This post may contain affiliate links. Where I make a small commission on purchased items, at no extra cost to you. See my disclosure for details.
Pigs in blankets are many people’s idea of a perfect Christmas. What if I told you that you can make them even more perfect? How about adding fresh rosemary right into the blankets and dipping them into a beautifully rich and creamy honey mustard cheese dipping sauce? Pigs in blankets are the perfect party food, lovely as a light starter and, as always, incredible on your Christmas dinner plate!
Need a quicker version? Try these air fryer pigs in blankets instead.
If you’re looking to level up your party table with other delicious snacks, I highly recommend these incredible sticky teriyaki chipolata bites and halloumi prosciutto bites! Your guests will be begging you for the recipes, trust me!
Pigs in blankets with cheese dip – Step by Step Picture Recipe
Here is what you will need to make 24.
For the pigs in blankets
- 24 Slices of Pancetta
- 24 Chipolata Sausages
- Few Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary, leaves torn off and finely chopped
For the cheese sauce
- 60g Unsalted Butter
- 30g Plain Flour
- 450ml Whole Milk
- 200g Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese, grated
- 2 tbsp Honey Mustard
- Salt & Pepper
*NOTE: it is best to have all your sauce ingredients at room temperature before you start if possible.
Pigs in blankets instructions
Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (or a non stick baking mat) and set to one side. Preheat your oven to 180°C/Fan 170°C.
Lay a few strips of pancetta on a chopping board and sprinkle generously with chopped rosemary.
Take a chipolata and roll diagonally along a slice of pancetta. You want your pancetta to reach from one end of the sausage to the other.
Repeat until you have used up all your ingredients then evenly space them out on your prepared baking tray.
Place the tray into the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Turn once halfway to ensure a nice even colour.
Dipping sauce instructions
To make the sauce, melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat.
Tip in the flour then whisk constantly for 3 minutes to cook out the flour.
Gradually add in the milk whilst whisking constantly. It will start out really lumpy like this…
But fear not, keep adding/whisking and it will soon look like this…
Turn up the heat to medium/high and continue to whisk for a few minutes until you feel it start to thicken slightly. Then dump in all the grated cheese.
Keep whisking until all the cheese has melted and the sauce is as thick as you like. (Note it will thicken more on cooling.)
Finally add in the honey mustard and some salt and pepper to season. Go easy on the salt though as the cheese is already very salty.
Pour the sauce into a bowl, plate up the pigs in blankets and serve warm or cold. I prefer warm!
These really do taste amazing! That cheese sauce is SO rich and creamy and the pigs In blankets are just perfect. As I mentioned before, these would be wonderful as a starter, a party snack or minus the cheese sauce – alongside your Christmas dinner. Versatile and delicious, that’s the kind of math I like to do!
Loved this recipe? Pin it!
About Emma Mason
Emma is a professional blogger. Utilising over 20 years of cooking experience, she’s passionate about making your life easier, one recipe at a time! Drawing on her 12+ year background in recipe research and development, photography, copy writing and marketing, Emma has turned kitchenmason.com into a successful career. Known as ‘the organisation queen’ among friends, she is passionate about creating easy to follow recipes that anyone can follow and enjoy. She lives in Nottingham (UK) with her husband, daughter and 2 naughty cats. In her spare time she can be found reading a good book, training at the dojo preparing for her black belt grading, or dreaming up the next crazy colour combo for her hair!
Kris sumner
Saturday 22nd of December 2018
Looks great, I was looking for extra bits for my friends this Christmas so will be doing these and the halloumi bites. Thank you.
Miss KitchenMason
Saturday 22nd of December 2018
Aww yay!! So glad I could help. Have a lovely Christmas :) Emma x