Easy shortcrust pastry sausage rolls using store-bought shortcrust pastry! A British classic and perfect for picnics, lunch boxes, and even a quick dinner with homemade baked beans.
Just 5 ingredients are needed to make these delicious sausage rolls, and in less than 30 minutes you'll be tucking into meaty pork sausagemeat encased in buttery shortcrust pastry.
This easy sausage roll recipe made with shortcrust pastry is very similar to my easy puff pastry sausage rolls. The only difference is the pastry!
I like to save time and use shop-bought pastry these days, as it's such good quality, but feel free to make your own homemade shortcrust pastry if you like!
👩🍳 Love pastry? Try my Greggs copycat cheese and bacon turnovers!
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✔️ Why you'll love this recipe!
- Easy to make with shop bought pastry.
- Only 5 ingredients.
- Made AND baked in under 30 minutes.
- Freezer-friendly.
- Portable and perfect for classic British picnics.
🛒 Ingredient notes
- Sausage Meat - either squeeze the pork meat out of good quality pork sausages (97% pork), or use ready prepared sausage meat.
- Dry Stuffing - adds loads of flavour to the sausage rolls and helps keep them moist by locking in the moisture from the fat that renders out of the sausage meat on cooking. I use sage and onion Paxo stuffing mix, but any flavour is fine.
- Apple Sauce - pork and apple work so well together and the apple sauce adds a lovely sweetness.
- Shortcrust Pastry - ready rolled shortcrust pastry makes these sausage rolls a doddle to make. You can make your own shortcrust pastry if you want to!
- Egg - for the egg wash glaze that turns the pastry a lovely glossy golden brown colour. You can substitute with milk but the end result wont be so glossy.
🔪 How to make sasuage rolls with shortcrust pastry
To make delicious homemade sausage rolls follow these easy steps!
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Put the sausage meat, dry stuffing mix, and apple sauce in a large bowl and give it a good mix.
Two: Lay the ready-rolled shortcrust pastry sheet on a large cutting board and cut it in half horizontally.
Three: Distribute the sausage meat mixture evenly between the two long rectangular pieces of pastry, positioning it in the middle (see photo below). I find using my hands is the best way to do this.
Four: Brush the beaten egg on the top and bottom edges of each piece of pastry with a pastry brush, and fold the top long edge over so it meets the bottom edge on each piece.
Use a fork to press down the pastry to secure the sausage meat in place then cut into sausage rolls with a sharp knife. Cut a slit in the top of each roll and brush with more egg wash. Bake in a hot oven.
💡 Pro Tip - To prevent your sausage rolls from sticking, line your baking sheet with non-stick parchment paper.
💭 Expert tips
- If using ready-rolled shortcrust pastry there is no need to flour the board. Just cut the pastry in half horizontally, on the waxy paper it comes with.
- If you're using homemade shortcrust pastry, or block shortcrust pastry, lightly flour the work surface with plain flour before rolling it out with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 0.25cm.
- The pastry should be chilled, so take it out of the fridge just 5 minutes before starting the recipe. Don't let it hang around too long to get warm.
- Mix up the sausagemeat, stuffing and apple sauce in a food processor for a smooth meat filling.
🍴 Serving suggestions
Serve the sausage rolls as part of a buffet or picnic, alongside bread sticks and roasted red pepper hummus, sticky date flapjacks, and marzipan loaf cake!
You could also make giant sausage rolls and serve them as a main meal with baked beans, air fryer sweet potato fries, corned beef hash, or pepperoni pizza fries!
📖 Variations
- Make mini sausage rolls. Simply follow my recipe for puff pastry mini sausage rolls and swap the puff pastry for shortcrust pastry! These are great for kids parties.
- Swap the apple sauce for Branston pickle or caramelised red onion chutney.
- Add a handful of grated cheddar cheese to the sausage meat mix.
- Add onion powder or garlic powder to the sausage meat filling for extra flavour.
- Sprinkle the top of each sausage roll with sesame seeds or poppy seeds before baking. They will stick to the egg wash.
- Make vegetarian shortcrust pastry sausage rolls by swapping the sausage meat for a vegetarian sausage.
🥡 Storage
Sausage rolls are glorious straight out of the oven. Hot, crisp, buttery pastry with a meaty flavourful filling!
To Store: Place the cooled sausage rolls in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To Reheat: Sausage rolls can be eaten cold, but I like to reheat them in a hot oven or air fryer. I don't like microwaving them as the pastry goes soggy.
To Freeze: You can freeze the sausage rolls either baked or unbaked. If freezing them unbaked, leave off the egg wash and open freeze them on a baking sheet for 2 hours. Pop them into freezer bags and stash in your freezer for up to 3 months. Bake in a hot oven straight from frozen (but don't forget to egg wash them first).
❓ Frequently asked questions
The best way to ensure crisp sausage rolls is to egg wash the pastry. Egg wash is a beaten egg that is brushed onto the tops of the sausage rolls before baking. It will crisp the pastry up in the oven, and help them go golden brown too.
Line your baking sheet with baking paper or non-stick parchment paper to prevent them from sticking to the tin.
An egg wash is a beaten whole egg, sometimes with a little added milk. Use an egg wash to seal pastry edges together. It also adds a glossy shine to baked pastries, and enhances the golden color of baked goods.
😋 More recipes you might like
- Apple and Blackberry Turnovers
- Baked Halloumi Fries
- Cheese Bacon Turnovers
- Puff Pastry Sasuage Rolls
- Nutella Puff Pastry Swirls
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Recipe
Easy Shortcrust Pastry Sausage Rolls
Equipment
- Kitchen Scales
- Mixing Bowl
- Baking Sheets
- Knife
- Pastry Brush
Ingredients
- 320 g Shortcrust Pastry Sheet ready rolled
- 400 g Sausage Meat
- 2 tablespoon Apple Sauce
- 80 g Dry Stuffing Mix I use sage and onion
- 1 Egg beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°c (200 fan/ Gas 7)
- Put the sausage meat, dry stuffing mix, and apple sauce in a large bowl and give it a good mix.400 g Sausage Meat, 2 tablespoon Apple Sauce, 80 g Dry Stuffing Mix
- Lay the ready-rolled shortcrust pastry sheet on a large cutting board and cut it in half horizontally.320 g Shortcrust Pastry Sheet
- Distribute the sausage meat mixture evenly between the two long rectangular pieces of pastry, positioning it in the middle (see photo below). I find using my hands is the best way to do this.
- Brush the beaten egg on the top and bottom edges of each piece of pastry with a pastry brush, and fold the top long edge over so it meets the bottom edge on each piece. You should be left with two long rolls.1 Egg
- Use a fork to press down the pastry to secure it in place, then cut into sausage rolls with a sharp knife.
- Cut a slit in the top of each roll and brush with more egg wash. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden.
Notes
- If using ready-rolled shortcrust pastry there is no need to flour the board. Just cut the pastry in half horizontally, on the waxy paper it comes with.
- If you're using homemade shortcrust pastry, or block shortcrust pastry, lightly flour the work surface with plain flour before rolling it out with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 0.25cm.
- The pastry should be chilled, so take it out of the fridge just 5 minutes before starting the recipe. Don't let it hang around too long to get warm.
- Make mini sausage rolls. Simply follow my recipe for puff pastry mini sausage rolls and swap the puff pastry for shortcrust pastry! These are great for kids parties.
- Swap the apple sauce for Branston pickle or caramelised red onion chutney.
- Add a handful of grated cheddar cheese to the sausage meat mix.
- Add onion powder or garlic powder to the sausage meat filling for extra flavour.
- Sprinkle the top of each sausage roll with sesame seeds or poppy seeds before baking. They will stick to the egg wash.
Danielle
I could eat a million of these they came out so good!! I'm definitely making them to bring to a dinner on Saturday 🙂
Natalie
Such lovely rolls. Now I wonder why I buy them in stores?! It's so easy to make them at home. I will save your recipe and give it a try. Looks delicious!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
I could eat a whole plate of sausage rolls and I love the additions of apple and stuffing too.
Ieva
My husband made these yesterday but I think I might have eaten more than he has... Delicious! And I'm told they were extremely easy to make! 🙂
Chrissy
I've just tried this sausage roll recipe 🤩
.I love how easy they are to make and the ready rollout pastry option if in a hurry .Don't think they will last long in our house .😂