Sometimes I am so excited by a recipe because I know it will make someone else happy. This dish is one of those recipes. It’s fairly simple. My husband loves sausage. My husband also loves meatballs. If I could make a sausage based meatball, I would have a doubly happy diner. And, I made it happen.
Sure, I could have incorporated sausage into a meatball made with ground beef or veal, but I wanted the dish to focus on the sausage. I didn’t want the sausage to have to compete to be the prominent protein. By eliminating the other meats, I was on my way. Adding cheddar would give it more flavor and help the meatball hold its shape.
When making these sausage balls, I kept the flavor profile in mind. What did I want the finished product to taste like? First, I wanted it to be sausage forward, so for that reason I chose hot sausage. To keep it slightly more healthy I used turkey sausage to lower the amount of fat and calories. Of course, I then took away the attempt at healthiness by adding a whole bunch of cheese. I used cheddar, which provided some gooey-ness but not too strong of a flavor to compete with the sausage.
These meatballs are best served hot. You want to enjoy them while the cheese is warm and the sausage in moist. If needed, you could transfer them from baking sheet to a crockpot or saucepot of marinara until you’re ready to eat.
- 20 oz. hot turkey sausage
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 3 cups shredded cheddar
- 1 egg
- Salt & pepper
- Preheat oven to 375. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove sausage from casing, if needed.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; mix by hand to thoroughly combine.
- Form mixture into 2-inch balls.
- Place on lined sheet, leaving space between each.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Serve with pasta sauce.
