Pigs in blankets, kilted sausages or kilted soldiers, is a dish served in the United Kingdom and Ireland consisting of small sausages (usually chipolatas, fresh pork sausages) wrapped in bacon.
They are a popular and traditional accompaniment to roast turkey at a Christmas dinner and are rarely found outside the Christmas season, served as a side dish.
Traditionally, the sausage used is a pork-based chipolata the size of finger food and the wrapping is bacon, but variations include those using chorizo or chicken sausage, sausages with added ingredients like apples or chestnuts, standard-sized chipolatas, or flavored or smoked bacon.
We tried it during the New Year’s Eve dinner on our trip to Cornwall in December 2024.
In 2013, December 12th was declared National Pigs in Blankets Day.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 8 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: English
- Seasonality: Christmas, New Year's Eve
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon
- 8 chipolatas (small pork sausages)
Steps
Preheat the oven to 375°F/340°F fan. Cut the bacon slices in half. Wrap a piece of bacon around each chipolata.
Place on a baking tray and cook for 30-35 minutes until golden.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What are similar dishes to pigs in blankets?
In Denmark, the sausage wrapped in bacon served in a bun is known as Pølse i svøb, which means “sausage in a blanket”, usually sold at hot dog stands known as pølsevogne (sausage wagons).
In Austria and Germany, a cheese-filled sausage wrapped in bacon is known as Berner Würstel or Berner sausages.
In Luxembourg, the Blanne Jang is a parboiled sausage filled with cheese and wrapped in bacon.
The American dish pigs in a blanket is sometimes confused with this dish, but their only similarity is the name and the fact that the base ingredient is a wrapped sausage; the American dish wraps the sausage in bread or puff pastry.
In some parts of the United States heavily influenced by Polish immigration, “pigs in a blanket” may refer to stuffed cabbage rolls, such as Polish gołąbki.
In Texas, kolaches or klobasneks are a similar dish originating from Czech immigrants.What is a chipolata?
A chipolata is a type of fresh sausage, probably created in France.
Sausages by that name appear in the 1903 edition of “Le guide culinaire di Escoffier“.
Chipolatas are typically made with coarsely ground pork, seasoned with salt and pepper along with herbs and spices, depending on the specific recipe, such as sage, thyme, allspice, or nutmeg.
The word is French and probably derives from the Italian cipollata, which essentially means “made with onions” and according to some sources might refer to an onion stew with sausages.
In Switzerland, cipollatas are small sausages made with veal, milk, and pork.
The sausage usually also contains veal and milk, along with pork.
