whole batch of them myself.
I’m not certain of Coach Davis’s exact recipe (so if you’re reading this Coach, don’t get angry) but I am pretty sure it contained the following ingredients: Bisquick, pork sausage, milk and cheese. There were likely a few other ingredients in there, but from my food-loving memory, that’s how Coach made them and they were absolutely delicious.
Because this recipe was a childhood favorite of mine, I wanted to recreate it using healthier, cleaner ingredients for my kiddos and I had some fun throughout the process! While these Gluten-Free Sausage Balls aren’t paleo or Whole30, as I am pretty sure if I even tried to make them Whole30 they’d be considered SWYPO and against the rules. Plus, when I did try to make them using paleo flours, they got way too dense and just didn’t taste quite right. Recreating them as healthy as possible, while still keeping their true flavors that I grew up eating, was important to me so I ended up choosing (after countless attempts) Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour and I am so happy with how they turned out. I highly recommend making these at the beginning of the week to have a grab-and-go breakfast or even as a make-ahead appetizer or side dish for a Thanksgiving or holiday party coming up.
For a dairy-free and gluten-free version, these Gluten-Free Sausage Balls are truly fantastic! The flavors brought back so many fond memories of my childhood friends and spending time with their families. I was so lucky to have friends with families that were so kind and generous to me growing up! I hope these bring back similar memories for those who grew up eating them as well.
For another gluten-free breakfast idea, try my Gluten-Free Ham and Cheese Quiche!
Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Sausage Balls
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-Free Flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (you can sub 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese)
- 1.5 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped about 5 sprigs
- 4 tbsp ghee (melted and cooled slightly) (to keep Dairy Free, sub vegan butter)
- 1 lb bulk pork breakfast sausage
- 1 large egg, whisked
- 1/2 cup nutpods original dairy-free creamer (you can sub whole milk here)
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free baking flour, baking powder, salt, nutritional yeast, baking soda, thyme and melted ghee. Stir until it turns into a crumbly, dough-like texture.
- Using your hands, add the pork sausage into the bowl by breaking into smaller pieces. Continue to use your hands to work the pork into the flour mixture until evenly combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, creamer and dijon until well combined. Pour into the sausage mixture. Using the back of a fork, work the contents in the bowl (by stirring and mashing) until they are well combined.
- Using a small cookie scoop (about 1 tbsp) drop sausage ball mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Using damp hands, go back through and roll into balls.
- Place in the preheated oven and cook until the pork is cooked through, about 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and enjoy!
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this for my daughter-in-law who eats GF/DF and they were a hit. I used dried thyme as I didn’t have fresh and also turkey sausage. When I make these again I will probably cut back 1/2 tsp of salt. Thanks for this great recipe! I will definitely be looking for more!
So happy you enjoyed!
These are the best ever. Gluten free and regular folks alike agree they’re as spectacular as the bisquick ones of our youth. I can always depend on Alex to create gluten free versions of my favorites I no longer could have. I always make one batch with nutritional yeast and one with shredded cheddar and it’s a breeze to make in the stand mixer. The BEST leftovers at any temp. Thanks for making our holidays delicious, Alex!!
These are fantastic! I used regular all purpose flour because I tolerate gluten, and they were perfect. The sausage I used had a good bit of salt in it, so I might cut down on the added salt next time. Such a winner!
Oh good!! So glad it worked the same with regular flour!
Unfortunately these did not turn out well for me. I do not follow a gluten free diet but I did follow this recipe because I wanted to use up gluten free flour I had. The smell was even bad! Next time I need to follow the recipe with Bisquick.
Sorry it wasn’t a win for you!
What’s the difference between this recipe and the sage/sausage balls? Love this recipe, by the way! Super yummy and my four year old nephews gobble them up!
Different flavors and slightly different textures. The pork and sage breakfast meatballs are a true meatball and also dairy-free, while the sausage balls have cheese and have almost a biscuit quality to them thanks to the flour, etc. that is included to sub the Bisquick that is traditionally used.
How would you go about making these ahead/freezing them?
You can bake them off, then freeze them– and just reheat from frozen until warm
These are delicious. I used turkey sausage to cut down on the fat. It needs some sort of dipping sauce to go with it.
Love these! Dipped in a hot pepper jelly…wish there was a paleo version of hot pepper jelly, yet to find one…if anyone could do it, it would be you!
Hi Alex! I made these last year and they were amazing but I can’t remember how many sausage balls it made! Do you know roughly how many balls this makes?
I think it makes 18-24 balls.. I haven’t made in awhile I need to remake to count!
With a 1 TBSP scoop, I make 48. We make these every week! Yum!