Cheese and onion sausage rolls

These cheese and onion sausage rolls are one of the best traditional British finger foods out there. Sausage meat, cheese and caramelized onions are wrapped in puff pastry, and cut into bite sized pieces before baking. The melted cheese with sweet onions take the classic sausage roll to a whole new level.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to make sausage rolls
• Caramelizing onions
• Cheese and sausage combinations
• Tips for perfect cheese and onion sausage rolls
• Other finger foods
• Storing and freezing
• More British classics:
• Recipe

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Ingredients

• Caramelized onions (buy them or make your own)
• Raw sausages, or sausage meat
• Ready rolled puff pastry
• Cheese - like cheddar, mozzarella, blue cheese or feta

How to make sausage rolls

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan oven / 400°F.

Bring a sheet of ready rolled puff pastry to room temperature, and slice it down the middle lengthways. Add a layer of caramelized onion to the middle of both halves, and drizzle cheese on top. In a bowl, add the sausages with the skin removed. Use a spatula or your hands to mash it into a uniform sausage dough.

Divide the sausage between the two sheets, and top them with another layer of cheese. Then, roll the puff pastry over so that the filling is wrapped in the pastry. Use your fingers to rub the seam, trying to merge them as much as possible, and place it with the seam down. Repeat with the other piece of puff pastry.

Use a sharp knife to cut each large sausage roll into smaller pieces. For mini cheese and onion sausage rolls, each piece should be cut into 20 small bites. Place them on a baking tray, and bake them in the oven until the pastry is flaky and the sausage has cooked through, about 25-30 minutes.

Caramelizing onions

Caramelizing onions is an easy but time consuming process. You can often buy caramelized onions in the store, or you can make them yourself. They are made by slowly cooking onions on low heat until the natural sugar in the onions breaks down and turn into a caramel like consistency.

Cheese and sausage combinations

The flavours can be adjusted to your preferences. Here are some of my favourite combinations of types of cheese and sausage:

• Blue cheese with sage flavoured sausage
• Cheddar with plain sausage + 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Mozzarella with Italian sausage

Tips for perfect cheese and onion sausage rolls

These are really easy to make, but here are my best tips and tricks to make great sausage rolls:

• If you want that shiny, glossy puff pastry look, you can brush on some egg wash before baking.
• For a vegetarian version, use vegetarian sausage. This is also typically lower in calories.
• Make sure to roll the pastry together tight to prevent the rolls from opening in the oven.

Other finger foods

• Beef and pork meatballs
• Broccoli and cheese balls
• Spinach and feta puff pastry pinwheels

Storing and freezing

Leftover sausage rolls can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days, or frozen up to 3 months. Thaw frozen sausage rolls, and serve the leftovers cold or reheated. To reheat leftover sausage rolls, preheat an oven to 200°C / 180°C  fan oven / 390°F , then bake them for 4-5 minutes, or until hot throughout.

More British classics:

• Beef and ale stew
• Smoked Salmon Canapes
• Honey roasted parsnips
• Slow cooker pulled gammon

Recipe