The Old Fashioned Sausage Roll Recipe

Everyone has an opinion on the sausage roll. Ours is simple: the pastry should shatter, the filling should taste of actual meat, and you should not need a recipe card to remember how it goes.

This is the version we make and the version we get asked for most across the counter at Mortdale. It uses proper mince rather than the mystery filling you get in a servo warmer, and it freezes beautifully, which is the real reason to make a batch.

What you need

Makes 12 large rolls or 24 party size

• 750 g beef mince (our Premium Beef Mince is the right fat level here, do not go extra lean)
• 250 g pork mince, or use all beef if you prefer
• 1 brown onion, grated
• 1 carrot, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 egg, plus 1 extra for the wash
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• Salt and plenty of cracked pepper
• 3 sheets butter puff pastry, thawed
• Sesame seeds

A note on the breadcrumbs: fresh, not dried. Blitz two slices of day old bread. Dried crumbs absorb differently and give you a denser filling.

The mince is the whole thing

This is the part most recipes skip, and it is the difference between a sausage roll people remember and one they finish out of politeness.

Extra lean mince makes a dry, crumbly sausage roll. You want somewhere around 15 to 20 percent fat, because that fat renders during baking, keeps the filling moist and carries flavour into the pastry from the inside. A lean filling steams instead, which is also how you end up with a gap between the meat and the pastry.

The pork is optional but it earns its place. Pork fat renders softer than beef fat and it makes the texture noticeably more tender. If you are going all beef, do not also go lean.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C, or 180C fan. Line two trays with baking paper. A hot oven is what sets the pastry base before the filling can soak it.
2. Squeeze the grated onion and carrot in a clean tea towel until no more water comes out. You will be surprised how much there is. Skipping this is why sausage rolls go soggy underneath.
3. Combine both minces, onion, carrot, garlic, breadcrumbs, one egg, both sauces, herbs, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Mix with your hands until it just comes together. Overworking it makes the filling tight and rubbery.
4. Cut each pastry sheet in half. Spoon the filling in a log along the long edge of each piece, roughly the thickness of your thumb. Resist making it fatter, because the pastry needs to finish cooking at the same time as the meat.
5. Brush the far edge with beaten egg, roll up firmly and sit each roll seam side down. Firmly matters. A loose roll separates in the oven.
6. Cut each log into three for large rolls or six for party size. Slash the tops twice with a sharp knife so steam can escape.
7. Brush with egg, scatter sesame seeds, and bake 25 to 30 minutes until deep golden and firm. Swap the trays halfway if your oven runs uneven.
8. Rest 5 minutes before eating. The filling is molten straight out of the oven and it will take the roof of your mouth off.

Getting the pastry right

Buy butter puff, not the vegetable oil version. It is usually a dollar or two more and it is the single easiest upgrade in the whole recipe. Butter puff browns properly and shatters when you bite it.

Work with it cold. Thaw it in the fridge, not on the bench. Warm pastry goes limp, the layers smear together and you lose the lift.

Do not skip the egg wash. It is not optional if you want colour. Beat the egg with a splash of water so it brushes thin rather than sitting in pools.

Give them room on the tray. Crowded rolls steam each other and the sides stay pale.

Freezing them properly

Freeze them raw, not cooked. This is the single best piece of advice in this article.

Roll and cut as above, sit them on a lined tray with space between them, freeze until solid, then bag them. Bake from frozen at 180C fan for about 40 minutes. Do not thaw first, because thawed pastry goes soggy.

Cooked and reheated sausage rolls never get their crunch back. Raw ones bake as though you made them that morning, which means a batch on a Sunday covers school lunches, unexpected visitors and one very good Friday night.

They keep about three months in the freezer before the pastry starts to pick up freezer smell.

Three things that go wrong

Soggy bottoms. Wet vegetables, or the tray was not hot enough, or the rolls were crowded. Squeeze the vegetables and give them space.

Filling shrinks away from the pastry. The mince was too lean, or it was overmixed. Both squeeze water and fat out during baking.

Pale pastry. Egg wash is not optional, and butter puff browns far better than the vegetable oil versions.

Making it your own

A tablespoon of Dijon in the mix is a good idea. So is a handful of grated tasty cheese, or fennel seeds if you like a slightly Italian lean.

For something different entirely, use our traditional boerewors meat as the filling and skip the seasoning, since the coriander and clove are already in there. It makes a very good sausage roll and nobody will guess what it is.

Caramelised onion folded through the mix is worth the extra twenty minutes if you are making these for people you want to impress.

Feeding a party

Party size, so six per pastry log, is the right call for anything with drinks. Allow three to four per person if there is other food, and five or six if there is not.

Bake in batches and hold them in a low oven rather than trying to fit everything in at once. Crowded trays are the enemy.

Questions we get asked

What mince is best for sausage rolls?
Beef mince at 15 to 20 percent fat, ideally with a little pork alongside it. Extra lean makes them dry and crumbly.

Why are my sausage rolls soggy underneath?
Wet filling, nearly always. Squeeze the grated onion and carrot until no more water comes out.

Can I freeze them?
Yes, raw rather than cooked. Freeze on the tray until solid, bag them, then bake from frozen at 180C fan for about 40 minutes.

Puff or shortcrust?
Butter puff. Shortcrust makes a pie, not a sausage roll.

How many does this make?
Twelve large or twenty four party size from 1kg of mince and three sheets of pastry.

How long do they take?
25 to 30 minutes at 200C, or 180C fan. About 40 minutes from frozen.