You can prepare these super easy Sausage Meat Stuffing Balls ahead of Christmas Day and either refrigerate or freeze them until needed. Then either cook them in the oven - or the airfryer if you find yourself short on oven space - and enjoy as part of your Christmas feast.
With just a handful of ingredients and minimal prep, these sausage meat stuffing balls are perfect for busy festive cooking when oven space and time are at a premium.
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Crisp on the outside, soft and savoury in the middle, they can be prepped ahead, frozen and baked when needed. They're ideal for Christmas Day or any roast dinner that needs a little extra comfort on the plate. Lets start a movement - stuffing balls aren't just for Christmas!
If you'd prefer to simplify your Christmas stuffing even more, then you can try my Sausage Meat with Paxo recipe.
Ingredients for Super Easy Sausage Meat Stuffing Balls
- Red onion
- Olive Oil
- Pork sausage meat - you can usually pick this up at most supermarkets, especially during the festive time of year. But if you're struggling, simply de-case your favourite sausages.
- Breadcrumbs: preference for fine breadcrumbs as it maintains the texture
- Sage I typically find fresh sage in either Tesco or Sainsbury's but you can substitute for 2 teaspoon dried sage if needed.
- Whole Cooked Chestnuts - Merchant Gourmet are my go-to for these.
How to make Sausage Meat Stuffing Balls
Heat olive oil in a pan and fry finely chopped red onion until it starts to soften. Add finely chopped sage to the pan with the onion and cook for final few minutes before removing from the heat and allowing to cool.
Finely chop the whole cooked chestnuts. In a separate bowl, add sausage meat, breadcrumbs, salt & pepper. Once the onion and sage mixture have cooled slightly, add to the sausage meat with the finely chopped chestnuts.
Now you have your sausage meat stuffing mixture, and you can choose what form you want to make. You can either add into trays for baking (cutting into squares once cooked) or into golf-ball sized balls for the more traditional stuffing balls. You can then either cook straight away or store in the fridge or freezer until needed.
Storage of Christmas Stuffing Balls
The prepared sausage meat stuffing can either be:
- added into foil trays for baking: this removes the need for shaping into balls, so this is a time-saving option with less prep required
- shaped into 12 golf ball sized balls
Both options can be either refrigerated or frozen until needed, or cooked straight away.
If freezing to be cooked later: assemble the sausage meat stuffing balls and place on a lined tray, in the freezer, for 2 hours. Remove them once partially frozen and put in a sealable freezer bag for longer-term freezer storage to save space. The foil trays can be sealed and storage as they are.
How To Prep Ahead For Christmas
Sausage meat stuffing balls can be prepared in advance of Christmas and either kept (raw or cooked - I would recommend raw) in the fridge or the freezer. Simply make and put in a fridge/freezer-safe container (airtight bag or dish) until needed.
- fridge (for up to 4 days)
- freezer (for up to 3 months) - they can be defrosted in the fridge overnight or cooked directly from frozen
How To Cook Sausage Meat Stuffing Balls
Cook times will vary dependant on how the Christmas stuffing balls have been stored and whether you're cooking in oven or the airfryer:
Oven
Pre-heat oven to 200C (fan) / 220C conventional or 390F
- cooking straight away once prepared: 18 minutes
- cooking from refrigerated: 20 minutes
- cooking from frozen: 23 - 25 minutes
Airfryer
Cook at 200C or 390F
- cooking straight away once prepared: 12 minutes
- cooking from refrigerated: 14 minutes
- cooking from frozen: 18 - 20 minutes
If you cook the stuffing balls in advance, you can reheat in the microwave until piping hot throughout.
Other Make Ahead Christmas Recipes
If you love this Super Easy Sausage Meat Stuffing balls recipe and want to add some more of my Christmas favourites, then try these:
If you have any questions please leave a comment and I'll get back to you. Or I would really appreciate it if you left me a review below.
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Super Easy Sausage Meat Stuffing Balls (Make Ahead Recipe)
Ingredients
- 400 g pork sausage meat
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 20 g fresh sage or 2 teaspoon dried
- 30 g fine breadcrumbs
- 180 g whole cooked chestnuts finely chopped
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 200C (fan) / 220C conventional / 390F degrees (if cooking them straight away) or you can airfry at 200C
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in pan and fry finely chopped 1 red onion until it starts to soften
- Prepare 20 g fresh sage by cutting stems off then finely chopping leaves. Add the chopped sage to pan with the softened onion and cook for final few minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to cool
- In a separate bowl, add 400 g pork sausage meat, 30 g fine breadcrumbs, salt & pepper
- Once onion and sage mixture has cooled slightly, mix it through sausage mixture with the 180 g whole cooked chestnuts (finely chopped)
- Using wet hands (I spray mine with some olive oil to stop the mixture sticking to my fingers) - portion into 12 golf ball sized balls and place on baking tray lined with foil / grease proof paper (or you can halve the mixture and put in foil baking trays for storage and baking.
- You can either: cook straight away in the oven or the airfryer, refrigerate or freeze to be cooked later when needed (See Notes below for full list of options)
Notes
Oven
Pre-heat oven to 200C (fan) / 220C conventional or 390F- cooking straight away once prepared: 18 minutes
- cooking from refrigerated: 20 minutes
- cooking from frozen: 23 - 25 minutes
Airfryer
Cook at 200C or 390F- cooking straight away once prepared: 12 minutes
- cooking from refrigerated: 14 minutes
- cooking from frozen: 18 - 20 minutes
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