Sausages Wrapped in Bacon is a classic English Christmas side dish! Pork sausages wrapped in bacon and roasted until the bacon is crispy.
While it is traditional to serve these with the Christmas turkey, they also make a great party appetizer or a fun way to serve sausage and bacon at a brunch or breakfast.
The sausages and bacon in this recipe get a flavor a boost with a drizzle of maple syrup and fresh rosemary. Easy to make and loved by all, this is one recipe you'll make time and time again!
Jump Menu
An Appetizer, a Snack, a Side, a Breakfast!!!
Wow wee, these babies can play a lot of roles in the upcoming holidays! They are always a favorite, so I like to make sure they appear as often as possible! I mean, who doesn't love sausages and bacon!!!
Like I said in the little blurb at the top, these are a classic English side dish that gets served with the Christmas turkey. It makes sense! Pork and bacon are ingredients that add flavor to things like stuffing, so why not skip adding them to the stuffing and serve them as a delicious stand-alone dish?!!
Stacked up on a plate with a dipping sauce (honey maple is a fav in this house!), they are perfect as a meaty hot party nibble/appetizer. I have a great appetizer coming next week that incorporates these sausages wrapped in bacon!
Or prep them in advance and cook them up for brunch or breakfast, they are a fun alertnative and can be easily cooked in the oven, making them great for feeding a crowd!
Plus, they are something you can easily make up if you find you need to take a snack to a party or have something for unexpected friends. The ingredients are all worth having in the fridge or pantry ready.
Making bacon wrapped sausages
You want to buy the thin pork breakfast links (or chipolata) for this recipe. Make sure you purchase raw sausages rather than just brown and serve ones. Otherwise, you will find the sausages overcook before the bacon crisps up.
Then it is just an assembly job! Take a strip of bacon, place the sausage, and a couple of rosemary leaves on the end of the bacon and roll the bacon around the sausage.
The thinner bacon works well here as it wraps more easily. Once wrapped, trim any extra bacon off and secure the ends with a wooden toothpick or cocktail stick then place on a tray. Repeat as many times as needed!
You can scale this recipe so easily! So you can make just eight sausages wrapped in bacon or thirty! To quickly scale my recipes, just change the number of servings in the recipe card - there is a handy box with scaler arrows in it - and the ingredient quantities will change for you.
How much bacon to use
The recipe works on one slice of bacon per sausage, but once you have wrapped one sausage, you will have an idea of how much you need. The length of bacon varies with the brand, so you might find that your strips are longer/shorter.
Depending on the size of your bacon strips, you might get two sausages out of every strip of bacon. My bacon is quite short, and I find I get one sausage wrapped up with a little bacon leftover. I trim that off and keep it in a container in the refrigerator.
The leftover pieces of bacon are great for adding to soups and pasta recipes like this Garlic Bacon Pasta or this Creamy Scallop and Bacon Pasta. Or save them and cook them with eggs for bite-sized bacon treats 😉
A quick note on bacon, pick smoked bacon, it adds so much more flavor!
Making in advance
The sausages can be wrapped in bacon, secured with a toothpick or cocktail stick and then just stored in the fridge until needed. So you can get this side dish prepped on Christmas eve! Or the morning before your party!
Don't glaze them until you want to cook them though.
Glaze and cook
To cook these sausages wrapped in bacon, place them on a lined sheet pan and glaze them generously with maple syrup. You won't need any oil or fat as the sausages and bacon will release enough during cooking.
Once glazed, bake them in a 350ºF/170ºC oven for 25-30 minutes until the bacon is crispy. If you think about it, halfway through the cooking time, give the bacon wrapped sausages a quick baste with any drippings that have collected in the pan. This isn't a vital step, though!
Once cooked, remove the cocktail stick and allow to cool slightly, if serving as a party snack. Or place them around your turkey for a side dish that everyone will love!
Recipe adaptions
- Use little smokies
- Use mini kielbasa
- Use honey instead of maple syrup
- Use sage instead of rosemary
- Add some cayenne pepper
Ways to serve sausages wrapped in bacon
- As a side to your Christmas Turkey
- With a dipping sauce as a party snack:
- Honey Maple
- Sweet Chilli
- Barbecue
- Chipotle Aioli
- Marinara
- Stuffed inside bread rolls as a lunch idea
- With a sunny side up egg for breakfast
- With hash browns and scrambled eggs for brunch
- With waffles and more maple syrup
Enjoy x
For more delicious Holiday Sides try:
- The BEST Sage and Onion Stuffing
- Brussel Sprouts with Chorizo and Almond
- Christmas Spiced Braised Red Cabbage
- Roasted Rutabaga with Maple Syrup
- Prepare Ahead Roast Potatoes
For more crowd-pleasing party snacks try:
- Vegetarian Mexican Pinwheels
- Coffee and Maple Chicken Skewers
- Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
- 3 Easy Smoked Salmon Appetizers
- Restaurant Style Mild Salsa
- Hot Louisiana Shrimp Dip
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Maple Sausages Wrapped in Bacon Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 pork breakfast links/thin pork sausages
- 16 strips of bacon - see note 1
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF/170ºC.
- Place a strip of bacon on the chopping board, pop a sausage on the end and a couple of rosemary leaves and then roll the bacon tightly around the sausage. (see the bulk of post for pictures)
- Cut any remaining bacon off, secure the end with a toothpick or cocktail stick, and set on a lined sheet pan. Or if preparing in advance on a covered plate or container.
- Repeat with your remaining sausages.
- When you are ready to cook, glaze the bacon with 3 tablespoons of maple syrup. Be generous here!
- Bake the bacon wrapped sausages for 25 to 30 minutes until the sausages are fully cooked, and the bacon is crispy.
- Remove from the oven, and carefully remove the toothpicks/cocktail sticks.
- Serve as a turkey side dish or a party snack. (Allow the sausages to cool slightly if serving as a party snack!)
Notes
- Depending on the size of your bacon strips, you might get two sausages out of every strip of bacon. My bacon is quite short, and I find I get one sausage wrapped up with a little bacon leftover. I trim that off and keep it in a container in the refrigerator for adding to soups or pastas.
Dorothy Dunton says
Hi Claire! Can there be anything wrong with pork on pork?? Not in my world! I make bacon wrapped shrimp, pineapple and dates using streaky bacon. SO good. I could eat small bites for a meal, we actually do quite often! Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday!