Sausage, Sage & Onion Cheese Scones

Sausage, Sage & Onion Cheese Scones just might be the ultimate savoury scone. Inspired by the flavours of sausage stuffing, there’s temptingly browned sausage meat, softly sauteed red onion plus a subtle herbiness. Put those in a classic cheese scone with a generous amount of mature Cheddar and you have something special.

Jump to Recipe

In my house, we don’t have a traditional Christmas turkey dinner very often. I do like it, but don’t want it every year. When we do though, my favourite thing is usually the sausage meat, sage and onion stuffing! There’s something about the combination of rich pork, savoury onion and herbs that’s so good. I usually form it into balls and roast them alongside rather than stuffing the bird. That way you get lots of crispy browned deliciousness.

This year is one of those when we’re not having turkey. But I still plan to get my stuffing fix. Because I’ve got a batch of these fantastic Sausage, Sage & Onion Cheese Scones tucked away in the freezer ready to reheat, split and slather in butter.

SAUSAGE, SAGE & ONION CHEESE SCONES

I’ve often pondered on the number of popular Christmas foods, in Britain anyway, that involve pork in some form. As well as stuffing, there’s pork pies, pigs in blankets, sausage rolls, boiled or glazed gammon, party cocktail sausages and the like. Another food we love to eat at this time of year is cheese. Whether it’s an impressive cheeseboard with loads of different varieties or (a retro favourite of mine) cubes of Cheddar and pineapple on a stick.

So, I thought, why not bring those together in another well-loved favourite of these islands, the scone?

Ever since I posted my recipe for Very Cheesy Cheese Scones back in 2018, it’s consistently been one of my most popular. Light and fluffy, but absolutely chocka with tasty cheese, I’ve used it as the base for loads of other savoury scones. Roasted Pepper, Salami & Cheese, Cheese, Chorizo & Chive, and Smoky Bacon & Spring Onion to name just three.

And now I present Sausage, Sage & Onion Cheese Scones. Savoury, herby, meaty, cheesy, and quite possibly the ultimate savoury scone.

You’ll find detailed ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card at the end. But I recommend you read this whole post first for extra tips plus step-by-step images.

TIPS FOR THE BEST HOMEMADE SCONES

If you’ve never made scones before then you’ll be pleased to know they’re not difficult. Keep the following tips in mind and you shouldn’t go wrong.

• The self-raising flour and baking powder used to make scones can lose their power quickly. So, always make sure they’re well within their ‘Best Before’ date. Also, even when they are in date, packets that have been open for several months may give a poorer rise. So don’t leave them hanging around and always store in an airtight container.
• Once liquid has been added, the raising agents in the flour will be activated. So get all your ingredients ready first, work as quickly as you reasonably can, and get the scones in the oven straight away.
• I use yogurt as the liquid in all my scones because it makes them light and fluffy. If you can find it, you could use buttermilk. I don’t recommend using regular milk though as it probably isn’t acidic enough to activate the raising agents. However, half yogurt and half milk should be fine.

• To keep scones light and fluffy, handle the dough as little and as gently as possible.
• To ensure a nice, tall scone, roll out the dough thickly. Around 3 cm is about right. Lots of add-ins, such as the sausage meat and onions in this recipe, will inhibit rise a little, so it’s even more important not to roll thinly.

HOW TO MAKE SAUSAGE, SAGE & ONION CHEESE SCONES

Once you’re familiar with the method, homemade scones really are quick and easy. Because for this recipe we cook the sausage meat and onion first then let them cool, it does take a little longer. But I think a batch of Sausage, Sage & Onion Cheese Scones should still only need about 15 minutes prep plus a total of 40 minutes for cooking the sausage meat and onions then baking the scones.

Start by frying the sausage meat in a little olive oil. I spread it over the hot pan with a fork then, once the underside is browned, simultaneously turn it over and break it up with a spatula. Depending on whether your sausage meat is seasoned or not, you may want to add a little salt and pepper and/or dried sage while it’s cooking. Continue breaking it up and stirring until it’s all browned, cooked through, and crumbled into small pieces. Then take it out of the pan and set aside until cold.

Using the same pan cook a large red onion, finely chopped and seasoned with salt and pepper. Take it out and leave to cool once it’s soft and lightly browned.

To make the scone dough, you start by sifting together self-raising flour, baking powder, salt and black pepper. Into that grate some cold butter then rub it in with your fingertips. Then stir in the rest of the dry ingredients: the cold sausage meat and onion, lots of mature Cheddar cheese, an 2 teaspoons of dried sage.

Finally, we add enough plain yogurt to bring everything together into a soft but not wet dough.

ROLLING, CUTTING & BAKING

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough 3 cm thick. Using a 7 cm cutter, you should get 12 scones if you keep gently bringing together the scraps to make more. Transfer the scones to one large or two regular sized baking trays, either lightly greased or lined with baking paper. I like to add an extra sprinkle of grated cheese to each scone too.

In an oven preheated 200C /180C Fan /Gas 6 /400° F, these scones should take 15 – 20 minutes to get risen, cooked through and golden brown. When done, transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool for a few minutes. They’ll also firm up a little.

SERVING & STORING SAUSAGE, SAGE & ONION CHEESE SCONES

Like all British-style scones, these are best served warm, split, and spread with butter. But did you know you should pull apart a warm scone rather than cut it? This helps to keep the fluffy interior intact, whereas a knife can squidge it into a gummy mass.

Coming up with Sausage, Sage & Onion Cheese Scones on a bit of a whim, I really wasn’t sure whether the flavours would work. But I was so pleased with the result. Because I think they really do evoke the savoury, herby pleasure of good sausage, sage and onion stuffing. Combine that with a wonderfully cheesy scone and what’s not to love?

If you’re not going to eat all the scones in 2 – 3 days, then they’re best frozen. Although you can reheat in a microwave, air fryer, or low oven, I’ve discovered that an air fryer, either on its own or in combination with the microwave, is even better.

The microwave will quickly restore scones to their original light fluffiness, but does mean the outside is soft too. So, after 30 seconds to a minute in the microwave, I pop the scone into my air fryer for a minute or so on the ‘Max Crisp’ function. This gives the fluffy inside and slightly crusty exterior I’m after.

If you’ve made these scones, I’d love to know what you thought. So please do leave a comment and recipe rating.

5 from 2 votes

Print

Sausage, Sage & Onion Cheese Scones

Inspired by the flavours of sausage stuffing plus Cheddar cheese, these might just be the ultimate savoury scone. Light, fluffy, and delicious warm, split and spread with butter.

For the best light and fluffy scones, follow the scone making tips in the blog post as well as the recipe.

Course Side Dish, Snack, Bread, Cheese, Lunch, Light Meal

Cuisine British

Keyword christmas, savoury scones

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 12 scones

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 300 g sausage meat
• salt
• black pepper
• 1 large red onion finely chopped
• 450 g self-raising flour (plus extra for rolling out)
• 2 level tsp baking powder
• 60 g butter (cold from the fridge)
• 225 g mature Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (plus extra for sprinkling)
• 2 rounded tsp dried sage (plus a little extra if your sausage meat is unseasoned)
• 200 - 300 ml plain yogurt

Instructions

1. Cook the sausage meat

   Put 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the sausage meat and spread it over the base of the pan. Tip: if your sausage meat is unseasoned add a little salt, pepper and extra dried sage.

   When browned underneath turn over, breaking it up as you go, to brown the other side. Continue breaking it up and stirring until it's all cooked through, browned and crumbled into small pieces.

   Remove from the pan and set aside until cold.

2. Cook the onion

   Put the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil in the pan, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook the red onion, seasoned with salt and pepper, until soft and lightly browned.

   Remove from the pan and set aside until cold.

3. Preheat the oven to 200C /180C Fan /Gas 6 / 400° F.

   Grease or line 1 large or 2 standard baking trays.

4. Make the dough

   Sift the flour, baking powder, ¾ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper into a large bowl.

   Grate the butter into the flour, dipping the block into the flour now and then to stop it sticking. Stir in, then use your fingertips to rub into the flour until it's in small pieces.

   Add to the bowl the cooled sausage meat and onion (leaving any excess oil behind) plus the cheese and sage then stir well.

   Gradually stir in enough of the yogurt to start forming a dough that's soft but not wet. Tip onto a lightly floured worksurface and very gently knead into a smooth-ish dough.

5. Cut out the scones and bake

   Flatten the dough a little, lightly dust with flour, then roll out to 3 cm thick.

   Stamp out scones with a 7 cm cutter, gently bringing together the scraps and re-rolling to make 12 scones.

   Place the scones on the baking tray and sprinkle with extra grated cheese.

   Transfer to the oven and bake until risen, cooked through and golden brown (approximately 15 - 20 minutes).

   Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool a little and firm up for a few minutes.

6. Serve warm, split, and spread with butter.

   Tip: pulling apart rather than cutting with a knife keeps the fluffy texture inside.

   Best eaten within 2 - 3 days. If not using straight away, cool completely before storing in an airtight container or freezing.

   Can be reheated in a microwave, low oven, or air fryer.

   Recommended for a fluffy interior and crustier outside: microwave for 30 seconds then air fry on 'Max Crisp' or similar setting for 1 minute. Increase the timings if reheating more than one scone.