Sticky Cranberry Cocktail Sausages

These Sticky Cranberry Cocktail Sausages are absolutely essential at Christmas. Their sticky sweetness makes them the perfect party snack but also a great addition to your Christmas lunch too!

Sticky Cranberry cocktail sausages are perfect for christmas

I have been making my honey & mustard cocktail sausages and sticky Korean cocktail sausages for years and to be completely honest I wasn’t sure if I could match their deliciousness.

But I started thinking of flavours that shout Christmas to me; cranberries, orange and rosemary and these sticky cranberry cocktail sausages were born. And my goodness are they tasty!

Although I was inspired by Christmas flavours, don’t limit yourself to just making these during the festive period. You can buy cranberry sauce all year so make them whenever you get the urge!

Which sausages are recommended to use?

I recommend using a good quality pork cocktail sausage. Look for ones with a high pork content as these will be more flavoursome.

I would use a plain pork sausage for these sticky cranberry cocktail sausages. The flavour is coming from the glaze and you don’t want a strong flavoured sausage that will conflict flavour wise.

Although they wouldn’t be my first choice, you could use frozen cocktail sausages. These are very popular over the festive period and readily available. Mix them in the glaze and cook them as per the packet’s instructions.

Chicken sausages would work really well with the cranberry flavours. I have recently seen Tesco selling chicken cocktail sausages (as of December 2023). Vegetarian or vegan sausages would also be good alternatives.

A few Christmassy ingredients are all you need!

To make these delicious sticky cranberry cocktail sausages you will only need a few ingredients which you are likely to have in the house in the run up to Christmas anyway.

cranberry sauce

I tend to use shop bought cranberry sauce for these sausages. The big brand is Ocean Spray, but I buy the supermarket own brand and it words perfectly well for me.

It is up to you whether you use smooth or whole cranberry sauce, both would work perfectly. Whole cranberry sauce provides some texture whereas smooth will give a glossier glaze.

You can of course make your own cranberry sauce which you can not only use for these sausages but your Christmas lunch too.

Some of my favourites are:

• Easy cranberry & red wine sauce
• Smooth cranberry sauce
• Cranberry orange sauce

orange

I use fresh orange juice for this glaze because I always have oranges in the kitchen around Christmas.

However if you don’t, you can use orange juice from a carton. I would recommend using an orange juice that isn’t from concentrate.

If you wanted to add even more orange flavour to these sausages you could add some orange zest.

rosemary

I wanted to add a herb to add a savoury flavour to these sausages to work with with the sweetness of the cranberry and orange.

I have used finely chopped fresh rosemary in the recipe. You don’t want a large piece of rosemary in your teeth so make sure you cut it into small pieces.

The rosemary isn’t meant to overpower the rest of the flavours so you don’t want to add too much. Use up to half a teaspoon, you can use less if you want a more subtle flavour.

You can use dried rosemary for these sausages rather than fresh. Dried herbs tend to be more powerful so I would recommend using a quarter of a teaspoon.

how to cook sticky cranberry cocktail sausages

You can cook these sausages in your air fryer or oven. I prefer to use my air fryer because mine doesn’t require preheating and it also cooks the sausages more quickly.

Some air fryers do require preheating. If yours does, check the sausages a couple of minutes before the recipe states as a warm air fryer cooks food more quickly.

Whether you use an oven or your air fryer, I recommend lining your basket or baking tray. The sugar content in the cranberry sauce means some of it will bake on to your tray or basket whilst cooking.

If you are using a baking tray, I recommend lining it with foil or using a silicone mat. For your air fryer, you can use a silicone liner or foil. A silicone liner is a little thicker so the sausages might need a minute or two longer to get to the perfect level of stickiness.

I’ve written a whole post on whether you should use an air fryer liner, check it out for more information.

Do you have to use cocktail sausages?

No, you can use whichever sausages you like.

Cocktail sausages are perfect for serving at a party or as part of a buffet. But there is nothing to say you can’t use chipolatas or normal sausages for this recipe.

If you use larger sausages, you will probably need to increase the glaze ingredients so you have enough to coat them.

You will also have to increase the cooking time according to the size of sausage you are using.

Can these cocktail sausages be made gluten free, vegetarian or vegan?

Absolutely! The only ingredient you will need to change is the actual sausages, the other ingredients are already suitable for gluten free, vegetarian and vegan diets.

If you want to make them gluten free, check the sausages you are using. More sausages are being sold gluten free these days so this should be easy enough to find.

I have recently started seeing vegan cocktail sausages in the supermarkets. If you can’t get your hands on cocktail sausages, use your favourite vegetarian or vegan sausages.

How long will these sausages keep for?

Once cooked, store any leftover sausages in the fridge for up to three days in an airtight container.

They are delicious eaten cold but you can reheat them if you would prefer. They only take a couple of minutes in the oven or air fryer to warm through again. You could reheat them in the microwave but they might lose their crispness.

How to serve these sticky cranberry Cocktail Sausages

These sausages are particularly great for gatherings because they can easily be eaten with a cocktail stick. No cutlery is needed and they also only require one hand which is good because there may be a festive tipple in the other. And because they are bite size (or two if you’re dainty).

These cocktail sausages are also great served hot or at room temperature. This is great because you can cook them in advance of your guests arriving.

These sticky cranberry cocktail sausages would also make a great alternative (or addition) to pigs in blankets on your Christmas lunch. The cranberry glaze would work perfectly with turkey or any other meat or nut roast you are serving.

For other ideas of the perfect spread check out my 10 Savoury Party Food Recipes.

other recipes you might like

• Turkey & Cranberry Sausage Rolls
• Leftover Turkey, Cranberry & Brie Pastries
• Orange & Cranberry Loaf Cake
• Air Fryer Sausage Rolls
• Air Fryer Sausages

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