These sausage and cheese turnovers are the perfect appetizer or party snack when you want something hearty and filling for your guests! Store-bought biscuit dough is stuffed with a sausage, cream cheese, onion and shredded cheese filling. These tasty turnovers can also be frozen and re-heated for super easy entertaining!
Note: this post was originally published in 2019 and updated in 2021 with new photos and improved instructions.
In my opinion, you can add sausage and cheese to anything and it becomes instantly ten times better. Sandwich, omelet, breakfast burrito, I could go on! And these delicious turnovers are no exception. Serve sausage and cheese turnovers as a game day snack or holiday appetizer, and your guests will be very pleased indeed!
Sausage, onion, and two kinds of cheese are stuffed inside (store-bought!) biscuit dough and folded over to contain all that deliciousness. They are then sprinkled with more cheese and baked in the oven until golden brown.
These turnovers take a little time to assemble, but, overall these are not challenging to make since you are using pre-made dough and only a handful of ingredients. And, you can make these ahead and keep them in the fridge or freezer, then heat them up when you are ready to serve!
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Canned biscuit dough: The specific type I use is the 6 ounce can of Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits with "Flaky Layers." This is the smaller sized can, not the "Grands" or "jumbo" type.
- Fresh sausage: you need fresh, uncooked sausage. As long as the sausage is uncooked, you can use any type you prefer. I've made these with sage pork sausage and mild Italian sausage and they were both delicious!
- Shredded cheese: you need a cheese that melts, rather than crumbles (i.e. not feta, although I bet that would still be delicious). I've used Gouda, Gruyere, and muenster. I preferred the Gruyere, but they were all good! Cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss, and Fontina would also be good options.
Step by step photos
1. The first step is to cook the sausage and chopped onion in a skillet until the sausage is no longer pink. While the sausage cooks, be sure to break it up into small pieces with the edge of your spoon.
2. Once the sausage and onion is cooked, add it to a bowl with the cream cheese and shredded cheese (but, reserve about ¼ cup of the shredded cheese for later!).
3. Mix the filling mixture together so all the ingredients are incorporated. Set aside.
4. Next, crack the egg into a small bowl. Add about 1 tablespoon of water to the egg, and whisk together to combine. Set the egg wash aside for now.
5. Now, open one can of the biscuits. Dip one of the biscuits in flour, and roll it out into an oval shape about ⅛ inch (3.2 mm) thick. Continue to roll out the biscuits, working in batches of about 3 at a time.
6. Take about 1 ½ tablespoons of the filling and place it on top of the rolled out biscuit dough. Place it in the center, but slightly to one side, leaving an edge of about ¾ inch (1.9 cm).
When placing the filling, compact it slightly with your fingers to press out any excess air pockets!
7. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash on the edge of the biscuit dough closest to the filling.
8. Grab the edge of the biscuit dough without egg wash on it, and pull it up and over the filling, sealing it to the other dough edge that is painted with the egg wash. Line up the edges so they meet evenly, making a half-moon shape.
When sealing up the turnovers, use your fingers to gently press out any air pockets that may have formed around the filling.
9. Use a fork to crimp the edges of the turnovers to seal the edges together more firmly.
10. Transfer the completed turnovers onto two baking pans lined with parchment paper or silicone pan liners. Brush the tops and sides of the turnovers with egg wash.
11. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup shredded cheese overtop the turnovers.
12. Bake them in a preheated 375 degrees F/190 degrees C oven until they are a deep golden brown.
Tips and tricks
- Make sure you roll the biscuit dough out thin enough. You want it to be about ⅛ inch (3.2 mm) thick. If you don't roll the biscuits thin enough, there won't be enough room to add as much filling!
- Similar to the above point, make sure you leave enough space around the filling so you can easily fold the dough over. You want at least ¾ inch (1.9 cm) of space between the filling and the edge of the dough. Otherwise, the filling may ooze out during baking.
- When you are adding the filling to the turnovers, compact it either in your hand or in a tablespoon. Because the cheese is shredded, there are a lot of air pockets in between. Compacting the filling will help to minimize those. This means each turnover will end up with more delicious filling inside!
- If the fork is sticking when you are crimping the edges, dip the fork in flour first and this will really help with the sticking!
- If you do have some of your turnovers leak in the oven, it's not the end of the world; just trim off the bits of oozy cheese once they've cooled down and they will still look nice. The silver lining here is that you can now eat all those toasty cheese bits.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, these sausage and cheese turnovers are a great appetizer or snack to make ahead of time! If you want to make them ahead of time, just let them cool down to room temperature after baking, then pack them inside a food storage container or a zip top gallon bag. Then keep them either in the fridge for 3 - 4 days, or in the freezer for up to three months.
Then when it's time to serve, place the turnovers on a baking pan and bake at 250 degrees F/130 degrees C for 10 - 12 minutes if refrigerated, or 20 - 22 minutes if frozen, or until heated through. The lower oven temperature allows the turnovers to heat more evenly without the outside getting too dry and crispy.
As I mentioned in the Ingredient notes section, I used three 6 ounce cans of Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits with "Flaky Layers." Each can has 5 biscuits, so each biscuit is about 1.2 ounces (34 g). So, if you find another brand of biscuit dough with similar proportions, even if there are more or less biscuits in each can, you are all set. (Just be sure to buy enough cans to equal 15 biscuits total!)
Otherwise, you can still use another brand of canned biscuit that is larger or smaller than 1.2 ounces (34 g) each, but you will need to adjust the cooking time, either up or down a few minutes, depending on the size. To be extra sure, you can always bake 1 turnover first as a test to get the timing right before baking the whole batch.
And of course, if you are making larger turnovers, you will not be able to make as many unless you scale up the filling as well.
Yes, if you'd like to customize these sausage turnovers, you can add in different ingredients, either replacing the sausage or adding half sausage and half another ingredient. I would not change the proportions of the cheese and cream cheese, however, since these add moisture to the turnovers and helps "glue" the filling together.
When choosing alternate ingredients, I would also avoid overly wet ingredients (such as uncooked vegetables) so the turnovers don't leak and get soggy. Here are a few other filling ideas you may want to try: chopped pepperoni, chopped ham, shredded chicken, olives, or cooked spinach (squeeze out any excess moisture before adding!).
These turnovers are hearty and filling; you can serve them with only a few other appetizers or snacks and have an excellent game day spread. I suggest pairing them with my recipes for sloppy Joe sliders, dill pickle hummus and easy bean dip, with pita chips and a cut veggie platter!
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Sausage and Cheese Turnovers
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 53 minutes
- Yield: 15 turnovers 1x
- Category: appetizer
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Sausage and cheese filling encased in flaky biscuit dough. The perfect party food!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fresh sausage (not pre-cooked)
- ½ cup (72 g) finely chopped onion (about ½ medium onion)
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 8 ounces shredded cheese (any type that melts - cheddar, muenster, Gruyere, etc.), divided
- three 6 ounce cans biscuit dough, 15 biscuits total (see note)
- 1 egg
- flour for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick silicone liners.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. If needed, remove the sausage from the casing, then add the sausage and finely chopped onion to the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 - 6 minutes, or until the sausage is no longer pink. Use a wooden spoon to break the sausage into small chunks while cooking.
- Add the cream cheese and most of the shredded cheese to a medium bowl, reserving about ¼ cup of the shredded cheese to garnish the turnovers. Add the sausage and onion mixture to the bowl. Stir the filling ingredients together a wooden spoon until evenly combined, set aside.
- Crack the egg into a small bowl. Add a splash of water (about 1 tablespoon) and mix with a fork, set aside.
- On a large work surface, dust the top and bottom of a biscuit with flour. Working in batches of about 3 - 4 biscuits, roll out each biscuit with a rolling pin into oval shapes about ⅛ inch (3.2 mm) thick.
- Take about 1 ½ tablespoons of the sausage and cheese mixture and compress it into an oval shape. Place it on one side of a rolled out biscuit, about ¾ inch (1.9 cm) from the edge.
- Using a pastry brush, paint the egg mixture onto the ¾ inch (1.9 cm) biscuit edge closest to the filling. Fold the other edge of the biscuit over the filling and line up the edges of the biscuit dough.
- Gently press out any air that may have gotten trapped in the space between the filling and the edges of the biscuit dough. Press a fork all along the seam to crimp the biscuit dough together. If the fork is sticking, dip it in flour before crimping.
- Repeat the rolling, filling, sealing and crimping process with the remaining biscuits, again working in batches of 3 - 4 turnovers at a time.
- Place the turnovers onto the lined baking sheets. Brush the tops and sides of each turnover with the egg mixture. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining ¼ cup shredded cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 17 - 19 minutes or until the tops are a deep golden brown and the bottoms of each turnover are dark brown.
Notes
You need the smallest size biscuit dough, not the "Grands" or "jumbo" type. I used the 6 ounce can of Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits with Flaky Layers. Each can of those has 5 biscuits and you will need three cans, for a total of 15 biscuits. If you use a larger or smaller biscuit, you will need to adjust the amount of filling and bake time accordingly.
These turnovers can be made ahead of time and stored in covered containers in the fridge for 3 - 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat the turnovers, bake them in a preheated 250 degrees F (130 degrees C) oven for 10 - 12 minutes if refrigerated, or 20 - 22 minutes if frozen, or until heated through.
The nutrition information below is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator, and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical, health, or nutritional advice. See our full nutrition disclosure policy.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 turnover
- Calories: 244
- Sugar: 2.3 g
- Sodium: 594 mg
- Fat: 16.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 7.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 14.8 g
- Fiber: 1.1 g
- Protein: 9.7 g
- Cholesterol: 48 mg
Keywords: sausage turnovers, cheese turnovers, sausage and cheese turnovers
Rebecca Blackwell
I totally agree with you that adding sausage and cheese to anything makes it better! These look incredible and I'm dying to make them. Quick question: Have you ever made these with puff pastry instead of biscuit dough? I have a box of puff pastry in my freezer right now and am wondering if it would work to use it to make these. Thank you!
Kate
Hi Rebecca! I haven't used puff pastry for this particular recipe but I was actually thinking of trying it myself! I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work, except I think you may not need to keep them in the oven as long because puff pastry seems more delicate to me than biscuit dough. If I end up trying it I will definitely let you know how it turns out, and if you do please let me know too!
linda
had made these with puff pastry and they were delish! they were a great hit with my families, friends and coworkers. I give 2 thumbs up 🙂
Kate
Wonderful! I'm so glad you enjoyed them Linda, thanks for sharing!
SHANIKA
These turnovers look perfect for a nice snack or lunch! That sausage and cheese combo looks so flavorful! I need to make these ASAP!
Kate
Thank you Shanika I'm glad you like the recipe!
Toni acker
Can you make these with the pills bury pie crust dough
Kate
Hi Toni! Yes I think you could definitely use pie crust! I would just cut the pie dough into circles using a cookie cutter, or you could even do squares and just fold them over into triangle shapes. If you make it please let me know how it worked out with the pie dough!