Grilled Polenta Sausages on a Stick
There is nothing better than grilled sausage peppers and onions served over polenta this time of the year. Unless you make it handheld! This crispy creamy cheesy cheddar grilled polenta is the perfect vehicle for a smoked sausage! Just pour the polenta over the sausages, let them cool overnight. Slice them and throw them on the grill for tailgate perfection!
The inspiration for this recipe
Eating some grilled sausages on a bed of polenta, peppers, and onions is one of my favorite autumn meals, so I thought it would be fun to make it more portable and handheld for a tailgate situation. I have always loved the idea that polenta starts soft and becomes hard, so I have been obsessed with trying to find fun ways to exploit that idea. This sausage version is my favorite yet!
Cook the polenta first
I wanted these grilled polenta sausages to have a pepper and onion flavor. To achieve that flavor, I minced up some onion, fresno, and jalapeno, peppers and cooked them in some butter first. Then add water, lots of salt, and cornmeal!
Stuff the sausages into the polenta
Add cheddar cheese to the warm polenta, then pour half of it into a baking dish lined with parchment paper. Add the sausages, make sure to grill them first, then pour on the rest of the polenta. Spread it smooth, then cover and chill in the fridge overnight.
I just wanted to have another photo of the sausages here. Am I so wrong for that? You may not be able to see it, but I put notches in the parchment paper before adding the rest of the polenta. This helped me be able to cut them evenly later.
Slice and skewer the polenta sausages
You can see the notches in the parchment here. I used them to slice the polenta and not be worried about slicing into the sausages.
I didn’t get them all right though! You can patch up he exposed sausage with some polenta.
Grilling the polenta sausages
Get a really hot grill going, and brush the polenta liberally with oil. I use peanut oil for my high heat oil. This step is tough because polenta can be tricky to grill. Just be really careful when flipping and use a spatula.
I love how these grilled polenta sausages looked on the grill! Beautiful stripes and crispy edges.
Serving the grilled polenta sausages.
For a sauce, I just mixed mayo, mustard, and hot sauce. You could mix it up with whatever you are feeling!
The grilled polenta was so creamy in the middle near the sausages, and crispy around the edges. Amazing bites of food!
They are fairly fragile on the grill, so treat them with care!
Twists on this recipe
You could do this with hot dogs! I have done a ton of hot dog recipes this summer so I went with sausage. Plus I was inspired by the flavors in sausage peppers and onions. Use whatever sausage you want but it needs to be fairly straight. Sausage that is bent will not work as well obviously. I used a smoked cheddar jalapeno sausage. You could also do this with grits instead of polenta. The only real difference between polenta and grits is the size of the cornmeal grind, and if you use milk or cream in it.
For more on making polenta and grilling it, check out this recipe
For more tasty polenta goodness, check out my polenta gnocchi, or this pumpkin polenta with berbere shrimp.
Grilled Polenta Sausages on a Stick
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick
- 1/2 small onion minced
- 2 fresno peppers minced
- 2 jalapenos minced
- 5.5 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- 2 cups fine cornmeal
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese grated
- 5 sausages
- lots of oil I used peanut
- 1 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup mustard
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat and add in the peppers and onions. Stir to combine and cook 3 minutes to soften.
- Add in the water, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
- Add in the cornmeal, stirring and whisking the whole time to prevent lumps.
- Turn heat to low and let the mixture simmer for about 35 minutes, stirring often.
- Once cooked, remove from heat. Stir in the cheese until combined.
- Meanwhile, bring a frying pan to high heat with some oil and add in the sausages. Cook to brown on all sides. Remove from heat and pat dry.
- Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Use a baking dish that is the right size to snugly fit the sausages.
- Add half the polenta, then add the sausages. Mark on the parchment paper where the sausages are located so you can make the cuts later. Pour on the rest of the polenta to cover the sausages. Smooth it out on the top, then cover it with plastic wrap. Set in the fridge overnight.
- Remove the polenta mixture from the fridge. Slice the polenta in long rectangles using the marks on the parchment as a guide. Trim excess polenta if needed.
- Stick skewers into the sausages.
- Preheat a grill super hot and brush the polenta with oil. Place on the grill and cook to brown on the bottom. Be very gentle moving them because the polenta will stick and rip away from the sausage easily.
- Grill on all sides. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Mix the mayo with the mustard and hot sauce. Drizzle on and serve.