Last Updated on September 24, 2026 by Carrie Korem, FNTP
I came up with this gluten-free sausage balls recipe and served them to my family last Christmas – they were a huge hit and didn’t last very long! If you’re from the South, you probably remember the sausage balls with Bisquick. I used to love those as a kid and last year as I wrote this cookbook, I thought, “Well, why not combine my biscuit recipe, raw cheddar and sausage?” It worked perfectly!
Ingredients for Gluten-Free Sausage Balls Recipe:
- Finely ground almond flour
- Coconut flour
- Baking powder
- Sea salt
- Garlic powder
- Cheddar cheese
- Sausage
That’s it. No Bisquick. No preservatives. Just real ingredients.
How to make sausage balls
These are simple. You just mix, roll, and bake!
The key is using your hands to work the sausage into the dry mix so everything sticks together. The dough will feel damp and a little sticky, and that’s what you want.
What is the best sausage to use for Sausage Balls?
I personally use a ground pork sausage that I get at a local farm. You can often find good organic sausage at your local health food store. Just make sure to check the label to ensure it only contains real food ingredients.
You can also make homemade sausage (it’s super easy!). Here’s the recipe.
What is the best cheese to use in this sausage ball recipe?
I prefer to use an organic cheddar or raw organic cheddar. Two brands that I really like are organic valley and raw farms.
Can Sausage Balls Be Prepared Ahead of Time
Yes, you can prepare them ahead of time in two different ways.
1. Make the sausage balls, spoon them onto the baking sheet and freeze them before you bake them. When you’re ready to bake, you can bake them straight from the freezer at 400ºF for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
2. Another option is to bake the sausage balls and either store them in the freezer or fridge. You can then reheat them at 350ºF until hot.
Can I freeze sausage balls?
Yes. You can freeze them before baking, then bake them straight from the freezer.
You can also freeze them after baking. I like to reheat them in the oven so they taste fresh baked.
How can I make dairy free sausage balls?
For this recipe, simply omit cheese. The number of sausage balls will decrease to 18. That’s it!
More gluten free appetizer recipes for you to enjoy
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as well did!
PrintGluten-Free Sausage Balls Recipe
These little poppers also make an excellent breakfast! It’s like sausage and a biscuit rolled into one!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Makes 3 dozen sausage balls
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups finely ground almond flour
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
- 2 teaspoons Grain-free baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 12 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 pound spicy ground sausage (pastured and nitrate-free preferred)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and adjust the rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, salt, baking powder, garlic powder and cheese. Use your hands to incorporate the sausage into the dry mixture (about 1-2 minutes until the mixture comes together); the mixture will be damp. Roll the mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, until just golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes and serve.
- Dairy-Free Adaptation: Omit the cheese. The number of sausage balls will decrease to 18.
Mmmmmmm I love sausage balls! I’m hoping my book comes today!
I pre-ordered your book on Amazon, received it earlier this week, and will hop back over there to leave a review. First, I wanted to let you know how much I love the cookbook, and how much easier it will make my fairly new transition to grain-free eating. I’m so glad to have the flour and grain conversions done for me by someone who so clearly appreciates good-tasting and beautifully prepared food. Your book is simply gorgeous and full of recipes that inspire healthy eating. Thank you!
Thank you, Laurel! I’m so glad you are finding the cookbook helpful!
Carrie, I am grain free and have found that I am sensitive to almonds. What do you suggest as an alternative for the almond meal/flour?
I haven’t tested it, but I would try omitting both flours and using 3/4 coconut flour, 3/4 arrowroot flour and 3/4 tapioca flour.
This is EXACTLY what I’m going to make for our holiday party! Being from the South, I totally remember that bisquick version – LOL! And I am SO excited about your new book, Carrie! I will definitely be writing a review on Amazon, as well as on my blog! Wishing you the best, as always! And so thankful for YOU! xo
Thank you, Kelly!
I have to be able to laugh at myself….when I looked at the contest information, I thought the hashtag said “giftable.” Then I realized, oh–it’s GFF, as in “grain free table.” LOL! All the while I was thinking, well, it would make a great Christmas gift….
I would so rather make your sausage ball recipe than using the boxed baking mix. It looks really simple, and I used to buy the baking mix for a special recipe only to have the rest of the box sitting unused in my cupboard for months!
Congrats on the book release. Your girls look so cute in the bookstore picture! They look so much like their pretty mom.
Ha! Well, it would make a nice gift. 😉 Thank you for your kind words!
I just wanted to say that I received the cookbook yesterday and was almost in tears. We are just beginning this grain-free journey and to know that we can still enjoy granola, bread, crepes – it was a wonderful moment! Tonight my 7 year old was paging through, he is a foodie at heart, and over and over he said “oh, we HAVE TO try this one!” Thank you! I know it will be a treasure in our house!
I don’t have any almond flour on hand, but I do have both coconut and flax seed flour. Would it be possible to use all coconut flour or to substitute the flax seed flour for the almond flour?
Those flours can’t be substituted for the almond flour.
I just made this and it either needs more meat or less flour. I had to add an egg just to get it to stick together. They do taste really good, but a little dry. Maybe from too much flour? Not sure if I did something wrong… I’ll experiment with less flour next time!
Did you make any substitutions? All recipes from my book were tested by a professional test kitchen, and I also made these just a few days ago and they were perfect. You need to knead the mixture with you hands until it comes together. It’s possible you didn’t mix it enough.
I did substitute the flour with regular organic flour…. That must have been it. What’s the difference? Ive never used almond flour before.
Regular flour has gluten and is made from wheat. Almond flour has no gluten and will behave very differently than white flour in any recipe. That would be why tryout recipe didn’t turn out. I would try it as written next time and see what you think.
At what point do I incorporate the cheese? I did not see it in the instructions. 🙂
You put it in with the flours.
Hi Carrie,
I just ordered your cookbook can’t wait to try it out. I recently found out I need to be grain free and am allergic to most nuts. Is there a flour I can substitute instead of almond flour?
Thanks,
Lori
You could try sunflower seed flour. I’ve heard it’s a great replacement for almond flour.
Hi! I tried these with your suggestion of substituting coconut flour, tapioca, and arrowroot. I actually used 3/4 coconut and 1 1/2 tapioca for the almond flour. I made the recipe the same and made half the batch that way. The mixture was a little crumbly and dry, but they still taste great. For the remainder of the batch I added 2 eggs to the mix and those came out great! I think with all the coconut flour used you need a little extra something to help bind them together. Thanks for the recipe, we love them!
I didn’t have almond or coconut flour on hand so I used Bob’s Red Mill GF All Purpose. If I did this again, I would use 1/2 c less. Came together well – Held up beautifully…but more biscuit-like than I would prefer. Very tasty though! Almost killed my kitchen aid mixer (because I am a lazy baker) with this recipe – I started out with fresh ground pork, seasoned it for sausage so I could control the seasonings/quality. Thanks for the recipe!!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. Being from the north, we’ve never had sausage balls. We tried these tonight and they were a hit with the whole family! I’m looking forward to trying them with maple sage sausage for breakfast. I’m hoping they freeze well. I’d love to make a batch ahead and bake them fresh so that they still get the nice texture on the outside. Thanks again!
Hi Carrie, I would love to try the Croquembouche – what can I replace the whole milk with? and for the sausage balls can I replace the almond flour with any other gluten free flour?
Thanks
I followed the recipe to the letter, made 30 balls. I used high quality, local sausage. My mix was not moist at all. 25 min @ 425 is too long & too hot.
First batch was very dark on the bottom before they browned on the top. They were VERY dry & inedible.
Second batch baked 18 min @ 400. Lightly browned on top & bottom. Still dry & not very flavorful. Needs an egg, more salt, less almond flour & maybe no coconut flour.
I probably won’t make these again, even with alterations, there are many grain free sausage ball recipes online to try.
I’m not sure what happened, but all recipes from my book were tested by a professional test kitchen to ensure that they work as written. I made these again this week as did a friend who brought them to a party and both turned out perfectly. Maybe the mixture wasn’t mixed enough. That would be a reason they were dry.
Oh I see, you delete unfavorable comments too….just like your lil buddy Food Babe! lol
All comments are held in moderation until I have time to review and respond. This is why it took 1/2 a day for your comment to be published. If you’d like to review my terms of use, you can do so here: https://deliciouslyorganic.net/terms-of-use/
So glad to have this recipe to replace my long time holiday tradition made with bisquick! One question, do your brown the sausage before adding to the mix? Thank you so much!!
Use raw sausage. Merry Christmas!
I just made these for Christmas Eve! They are delicious!!! I mixed them with my mixer and that mixed them really well! Thank you!!
Hello Carrie!
Thank you for posting a healthier alternative to the Bisquick version.
I wasn’t able to follow the recipe exactly because I was a half a cup short of almond flour so I used the coconut flour for that last bit. My mixture was a bit dry so I added 2 eggs, which made it just right. For those who do not want to or can’t use egg I’m sure there is another alternative. As to what I don’t know, maybe water. I cooked them at 325 for 30 minutes and they were perfect.
In no way do I think your recipe is faulty. I just had to change some stuff to get it to work for me. I also find it humorous that some people get bent out of shape over something as small a recipe. In my opinion recipes are simply guidelines that can be altered to fit what you need. Just requires a bit of experimentation. 🙂
Again, thanks for the recipe and have a happy and safe holiday!
Hi Carrie,
I was wondering if I could substitute baking soda and a touch of apple cider vinegar for the baking powder, because baking powder is restricted in my diet. Have you tried it with baking soda?
I haven’t tested it, but I think that would work just fine.
How is cheese Paleo??
This recipe has a dairy-free/Paleo adaptation as mentioned in the post and the recipe instructions. Please refer to the instructions for the adaptation.
My mistake! I did not read through it obviously.. I need to look at some of your other recipes with Paleo adaptations.. Thanks.. These look delish.
Well, I made the Sausage Cheese Balls for Superbowl Sunday along with three dozen Zingers. They were a HUGE success! We ate every single one of these amazing little finger foods and there were only 9 of us eating. HA, success!
Thanks for the feedback! 🙂
These SAUSAGE BALLS turned out perfect. TY. So many healthy recipes are less than desirable bi this is perfect. My all natural sausage was mild so added a few flakes red pepper into dry ingredients I used 4 cheese blend & thank goodness it was very finely grated as this requires a lot of kneading. Made balls size of golf balls. Cooked for 30 mi Utes. PERFECT. THANK YOU