Description
Easy homemade Rotel sausage balls made with hot sausage, cream cheese, Rotel tomatoes, Bisquick, and Mexican cheese. Perfect for parties, game day, or any gathering!
Ingredients
What You Need:
- 1 lb spicy (hot) sausage, uncooked
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 10 oz can Rotel (diced tomatoes + green chiles), drained
- 1½ cups Bisquick baking mix
- 2 cups shredded Mexican-style cheese
Swaps That Work:
- Chicken out on the heat? Grab mild sausage instead
- Any melty cheese works – cheddar, Monterey Jack, whatever’s in your fridge
- Gluten issues? Swap the Bisquick for gluten-free baking mix
- Want less kick? Use mild Rotel
Instructions
Crank your oven to 400°F. Line those baking sheets with parchment – trust me, cleanup will be way easier.
Seriously, don’t skip this step! I learned the hard way when my first batch turned into mushy disasters because I was lazy about draining. Get that Rotel in a strainer and press it with a spoon to squeeze out every drop of liquid you can.
Toss everything into your biggest bowl – the raw sausage, that perfectly soft cream cheese, your well-drained Rotel, Bisquick, and all that cheese. Mix it with your hands or a big spoon until it looks uniform. Don’t go crazy mixing it to death, just get it combined so there aren’t any white cream cheese streaks hiding in there.
Grab a cookie scoop if you’ve got one – makes this job way easier and keeps everything the same size. If not, just use a regular spoon and eyeball it. Roll them between your palms into golf ball-sized rounds. Pro tip from my mess-ups: wet hands make this so much less sticky and annoying.
Space them out on your sheets – they need room to breathe. Pop them in for 18-20 minutes until they’re golden and gorgeous. No pink sausage allowed inside!
Let them sit for a couple minutes – they’re lava hot inside! Serve them warm and watch them disappear.
Notes
- Size Consistency: Use that cookie scoop I mentioned – uneven sizes mean some burn while others stay raw inside. Been there, done that, not fun.
- Check Doneness: Cut one open and peek inside. No pink sausage allowed! I use a meat thermometer sometimes when I’m feeling fancy – 165°F is what you want.
- Don’t Overwork: Mix just enough to combine everything. Going crazy with the mixing makes them tough and dense.
- Make-Ahead Hack: Mix everything the night before and stick it in the fridge. Cold mixture is actually easier to roll, and you’ll thank yourself later.
- Temperature Matters: Cold cream cheese will leave you with lumps no matter how hard you mix. Just don’t do it.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American