Epic, EASY classic homemade sausage rolls that I dare say rivals the famous Bourke St Bakery, declared by many as the best sausage rolls in Australia!
It takes more than store bought sausage mince to make a truly delicious filling. The little but important thing I do that takes this from “yummy” to “OMG these are incredible!!” is to sauté garlic, onion, celery and BACON to mix into pork mince (not store bought sausage meat!).
Sausage rolls are Australia’s answer to America’s Pigs in a Blanket – but (I’m going to say it!!) SO MUCH BETTER!!!
A juicy homemade sausage mixture wrapped in puff pastry. I mean really – do you need any more information than that to know these are wickedly delicious?
Brits reading this are probably rolling their eyes or getting fired up, thinking “Hey!!! WE invented Sausage Rolls!” OK, true that. One might say Australia has adopted it as our own. 😉
Why this is the BEST Homemade Sausage Rolls Recipe ever
It was actually my brother who created this recipe, so I can shout from the rooftops that this is the BEST homemade Sausage Rolls recipe ever and not feel like I’m being big headed! Here is what makes these sausage rolls seriously so good:
1. REAL PORK – It’s not made with sausage mince which is a mix of questionable ingredients – query how much is actually meat. This starts with pure pork mince. Real meat. Yay!
2. BACON – It’s not just about adding bacon for the sake of it. The plain fact is that bacon is salty and juicy and when you chop it up finely and mix it through the pork, it makes it so much tastier!
3. GARLIC, ONION & CELERY – Fact: when you saute these together slowly, they become sweet and form the flavour base of many of the most epic classic recipes in this big wide world. Like Beef Ragu. And Beef & Guinness Stew. And it does the same for Sausage Rolls. The sweetness and extra flavour it adds to the filling is just incomparable to just mixing in some raw chopped onion into the mince, which is what many standard recipes do. Plus, this adds moisture to the filling without making it watery (which = soggy base); and
4. NO GRATED VEGGIES – I won’t tell you not to sneak any veggies in, but what I will caution is that grated veggies are the main culprit for soggy pastry bases, even if you squeeze excess liquid out…..I think there is a time and place for hidden veggies. In my world, that does not include sausage rolls!
FENNEL ALL THE WAY!
This homemade Sausage Rolls recipe includes fennel, because fennel and pork are great mates. Just like basil and tomato. And if you’re a sausage roll connoisseur then you would probably know that the really great sausage rolls from patisseries and posh bakeries usually have a hint of fennel. 🙂 But it is optional!
There’s nothing complicated about this recipe, I promise. Just mix the filling (I use my hands!), place on puff pastry, roll then bake. 25 minutes later, you’re self control is going to be seriously tested as you try to resist taste testing just one more, just one more….
Sausage rolls are one of the few classic Aussie party foods that really can be made ahead because they can be frozen unbaked then when you’re ready to serve, all you have to do is bake them. No fussing with garnishes or assembling, just make sure there is plenty of tomato sauce (ketchup) to dunk them in! – Nagi x
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 brown onion , finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery , finely chopped
- 5 oz / 150g bacon , finely chopped (streaky and fatty, not the lean stuff!)
- 2 tsp whole fennel seeds , toasted (optional) (Note 1)
- 1 lb / 500g pork mince (ground pork) (not lean)
- 3/4 cup / 40g panko breadcrumbs (Note 2)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 2 1/2 sheets puff pastry , thawed then each cut into half (Note 3)
- 1 egg , lightly whisk
- Ketchup / tomato sauce
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Heat oil in a non stick fry pan over medium high heat. Sauté garlic, onion & celery for 2 minutes, then add bacon. Cook for a further 2 minutes (don't brown) then transfer to bowl and allow to cool slightly.
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Add remaining Filling ingredients into the bowl. Use your hands to mix well.
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Lay out a rectangle of pastry, long edge closest to you. Brush egg along one long edge.
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Get 1/5 th of the filling and shape into a long log shape down the middle of the pastry. Ensure the meat is tight and compact, without gaps. Roll up, sealing on the edge with egg wash on it.
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If you have time/patience, refrigerate for 1 hour (makes it easier/neater to cut)
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Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
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Cut each log into four equal lengths, or just two if you want full size sausage rolls. Brush with egg.
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Place on 2 baking trays lined with baking paper (or sprayed with oil). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, swapping trays halfway, or until the pastry is deep golden brown. Note: The filling will still look pink because of the bacon, but it's easy to tell from texture that it's cooked.
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Cool on trays. Serve warm or at room temperature.
1. Toasted fennel seeds (optional) - heat small fry pan over medium heat. Add fennel. Shake pan and toast for 1 - 2 minutes, until you can smell the fragrance of the fennel seeds.
2. Panko breadcrumbs are Japanese breadcrumbs which are larger than normal ones. For crumbed/breaded things, it makes them even crunchier. For fillings, they make the filling less dense, more moist. You can find them in the Asian section of most supermarkets in Australia nowadays (see here for Woolworths) and even alongside normal breadcrumbs.
You can substitute for normal breadcrumbs, but reduce the quantity to 1/2 cup otherwise the filling won't be as moist.
3. Puff pastry in Australia comes in sheets that are 25 x 25cm / 10 x 10" squares. Cut them in half so you have five 25 x 12.5cm / 10 x 5" rectangles.
4. To make ahead: Best assembled, cut, then frozen or refrigerated unbaked. Place in an airtight container in single layers with baking paper between each layer. Brush with egg wash just before baking (optional - could just spray with oil, helps make it golden). Bake from frozen for 40 minutes, or from fridge per recipe.
It is perfectly safe to thaw then refreeze puff pastry, it is not like meat. If you want the absolute best results, use a puff pastry made with a combination of butter and oil/shortening because it will puff up better after thawing. But the difference is negligible. Another great tip I learnt from Cook’s Illustrated!
5. Recipe originally published June 2014. Republished with new photos, new words but the same recipe (just tidied up the writing a bit!).
6. Nutrition per sausage roll. If you use low fat / turkey bacon, it reduces to 205 calories. If you use "light" puff pastry, it reduces to 150 calories.
LIFE OF DOZER
He has a rather generous sized bottom, doesn’t he? Bit like his Mama. 😉
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Thank you to your brother for creating and to you for sharing this excellent recipe Nagi! I made these sausage rolls for dinner with family tonight and they were delicious. After reading the comments I was uncertain which way to go with the bacon; I ended up not cooking it first but chopped it up so finely that it was almost minced. They were so tasty that I’ll just do it that way again next time. Everything else was exactly as per the recipe. Yummo!
I’m glad you enjoyed this Sandra! Thank you for letting me know 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi. I have 2 kilos of pork or thereabouts and I’m assuming I just quadruple the ingredients but I’ve alrwady cut three onions and wondering whether 4 will be too many. What do you do when you make a big batch? Thinking for the same for the garlic .. will it be too strong?
OMG.. ok! Seriously this is sooooo good, I am at work dreaming about how to eat the rest of them when I get home— that’s after having 2 for breakfast. ☹️
Only small note.. go easy on the salt since the bacon is quite salty already, and Nag, how do I deal with all that oil oozing out from the bacon when baking? Made the bottoms of some of my rolls soggy.
Super delish.. can’t stop waxing lyrical about them. Caught myself singing at work.. I mean.. these sausage rolllllllssss😩😂
Amazing… smashed these out for lunch today for the wife and kids… and it was a massive hit… you rock.. thanks for sharing…
Definitely a keeper this recipe..
That’s great Matt! So pleased you enjoyed this, thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi,
Thanks for the recipe! It’s always such a hit!
I always cook them for longer than the recommended time to make sure they are cooked well, but the meat is always still pink. Is this just because of the bacon?
Thanks
Hi Ruby! Yep that’s right, it’s from the bacon! I have that note in step 3 to assure people it is definitely cooked! 🙂
Oh 🤦🏻♀️ I’m sorry, I don’t know how I missed that lol
Thanks for the reply!
Hi Nagi
Can I leave this overnight without freezing?
If they have to be frozen, should I brush them with eggwash before freezing or after?
Thanks!
Hi Fran! You sure can leave overnight without freezing. If freezing, I’d brush with egg wash just before cooking 🙂
Hi Nagi
I’ve been searching for mince sausage recipes and found your recipe. Can’t wait to make it for a party.
While reading through everything you mentioned this was your brothers recipe, & mentioned a mini quiche recipe. Will you, or have you already posted it? I would love to have it.
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes you and your mother share.
My quest for the perfect Sausage roll recipe is over! I have tried several recipes over the years hoping to recreate the amazing sausage rolls I had when I was a kid. These are just that and more. So very good and delicious hot or cold. I followed the recipe as written and added just 1 Tbsp. of Lea & Perins Worcestershire Sauce to the mix and they were the Bomb! Needless to say, one batch just wasn’t enough for my family. They were devoured in seconds! Thank you so very much for sharing this most delicious recipe.
Great to hear you enjoyed this Kathleen! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 N x
I just made a variation of these.
Instead of celery i used kale (because i forgot it at the shop!), instead of breadcrumbs i used rolled oats, and i used rye wraps for the pastry, As i can’t eat wheat and to reduce calories.
I was expecting gross because of those changed ingredients.
But it was sensational. Thank you.
It was even a hit with the kids
That’s terrific to hear Bec! Thanks for letting me know – N x
These are wonderful!!! Thanks for this recipe! For the longest time I’d been unable to figure out what sort of sausage was put into British sausage rolls! (Never having had one.). Even the less-than-flattering comparison to pigs-in-a-blanket helped to clarify that question! 🙂 There are sooooo many kinds of sausage readily available that I couldn’t imagine which it would be, and anything I’d come across previously had mentioned “sausage” as if there only were one type of sausage on the planet that one could purchase. I’m sure that had all been perfectly clear to Brits reading those articles, since they’d known exactly the type of sausage used in rolls, of course. Plus, I would never have thought of making a sausage mix from scratch, but doing that really appealed to me also! Here that sausage is commonly referred to as country pork sausage or pork breakfast sausage, and it comes in bulk packaging or as links, hence its use as “pigs.” Pigs-in-a-blanket are nothing special unless drowning in butter and real maple syrup, and are no different when served with buttermilk pancakes rather than wrapped up in them, and though eaten at all hours (especially after last call in many quarters) are basically still considered a breakfast combo. These little sausage roll gems, however, are far more versatile, and truly delicious. They were a big hit at the holidays! Thanks for solving the mystery for me, and for the recipe.
I absolutely LOVE hearing that Wynn! thanks so much for your message!! N xx
I made this for as a surprise for my students. Hands down, the best sausage roll recipe ever!
Love the hint of sweet from carmelized onion/celery and the savoury, but not too powerful, pork and bacon.
I added toasted fennel seeds as well. I was nervous about using the whole two teaspoons, so I tested it with one, fried up a bit to taste and decided I shouldn’t mess with what you’ve already perfected.
Great recipe. Thank you!
LOVE hearing that Shelly!!! Your lucky students 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it! N x
Awesome recipe…I dont have the urge to tweak your recipes and post it…you have put in the hard yards and I know it will be bang on…except I could not find my fennel seeds…did not want to go back to the supermarket so forged ahead…omg they were so good thank you again …made your chicken and mushroom sauce again last night….so good…ps I lways pre cook bacon for fritters/rissoles etc I think it brings out the flavour…for economy I use black and gold diced bacon..always have it in the freezer…so quick
🙌🏻 I’m so glad you enjoyed this Kym, thanks for letting me know! N x
Awww bummer to say that there was too much bacon for my taste… overpowered the rest of the ingredients.
Nooooo!!! Too much bacon?? 😳
Yeah 😞 I made the recipe exact – nothing missing even used Panko. Used pork. Fennel seeds. Wondered if maybe some others subbed in stronger meat like beef and that’s where it’s perfect?
Anyway my two cents. Will try have bacon next time. Hubby loved it 😉
What is a brown onion?
An onion with brown skin 🙂 Yellow or white will also be fine!
If you don’t have fennel what else can you use?
Hi Nagi-san
I’m about to make your sausage rolls! I have a question. I saw your mums Japanese blog too and it says cook garlic, onion and celery but not bacon however this recipe says cook bacon as well. I use unsmoked streaky bacon (uk style not Japanese)do you recommend to cook with the veggies or just mix with pork as uncooked?
Thank you:)
Hi Chizuru! You landed in the middle of a family argument about that very point! The original recipe does NOT cook the bacon, just finely chop it and mix into the pork so it becomes one 🙂 I cooked it because I LOVE the caramelisation when bacon cooks. I’m absolutely torn which way to go, but I will say that both are great. There is a chance I may revert to the other option. For the streaky bacon you have, either method is great. I promise! N x
Thank you for the reply. I didn’t cook the bacon before I mixed with the pork this time and it was so good!!! My family loved them. I froze them for kids’ pack lunch. I will definitely make again and will try the other way next time.
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! x