Nigerian Sausage Rolls with Chicken and Pancetta Filling

I am really excited for Christmas because I get to spend it with some of my close family and friends. I am not cooking as much as I did for thanksgiving, but I will be cooking a little bit for a shared family dinner so I was in the mood for some chicken sausage rolls. These delicious Nigerian sausage rolls are one of the small chops (appetizers to everyone outside of Nigeria) that I usually get to share for the holidays, and I know people are always excited to get them. Instead of the traditional ground pork or even store bought pork sausage, I decided to give my version of the Nigerian sausage rolls a delicious face lift by replacing the pork filling with chicken and pancetta and the outcome was as usual, utterly tasty!

I used ground chicken in this Nigerian sausage roll recipe for a leaner cleaner flavor, and pancetta (aka Italian bacon) to add a little fat and salty punch to the filling. What makes this chicken sausage roll recipe really shine in addition to the leaner and more flavored chicken and pancetta filling is my homemade pastry dough that gives these Nigerian Sausage rolls that flaky but firm pastry texture. One thing I never really liked about the classic Nigerian sausage roll was how doughy the pastry could be where sometimes you’re left with a really hard sausage roll. I don’t know about you but I like my pastries slightly flaky with enough substance to hold its shape without crumbling but with minimum resistance when you bite through them to get to that nice, juicy lump of filling in the middle. Imagine if you will as that silent crispy crunch of pastry you bite through dissolves into the delicious mass of savory goodness…and if you’re like me, you’re probably already drooling at the thought of devouring one of these, so let’s not keep you waiting and move on to the recipe!

How to Make Nigerian Sausage Rolls

Pastry Dough Ingredients

• 175 g All purpose flour (Plain flour)
• 175 g Bread flour – I use a combination of all-purpose flour and this to keep the dough nice and stable
• 1 ½ sticks of Cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks ( 12 tbsp or ¾ cups or 170g) – I use unsalted butter to control the amount of salt in the pastry since I add my own salt quantity later. It’s also important for the butter to stay cold to create the flakiness.
• 1 tablespoon of Sugar
• 1 teaspoon of Baking powder – This adds some lift to the dough
• 15- 20 tbsp Ice cold water

Ingredients for Chicken and Pancetta Sausage Filling

• 1 lb Ground chicken
• 4 oz Chopped Pancetta – feel free to substitute with the same quantity of bacon if unavailable
• ½ cup Panko bread crumbs – I use this to add texture to the sausage. You can also use plain breadcrumbs as a substitute
• 1 teaspoon of Salt
• 1 teaspoon of Onion powder
• ½ teaspoon of Freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon of Garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of Fresh sage (chopped)
• ½ teaspoon of Fresh rosemary (finely chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of Fresh thyme (chopped)
• ½ cup evaporated milk

How to Make Sausage Roll Dough

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt, and gently cut in the cold butter chunks with a pastry blender, fork, knife or your good-ole fingers. The texture should not resemble that of bread crumbs! It should have pieces of butter range in sizes, between a pea and a grape.
2. Add the cold water a tablespoon at a time, while mixing with a wooden spoon to bring the dough together. Add water until the dough comes together, be sure not to add too much water at once.
3. Bring the dough together on a floured surface and rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Make sure the dough is wrapped or covered whilst in the refrigerator.
4. On a floured surface, rollin one direction.
5. Fold the top third down to the center (from the short end of the dough), then the bottom third up and over that (think about folding it in thirds like folding a letter). Wrap the dough again and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
6. After 30 minutes, repeat step 4 rolling out the dough (short side facing you) into a rectangle and folding like a letter. This repetition creates the famous puff pastry layers and flakiness, without having to go through the technical process of laminating the dough.
7. Refrigerate the dough until ready to use

How to Make the Sausage Roll Filling

1. Place the ground chicken in a mixing bowl, add in the bread crumbs, pancetta, salt, onion powder, black pepper, garlic powder, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
2. Mix well until all the ingredients are evenly combined.

Baking the Roll

1. Preheat your oven to 375º F
2. Roll out the chilled pastry into a rectangle, roughly 21 inches long and 5 inches wide.
3. Place the sausage meat close to one edge of the pastry in the shape of a log, down the length of the rolled out dough.
4. Roll up the pastry into a log, using the extra dough on the width of the pastry to cover up the meat. Brush the side of the dough that is not cover with the sausage with evaporated milk or water to help seal the dough.
5. Cut the log sausage roll log into 8-10 pieces or into your desired length (you may cut them smaller for cocktail sized sausage rolls).
6. Place the cut sausage rolls on a baking sheet, giving each of the rolls some space. Brush each roll with the evaporated milk and with sprinkle some sesame seed over them if you would like.
7. Bake the sausage rolls in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown. Serve warm with ketchup or by itself.

Nigerian Sausage Roll Nutrition Information

The amount of calories in a single serving of this Nigerian Sausage roll and nutritional information for one serving (meaning a single roll) is shown below. Please note that the nutritional information below, including ingredients and calculations is sourced from a third party site and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will depend on the brands used, measuring standards, portion sizes and other factors.

While Nigerian sausage rolls are a favorite anytime of the year for most Nigerians, it is particularly popular at Christmas in my home. Sausage rolls are some of my favorite snacks to rustle up for a quick breakfast and they are usually quick to disappear! Nigerian Sausage rolls along with meat pies, puff puffs, buns and chin-chin form the royal flush of tasty Nigerian snack staples otherwise called “small chops”. You are probably not in a Nigerian party if you don’t find at least 3 of these included in the list of appetizers! So if you ever get invited to a Nigerian party or wedding (seriously, you wanna go once in your lifetime, they’re loud and always crazy fun! Trust me!) you can find and give some of these a try, and act all woke because you know what’s up! Without the chicken and pancetta filling however, I bet they’ll never taste as good as the ones here! Enjoy!

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5 from 7 votes

Nigerian Sausage Rolls with Chicken and Pancetta Filling

While traditional Nigerian sausage rolls are made with ground pork, this chicken and pancetta Nigerian sausage roll recipe elevates it beyond the popular classic making it perfect for celebrations or just a delicious snack! No matter the occasion, these homemade chicken sausage rolls will become an instant favorite!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: British, Nigerian

Servings: 10

Calories: 335kcal

Ingredients

Pastry Dough

• 175 g All purpose flour (Plain flour)
• 175 g Bread flour
• 1 ½ sticks Cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks ( 12 tbsp or ¾ cups or 170g)
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 15- 20 tbsp Ice cold water

Chicken and Pancetta Sausage

• 1 lb Ground chicken
• 4 oz Chopped Pancetta
• ½ cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Onion powder
• ½ tsp Freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp Garlic powder
• 1 tsp Fresh sage (chopped)
• ½ tsp Fresh rosemary (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp Fresh thyme (chopped)
• ½ cup evaporated milk

Instructions

Pastry Dough

• In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt, and gently cut in the cold butter chunks with a pastry blender, fork, knife or your good-ole fingers. The texture should not resemble that of bread crumbs! It should have pieces of butter range in sizes, between a pea and a grape.
• Add the cold water a tablespoon at a time, while mixing with a wooden spoon to bring the dough together. Add water until the dough comes together, be sure not to add too much water at once. 
• Bring the dough together on a floured surface and rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Make sure the dough is wrapped or covered whilst in the refrigerator.
• On a floured surface, roll the dough in a rough rectangle in one direction. Fold the top third down to the center (from the short end of the dough), then the bottom third up and over that (think about folding it in thirds like folding a letter). Wrap the dough again and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, repeat step 4 rolling out the dough (short side facing you) into a rectangle and folding like a letter. This repetition creates the famous puff pastry layers and flakiness, without having to go through the technical process of laminating the dough.
• Refrigerate the dough until ready to use

Sausage Rolls

• Preheat your oven to 375º F
• Place the ground chicken in a mixing bowl, add in the bread crumbs, pancetta, salt, onion powder, black pepper, garlic powder, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Mix well until all the ingredients are evenly combined.
• Roll out the chilled pastry into a rectangle, roughly 21 inches long and 5 inches wide.
• Place the sausage meat close to one edge of the pastry in the shape of a log, down the length of the rolled out dough. 
• Roll up the pastry into a log, using the extra dough on the width of the pastry to cover up the meat. Brush the side of the dough that is not cover with the sausage with evaporated milk or water to help seal the dough. 
• Cut the log sausage roll log into 8-10 pieces or into your desired length (you may cut them smaller for cocktail sized sausage rolls). Place the cut sausage rolls on a baking sheet, giving each of the rolls some space. Brush each roll with the evaporated milk and with sprinkle some sesame seed over them if you would like. 
• Bake the sausage rolls in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown. Serve warm with ketchup or by itself.