Watch my video to see how to make Fat Head pizza base. And scroll below to watch my NEW quick cooking video showing you how to make Fat Head sausage rolls.
What IS Fat Head Pastry (and why is it so famous)?
If you have never heard of Fat Head pastry, get ready. This is famous for a very good reason.
Fat Head pastry is incredibly low in carbs, grain free, wheat free, gluten free and super easy. It is made with cheese, cream cheese, an egg and either almond meal/flour or coconut flour. It is sturdy, easy to make and can be flavoured in many different ways.
Fat Head Variations
You all know that Fat Head pastry is so incredibly versatile. This is just a selection of the recipes I have already made using the basic Fat Head dough. And of course, there is the ultimate grand-daddy of Fat Head. That is, of course, Fat Head Pizza – the holy grail.
You will also know, that I always pay homage to Tom Naughton, who gave the title Fat Head following his Fat Head movie. Read more about that here.
- Fat Head crackers
- Fat Head green pizza
- Fat Head keto taco cups
- Fat Head nachos (possibly my chuldren’s favourite dish here on the site)
How To Make Fat Head Sausage Rolls – step by step
Firstly let’s cover the basics of the sausage roll filling. There are two options.
- Buy your own sausage meat and flavour it exactly how you wish.
- An easier option is to buy sausages then remove the skins before cooking (this stops them from curling up as they cook).
Tips on buying sausages
Whether you buy sausage meat or sausages, read the label carefully to ensure it has at least 80% meat. A quick and easy guide to what has gone into a sausage (as some labels don’t state clearly what is inside), is to look at the carbohydrate value.
If they state it has 1% or 2% carbs, then you know the majority of the sausage will be made of meat or fat. I have seen sausages saying 80% meat but the label states 10% carbs. You know these will have a lot of fillers such as rice, wheat or sugar in them. Avoid sausages such as rosemary and honey, sticky chinese, or pork and apple for example. These are high in natural sugars.
Top Tip – check those ‘gluten free’ sausages. They might not have wheat or gluten, but they can be packed with rice as the starchy filler.
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- Remove the sausage skin
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- Bake until just cooked
I prefer to cook my sausages first for the Fat Head sausage rolls. I simply run a sharp knife down the centre of each sausage to split the sausage skin. Using the knife, peel back, remove and discard the skins.
Place each sausage meat on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Bake at 180C/350F for 10-15 minutes until just cooked (they will cook again once wrapped in the Fat Head pastry).
How To Wrap Fat Head Sausage Rolls
While the sausages are cooking, you can make the Fat Head pastry. Roll it out as shown in this post, on baking parchment.
Place the cooked sausages along one edge of the pastry. Using the baking parchment, roll the pastry around the sausages then cut the excess off with a knife. It is similar to how you might make sushi, only Fat Head style.
Remove the baking parchment, and cut into small, medium or large sausage rolls. Sprinkle some onion flakes on top for that real sausage roll taste (or you could use sesame seeds).
Place each Fat Head sausage roll on a lined baking tray and bake as per recipe below.
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- Roll out Fat Head pastry and wrap over the sausages
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- Peel back the baking parchment
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- Cut into Fat Head sausage rolls
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- Sprinkle with onion flakes
For those of you with nut allergies, I have discovered you can make Fat Head pastry with coconut flour. It sometimes turns out a little heavier than using the original almond flour/meal recipe, but it works.
To serve, I use salsa (with no added sugar and less than 5% carbs) or homemade sugar-free ketchup.
I’m sure dipping sausage rolls in tomato sauce of any description, helps children enjoy these like the standard processed high-carb ones.
Fat Head sausage rolls are brilliant for school lunch boxes, a picnic, snack or dinner served with a huge side salad or veggies.
So never have a plain sausage again, pimp those bad boys with Fat Head pastry.
Fat Head sausage rolls have arrived. Turn a humble sausage into something spectacular.
Fat Head Sausage Rolls
Ingredients
Sausage Rolls
- 500 g sausages
- onion flakes to garnish
Fat Head Pastry
- 170 g pre-shredded/grated mozzarella or Edam/mild
- 85 g almond meal/flour
- 2 tbsp cream cheese full fat
- 1 egg
- pinch salt to taste
- 1 tsp onion flakes
Instructions
Pre-cook the sausages
- Cut the sausage casing down the centre using a sharp knife. Peel back the casing and discard.
- Place each sausage on a lined baking tray and cook at 180C/350F for 10 minutes.
Fat Head Pastry
- While the sausages are cooking, prepare the Fat Head pastry.
- Mix the shredded/grated cheese and almond flour/meal in a microwaveable bowl. Add the cream cheese. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute.
- Stir then microwave on HIGH for another 30 seconds. Remove and stir again. Add the egg, salt, and onion flakes. Mix.
- Place the Fat Head pastry between 2 pieces of baking parchment/paper and roll into a thin, rectangle (see photos here). Remove the top baking paper/parchment.
- Cut the Fat Head pastry along one side and place the sausages along that edge. Begin to roll as shown in the pictures above and cut off the excess pastry.
- Cut into sausage rolls and spray or drizzle oil over the top. Sprinkle with onion flakes (or sesame seeds) to garnish.
- Bake at 220C/425F for 12-15 minutes, or until golden all over.
Notes
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Adam says
Excellent recipe. I could live on these.
One suggestion – start the pastry after the sausages have cooked. It makes them easier to roll if the sausages have cooled a bit and the fat congealed slightly.
Bridgette says
Sesame seeds got burnt after only a few minutes in the oven. Do you think 425 is too high?
chilli says
I don’t see a video anwhere?! Also, 470 cals per small sausage roll is quite hefty!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
The video is right at the top, as you scroll it should follow you so you may continue to watch it. As for calories, luckily we don’t count them around here, such an outdated and flawed system.
Em says
I don’t see a video either – ad blocker hides it. But you can find it if you search for it directly, or by disabling ad blocker for this page.
FYI I have made these a few times with cheese kransky as the sausage – amazingly yummy!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I’m afraid that’s what an ad blocker’s job is, to hide ads and I’m afraid all my cooking videos have a pre-roll advert, it helps pay for the production costs. You can always watch them on my YouTube channel too. They are all there, without ads. Click here to see all my recipe videos.
Kristine says
Could this dough be used to make dumplings?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I think it would depend on how you cooked them. The dough would fall apart if steamed, but if it was baked or fried, it might just work.
Albano says
Great recipe!
After doing for a few times, I did 120g cheese, an extra tbsp of cream cheese, 120g of almond meal and added 1tsp of xantham gun. Felt it was fluffier! Thanks for posting!
Julie says
This was the most delicious and easy fathead dough I’ve ever made! I tried using it for sausage patties instead but will be trying it as Sausage Rolls as well. Thanks so much!
Louise says
Can these, or any other fathead pastry item, be frozen?
Thanks for giving the world an alternative for wheat things 🙂
Anne says
Hi Libby
I have always boiled my sausages. They stay straight, and the skins simply pop off. I know you lose a bit of fat, but that can be added in the sauce etc
XXX
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Great tip! Thank you Anne.
Allison says
Great recipe but my dough always goes sticky once I add the egg. Am I better off leaving it out or adding more almond flour to firm it up?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Both options would work. Some people who are allergic to eggs, omit the egg completely and the recipe works out just fine. I find however, if my dough is a little sticky, I add a tablespoon of almond flour at a time until it firms up a little more to make rolling out the dough a little easier.
Allison says
Thanks! I will try that when I do our new favourite, Fathead Pizza, this Saturday ?
Kat says
I find if I pop the dough back in the fridge for 10 or so minutes, the cheese starts to firm back up and it’s easier to roll out.
Allison says
Great tip, thank you 🙂 I’m just about to make sausage rolls so will try it ??
lisa Bradley says
Would this suit a spinach/cheese filling?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Oooh that would be amazing but the filling would have to be solid to roll the pastry over it. Alternatively you could use the Fat Have pastry in a similar way that is in my calzone recipe, and use the spinach/feta as a filling instead – yum!
Maureen says
I just made these!!! absolutely amazing. did not have the onion flakes but..it came out super yum!! will try with the coconut flour next. thanks for this great recipe.
Lauren says
Just made a batch of these, turned out perfectly. Was really worried how only a few ingredients could make a dough but it worked so well and I didn’t have any issues with sticking. Wish I found fat head dough earlier! Going to try out some of the other recipes. Thank you 🙂
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Pretty darn easy huh? It is sooooo good and soooo versatile. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. There are even Fat Head bageks, garlic bread and nachos on my site. also have some other amazing mozzarella dough recipes in the pipeline – so stay tuned!
Jane says
Hi! I made these using leftover fathead dough from pizza last night. The pastry kind of melted off and from under the rolls. Any idea where I went wrong? Thanks!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
It sounds like it maybe needed some extra almond meal/flour to make it sturdier.
Dianne says
Thank you for such a wonderful recipe. I am a nutritionist and always trying new recipes, I and currently living LCHF lifestyle . I love your fathead pizza and have been making it for over a year, I just discovered this amazing recipe and made them last night. A huge success i used chicken sausages and served them with sugar free sweet chilli sauce. These will be a regular now in my household, again thanks for making the journey a tasty and exciting one. X
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Awesome Diane, I love that you are a nutritionist and advocating LCHF lifestyle. I love your idea of chicken sausages – I might steal that idea when I make these next week 😉
Lindsay says
J lived this recipe, however I think my sausages were too large for the dough. I used the pieces that I cut to wrap he other sausages. They turned out greeT however I didn’t have enough dough for the 5th link. So I had 8 rolls. What’s the nutritional value for that? I’m horrible at math and try to only make recipes that have the nutritional info on them (lol) just want to make sure I enter it in my app correctly
Thanks for the recipe! I sure did enjoy it!
Gilly says
I’m curious as to why you cut the casing off? Why not just leave it whole? Will be trying this this week with some 4 cheese Italian sausages I have!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I cut the sausage casing off so I can “sandwich” the sausage ends together into one long length. Also the sausages tend to bend sometimes when you cook them. Personally, I actually now make my own sausage meat, but it may be a step too far for some.
Gilly says
That makes sense! Thanks!
Gilly says
Also in the video it looks like you only use two sausages in the dough but the recipe calls for a pound of sausages. I’m confused
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
You will notice in the images I use 6 sausages. The video just shows a snippet of the recipe so you understand how to make it.
Gilly says
Got it! Thanks so much! I made these today with some 4 cheese Italian sausage that I got marked down at my local store. They are really good! I can’t wait to use the dough for a bunch of other things!
Lisa says
Hi Libby, if you do your own sausage meat, do you cook it first in little sausage shapes?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
No, I just roll it into a long sausage roll then encase it in the Fat Head dough. It seems to work brilliantly!
Mary says
I make real English sausage rolls for my wife. I’ve never been to England but she said I mailed it. Being a personal chef for a client on a Keto plan, I’m planning on making these.
May I suggest though, making your own sausage. It’s super easy and takes no time at all! Aplril Bloomfield (chef) and The Spruce (website) inspired me to create my own. With ground pork you can mix in herbs and it’s WAY better than store bought. In April’s recipe I just omit the milk/breadcrumb mixture for my keto client. You can do it! And you’ll love it!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I agree, I like to make my own sausage meat. I give readers the option as making their own may be a step too far. My favourite quote from a reader was “until I found your site, I thought cooking meant “peel film back to vent”, man that made me crack up all day”. I loved her honesty and humour, but it also showed me how where some readers are coming from. Then I have you, a trained chef. Awesome! I love the variety here and the creative ideas flooding in. Thanks Mary for your comment today, super helpful 🙂
Anakarina Gonzalez says
Can this be saved for later if kept in the fridge?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Yes, keep them in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Kimberly Mikos says
I know this recipe is a few months old and you might not be checking the comments but just in case you are I have a question for you. My boyfriend and I were at a wedding on Friday and they served mini beef Wellington as an hors douevre and he’s obsessed! I’m doing low carb and trying to find a recipe that could work for the puff pastry. Do you think this recipe could work? If not do you have any suggestions for me? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
What a superb idea! I’m pretty sure they would work, especially as they were mini beef Wellington. The beef would almost be cooked before they were wrapped in the Fat Head pastry, so the pastry would add an extra va-va-va-voom!
Ali says
Thanks for the recipe can’t wait to try it. One of my kids is intolerant to egg. Have you ever tried egg replacer in the fathead dough?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I have heard some readers omit the egg completely and it still turns out brilliantly! It is quite a forgiving recipe.
Jill says
I used parchment paper and it stuck. I just threw away my dough. So upset. Yes, it was parchment paper, not wax or anything else. I’ve never had this problem.
Don Taubman says
your pastry was too wet. Add more Almond Meal up to 140g until it’s not so sticky
Ily says
Can I use hotdogs instead of sausage?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Sure, just check to make sure they are more than 85% meat and not filled with wheat, rice or other nasty fillers. The higher the meat the better 🙂
Brigitte says
We al loved your fathead pizza, so will give these a try. Here in Spain they sell a kind of sausage without a skin, so they will probably be great.
I want to freeze them for our holiday trip(2000km), do I need to reheat or just pack them frozen and eat when defrosted?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I personally like sausage rolls both hot and cold, depending on whether it is summer or winter. Enjoy your trip 🙂
Victoria says
I’m wondering how they turned out after being frozen?
TheGiantGirl says
More brilliance! Made these last night to put in tomorrows packed lunches. Good thing everyone else had gone to bed when they came out of the oven bc I sampled one and it was so goid I know they would have been snaffled up immediately. Thanks Kerry for the veggie alternative inspiration. Next time I’ll do a mixed batch so they suit everyone.
Mal Lock says
Is the cooking time the same if you make your own filling with raw meat?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I would expect you would have to cook it for longer to ensure the raw meat is cooked in the centre.
Maureen says
I prefer not to use microwave, how would you make the pastry without microwave?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
You can warm the cheeses together in a pan on the stove top. Warm gently until blended. 🙂
Mary says
This works great! I don’t have a microwave.
Elizabeth says
I tried making these after having great success with the fat head pizza; unfortunately the dough just stuck to the paper and created a big mess so I had to try sticking the dough to the sausage meat. Do you have any suggestions? I did notice a few other have experienced this in the above thread : )
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
You must use baking parchment, which is entirely different to baking paper. Peel back gently and it shouldn’t stick at all.
Elizabeth says
Oh thank I didn’t even realise there was a difference. I’ll try and purchase some and re-make. The first batch still turned out yum, just a bit tricky because of the lack of parchment paper : )
Elizabeth says
Sorry Libby, where can you purchase parchment paper?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
It may be called non-stick baking paper in other countries.
Brigitte says
You can also spray your backing paper with a little backingspray or olive oil in a spray.
Ceri says
Just made these for the first time with satay chicken sausage filling & they were quite ok. The only thing was they didn’t crisp up like normal pastry – maybe I did something wrong though?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Maybe next time spray or brush with little oil? The always helps things crisp up nicely.
Michele says
Can you show me the gram to cup conversions please? And will shredded cheddar and jack work?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Each recipe has two big red buttons so you can switch between Metric – US. I always advise to cook by weight because it is so accurate, but I understand most of my readers from the US prefer to use cups, so I have added both so you may choose 🙂
Kerry says
Thank you for a brilliant recipe!
We are low-carb vegetarian (very tricky!!) and my kids were so delighted to have a sausage roll that “isn’t full of wheat and tummy aches”! We used Jamie Oliver’s mushroom filling and sub’d a mix of coconut flour, savoury yeast, golden flax meal & shredded parmesan for the breadcrumbs, making a nice stiff sausage-like filling for the amazing fat head ‘pastry’!
Thank you for another transformative recipe in our household! Oh, the possibilities!! ..and easy school lunches! (the coconut flour dough version is a life-saver!).
Kelly says
I used the gram measurements for the pastry and have tried with both almond meal and coconut flour, but both times it is quite hard and crumbly! It is barely staying together when I try to roll it and there’s no way it would wrap without falling apart. Any ideas?! I have an 1100w microwave, would that make a difference??
Margaret Flitcroft says
You need to roll out the dough as soon as it comes together. If it starts to firm up and become tricky to roll out then stick it back in the microwave to melt the cheese again and it should be fine
djnikkik says
Have made this several times with varying sausages and flavours. They are always a hit, even with the non lchers and have become a party favourite! When I show up everyone goes “awesome, you made those sausage rolls again!” Will be making this over and over 🙂
Penny says
Have you tried using pepperoni and sauce to make a Stromboli type roll?
JulieAnn Nelson says
Is it possible to use sunflower seed flour for this recipe instead of almond or coconut?
Jessica says
I made these last weekend and froze them with the intention of heating them up for quick weeknight meals for one. I placed one in the oven last night while still frozen, and cooked until it was hot through. It was delicious although the type of sausage used will have the greatest bearing on the flavour result I imagine. I found a brand of all natural sausages at Pak N Save called ‘L’Authentique’ which have no added nasty stuff – I used the chicken and bacon sausages and they were delicious.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Great tips Jessica, thank you. Yes the type of sausage you use inside does have a huge bearing on the flavour of the sausage roll. Nice to know you found one brand that is superb. I’m off to Pak’n’save to try them.
Mrs O says
Wow, another great recipe. I knew they’d be good but was surprised by just how tasty they are. I made the pastry with ground almonds but it was a bit wet so I sprinkled it with coconut flour so it was less sticky. I did have two sausages left over so next time I’ll just do two less and that works out the right amount for the amount of pastry I have. My husband will be delighted when he opens his packed lunch tomorrow.
People are giving me lots of credit for my tasty low carb cooking but it’s all down to you and I always tell then about your website. Anna. Xxx
Elizabeth Hall says
Just made these in Japan – SO GOOD!!!!! I’m going to try storing them in the fridge.
cec says
Does it make a difference if you dont have a microwave? I want to
make it and cant follow the recipe as far as the nuke part.Any help out here for this?
Cec says
FYI I used a double boiler to melt down the cheeses and flour….it worked, not sure how it’s different from the microwave original.
Nicky says
Made these today with a 50/50% beef/pork mixture, added some bacon, herbs and spices. Delish! Found the dough really easy to handle. Now to find a sauce recipe to compliment them. 🙂
Uju says
Hello Libby! I’d love to make this recipe using coconut flour only, how would you advice me to convert?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
There is s footnote in the recipe to use coconut flour instead of almond flour. 🙂
Cheryl says
Made these tonight for the first time and they were awesome! Even dear hubby liked them. Will be making these again.
Alex says
Hey these sound great, except I don’t like cheese! Is there anything I can swap the cheese for? Thanks x
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Not like cheese??? What’s wrong with you!!! (only kidding, I couldn’t resist). Unfortunately the Fat Head dough is heavily based on cheese and there is no real substitution for it. I do have another low carb pastry you might like to give a try. My chicken and leek pie pastry is amazing and sturdy. I’m not sure if it would be sturdy enough for sausage rolls, but if you give it a go, let me know how you get on. 🙂
Heidi says
How/ where can I buy Fat Head??? Can’t seem to find it here…
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
You make it, see the recipe here. It is super easy and everyone swears by it in the low-carb world.
Marjori Miller says
Hi, I am trying to make this right now, but the dough is very sticky & is not coming up from the parchment paper. I notice that the cup measurements for the mozzarella & almond flour don’t match the ounces…1 3/4 cup mozzarella equals 14 oz, not 6, and 3/4 cup almond flour equals 6 oz, not 3. I made it according to the ounces & wonder if I need to use the cups measurements? The egg was kind of hard to mix into the melted cheeses & almond flour, is that normal too? 🙂
THANKS!!! 🙂
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Hi Marjori, great question about the weight of mozzarella. 170g is definitely equivalent to 6 oz in weight. I only add cups for my American readers as the rest of the world works by weight but I know cups are so helpful, but sadly, very inaccurate. Yes the egg can be a bit tricky to add to the cheese, but I use the back of the spoon to mix it, or my hands. I’m sure you’ll be eating the yummy Fat Head dough by now, enjoy 🙂
Veneeta says
I found you last week and have been obsessing over your pages every since :)….You have inspired me, and am now heading towards a LCHF lifestyle…today I made these divine sausage rolls!! The pastry is amazing, super simple and tasty…I made my own filling with pork mince, spinach, cumin, bacon and onions…Kids are going to be so happy to have these in their lunch boxes tomorrow….Tomorrow I’m making the sauce to go with this :)….Keep up the fantastic work xx
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Wow, thank you Veneeta. What an amazing comment. Welcome to the world of LCHF and a whole new world of recipes for you to try.
Jill says
Hi Libby – have you ever tried them with beef mince?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Not yet, that will be my next mission. Let me know how you get on if you are successful.
Shellihob says
Made these the other day and loved them. Have put some in the freezer because next week im going on a long road trip and I think they’ll be perfect for lunch along the way.
Julie from Dubbo Australia says
These sound great
Is the 470 calories per sausage roll
Or for the whole batch
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
That is for one serving. The entire recipe serves 6. It is up to you how big or small you cut them, and hence how many you will make. I managed to make 12 large ones, so everyone got 2 each.
Debra Ferry says
i tried the sausage rolls, although they tasted great … when i put them in the oven, the fathead pastry all drooped onto the tray … was like sausage meat sitting on pastry…. any ideas where i went wrong?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
It sounds like you need more almond or coconut flour to make it sturdy enough.
Patricia Thomson says
As an FYI, American sausages don’t contain grains. Italian sausage would be great with the mozzarella dough and Polish sausage or hot dogs would be great with Edam or Swiss.
Holly says
These look amazing! Do they freeze well?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
To be honest, they never stick around long enough. I’m pretty sure they would however freeze brilliantly. Pop them an airtight container to freeze.
Kylie says
I froze mine, worked brilliantly!
Say says
Did u freeze with the sausage cooked or uncooked?
Jessica says
I froze mine cooked then reheated in the oven till heated through. Worked a treat.
joanfrankham says
Saving this for later, when I look forward to trying these! They look great.