Christmas sausage rolls (using leftovers)

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I’m a big fan of loving leftovers and will regularly save small amounts of leftover meals and snacks to use for other recipes. These Christmas sausage rolls are made using leftovers, and I’ve got quite a few variations to share with you in this post.

When you’re cooking copious roast dinners over the Festive season you’ll likely find that you’ve got lots of leftovers that you want to jazz up. These festive sausage rolls are perfect as you can empty the fridge down a little and they’re a great party snack when you’re entertaining too.

Personally I have made these leftover sausage rolls using a single air fried sausage, sausage meat, turkey slices, stuffing (use a stuffing mix if you like), cranberry sauce, bread sauce, air fryer pigs in blankets or slow cooker roast beef. All of these work great in sausage rolls. Any small quantities of meat will work great, particularly if you’ve got some sauce or onion gravy to dip them in.

I’m sharing cooking methods both for oven cooking and cooking in the air fryer, as I’ve got lots of air fryer fans here! If you’re one be sure to check out my air fryer recipes.

Something to note about air fryer recipes is that all air fryers have different sizes, depths and as such the cooking times can vary. All air fryer recipes on this website are intended as a guide, and not a guarantee that the timings will be perfect. Enjoy!

Ingredients for leftover Christmas sausage rolls:

1 sheet of ready rolled puff pastry

Leftovers of choice (I used pork based sausagemeat, sage and onion stuffing balls and roast turkey slices)

1 egg

Poppy seeds or sesame seeds (optional)

How to make Christmas sausage rolls:

Roll out your puff pastry sheet. You can use gluten free puff pastry if you like to make these sausage rolls gluten free.

Cut the pastry into 2 or 3 evenly sized sections.

Place your leftovers of choice in to the middle of the pastry.

Fold the pastry over and press down to form a seal.

I seal the edge using the tines (or prongs) of a fork. This makes a nice pattern.

Then cut them into mini sausage rolls or larger sausage rolls, you’ll need to change the cooking time if they’re larger.

Beat the egg.

Brush the pastry all over with the beaten egg. This is an egg wash.

Top with poppy seeds, sesame seeds or herbs of choice.

Then air fry at 180C for 6-8 minutes until golden brown and piping hot.

Alternatively you can cook in the oven, at 200C (400F approx – gas mark 6) for around 20 minutes until brown all over and hot throughout.

Serve with your choice of dipping sauce. See below for some suggestions.

What to serve with sausage rolls:

Sausage rolls work very well with multiple accompaniments. Some of our favourites are mustard, ketchup, gravy made from beef dripping or brown sugar BBQ sauce.

If you’re looking to make more of a meal from it then we love to serve with coleslaw and potato salad for something that is simple, easy to serve cold and can be prepared in advance.

Want to make a more festive sausage roll?

Serve with cranberry sauce and sage leaves on a platter and use a Christmas themed dipping bowl, such as a star or snowflake shape.

If you want to put more of a festive twist on the sausage rolls then cut out some stars or Christmas tree shapes from the pastry and put them onto the sausage rolls, brushing on with some egg. You could even finish with a dash of Christmas spices.

Can sausage rolls be stored at room temperature?

Absolutely they can. Often they’re served at room temperature for picnics, parties or just for snack time for little ones.

If you’re making a buffet spread then you could serve these at room temperature, just ensure that you adhere to food safety rules to avoid making any of your guests poorly!

Can sausage rolls be eaten cold?

Yes, cool them safely after cooking and then enjoy them cold from the fridge. I love to keep a stash of sausage rolls in the fridge for my daughters to fill up their Yumbox for lunch.

Which pastry to use for sausage rolls?

I like to use puff pastry but you could use any pastry really. Shortcrust pastry is super simple to make at home, and cheap too. It also makes delicious sausage rolls but I love the layers that puff pastry gives. It makes them lovely and crispy and crunchy. Very enjoyable when dipping into sauce too.

What is the best Christmas sausage roll recipe?

Personally I love leftover air fryer stuffing balls, cranberry sauce and a little sliced turkey. The cranberry sauce prevents them from going dry and the stuffing balls are packed full of flavour.

The main thing for me is that I want the pastry to be brown and crispy and the filling inside to be piping hot. I love using leftovers and these sausage rolls are always a hit with my daughters, whatever filling I choose to put inside.

Want to make vegetarian sausage rolls?

Sage and onion stuffing balls can be made vegetarian with ease, and you can even use vegetarian sausages to add more flavour.

I love to add some leftover air fryer carrots and parsnips too, as the flavour is just so unexpected but very Christmas based and packed full of flavour.

Sage and thyme brings lots of flavour to sausage rolls and are always a great addition regardless of the other ingredients.

How to stop sausage rolls going soggy on the bottom?

Cooking your sausage rolls on a wire rack will help to prevent them from going soggy. I like to use my grill tray to cook sausage rolls in the oven adn the rack in my air fryer basket helps when cooking them in the air fryer.

You want to make sure that there is lots of air flow around the sausage rolls to help them crisp up evenly while cooking.

Is it best to freeze cooked or uncooked sausage rolls?

I prefer to freeze uncooked sausage rolls. They stay fresher and the you can just cook them from frozen.

Before I freeze I lay them out on a baking tray, individually, ensuring that they are not touching. Then I put this in the freezer and once they’ve started to freeze I tip them into a freezer safe bag or air tight container.

Do you glaze uncooked sausage rolls before freezing?

Yes I do. Brush the sausage rolls with beaten egg, or even a little milk, before freezing them flat on a tray and the transferring to a suitable freezer safe container.

How do you keep sausage rolls crispy?

I like to brush with beaten egg as this helps them to crisp up, also, air frying helps them to go extra crispy. Using puff pastry is great as you get lots of crispy, flaky layers which are extra tasty too.

Looking for some other party food ideas?

I love to serve a variety of different types of party food when I have guests over for the festive season. Some examples of great crowd pleasers I serve are mini air fryer chicken nachos, cheese and onion quiche, air fryer pizza bagels, tomato and chilli salsa, air fryer chicken tenders, air fryer tortilla chips, fruit skewers, brownies, air fryer cookies and with my desserts I serve salted caramel sauce and chocolate sauce.

Can you cook frozen sausage rolls in the air fryer? 

You can! Always have a look at the timings on the packet first and then as a guide I like to start with half of the cooking time and a temperature that is 20C less than is quoted on the packaging.

Typically you will then have to add a few minutes, just to finish browning foods, but it is well worth cooking frozen foods in the air fryer. This is a great way to make a fast and tasty meal or snack for your family.

What are the best sausages to use in sausage rolls? 

Personally I like to use sausage meat, or pork sausages, which you can often find in the frozen section of UK supermarkets. This is cheap, easy to find and convenient too.

If you have a favourite sausage, Vegan, Vegetarian or meat based, you can use those. Remove the outer casing, squeeze the meat from the casing into a bowl and then I like to add some garlic granules and a few herbs or spices too.

What herbs work well for sausage rolls? 

My favourite herbs are garlic granules or garlic sat, onion salt, fresh rosemary or fresh thyme.

Why not check out some of my other air fryer recipes while you’re here:

• 20+ air fryer tips and tricks
• Frozen fish pie in air fryer
• Air fryer roast potatoes
• Air fryer french toast
• Air fryer parmentier potatoes
• Air fryer frozen roast potatoes
• Air fryer chicken tenders
• Chicken mini fillets in the air fryer
• Air fryer chocolate protein oats
• Air fryer smores

How to make Christmas sausage rolls using leftovers:

Note: All calorie information is for demonstration purposes only and is based on the specific uncooked ingredients that I used when creating the recipe.

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