Party Panache, Octoberfest Sausage Sauerkraut Balls
Time for a little Octoberfest fun!
HH’s parents were full German, and my MIL made the best sauerbraten…they also used to take us to a local restaurant that served sauerkraut balls as a complimentary appetizer. When I saw a sauerkraut ball recipe on Momoe’s Kitchen, it brought back so many memories, I had to try it~
These are similar to the famous Bisquick, cheddar & sausage balls, except these are filled with sauerkraut, onions and cream cheese
A perfect game day nosh, great on a brunch buffet, and a great idea for Thankgiving appetizers
Make sure you drain your kraut really well, and I like to use fresh sauerkraut, like Boar’s Head, Bubbies or Claussen, to me it tastes so much better than canned. Check the refrigerated section of the produce department or deli
Cook the sausage and onion until sausage is browned and onion is soft
Mix it with the cream cheese and sauerkraut
Stir in some panko bread crumbs
Shape into balls and set up an assembly line for battering
Let the fun begin!
I started doing one at a time, but you can actually do 3 or 4 at a time to speed it up a bit
First roll in flour, then dip in egg, and finally roll in more Panko
Now, the recipe calls for frying, but as an alternative, you can bake them on a greased or lined baking sheet and spray them with cooking oil spray until golden, 400 degrees for 15-25 minutes depending on the size
I fried these in a deep fryer, for about 3 minutes
Serve them with Thousand Island dressing on the side
I don’t have any fancy serving photos because they went like hot cakes, even my son in law, who usually avoids vegetables, was lapping these up!
Octoberfest Sausage Sauerkraut Balls
Ingredients
- 8 oz. maple breakfast sausage {or use regular or hot}
- 2 cups fresh sauerkraut squeezed dry and drained on paper towels
- 1/2 large sweet onion chopped
- 1/3 cup cream cheese softened
- flour for dredging 1/2 – 1 cup
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs divided
- Thousand Island dressing for dipping optional
Instructions
- Brown sausage in skillet crumbling and stirring. Add onions about half way through cooking time and continue to cook and stir until sausage is browned and onion is soft. Drain on paper towels.
- Combine sauerkraut, sausage, onion and cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Mix everything together, clean hands work the best, until mixture is uniform and holds together. Add 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and mix again to evenly distribute. Roll into balls.
- Put flour, eggs, and remaining bread crumbs into 3 small bowls. Roll each ball in flour, then dip in egg, then roll in bread crumbs. Deep fry balls* at about 400 degrees for 2-3 minutes or until golden. Drain on paper towels.
- Serve warm with Thousand Island dressing for dipping. Makes about 24
Notes
Here are 2 other delicious sausage ball appetizers:
Southern Sausage & Cornbread Balls
These Sausage Sauerkraut Balls were adapted from Momoe’s Kitchen. I made a few changes, but I am so grateful for the memories these brought back and my children loved hearing the story as well as eating them!
🎃 🍁 🦃
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Meal Plan Monday Dishing it & Digging it, Between Naps on the Porch,
Merry Monday Make it Pretty Monday Celebrate and Decorate,
Delicious Dishes Recipe Party Oh My Heartsie Girl Full Plate Thursday
Comments
23 Responses to “Party Panache, Octoberfest Sausage Sauerkraut Balls”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying...-
[…] Octoberfest Sausage Sauerkraut Balls are made with maple sausage, onion, cream cheese and sauerkraut […]
-
[…] and Octoberfest Sausage & Sauerkraut Balls […]
RSS - Posts
Everytime I visit my mouth waters!! YUM
aw, thanks Patti!
Oh my goodness these look so good! I think I’m the only sauerkraut lover in my house, though…
just don’t tell them it’s in there!
Wow, Looks so yummy!
thanks Bonnie!
Pinning for sure and want to try this soon! Yum! Both my parents are first generation German and we all love sauerkraut. Thank you! ♥️
It’s a little labor intensive, but a fun way to eat sauerkraut! Thanks Cyndi 🙂
Yum! will surely be trying these!!
I kept thinking about your sauerkraut making parties as I was writing this Jodi!
🙂
Thank you for trying the sauerkraut balls. They are very good and you can adjust the recipe to your own taste and what ingredients that are available to you. They actually taste better as a left over, if they last that long.
You can make these ahead and put them in your freezer to save time during the holidays. Just take them out and let them thaw a little bit and fry or bake them before serving. Just freeze them on a cookie sheet and place them in a bag.
Thanks for sharing the recipe and my link.
Thank YOU! Great memories, and thanks for the tips!
Jenna, these look delicious! I love sauerkraut.
It’s a not as easy to make as I prefer, but it was fun and appreciated at a recent game day, thanks Pam
Oh boy, I just happen to have some sausage in the freezer! I see these tasty little bites in my near future. Lovin’ your popcorn beer too:@)
Food is always about love and fond memories of people that we love and loved. These sauerkraut balls sound so wonderful, Jenna. We all need some good appetizer recipes for the holidays, and I read about making them ahead and freezing them. That’s a great idea!
Thanks Kitty, It was over 40 years ago when we had them, I couldn’t believe the fun memories these brought back!
I don’t know how old you all are, but these made the cocktail party rounds in the late sixties and early seventies but they had the timely name of “Sock it to Me Balls”. For those who are too young, it was a catch phrase from the TV show “Laugh-In” and they even got President Nixon on the show to say it, “Sock it to ME?”
ha ha, how funny!
Now that’s some sauerkraut I can enjoy Jenna! Love the combo of flavors in these tasty bites!