Pancake Sausage Balls
These pancake sausage balls are an easy breakfast made with pancake mix, breakfast sausage, and cheese for a quick, bite-sized meal. Whether you’re preparing a holiday breakfast, meal prepping for the week, or looking for a grab-and-go morning snack, these sausage balls bake up golden, flavorful, and ready in minutes.
Recipe Highlights
- How they taste: These pancake sausage balls have the savory flavor of classic sausage balls with a slight touch of sweetness from the pancake mix and maple syrup. Combined with melted cheese, they create a soft, flavorful breakfast bite that many people compare to a sausage and cheese McGriddle.
- Skill level: With simple ingredients and an easy process, these pancake sausage balls are super beginner and time friendly. A popular dish during the holidays these are perfect because they can be prepped and they don’t take much time to make.
- Storing: They can be kept in the fridge and frozen if needed. Prep them beforehand then bake when you’re ready to serve.
Ingredient tips
- Sausage: Use your favorite ground breakfast sausage. This will the the primary flavor so make sure to choose a sausage you enjoy. It can be ground turkey, Italian or chicken sausage for the recipe and they can all be swapped 1:1.
- Pancake mix: Most pancake mixes work well in this recipe, including Bisquick. Since pancake mix already contains many of the dry ingredients needed for sausage balls, it acts as a simple shortcut while still producing a soft texture and great flavor. If you’d rather make sausage balls using flour, follow my sausage balls without pancake mix recipe instead.
- Cheese: Any cheese will work for the recipe but sharp cheddar gives that nice bite to stand out in the baked sausage balls. You can also use pre-shredded cheese in this recipe without any problems for the ease.
Chef’s tips
- This is a great recipe to prep ahead of time. Mix the ingredients, cover, then leave in the fridge until you’re ready to roll the balls out. You can also roll them, then freeze them and bake from frozen if needed.
- Have fun with mix in’s! A bunch of people stick to the basics which can work but you can make them more savory with veggies or make them cheddar bay style.
- If there are extras, you can make these babies in the air fryer. There is no secret to that. Simply use the same cooking times as provided but in the air fryer instead. You can just bake more in the oven.
How to make pancake sausage balls
- To start, you’ll need to mix the ground sausage with pancake mix.
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Next, fold in the shredded cheese and the maple syrup. Then, roll the pancake sausage balls out by hand.
- Place the rolled sausage balls on a sheet pan then place in the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Allow to cool a bit then serve.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I use Bisquick for the pancake mix?
Yes. Bisquick can be substituted one-for-one in this recipe. Since it contains similar ingredients to pancake mix, it produces nearly identical results in the finished sausage balls.
How many sausage balls does the recipe make?
Depending on size, you’ll get anywhere from 20-30. I use a large cookie scoop or a large spoon so when I make them I normally get 20-25.
Can the recipe be made if I don’t have pancake mix?
Yes, but you’ll need a different recipe. Here is my sausage balls without pancake mix recipe.
Do they freeze well?
Yes, you can freeze them before or after baking if you’d like. If you want to cook later I do suggest adding to the cooking time when cooking from frozen.
Can you make sausage balls with pancake mix instead of Bisquick?
Yes. Pancake mix works well as a substitute for Bisquick in sausage balls because it already contains many of the dry ingredients needed in the recipe. The result is a soft, flavorful sausage ball with a slightly sweeter flavor than traditional versions.
Can I make pancake sausage balls ahead of time?
Yes. Pancake sausage balls are great for making ahead because the mixture can be prepared and stored in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake. You can also bake them in advance and reheat them before serving, making them perfect for holiday breakfasts, brunches, and meal prep.
What to serve with pancake sausage balls
Pancake sausage balls are especially popular during the holidays, but they’re also great for meal prep, brunch gatherings, and busy mornings. Here are some breakfast recipes that pair well with them:
- Blueberry French Toast Casserole
- Pancake Casserole
- Crockpot Breakfast Casserole
- Croissant Breakfast Casserole
- Crockpot French Toast Casserole
- Biscuits & Gravy Breakfast Casserole
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Pancake Sausage Balls
Ingredients
- 1 pound breakfast sausage
- 2 cup pancake mix see recipe notes
- 2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Instructions
- To start, you'll need to mix the ground sausage with pancake mix. Some people use a mixer but I just fold it in until everything is mixed together evenly. It will require a little elbow grease to do it by hand.
- Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- Next, fold in the shredded cheese and the maple syrup. Then, roll the pancake sausage balls out by hand. I used a spoon but you can use a cookie scoop and make them about 2 inches in diameter. You can get 20-30 sausage balls out of this recipe.
- Place the rolled sausage balls on a sheet pan then place in the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes. This will change on how big you made the sausage balls. But from experience at least 12-15 minutes minimum is needed regardless of the size.
- Allow to cool a bit then serve.
My husband loves these
The instructions are a little confusing. I’ve never made them before and when it says complete mix it sounds like just the powder. The correct term would be batter. it’s important to use correct terms when cooking. now I don’t know how this is going to turn out since I added the liquid when I added the syrup. Takes the joy out of making things
My apologies if the wording confused you. I addressed it immediately and made a note for anyone else to avoid any future confusion.