These high altitude tested, cheesy sausage biscuits are a variation of my favorite fluffy baking powder biscuits. They’re loaded with mild Italian pork sausage, diced chile peppers and mozzarella cheese. Served hot with butter, these sausage and cheese biscuits are delicious for breakfast with scrambled eggs and crispy hash browns, or alongside a salad or bowl of soup for dinner.
You might also love these high altitude tested recipes for cheesy garlic herb bread rolls, chicken pot pie topped with biscuits, and cheesy herb biscuits with bacon.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Soft for Days. These cheesy sausage biscuits will stay soft for days after baking, so no worries about them going stale if you have leftovers. You can also freeze the biscuits for later.
Make them Spicy or Mild. You can completely control the heat in your biscuits with the type of peppers you use. Scroll through today’s post down to the FAQs for suggestions on various types of peppers.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude. Today’s recipe will work at lower altitudes, too, without adjustment, though.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Sausage. Use ground sausage, like a mild or spicy Italian pork sausage.
- Flour + Corn Starch. I use all-purpose flour for my biscuits. Some bakers swear by using self-rising flour (which already contains salt and a leavener), but I haven’t had good success with that. Adding a little corn starch to all-purpose flour lowers the percentage of gluten and tenderizes the dough for a very light and fluffy biscuit.
- Baking Powder. The baking powder helps the dough rise, keeping the biscuits light and fluffy.
- Salt. Flavor.
- Butter. Cold unsalted butter adds richness and flavor to the biscuits, as well as those flaky layers. When you roll out the dough, fold it up, and then roll it out again, you’re creating layers of butter and flour, which turn into beautiful layers in your biscuits.
- Cheese. I used grated mozzarella cheese, but cheddar or pepper jack would also be great.
- Diced Peppers. A variety of mild or spicy peppers will work.
- Milk. Whole milk moistens the flour, bringing it all together into what I call a “craggy” dough. You don’t want to over-hydrate your dough. Just like pie dough, biscuit dough should be just moist enough to barely hold together.
- Egg. For a beautiful golden color, brush a simple egg wash over the unbaked biscuits before placing them in the oven.
- Flaky Finishing Salt + Black Pepper.
Instructions
Make the Biscuit Dough
- In a saucepan, cook the ground sausage over medium heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until cooked through. Drain the fat, and chill the sausage well. I recommend cooking the sausage a day in advance, so it can chill in the refrigerator and be ready to go when you make your biscuits.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt. Use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until crumbly.
- Stir in the cooked and chilled sausage, the cheese and the diced peppers.
- Stir in 3/4 cup of the milk, just until moistened and you have a shaggy dough. There will be some moist, sticky bits, and some dry bits, and that’s exactly how it should be. If it seems too dry, add a little more milk, a tablespoon at a time. You don’t want the dough too wet, though; it should be just moist enough to barely hold together.
Roll, Cut and Chill the Biscuits
- On a lightly floured surface, gently roll the dough out to 1 inch thick, using a little more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
- Fold the dough into thirds, then thirds again, then roll the dough out again to 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2 or 3 inch biscuit cutter, trying to cut as many biscuits as you can the first time. Do not twist the cutter, just cut straight down and lift it straight back up. Gather up the scraps, press them together and cut those as well. You should be able to cut around 12-15 biscuits.If you like, you can also use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut square biscuits, which will reduce the amount of dough scraps that you need to re-roll.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place the biscuits close together, nearly touching. Freeze the cut biscuits for 30 minutes.
Bake
- While the biscuits are freezing, preheat the oven to 450 F and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the beaten egg over the tops of the chilled biscuits.
- Bake the biscuits until risen, fluffy and golden brown on top, about 15-17 minutes.
- Cool biscuits for 5 minutes, then serve hot with softened butter. Sprinkle the tops of the biscuits with flaky salt and ground black pepper.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of peppers should I use?
I used hatch green chiles in my cheesy sausage biscuits, and they were pretty mild. Other mild peppers would be shishito or poblano peppers, or for more heat, try jalapenos or serrano peppers. You could even use pickled sliced jalapenos or canned green chiles. When chopping your peppers, keep in mind that much of the heat is in the seeds and the white pith, so only chop the green part.
What’s the best way to reheat leftover biscuits?
Biscuits are best served fresh, on the morning they’re made. But leftovers are still great, and the best way to reheat them is to lightly toast them in a convection oven until warm, or to microwave them briefly at 50% power.
Can the unbaked biscuits be frozen?
Unbaked biscuits can be frozen for up to 3-6 months. You can bake them straight from the freezer, and just add about 4-5 minutes to the baking time.
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Cheesy Sausage Biscuits with Green Chiles and Mozzarella
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Rolling Pin, Bench Scraper & 2 1/2 inch Biscuit Cutter
Ingredients
- ½ lb mild (or spicy) ground Italian sausage
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (plus extra for rolling the biscuits)
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 10 tbsp very cold, unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- ⅔ cup grated mozzarella or cheddar cheese
- 2-4 tbsp diced peppers (without the seeds) (jalapeno, shishito, poblano, hatch green chile, etc.)
- ¾ – 1 cup very cold whole milk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- flaky finishing salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a saucepan, cook the ground sausage over medium heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until cooked through. Drain the fat, and chill the sausage well. I recommend cooking the sausage a day in advance, so it can chill in the refrigerator and be ready to go when you make your biscuits.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt. Use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until crumbly.
- Stir in the cooked and chilled sausage, the cheese and the diced peppers.
- Stir in 3/4 cup of the milk, just until moistened and you have a shaggy dough. There will be some moist, sticky bits, and some dry bits, and that's exactly how it should be. If it seems too dry, add a little more milk, a tablespoon at a time. You don't want the dough too wet, though; it should be just moist enough to barely hold together.
- On a lightly floured surface, gently roll the dough out to 1 inch thick, using a little more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
- Fold the dough into thirds, then thirds again, then roll the dough out again to 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2 or 3 inch biscuit cutter, trying to cut as many biscuits as you can the first time. Do not twist the cutter, just cut straight down and lift it straight back up. Gather up the scraps, press them together and cut those as well. You should be able to cut around 12-15 biscuits.If you like, you can also use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut square biscuits, which will reduce the amount of dough scraps that you need to re-roll.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place the biscuits close together, nearly touching. Freeze the cut biscuits for 30 minutes.
- While the biscuits are freezing, preheat the oven to 450 F and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the beaten egg over the tops of the chilled biscuits.
- Bake the biscuits until risen, fluffy and golden brown on top, about 15-17 minutes.
- Cool biscuits for 5 minutes, then serve hot with softened butter. Sprinkle the tops of the biscuits with flaky salt and ground black pepper.
Notes
- Biscuits are best served fresh, on the morning they’re made. But leftovers are still great, and the best way to reheat them is to lightly toast them in a convection oven until warm, or to microwave them briefly at 50% power.
- Unbaked biscuits can be frozen for up to 3-6 months. You can bake them straight from the freezer, and just add about 4-5 minutes to the baking time.
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