Beef Sausage Rolls are a great twist on the more common pork sausage rolls. They’re just as easy to make, it’s simply a case of choosing your favourite beef sausage, making or buying puff pastry and away you go!
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I’ve made various pork sausage rolls, chicken and even mushroom based vegetarian and a vegan option. My obsession with sausage rolls knows no end and my latest creation is this beef version.
I’ve discovered that in some parts of Scotland, beef is actually the default filling for a sausage roll. So I think this could be a great option for some nostalgia or just something a little different. Plus of course beef is a good alternative for those who exclude pork meat specifically from their diets.
I didn’t want to create a beefy filling using beef mince or another cut because I don’t find that the texture is as suited to sausage rolls as sausage meat. Sausage meat includes binders (often rusk or a gluten free version) and the texture is different. Plus they’re pre-seasoned which makes sausage roll making a breeze.
More Sausage Roll Recipes
You can now find all of my sausage roll recipes in one place. Plus I’ve included a few extra bonus sausage based recipes too!
How to Serve Beef Sausage Rolls
Sausage rolls are the ultimate versatile snack. They can be eaten hot, at room temp or even cold. They travel well and are ideal for picnics, buffets and lunchboxes. You can make them into a quick lunch or even an evening meal. Try some of these suggestions:
- Keep things simple with chips or air fried potatoes and baked beans.
- Use them as easy simple pies and serve with mashed potatoes, onion gravy and some classic vegetables like savoy cabbage and carrots.
- For a more summery option, make them the centrepiece of a ploughman’s style platter. Add a quick soda bread, some fruit like apple or grapes, slabs of tasty cheese, salad leaves and pile on a good homemade chutney.
Ingredients for Beef Sausage Rolls
Beef Sausage Meat
You don’t tend to be able to just buy beef sausage meat in the same way as you can pork. But you can buy beef sausages and remove the skins. This is what I usually recommend anyway.
You might not have realised if you haven’t looked before, but most of the supermarkets have at least one beef sausage options in their chiller cabinet. If you can see Scottish square lorne sausage, you can squish those up and use that meat.
Please note that we are talking British banger style sausages here, not beef franks or any of the various middle eastern options like sujuk. There are semi-dried and aren’t the right texture for making sausage rolls.
Pastry
I’ve used puff pastry to make this recipe but you can just as easily use shortcrust. I do sometimes make my own homemade puff pastry which is easier than you might think. But there is nothing wrong with buying it.
You can buy pastry in blocks or ready rolled. I do like to use the ready rolled for these sausage rolls because it is already the perfect size and thickness. Branded jus-roll pastry is generally worth the extra pennies over the supermarket own brands. And the all-butter variety is the ultimate best option for flavour.
Egg
The egg in the recipe is simply to use as a glue and to wash the pastry before baking to give it a great shine. You can use milk or cream instead if you prefer, you just won’t get quite the same level of glaze.
If you increase the portion size of the recipe below, please note that you are unlikely to need more than one egg. Unless you’re making hundreds! Any leftover egg can be added to a batch of scrambled eggs or even egg fried rice.
Be Flexible
Sausage rolls are infinitely flexible. You can make them any size, use various pastries and even add extra fillings. You can use beef sausage meat in pretty much any of my other sausage roll recipes so do have a look at them for inspiration.
Great classic flavours to add to beef are horseradish, mustard, tomato and onion. Consider adding any condiments with these sorts of flavours. You could even add ketchup! Don’t add too much or it might leak out everywhere, you can always dip them in more!
Vegetarian or Vegan Sausage Rolls
These beef sausage rolls don’t lend themselves to be directly adapted to be vegetarian or vegan but there are other options. It is best to check out a dedicated recipe directly:-
Make Allergy Friendly Beef Sausage Rolls
This recipe is free from nuts.
Gluten Free: Gluten-free ready made pastry is easy to buy nowadays. It can be found in both the fridges and freezers of most major supermarkets.
Gluten-free sausages are increasingly easy to obtain. Many brands and supermarkets have made their ranges gluten free. Gluten-free beef sausages have proven harder to come by although my research suggests that the premium brands do tend to be. What I’m saying is check the label and be prepared to have to shop around.
Dairy Free: If you use standard range shop bought puff pastry, it is most likely naturally dairy free. In fact its usually accidentally vegan. Do check the label and avoid the options which call themselves “all butter” as these do in fact contain some dairy butter.
Egg Free: The only egg will be the egg used to glue and wash the sausage rolls. You can use milk or cream as an alternative. Or even water as the “glue” and leave the pastry tops unglazed. They’ll taste good, they just won’t look so pretty.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
Equipment Notes for Easy Beef Sausage Rolls
A good sharp knife will help with getting nicely sliced sausage rolls without super squished ends. A good knife steel will help to keep your knives good and sharp, regardless of how much those knives cost. Sharpening isn’t just the preserve of a fancy Sabatier set.
I make sure to use a good large baking tray to make sure that the sausage rolls have sufficient space to puff up and expand without hitting the other rolls. Use more than one tray if you need to. Line the tray with baking parchment if you don’t have 100% confidence in the non-stick nature of your tray. You don’t leave the bottom layer of pastry stuck to the tin!
A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.
Get Ahead
Beef sausage rolls are ideal for prepping ahead of time. The best way to do this is to prepare them right up to the point that you would bake them and then freeze. It is best to freeze them individually on a tray and them move them to a bag or box once frozen solid. Otherwise they will just freeze as one big lump.
You can cook from frozen with a slightly reduced oven temperature and an extra 5 minutes cooking time.
You can also prepare them earlier in the day before baking a little later to serve fresh. I wouldn’t do this more than 10 to 12 hours in advance or the pastry has a tendency to discolour. Do also make sure to cover them whilst stored in the fridge.
Leftover Beef Sausage Rolls
I don’t really consider not-immediately-eaten sausage rolls to be “leftovers”. They can be kept and eaten as you please over a good few days.
They can be eaten cold or reheated. I quite like to reheat in the microwave but I do have a weird liking for soggy pastry and this might not be for you. An air fryer is a brilliant way for reheating pastries whilst keeping them wonderfully crispy.
If you need to keep them for a later date simply pop them into the freezer. They can be eaten cold once thawed or reheated as normal.
Puff Pastry Beef Sausage Rolls Tips
If you wet your hand before handling the beef sausage meat, this will stop it sticking to you in a sticky mass. Re-wet between dealing with each new section.
Make sure your pastry is cold. It needs to be slightly warm to unroll without cracking but if you feel like it is too soft, put it back into the fridge flat for a few minutes.
If at any point you find that the pastry is feeling a little soft, pop it back in the fridge. It really doesn’t matter at what stage of the process you are at – get it in there.
Make sure to use a really sharp knife when cutting the pastry. Use a sawing motion rather than pressing down hard to cut the rolls so they don’t get squashed.
It is worth spending those extra few seconds to make sure that the seam on the rolls is properly sealed. You can use your finger to smudge the two pieces of pastry together.
Take a little time with your egg wash. Try not to get it everywhere but cover all sides of the sausage rolls except the underneath and exposed ends.
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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More Beef Recipes
The Recipe
Easy Beef Sausage Rolls with Puff Pastry Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 320 g Puff Pastry
- 450 g Beef Sausage Meat
- 1 Egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200c fan | 220c | 390c or equivalent.
- Roll 320g Puff Pastry out on a floured surface to about ¼ inch thickness. Or unroll a sheet of ready rolled pastry.
- Cut the sheet into half lengthways with a sharp knife.
- Skin enough sausages to get 450g Beef Sausage Meat.
- Place the sausage meat around ⅔ of the way along each pastry strip. Make sure it reaches from end to end. You can mould the sausage meat into the right shape. Make sure to press the end of one sausage into the next if you are using skinned sausage.
- Beat 1 Egg in a small bowl. Use a pastry brush to cover one side of the exposed pastry.
- Start to roll the pastry around the sausage meat starting with the unwashed section. Keep the pastry nice and tight to the sausage meat. Repeat with the second half.
- Continue to roll until the meat is totally contained in the pastry. Wet your finger a little and gently press along the pastry seam – this will allow the pastry to meld together and reduce the likelihood of the pastry coming apart as it cooks.
- Use the same sharp knife to cut the end off of each roll to neaten it up if needed. Cut each roll into half. Note – Use the knife to saw rather than press down or you will squash the rolls. Wipe the knife in between each cut. Don't forget not to press to hard.
- Using a sharp knife make gentle diagonal slashes down the whole of each roll. I've lined them up on my board here to make the scoring easier but this isn't required.
- Cut each of the 4 rolls into 3 pieces to end up with a total of 12 rolls. (You will need to vary this is you have changed the quantities of the recipe).
- Move each roll to a lined baking tray, seam side down. Make sure the rolls each have ample room to expand.
- Generously egg wash the top and sides of each sausage roll.
- Make sure to not wash the exposed ends or sausage meat.
- Bake for 15 minutes until light golden brown. They may need slightly longer depending on your oven. Use your eyes and judgement. If your oven does not cook evenly, turn the tray midway through cooking.
- Try to let them cool a bit before serving but I think we all know they’re not going to last long!
To Air Fry (see notes section for more guidance)
- Prepare the sausage rolls per the oven instructions but apply the egg wash without moving them to a tray.
- Preheat your air fryer if your version requires you to.
- Once hot, remove the basket and lightly grease using an oil spray (not fry light) or brush on some oil. Be careful because the basket will now be hot.
- Use tongs to carefully place the rolls into the basket. Make sure to leave enough room for the rolls to puff up.
- Cook for 15 minutes at 180c/350f.
- Remove the rolls from the basket to a cooling rack then continue to cook the remaining rolls in as many batches as you need.
Notes
- The air fryer version of this recipe is tested in a Corsori Lite (CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal.
- Not all models advise preheating is required. Please follow the recommended instructions for your model. Mine has a specific preheat setting which is 4 minutes at 205c.
- For this recipe, I can fit 6 beef sausage rolls in the basket at a time. The fit is quite snug. For the recipe as written, this means that I need to cook the sausage rolls in 2 batches.
- As all air fryer models are a little different, you may find that you can fit more or less in at a time. Some models include stacking shelves which will increase capacity.
- Required cooking times and temperatures can also vary between models and brands. If you know that your air fryer runs a little hotter than most recipes suggest, use a lower temperature. And vice versa. Equally if you find that food cooks more quickly in your machine than instructions usually state, reduce the cooking time (or check it earlier) and vice versa.
Cat says
These made a lovely change from the pork version I usually make. Really tasty!
Sisley says
I’d never tried beef sausage rolls before but wow they are brilliant. I can’t wait to make them again.
Janice says
I’d never thought of using beef sausages in sausage rolls. I tried them this weekend and everyone loved them. I’ll definitely be making them again.
Lesley says
Really easy recipe to follow, I used beef sausages with a sheet of store bought puff pastry. They were delicious and I’ve got extra for an easy lunch tomorrow.