Cornbread Sausage Skillet Balls
Cornbread mix, sausage crumbles, and a maple chili sauce, cooked in one pan over the fire.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 96
- protein
- 18 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- 120 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Snack
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Ground mild breakfast sausage | 1 lb | rides in the cooler, cook it day one or two |
|---|---|---|
| Cornbread mix | 2 cups | the just-add-water kind |
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | stands in for the 1/2 cup of fresh milk |
| Shredded hard cheddar | 1 1/2 cups | a firm block grated at camp holds up better than pre-shredded |
| Dried chives or onion flakes | 3 tbsp | replaces the green onion |
| Dried sage | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cayenne | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt and pepper | 1/2 tsp each | |
| Shelf-stable mayonnaise | 1/2 cup | squeeze packets or a small jar |
| Chili crisp | 1 tbsp | |
| Maple syrup | 2 tbsp | |
| Lime juice | 1 tsp | bottled is fine |
Method
- Build a bed of coals and set the dutch oven or a skillet on the grate to preheat. You want steady moderate heat, not flames.
- Stir the milk powder into 120 ml of cold water. Combine it with the cornbread mix, dried chives, sage, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
- Work in the raw sausage and the cheddar with your hands until the dough is even. It should hold a ball without cracking. A splash more water if it does.
- Roll walnut-sized balls and set them in the greased pan with a little space between.
- Cover and cook 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan a quarter turn every five minutes so one side does not scorch. They are done when the outside is firm and no pink shows in a split one.
- Stir the mayo, chili crisp, maple syrup, lime juice, and a pinch of salt in a mug. Dip.
This started as an oven recipe and a party appetizer. The move outdoors is mostly about heat control: a covered dutch oven in coals does what a 375 degree oven does, as long as you turn the pan so the hot side keeps moving. Everything else survives the trip unchanged.
Two swaps carry the load. Powdered milk plus water replaces the half cup of whole milk, which is the only fridge item in the original besides the sausage and cheese. Dried chives stand in for green onion, since scallions turn to slime in a cooler by day two. The sausage fat is what binds the dough and keeps the cornbread from drying out, so do not lean it out.
The dipping sauce is the part worth carrying the extra bottles for. Maple, chili crisp, and lime hit sweet, hot, and sharp against a very rich ball.
Packing
Mix the cornbread, milk powder, and all the dry seasoning into one bag at home so camp is one pour. Sausage stays cold and packed low in the cooler. Mayo, chili crisp, and syrup fit in three small squeeze bottles.
Variations
- No coals, no problem: flatten the dough into patties and fry them in a skillet on a two-burner stove, six minutes a side.
- Swap the sausage for a pound of chorizo and cut the cayenne.
- Leftovers eat fine cold the next morning, which is most of the point of making a full batch.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/cornbread-sausage-balls