Pork, Sage & Onion Stuffing Balls (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free)

Need a delicious stuffing recipe that is free from gluten, dairy, egg AND nuts? Then you have to try my easy peasy Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls! These cute little sausage stuffing balls are perfect to serve with roast turkey, roast duck or roast chicken. Alternatively this Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing mix can be stuffed in the neck cavity of your turkey, or cooked in a separate dish. Instructions for all 3 ways are given in the recipe below…

I think I have said before, but I am OBSESSED with my blog stats – I find them endlessly fascinating…they tell me where everyone is coming from, what you’re all looking at, and where you go next (I feel I ought to point out it just gives me numbers, not your name…I’m not stalking you – honest!!)

I particularly love to keep an eye on which of my recipes are proving most popular (so I can give you more of the things you love!)…and how that changes throughout the year. Right now I am starting to see my Christmas recipes rising to the top…especially two, which are always super popular on my blog at this time of year – my Easy Christmas Vegetable Traybake (ALL the Christmas veggies cooked in ONE TRAY – yes really!).

And my Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls…which have been hugely popular ever since my very first bloggy Christmas. (Despite the awful photos – thank you for loving them in spite of my slightly dodgy photography skills at the time!)

My Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls have been a family recipe for decades and something I’ve cooked a lot over the years, they are an essential part of Christmas Dinner for me and my family…I’ve often toyed with the idea of adding sausage meat to my Sage and Onion Stuffing, but never quite got round to it…until I was spurred on to do it by my buddies at the Free From Gang…

“Who are the Free From Gang?”, you might ask…they are a group of AWESOME blogging ladies, who between them have a collection of food allergies and children with food allergies that scare the pants of mere mortals like me – but these lovely ladies are no mere mortals – they are a bunch of SUPERWOMEN who deal with all manner of allergy related struggles and challenges with extraordinary grace and good humour. And somehow they’ve adopted me into the clan…despite not really being able to rustle up a proper food allergy. (I am horrendously allergic to animals and dust mites, but that’s a whole other story…) If you want to know who they are and where you can find them, check out their blogs and recipes at the bottom of this post.

I have absolutely loved the seasonal challenges the Free From Gang have thrown at me this year…there has been Free From Pancakes, Free From Easter, Free From BBQs, Free From Harvest…and now, of course, Free From Christmas!

I may not have any food allergies of my own, but I am the sort of food-obsessive person who just can’t stand the idea of anyone missing out…and so you will find a lot of my recipes are allergy friendly…or very easily adapted to make them so. And the idea of anyone missing out on stuffing at Christmas makes me very sad indeed.

Unfortunately the majority of stuffing recipes are about as Free From unfriendly as you can find – most have gluten in the form of breadcrumbs, egg to bind them and many have dairy and / or nuts added too…just for good measure.

Well, since I wanted to make a sausage version of my favourite sage and onion stuffing, I thought why not keep things super easy and very allergy friendly all at the same time and simply flavour the sausage meat with sage, mixed herbs and onion – would it work?

So I tried it and boy did it work, it was a triumph…and it literally has 4 ingredients: pork sausage meat, dried sage, dried mixed herbs and onion. That’s it. So, so long as you ensure your pork sausage meat is free from allergens this is utterly perfect, even if you have several people coming for Christmas Dinner, all of whom have different allergies or intolerances.

But don’t worry if you have no allergies whatsoever – this pork, sage and onion stuffing recipe is utterly awesome and super delicious in its own right – whether you have allergies or not…and far easier than the vast majority of stuffing recipes out there. And EASY is definitely welcome in the busyness of Christmas – am I right?

And better still, you have 3 ways to cook this sausage stuffing – you can make it like I have here into cute little stuffing balls, or you can cook it all together in an oven dish, or you can stuff it into the neck cavity of your turkey (or chicken, or duck)…all 3 ways are delicious…but my favourite way has to be the stuffing balls, as you get maximum crispyness and maximum flavour…and if you have any left over they are great for picking at over the following days. (I had a VERY happy hubby when he discovered what I had left him in the fridge.)

I give instructions for all 3 ways to cook my Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls in the recipe below.

If you have a lot to do on Christmas morning, you can absolutely make this simple sausage stuffing the night before, but ensure the onion is properly cold first before you mix it in with the sausage meat and then get it straight back in the fridge as soon as you’ve shaped it into balls. (Or you can leave the shaping part until Christmas morning if you prefer.)

And of course, don’t forget…it doesn’t have to be Christmas to enjoy this stuffing – this would go brilliantly with roast chicken or roast duck too!

Whatever you are up to this Christmas, I hope it’s a very merry one…and don’t forget to keep an eye on Easy Peasy Foodie as I’ll be sharing lots of delicious Christmas recipes over the coming weeks…many free from friendly, all full of flavour and, of course, totally easy peasy!

5 from 5 votes

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Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free)

Need a delicious stuffing recipe that is free from gluten, dairy, egg AND nuts? Then you have to try my easy peasy Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls! These cute little sausage stuffing balls are perfect to serve with roast turkey, roast duck or roast chicken. Alternatively this Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing mix can be stuffed in the neck cavity of your turkey, or cooked in a separate dish. Instructions for all 3 ways are given in the recipe below…(Serves 4-8, depending on appetite)

Recipe Type Side Dish

Cuisine American, British

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Serves 12 stuffing balls

Calories 153 kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil plus extra for greasing
• 1 red onion
• 3 teaspoons dried sage
• 2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
• 500 g plain pork sausage meat ensure gluten, egg, nut and dairy free, as necessary

Metric - US Customary

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C / gas mark 7 / 425F and grease an oven tray enough to hold all the stuffing balls.

2. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a saucepan. Add the diced onion and put the lid on. Cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft but not brown.
3. When the onions are ready, tip into a bowl and add the sausage meat, herbs, salt and pepper and stir thoroughly.
4. Divide the mixture into 12 and shape into balls. Place in your greased tin(s) and cook for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown and cooked through.

Notes

(1) To cook this all together in an oven dish, simply follow the recipe above, but instead of shaping into balls and placing on an oven tray, lightly grease a deep sided oven dish, roughly 15 x 24cm (6 x 10inches) and put all the mixture into the dish, squash down lightly and cook for 25-30 minutes, or until brown on the top and cooked all the way through.
(2) To cook this stuffed into a turkey, chicken or duck, prepare the stuffing as above, but instead of shaping into balls, stuff into the neck cavity of a turkey or the main cavity of a chicken or duck and cook according to your usual stuffed turkey or chicken recipe – ensuring the stuffing is cooked and piping hot all the way through.

Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition Facts

Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 153 Calories from Fat 117

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 13g 20%

Saturated Fat 4g 20%

Cholesterol 30mg 10%

Sodium 265mg 11%

Potassium 123mg 4%

Total Carbohydrates 1g 0%

Protein 6g 12%

Vitamin A 1.2%

Vitamin C 1.7%

Calcium 2.1%

Iron 8.3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Get More Easy Peasy Christmas Recipes here…

The #FreeFromChristmas Challenge

I have made these Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls as my contribution to the Free From Gang’s #FreeFromChristmas challenge. For more delicious #FreeFromChristmas recipes check out the following blogs, or follow the #FreeFromChristmas and #FreeFromGang hashtags on social media!

Fabulous #FreeFromChristmas Recipes… 

Christmas Biscuits (GF, DF, Ve) by Nathalie at Intolerant Gourmand
Clementine and Cranberry Wreath Bread (GF, NF, SyF) by Vicki at Free From Fairy
Vegan Mince Pies (GF, DF, Ve) by Eva at The Healthy Tart
Gluten Free Mini Christmas Cakes (GF, DF, NF, Ve) by Rebecca at Glutarama
Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls (GF, DF, EF, NF) by Eb at Easy Peasy Foodie
Protein Hot Chocolate with Orange (GF, DF, Ve) by Eva at The Healthy Tart
Dairy Free Homemade Bailey’s (GF, DF) by Rebecca at Glutarama
Traditional Christmas Cake (GF, DF) by Laura at Dairy Free Kids
Boozy Bailey’s Real Hot Chocolate (GF, NF, can be DF) by Kate at Gluten Free Alchemist

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I am linking this up to Brilliant Blog Posts, Cook Blog Share, Cook Once Eat Twice, Free From Fridays and Recipe of the Week.