These Easy Sausage Parcels are quick and simple to prepare and taste delicious. Plus they’re budget friendly too. The perfect midweek meal!
A childhood favourite
Sausage Parcels were one of my favourite meals as a child but I grew up only having them in spring when spring greens were available. This meant they took on an almost mythical status…I remember begging my mother to make them and being bitterly disappointed to discover they were not going to be on the menu for another three months or more.
It is one of the great delights of being an adult that I am now able to make this as often as I please! And it is proving just as popular with the next generation…it was my daughter begging me to make these this week. You have to hand it to my mum – what a genius way of getting kids to eat their greens!
I have adapted my mum’s recipe a bit…mainly to make it quicker! Her recipe involved cooking the sausages entirely in the oven but I prefer to grill them first…yes it’s an extra pan to wash up but it knocks a lot off the cooking time and I think it makes the sausages taste nicer. I also use passata and basmati rice in mine…ingredients probably unheard of in our little town in the 1980s!
How to make sausage parcels
This family favourite is very quick and easy to prepare. Simply grill the sausages, chop each one into 3 and wrap each third in a leaf of spring greens (or any cabbage).
Place the wrapped sausages in an ovenproof dish along with mushrooms and any extra cabbage leaves.
Finally pour over a simple tomato sauce, made from passata (or tinned tomatoes) and a stock cube and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Easy to adapt for vegetarians and vegans
You can easily make this vegetarian or vegan by substituting the pork sausages with vegetarian / vegan ones and using a veggie stock cube.
What to serve with Sausage Parcels?
I like to serve these sausage parcels with basmati rice, but they would also go well with any other kind of rice. Alternatively serve with pasta, baked potatoes or couscous.
What to drink with Sausage Parcels?
This hearty, rustic recipe is perfect with a hearty, rustic red, such as you get from the south of France – for example Corbieres, Minervois and Cahors. Something like an Argentinian Malbec would also work well here.
Can you reheat Sausage Parcels?
Yes, this reheats really well. Put any leftovers in a plastic lidded container and place in the fridge, where they will keep for up to 3 days.
To reheat, place the sausage parcels and tomato sauce in an oven proof dish, cover with a lid or foil and reheat in the oven for 15 minutes at 180C (160C fan/ gas mark 4 / 350F) or until piping hot all the way through. Alternatively, reheat in the microwave.
Can you freeze Sausage Parcels?
Yes you can! Simply put the cooked and cooled sausage parcels in their tomato sauce into a plastic lidded container and place in the freezer, where they will keep for up to 1 month. Defrost for 24 hours in the fridge and reheat as above.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
- Easy One Pot Sausage Casserole
- Sausage, Red Wine and Butter Bean Casserole
- Easy Sausage Traybake
- Sausage, Tomato and Bean Traybake
- Moroccan Lamb Sausage and Chickpea Tagine
Easy Sausage Traybake
Easy Sausage Parcels
Ingredients
- 8 pork sausages (or veggie/vegan sausages, or chicken sausages)
- 2 big bunches of spring greens - at least 24 leaves (or any other kind of large cabbage leaves)
- 400 ml passata (or chopped tinned tomatoes)
- 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube (or stock pot)
- Black pepper to taste
- 150 g chestnut mushrooms roughly chopped (or any kind of mushrooms you like!)
- Basmati rice, to serve (or pasta, potatoes or couscous)
Instructions
- Grill (broil) the sausages on a medium/high heat for 15 minutes, turning occasionally, until fully cooked.
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C fan/ gas mark 4 / 350F.
- Chop the end off the bunch of spring greens and separate into individual leaves. Cut out any thick stalky bits from the middle of the leaves and chop any really large leaves in two. You are aiming for leaves big enough to wrap ⅓ of a sausage.
- Put the trimmed leaves in a large saucepan or bowl and pour over 1 litre of boiling water. Leave the leaves in the water for about 1 minute, until pliable – so you can easily wrap them round a bit of sausage – then drain into a colander.
- Tip the passata into a saucepan, fill up the passata jar with water and tip the water into the saucepan too. Crumble in the stock cube and add a few twists of black pepper. Heat gently until just about bubbling, then turn off.
- While the passata is heating you can use the time to chop up the mushrooms.
- When everything is ready, pour about ⅓ of the passata into the bottom of a large ovenproof dish. Chop each sausage into 3 equal pieces and carefully wrap each piece with one spring green leaf. Pop the parcel into the ovenproof dish and repeat until all the parcels are in the dish.
- Tuck the mushrooms and any leftover greens in between the parcels and then pour the remaining passata over the top. Check to make sure all the mushrooms are submerged and push down any that aren’t. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- While the sausage parcels are in the oven, cook the rice (or pasta, or potatoes) according to packet instructions / your preferences.
- Serve the rice in a big mound on the plate with the parcels placed on the top. Allow about 6 parcels per person. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the top and tuck in!
Notes
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Love pork? Check out my collection of Easy Pork, Ham and Sausage Recipes…
Want more delicious and hassle-free midweek meals? Find more here…
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Chloe Edges says
Wow this is entirely different to anything I’ve seen – love it!
Eb Gargano says
Thanks! I’ve never seen a recipe for anything like it either – not sure where Mum got the recipe from in the first place – must ask her! Eb x