This gorgeous Christmas sausage roll wreath is such a showstopping appetizer for the holiday season. It’s easy, takes only 10 minutes to prep and is stuffed with festive cranberries and pecans.
Juicy cranberry and pecan stuffed sausage meat encased in crispy, buttery puff pastry? Honestly, what’s not to love!?
Sausage rolls are always a popular party snack or appetizer for the holiday season, and it’s easy to see why. I love making this super fun sausage roll wreath over Christmas – it’s a fab way to present the rolls and is just a little bit more special than regular sausage rolls.
This is seriously easy to make – you just need puff pastry, your favourite sausages (or sausage meat) and a couple of added festive extras. I love serving the wreath with homemade cranberry sauce, but you can use whatever relish, sauce or chutney you like.
Ingredients
You only need six easy-to-find ingredients to make this super fun wreath.
- Sausages. Ideally go for good quality, free-range pork sausages without a lot of added extras (because we’re adding our own!) You could also use vegetarian sausage meat or chicken sausages.
- Puff pastry. I like using a pre-rolled sheet here – it’s the perfect size for the wreath and you don’t have to roll it.
- Dried cranberries. These little festive jewels provide sweetness and texture to the sausage rolls but swap them out for another dried fruit (apricots are great) or you can leave them out.
- Pecans and almonds. I love adding nuts in for texture, but you can leave them out if you prefer. You could also use pistachios, walnuts or cashews, or just pecans.
- Cranberry sauce. I like making a quick homemade sauce (literally just cook down 2 cups of fresh cranberries with 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon until thick and juicy), but you can use your favourite store-bought version or use another sauce or chutney. My sweet chilli jam is great, as is this wonderful fig and tamarind chutney.
OPTIONAL: I love adding a sprinkling of sesame seeds on top and I often throw in a big handful of chopped sage leaves into the sausage mix for even more festive flavour.
How to make it
Roughly chop your dried cranberries, pecans and almonds, then get them into a large mixing bowl. Slice through the skin of your sausages, then squeeze the meat out into the bowl too. Mix well to combine, either using a spoon or using your hands.
Lay a piece of baking paper on a flat surface, then place the puff pastry sheet on top. Spread about 4 tablespoons of the cranberry sauce down the middle of the pastry, then pile the sausage meat into a long log. Brush the egg wash down one side of the pastry next to the sausage meat. Carefully fold the pastry over the sausage log, then roll it over the edd-washed side of the pastry to seal the roll. Keep rolling, then flip the roll so the seam is on the bottom.
Mark 11 roughly equal lines down the roll, then cut two-thirds of the way through (not cutting through the top third so that the wreath remains joined up). Carefully form the log into a circle, using a little more egg wash to seal the roll in place. Gently turn the rolls a quarter, so that the exposed sausage meat is facing up. Brush the exposed pastry with more egg wash, then scatter over sesame seeds if you like.
Transfer the wreath on the baking paper to an oven tray, then bake for about 50 minutes. You want the wreath to be looking golden brown and puffy. Serve with the cranberry sauce in the middle of the wreath for dipping!
Got a question?
You don’t! I love adding them for an extra festive touch but leave them out if you like. You could also swap them for dried apricots and chopped walnuts, pistachios or cashews.
You can use any chutney, relish or sauce you like! A caramelised onion chutney would be lovely, and I’ve used my favourite chilli jam and fig and tamarind chutney before. They both were great.
You can form the wreath and then refrigerate it (covered) a day ahead of time, then just bake it when you’re ready. You can also freeze the uncooked wreath and bake it from frozen – up the cooking time to an hour in this case.
Like this recipe? Here are some other fun appetizer ideas
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave me a comment below.
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Easy Christmas Sausage Roll Wreath with Cranberries
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Description
This gorgeous Christmas sausage roll wreath is such a showstopping appetizer for the holiday season. It’s easy, takes only 10 minutes to prep and is stuffed with festive cranberries and pecans.
Ingredients
- 400g/14oz sausages (use your favourite, good quality, free-range sausages)
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup pecans
- ¼ cup flaked almonds
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Black pepper
- 1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry
- 1 cup cranberry sauce
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Make the sausage mix. Heat your oven to 180C/360F fan and get a large oven tray ready. Roughly chop the cranberries, pecans and almonds, then get them into a large mixing bowl. Slice through the sausage casings, and squeeze the sausage meat out into the bowl. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and a grind of black pepper, then mix well until everything is combined.
- Form the sausage roll. Lay out a large piece of baking paper on a flat surface, then place your sheet of puff pastry on it. Spoon 4 tablespoons of the cranberry sauce down the middle of the puff pastry, about 5cm/2 inches wide (lengthways, down the longest side). Pile the sausage meat mix onto the cranberry sauce line, in a long log shape. Try to keep this as equal as you can in terms of height and width.
- Roll up the sausage roll. Brush the whisked egg down one side of the pastry, next to the sausage log. Fold the un-egg-washed side over the sausage log, then keep rolling the log over the egg-washed side to seal the pastry. Keep rolling, then turn over so the seam of the pastry is at the bottom of one very long sausage roll.
- Form the wreath. Mark 11 roughly equal lines down the sausage roll, then cut two-thirds of the way through the roll (leave ⅓ uncut at the top of the rolls, so the wreath stays together). Carefully join the two exposed ends to form a circle – brush the pastry with a little more eggwash to help it stick. Very carefully twist each sausage roll over a quarter, so the exposed sausage meat is facing up. Brush the exposed pastry with the rest of the egg wash, then scatter the top of the rolls with the sesame seeds if you’re using them.
- Bake and serve. Transfer the wreath on the baking paper to the oven tray, then place it in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes, until the pastry is super golden, puffed up and the sausage meat looks firm and is starting to look golden. Serve with the rest of the cranberry sauce in the middle of the wreath, for dipping.
Notes
PREP AHEAD: Form the wreath and then refrigerate it, covered, a day ahead of time, then just bake it when you’re ready. You can also freeze the uncooked wreath and bake it from frozen – up the cooking time to 1 hour in this case.
SUBSTITUTION: Swap the dried cranberries for apricots, and the pecans and almonds for pistachios, walnuts or cashews, or leave them out altogether. I like to throw in a handful of chopped sage leaves sometimes, for more festive flavour. Instead of cranberry sauce, you can use any chutney, relish or sauce you like! A caramelized onion chutney would be lovely, and I’ve used my favourite chilli jam and fig and tamarind chutney before.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 50
- Category: snacks
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: british
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 roll
- Calories: 306
- Sugar: 2.2g
- Sodium: 419mg
- Fat: 22.8g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 15.6g
- Fiber: 1.2g
- Protein: 9.6g
- Cholesterol: 42mg
Keywords: sausage rolls, christmas sausage rolls, easy sausage rolls
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