Caroline Ingalls’ Delicious Sausage Ball Recipe

Hello dear friends! Since last summer I have been eating in a very old fashioned way. I’ve cut all fast food from my diet and have begun preparing most of my foods from scratch. For busy mornings I needed something I could just grab and go. Caroline Ingalls’ Delicious Sausage Ball Recipe seemed like the perfect choice. 

The Harvest

In chapter one of Little House In The Big Woods it is harvest time. Uncle Peter has come to assist Pa in butchering the hog so that the family will have meat for the winter. Ma uses up every last bit.

The little pieces of meat, lean and fat, that has been cut off the large pieces, Ma chopped and chopped until it was all chopped fine. She seasoned it with salt and pepper and with dried sage leaves from the garden. Then with her hands she tossed and turned it until it was well mixed, and she molded it into balls. She put the balls in a pan out in the shed, where they would freeze and be good to eat all winter. That was the sausage. 

Caroline Ingalls’ Delicious Sausage Ball Recipe

For this fast and easy recipe you will need:

• 1 pound of ground pork. (I used organic, grass fed pork so that it would more closely resemble the meat Ma would have used.)
• A yellow onion finely diced.
• One small apple finely chopped.*
• 1 teaspoon of ground pepper. (You can use more or less to your taste.)
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt. (I used Maldon.)
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground sage. (You can also use dried sage leaves.) 
• 1 egg (I selected an organic, free range egg as it would be closer to what Ma used.)

Instructions

• Simply combine all of the ingredients.
• Roll it into balls.
• Place the balls on parchment paper.

At this time you can freeze the balls and then once frozen place them in a container made for the freezer. 

There are two ways to cook the sausage.

If frozen, the sausage will need to be thawed. 

You can cook the sausage in a skillet for 4-6 minutes over medium high heat until they are cooked through. (No pink should remain.)

The second method is my preferred modern method. 

Set the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place the cookie sheet with parchment paper and sausage in the preheated oven and cook until golden brown and sausage is cooked through, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

Substitutions

You can also use the sausage mixture as a cooked crumble to sprinkle into egg casseroles or stuffing/dressing.

*Feel free to substitute the apple with chopped sweet potato, regular diced potatoes, You can add diced celery. Or even grated zucchini.

Enjoy alone or with a small salad for lunch or with eggs and fruit for breakfast. 

Recipe Card

Here is a printable or pinnable recipe card. 

Yield: 15 large balls or 30 small.

Caroline Ingalls Delicious Sausage Balls

Print

Caroline Ingalls Delicious Sausage Balls are a delicous and easy fast food. You can also use the mixture in egg casserole or dressing/stuffing.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound of ground pork. (I used organic grass fed pork so that it would more closely resemble the meat Ma would have used.)
• A yellow onion finely diced.
• One small apple finely chopped.
• 1 teaspoon of ground pepper. (You can use more or less to your taste.)
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt. (I used Maldon.)
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground sage. (You can also use dried sage leaves.) 
• 1 egg (I selected an organic, free range egg as it would be closer to what Ma used.)

Instructions

Simply combine all of the ingredients.

Roll it into balls.

Place the balls on parchment paper on a cookie sheet..

At this time you can freeze the balls and then once frozen place them in a container made for the freezer. 

There are two ways to cook the sausage.

If frozen, the sausage will need to be thawed. 

You can cook the sausage in a skillet for 4-6 minutes over medium high heat until they are cooked through. (No pink should remain.)

The second method is my preferred modern method. 

Set the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Place the cookie sheet with parchment paper and sausage in the preheated oven and cook until golden brown and sausage is cooked through, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

Notes

You can also use the sausage mixture as a cooked crumble to sprinkle into egg casseroles or stuffing/dressing.

Feel free to substitute the apple with chopped sweet potato, regular diced potatoes, You can add diced celery. Or even grated zucchini.

You can see the step by step preparations in this week’s Prairie Wonderland video which will premiere on Tuesday, November 14th at 7 am CST. 

Laura

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