Are you always running behind in the morning? Would a tasty, grab-and-go breakfast help simplify the busiest, craziest part of your day? Then my Easy Sausage Muffins will be perfect for you! They’re deliciously savory breakfast muffins full of sausage, eggs, and Cheddar cheese.
Parents in a rush. Kids searching for books and backpacks. Early mornings are hectic for even the most organized families.
I remember those days so well. Always a rush to get out the door to school and work and always a struggle to get something decent on the table for breakfast.
Isn’t it nice to have an easy recipe in your arsenal for those busy mornings when you want more than a cold bowl of cereal? Something savory and hearty like these Easy Sausage Muffins.
This recipe is so simple, with only four ingredients and minimal prep time. These savory breakfast muffins are very much like the classic sausage balls but with lots less hands-on time. The packaged baking mix in the recipe is a huge time saver.
You can make a big batch of this Bisquick sausage muffin recipe on the weekend and store them in the fridge. A quick zap in the microwave, and you have a nice, warm, cheese-y muffin full of sausage that will carry you right through to lunch. If you have more time and are cooking a full breakfast, Alpine Eggs make a nice companion to something like these sausage muffins.
Recipe Snapshot: Easy Sausage Muffins
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 12
Cuisine: American
Cooking Method: Oven/Stovetop
Primary Ingredients: Baking mix, sausage, cheese
Skill Level: Easy
DO MORE WITH CHATGPT
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING …
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“These were FANTASTIC and so easy to make. This recipe is a keeper.“
— Mia
“These are so good and very easy to make. I have used regular sausage and hot sausage, and both are delicious.“
— Nona
What Makes This Recipe Special
These muffins pack sausage, sharp Cheddar, and eggs into a tender baking-mix base, so you get everything you like about a sausage biscuit in one hand-held package. Just four ingredients, and the baking mix does most of the work.
They’ll remind you a lot of the well-loved, classic sausage balls but with less hands-on time. They keep and reheat very well so you can make a batch (or two!) on the weekend and grab them on your way out the door all week.
Ingredient Notes
This post may contain affiliate links. Lana’s Cooking is reader-supported and earns a tiny commission at no extra cost to you when you shop from our links.
- Bulk Breakfast Sausage – Choose, mild, medium, or hot according to your preference. Personally, I like both the Tennessee Pride and Jimmy Dean brands.
- Baking Mix – I recommend Bisquick, but any brand of baking mix you like is just fine. If you don’t have baking mix on hand, you can easily make your own with this recipe.
- Eggs — Just standard large eggs.
- Cheddar Cheese – I prefer extra sharp Cheddar.
The complete ingredient list with detailed measurements is included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Recipe Variations to Try
Some great ideas for varying this recipe to make it your own:
- Substitute cooked, crumbled bacon or ham for the breakfast sausage.
- Use turkey sausage instead of pork sausage.
- Use your favorite cheese. If you don’t care for Cheddar, you can always substitute Monterey Jack, Colby, American, Gouda, or Swiss.
- Choose mild, medium, or hot sausage according to your preference, or use a sage-flavored or maple-flavored sausage.
- Great add-ins are finely diced green onions, jalapenos, or bell peppers, or try about 3/4 cup of cooked, very well-drained greens such as fresh spinach or kale.
- Season it even more with 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper added to the batter.
You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook!
You can see this recipe on page 55 of my cookbook, My Southern Table! Get your signed copy today.
How to Make Easy Sausage Muffins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set it aside.
STEP 1. Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat until no pink color remains. As the sausage cooks, break it up using a potato masher or large fork so that it is crumbly and loose. Drain as much fat as possible from the cooked sausage.
STEP 2. In a large bowl, add the eggs, shredded cheese, the cooked, drained sausage, and baking mix. Stir until thoroughly combined.
Want to save this?
I'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
STEP 3. Fill the prepared muffin cups about 3/4 full.
STEP 4. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Recipe Tips
- Drain the sausage well. Cooked sausage retains a good bit of fat, which, if not well drained, can make the muffins heavy and greasy. Drain it thoroughly before adding it to the mixing bowl.
- Don’t overfill the muffin cups. Three-quarters full is right. These don’t rise much, so no worries about overflowing.
- Check for doneness by color and firmness. They’re done when the tops are golden brown and spring back to a light touch. A toothpick inserted near the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
- Grate your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated to keep it from clumping. That coating will stop it from melting smoothly into the muffins. A block of freshly grated sharp Cheddar makes a difference.
Pro Tip
THEY’RE NOT JUST FOR BREAKFAST! Bake these in mini-muffin tins and serve them with your game day spread! They’re great with a little spicy mustard to spread on top and your favorite adult beverage. They’re also delicious when drizzled with a bit of maple syrup.
How to Serve
These are a full grab-and-go breakfast on their own, but they’re nice as part of a bigger spread, too. Serve them alongside a bowl of mixed fresh fruit, or a mound of chopped tomatoes and diced avocado, with coffee, juice, or a glass of cold milk. If you’re making a sit-down breakfast, a dish of my Herbed Baked Eggs goes really well.
Storing Leftovers
Store the muffins in an airtight container, or wrap individual sausage cheese muffins in plastic wrap and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. For longer storage, wrap well and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen muffins in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
Questions and Answers: Easy Sausage Muffins
- How do I reheat Bisquick sausage muffins?
Reheat refrigerated muffins wrapped in a paper towel for up to 60 seconds in the microwave. Frozen muffins should be defrosted overnight in the refrigerator before reheating. - What can I serve with sausage muffins?
These muffins are great with a side of mixed fresh fruit, a mixture of chopped tomatoes and diced avocado, and, of course, juice, tea, coffee, or milk to drink. They’re also delicious alongside soups and stews at lunch or dinner!
Have a question or thought to share?
If you have a question about the recipe or if you’ve made it and want to share how it turned out, I would truly enjoy hearing from you. Just scroll down to leave a comment or add your star rating.
Thank you for stopping by. It means a lot to have you here.
Recipe
Easy Sausage Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
- 4 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup baking mix recommend: Bisquick
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.
- Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat until no pink color remains. As the sausage cooks, break it up using a potato masher or large fork so that it is crumbly and loose. Drain as much fat as possible from the cooked sausage.1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, shredded cheese, cooked drained sausage and baking mix. Stir until thoroughly combined.4 eggs, 1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, 1 cup baking mix
- Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Notes
- Drain the cooked sausage well. Excess fat makes the muffins heavy and greasy.
- Fill the cups about three-quarters full. These don’t rise much.
- Grate the cheese from a block. Pre-shredded cheese is coated and won’t melt as smoothly into the muffins.
- To store: wrap individual muffins in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 5 days, or freeze up to 3 months.
- To reheat: microwave refrigerated muffins up to 60 seconds. Defrost frozen muffins overnight in the refrigerator first.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
Can you use muffin liners, or will they stick?
I’ve never tried them with liners, but I feel like it would probably work fine.
Do you combine the DRY Bisquick with the other ingredients, or do you make up the Bisquick batter with milk before combining the ingredients? Thank you!
Follow the recipe and combine the Bisquick mix with the other ingredients. You do not make a batter with Bisquick before combining.
Wonderful! Thank you for clarifying that, Lana.
My pleasure!
I bet these muffins would be so good with Red Lobster cheddar bay mix! I make my sausage balls with the cheddar bay mix and jalapeño pimento cheese!
What a great idea! I’m going to try that soon.
These were delicious! I used turkey sausage and added a light sprinkle of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. YUM!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
made these tonight, the taste was very good but we found them very dry
This recipe looks so good, I’m going to make this for my family on Thanksgiving morning. Thanks for providing the recipe.
My pleasure! I hope your family enjoys it!
I cut the recipe in half since it’s just 2 of us. I used my homemade pork sausage that I seasoned with sage. We used 100% Pure Maple syrup for dipping. These were FANTASTIC and so easy to make. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you like the recipe, Mia!
Loved this recipe! Was easy & delicious & made mornings a breeze!
Thanks! I’m so glad you like it!
Lana I love your recipes I have made several of your dishes and I was satisifed with the results. They simple and to the point and that is my kind of cooking . Whenever iam looking for a recipe i go to you first. Keep up the good work my dear. The young cooks needs you. lol
I think this recipe is lacking seasoning I used bacon and ham and it was very bland. Maybe sausage adds a little more flavor? Nice and fluffy though.
Sausage itself is highly seasoned with salt, pepper, herbs, and spices. Bacon and ham are not. A bit unfair to rate a recipe low when you changed a vital component and it didn’t turn out correctly.
Made these using Carbquik (a low carb bisquick copycat) and they turned out pretty great. Definitely doubling the recipe next time, I can already tell it’s going to be hard to keep my family out of my new keto muffin stash, haha.
So glad the substitution worked out for you!
Thank you for sharing. I wanted to try it with carbquick and was wondering how it would come out
Hi Andrea. I haven’t tested this recipe with “carbquick.”
Awesome. I ate some at my Bible study loved them. when I git home I made them put two in each foil wrap. frozen and they are great go to anytime. this week the lady brought them again along with gravy in a crocpot. it was so good. I will continue to make and freeze and share.
Great! I’m so glad you like them!
These were really great made exactly as written. Going to have to try some additions next time.
Yes, please do! This recipe is very adaptable and you can be very creative with adding other ingredients.
These are great! Made with homemade baking mix, pre-cooked turkey sausage, red peppers, green onions, Parmesan-cheddar cheese, and our own eggs. The turkey sausage bag was only about 10 ounces, so I added the peppers/onions to add more substance. Needed a few tablespoons of heavy cream to thin out the mixture a bit.
Another variation: Mexican Chorizo sausage, peppers, onions and Jack cheese.
So glad you liked the recipe!
Can these sausage muffins be made the night before and cook the next morning
I haven’t tested the recipe that way, Gwen. I would cook them and then rewarm them individually as needed.
These were awesome.
Easy and tasty
I made your Easy Sausage Muffins today, to go with some Creamy Potato and Mushroom soup I made. We are having a rainy day, so that called a hot bowl of soup, but your wonderful muffins tasted amazing, and were a lovely little “side” with the soup. They were so quick and easy to throw together too. Just the type of recipes I love most. Thank you for sharing them with everyone.
So glad you liked the recipe, Sandie!
What could you add instead of baking mix? Like how much flour, salt, baking soda etc? These sounds fantastic.
Hi Nikki. “Baking mix” is really just pre-measured ingredients. You can easily make it yourself. There’s a great recipe on My Baking Addiction.
I normally have Italian Sausage on hand so used that in place of the pork sausage. I also added finely diced bell pepper and grated onion..
I use whtever cheese I have on hand; after all, a person just has to use up what’s handy
I made the recipe this morning. I made a few changes, mild cheddar cheese, rather than sharp and added about an extra 1/2 cup of cheese (I really like cheese, Lol). Also sautéed some fresh spinach (put it in skillet when sausage was almost done). It was delicious, definitely something I will make again.
I made these last night with mild Italian sausage and NY Sharp cheese and got 24 mini-muffins — definitely much easier than the traditional sausage ball and I will be making again! Thanks for sharing the recipe! Enjoy!
That sounds like a great variation on this recipe!
How long did you bake the min-muffins recipe?
For mini-muffins, I start checking at about 12 minutes. They’re done at no more than 15 minutes.
For the upcoming Super Bowl, I had an idea to contribute “breakfast-sausage-stuffed belgian waffle muffins”; just a thought I had. Found zero recipes on the internet, but came across your sausage muffin recipe; that would be a good start for my idea, I thought. I tested your recipe, with belgian waffle mix, and some maple syrup on the side for dipping. Delicious! Try it. :-) Thank you.
Sounds delicious! Great way to take a recipe and make it your own.
These look good. Will try these soon.
Just wanted to say how I enjoy your recipes. You explain things so well, and let us know how to store them and add ins. Thanks so much!
Thanks, Mary Ann! Good to know you like having that information.
I made this in a pie pan instead of muffins twice now and once as muffins personally I think it comes out better in the pie pan I made it with maple bacon and green chili added and it came out tasting great
Thanks, Loraine. It’s good to know you can use a pie pan for this! I haven’t tested it that way myself. The bacon and chili sound fantastic!
I made these and added thawed frozen chopped spinach. Delicious!! I ate some, gave some to family and froze some. This is an easy recipe for a meal-in-one muffin for camping, day trips, overnights, whatever.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! And I really like your idea of adding spinach. I’ll try that myself :-)
Made them just now and delicious
Dell S.
I tried this recipe and I love it! So easy and they are really good! Kinda like a giant sausage ball!
Really glad you liked them, Kathy!
These are good any time of day
Yes, I think so too!
These are so good and very easy to make. I have used regular sausage and hot sausage and both are delicious.
Thanks, Nona! We think they’re great, too.
These look fabulous. Curious if anyone here has tried making these with kodiak cake mix instead of bisquick.
How long do you bake if you are making 24 mini muffins?
Those mini-muffin pans come in several different sizes so it just depends. I’d start checking after about 10 minutes to see if they are done. It shouldn’t take long at all.
I am making them in the bite size muffin pans right now, so thank you for this Q&A!!
Can these be frozen?
I have not tried freezing them, but I would think you could.
Thanks! I’m going to try it tomorrow!
I have frozen after making. Still good after heating in microwave
I think my kids would DIG mornings if I served up a plate of these!
Oh, man! These muffins are perfect for breakfast on the go on a busy morning.
Those look delicious! I could eat one right now!
These are on the radar for the next gathering. I did not make them for Game Day yesterday. However, the Dogs won, and all is right with the world.
Miss P
These look amazing! They look so perfect for breakfast…yum!
Can’t wait to try these, Lana. I am new to your site and I am already loving it! I can’t wait to look at all your recipes!
Hi Lana! It’s so great to be back to my food blog after a few quiet months….I’ve been reading, but just hadn’t posted until the other day. Now I’m back in full force, and it feels great. Even my 15 year old daughter is showing an interest, and wants to do all my photo editing….talk about a blessing, and a way to make it a family hobby!
These sausage muffins look incredible, and super easy is always a bonus! Hope you had a great summer!!
Hi Denise! It’s great to hear from you again. Funny – I was just on your blog yesterday and thinking that I missed hearing from you. So glad to know you’re getting back into it. Look forward to seeing new things from you.
Great breakfast idea! I am SO making this for my husband for his work breakfasts!
They’re great for anyone who needs a portable option, Amanda. Just keep them in the fridge and warm right before running out the door.
I would totally do this for weekend lazy breakfast!
Well, HELLO perfect breakfast!
Yum. Great idea. We are big sausage eaters here and these won’t disappoint.
If you’re sausage eaters, you’re going to really enjoy these, Christine!
Lana, I’ll be over for breakfast on Sunday. Please make these.
I must try this. They look so good.
Come on over, Kim! I’ll have a batch ready for you :-)
What a great breakfast idea!
love it!