Simple Sausage Stars (Perfect for Game Day)

The big game is almost here and I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect appetizers to serve my guests. Like most gatherings that I host, I serve lots of food. I’m fairly certain that it’s a law that no one can leave my house hungry. Instead of cooking a large meal, I try my best to make lots of small plates so I can accompany everybody’s tastes buds.

I’ve been taking regular dishes and adding some spice by substituting ground beef for sausage. Ground sausage has such a distinct taste and adds lots of flavor to my dishes without me having to use lots of extra unwanted spices.

Ever since I’ve seen wontons used for fun dishes, I’ve always wanted to give them a try but haven’t had the chance… until now. I decided to make Sausage stars with delicious ingredients such as Johnsonville sausage, diced peppers, ranch dressing, hot sauce and cheese. One of the best parts about these easy to make appetizer is that they look much more complicated then they really are!

The first thing we’re going to need to do is bake our wonton wrappers for a few minutes. You can make these homemade or spare yourself the time and energy and buy them pre-made. I was able to find them in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store near the tofu. Place your wonton wrappers in a muffin pan. I used a regular sized muffin pan, but I think the mini muffin pan would work perfectly and be more bite sized. Once they’re in the muffin pan, you’ll need to egg wash the wontons. This will give them their beautiful color! Bake these for approximately 5 minutes in the over at 350 degrees.

While these are baking, take this time to brown your Johnsonville ground sausage. Johnsonville is my favorite because it is packed with flavor which makes cooking so much easier (and it makes me look like a better cook). When I went to the store, I had a hard time finding it because I was looking where all of the other ground sausage was but instead I found it in the frozen section with all the other Johnsonville sausage links and meatballs. Once the sausage is cooked, we’re going to mix a few ingredients together before adding them to the wonton cups that we made.

How much you mix together is going to depend on how many people you are cooking for. I made 1 pound of ground sausage but only needed to use 1/2 pound for 12 wonton cups. (Don’t forget that I’m using the full size muffin tins so that will make a difference in the amount of meat needed.)

I mixed together 1/2 pound of ground sausage, 1/4 cup ranch dressing, 1/4 cup hot salsa, 1/2 chopped bell pepper and 1 cup shredded cheese. This mixture is so good together, don’t be too ashamed to taste it before adding it to the wonton cups. Once everything is mixed thoroughly, scoop the mixture into the cups. I made exactly 12 cups and didn’t have any of the ground sausage mixture left over. 

Bake the Sausage stars for approximately 5-8 more minutes. Since all of the ingredients are already cooked, we are just trying to heat up everything and melt the cheese. Once the cheese is completely melted, you can pull out the delicious sausage stars. I topped each with a jalapeno to add a kick to it. The great thing about this recipe is it’s to modify. Add or take out ingredients depending on your taste buds. They are packed with flavor and your guests won’t be disappointed.  What’s the last recipe you made with sausage?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Johnsonville. The opinions and text are all mine.