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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.
What is the recommended way of storing these / reheating? Thanks!
I personally store mine in a air tight container. Then just pop them in the microwave for 20 seconds or so on the go. They aren’t near as good reheated, but they still are yummy
What do you think about using almond flour in place of the gluten free flour for a lower carb option?
Thanks! LOVE your recipes!
I really tried to make these Grain-Free and they just were so dense and didn’t turn out right.
We made these with almond flour and they are FIRE! They taste like sausage biscuits from McDonalds – so good!! We used the country sausage from The Fresh Market in their display case!!
Can I substitute a flax egg here? Or would something else work?
yes, that should work just fine here!
Amazing sausage balls! I have missed sausage balls since going gluten free and these taste like the real thing! I normally do cheese instead of nutritional yeast and skip the nut pods and they still turn out good!
To clarify, you do not add any nut pods and they are still good? So no milk at all? I am making these for Christmas Breakfast and don’t want to mess up lol!!! 🙂
Did you try making these without nutpods? We made them exactly as the recipe and they were so amazing, but I want to take them to someone who has a nut allergy, so trying to decide if I can just leave that out or if I need to replace it.
you can sub heavy creamer or milk!
Except that they are also allergic to dairy. 😬
Made these today and the are delicious!
Anything you can substitute if you don’t have fresh thyme leaves? 🙂
you could use dried thyme if you have that!
Hi Alex! Can you make the mixture the day before, then ball and bake when you plan to serve them?
yes! 🙂
Made a batch of these today. SO YUM!!!!
So glad you love them!
Any suggested seasonings to add if you can only find regular pork sausage vs “breakfast pork sausage”?
Is it just plain ground pork, or “pork sausage”
If you didn’t need this to be gluten free could you use the same amount of regular flour? Not sure if it’s equal parts. Thanks!
I haven’t tried it with Regular flour; however I think it would work because the GF I use is a 1:1 ratio swap with regular flour.
Can you use normal butter or does it need to be ghee?
butter would work, and it’d be delightful!