There’s a reason these little guys disappear off the tray before I even get it to the table. This Pigs in a Blanket Recipe needs just three pantry staples (no homemade dough or hard-to-find ingredients) and cooks up in the air fryer or the oven, whichever gets snack time to your table faster!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “We loved these little pigs in a blanket. I’ve never made them in an air fryer, but after doing so I don’t think I’ll ever make them any other way.” – Julie
Originally posted in 2023, this recipe just got a 2026 refresh: clearer directions, better tips, and a few tricks I’ve picked up since then.
Our Family’s Favorite Game Day Pigs in a Blanket
When my boys are all home for a family dinner or to spend game day with us, I love to serve pigs in a blanket as an appetizer. They absolutely love them! I can’t even set a tray of these down before someone’s already swiped a few before they even hit the table!
I keep these to just 3 ingredients, on purpose. I grab organic crescent rolls for a more wholesome, buttery blanket, then wrap up little smokies, cocktail sausages, or whatever hot dogs I’ve got left in the fridge. No fancy dough needed! They’ve become my go-to snack, and I lean on them constantly as an easy appetizer whenever I’m feeding a crowd.
I almost always cook mine in the air fryer because I love them that way and it gets me to golden and puffed the fastest, but I’ve given you full oven directions too. And dipping sauces? Those are a non-negotiable for me! I’ve got three homemade ones for you below, because plain ketchup just doesn’t cut it in my house. Pair these with Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders or Air Fryer Wings, and you’ve got a spread nobody leaves hungry from.
Why You’ll Love This Pigs in Blankets Recipe
- Just 3 ingredients. All you need are crescent roll dough, little smokies, and an optional egg wash.
- Ready in 20 minutes or less. You’ll go from unrolling the dough to pulling a golden batch out of the air fryer faster than it takes to set the table.
- Two cooking methods. Use the air fryer when you’re short on time, or the oven when you’re cooking a bigger batch; both are covered below! Personally, I love using the air fryer for these pigs in a blanket.
- Kid-approved and kid-helped. Little hands are great at rolling these up, so it’s a fun one to hand off at snack time.
- Freezer-friendly. Assemble a double batch and stash half in the freezer for later; instructions are below.
- Three dipping sauces included. I provided recipes for honey mustard, barbecue ranch, and spicy blue cheese, all ready in under 5 minutes. Because you need all the sauces!
How Long to Bake Pigs in a Blanket
As it’s detailed fully below and in the recipe card that follows, here’s the cliff notes:
- Air fryer: preheat 4-6 minutes at 400°F, then reduce to 350-360°F and bake about 5 minutes, or 8-10 minutes if frozen, shaking halfway through
- Oven: preheat, then bake 12-15 minutes at 375°F, or 20-25 minutes if frozen at 400°F
What are “Pigs in a Blanket”?
“Pigs in a blanket” has different meanings depending on where you are in the world. In the UK, it refers to small sausages wrapped in bacon, often served at Christmas dinner. But here in the U.S., the phrase first popped up in a 1940s U.S. Army cookbook, describing pork sausage links (the “pigs”) wrapped in some kind of dough (the “blanket”).
When I was growing up, my mom had her own version. She’d wrap a breakfast sausage link in thin round steak, secure it with a toothpick, and bake it in a rich gravy, kind of like a twist on German rouladen. Not exactly the same, but still “pigs in a blanket” in their own way!
And then there are kolaches, not to be confused with sweet kolaches. My German grandmother would often make the sweet kind filled with prunes or apricots, but the savory version, sausage or hot dogs wrapped in dough and baked until golden, is what a lot of folks here think of when they hear pigs in a blanket. Technically, Czech in origin, kolaches have their own place in the sausage-wrapped-in-dough family tree! Who knew!?! I love the history of food!
Pigs in a Blanket Recipe Ingredients
- Crescent roll dough: Canned crescent dough creates puffy, flaky, buttery “blankets” for the sausages. I used organic canned crescent roll dough, not the same as croissant dough, but similar to puff pastry. You can also use biscuit dough. You can find these canned doughs in the refrigerator section of your grocery store near the Pillsbury dough. Using organic just makes me feel better about using a “processed” food.
- Cocktail smoked sausages: The “pigs” for this easy appetizer recipe are cocktail-sized smoked sausages, commonly known as Little Smokies. I use uncured, nitrate & nitrite-free smokies or mini hot dogs. Try cutting up Hebrew National kosher beef franks, or use breakfast sausages for a fun twist.
- Egg: If desired, brush the surface of the wrapped pig in a blanket with an egg wash using water and one large egg. This will produce a shiny finish on the outside and help any seasonings stick, but is completely optional.
- Seasoning: If you’d like, add your favorite seasoning blend to the outside of the appetizer. Try Everything but the Bagel seasoning (garlic, onion, salt, and more), sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or flaky sea salt. Also optional.
Dipping Sauces for Pigs in a Blanket
- Honey Mustard Sauce: Honey, mustard, mayo, lemon juice, and cayenne.
- Barbecue Ranch Dressing: BBQ sauce and ranch dressing.
- Spicy Blue Cheese Dip: Sour cream, mayo, crumbled blue cheese, and sriracha sauce.
Other Ways to Make Pigs in a Blanket Around the World
The American version of sausage wrapped in crescent dough is really just one branch of a much bigger family tree. Depending on where you are in the world, “pigs in blankets” can look pretty different:
- United Kingdom: small chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon rather than dough, traditionally served alongside a Christmas roast.
- Germany: Würstchen im Schlafrock, literally “sausage in a dressing gown,” wraps sausage in puff pastry or a thin pancake.
- Argentina: the sausage gets topped with ketchup, wrapped in empanada dough, and baked.
- Brazil: enroladinho de salsicha, which translates to “sausage roll,” wraps sausage in a bread-like dough before baking.
- China: là cháng bāo wraps sausage in pastry too, but steams it instead of baking.
- Czech-American: the klobasnek wraps a full sausage in soft, slightly sweet kolach dough; it’s especially popular in Texas.
- Sweden & Denmark: known as a fransk hot dog, meaning “French hot dog.” Denmark and Norway also use pølsehorn, or “sausage horns,” for their own version.
- Finland: sausages baked into pastry are called nakkipiilo, which translates to “wiener hideout”, easily my favorite name on this whole list!
No one can pin down exactly who invented the dish first. Food historians point to everything from British field-worker fare to Central European sausage traditions, but it’s safe to say people have been wrapping meat in dough for a very long time, and just about every culture has its own version!
How to Make Pigs in a Blanket
Step 1 | Make the Sauces & Preheat
If making dipping sauces, make those up before you assemble your pigs in a blanket and store in the fridge until ready to dip.
Preheat the air fryer to 400°F /(205° C) for at least 4-6 minutes or the oven to 375°F (190 °C). While your air fryer or oven heats, lightly flour a surface and unroll the crescent roll dough.
Step 2 | Prep the Crescent Dough
Next, separate the dough at the perforations to form 8 triangles. Then, cut each triangle into three or four smaller triangles, making a total of 24 or more triangles. Using a pizza cutter makes this process much more manageable than using a small knife.
Step 3 | Rolling Lil’ Smokies in Crescent Dough
Next, place one cocktail sausage on the widest portion of the triangle and roll the strips of dough toward the pointed end. Notice that the dough overlaps as it wraps around the sausage to form a sweet little blanket.
Step 4 | Add Egg Wash
For a shiny finish, brush with egg wash or melted butter. Then, sprinkle the surfaces with your choice of seasoning or a coarse salt blend. You can even brush with garlic butter! These steps are optional but easy to do and give them an extra boost of flavor.
Pro Tip: Once your air fryer preheats to 400°F, reduce the temp to 350-360°F before adding your pigs in a blanket. That hot start gets you the best crisping and puffing, then the lower temp finishes them without over-browning the dough.
Step 5 | Air Fry or Bake
When ready to bake, spray the basket with a little cooking oil (not Pam, it gums things up) or use a sheet of parchment paper. Set the pigs in blankets seam side down in a single layer, without overcrowding the basket. That means a few batches to get through all of them, but nobody complains when they come out hot.
Bake in the air fryer for about 5 minutes until puffed and golden. Depending on your air fryer, you may need to bake them a bit longer. I used the Ninja Foodi XL, and they baked beautifully at 350°F for about 5 minutes.
If you are using the oven, bake for 12-15 minutes until they are golden brown on the surface. Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauces!
Kathleen’s Tip: Note that you will likely have more little smokies than you do crescent dough pieces. I like to cut some of my triangles into fourths to make enough pieces for as many mini sausages as possible; I figure some people prefer less bread anyway.
Pigs in Blankets Recipe Tips
- It’s best to keep the crescent dough cold for as long as possible. If you double or triple the recipe and use more than one can of crescents, remember to work in batches. The refrigerated dough must remain chilled; otherwise, it becomes difficult to work with. Make the first batch, then remove the second can from the fridge and go from there.
- Whether you air fry or bake, leave about a ½-inch of space between the individual pigs in a blanket. They do puff and rise some.
- Use a pizza cutter for the easiest cutting of the dough. Forget a chef’s knife, using a pizza cutter is so much faster and more kid-friendly too!
- Lightly flour the surface of your board for easy assembly. The worst is when the dough sticks, so a little sprinkle of flour on the counter will help this!
Pig in a Blanket Recipe Variations
- Cheese-stuffed: I’ve read that people have complained that the cheese tucked into the sausage can ooze out and make a mess if air frying, so instead, place a thin piece of cheese on top during the last minute of air frying, or stick to oven baking and tuck a slice of cheddar or pepper jack next to the sausage before rolling.
- Jalapeño popper style: add a thin sliver of jalapeño and a smear of cream cheese alongside the sausage.
- Swap the sausage: try mini smoked kielbasa, chorizo links, or even breakfast sausage for breakfast pigs, dipped in maple syrup or pancake syrup.
- Add bacon: Tear raw bacon strips into smaller pieces and partially fry them in a pan on the stovetop, or use pre-cooked bacon. You don’t have to thoroughly cook the bacon because it will continue to bake as you bake the pigs in a blanket. Then, wrap the sausages in bacon, layer with cheese if preferred, and finally, wrap in the crescent roll dough. Bake as directed.
- Puff pastry instead of crescent dough: slice a sheet of puff pastry into strips for an extra-flaky, more delicate blanket.
- Everything bagel or sesame-topped: brush with egg wash and sprinkle on seasoning before baking for extra crunch and flavor.
- Gluten-free: double-check your sausage is GF, then swap in a gluten-free crescent roll dough mix (I haven’t found a canned GF option yet, so a mix is the way to go).
Dip Options for Pigs in a Blanket
Complete this classic appetizer by making some quick homemade dipping sauces (below). Of course, you could use store-bought barbecue sauce, spicy mustard, ranch dressing, blue cheese, cheese sauce, and honey mustard for the crescent dogs.
You can even serve the pigs in blankets with plain ol’ ketchup and mustard! Use whatever you have. Also, try serving with Hot Honey for a unique, spicy-sweet variation. I also love this Smashburger fry sauce for dipping.
Dipping Sauces for Pigs in a Blanket
Personally, I prefer to whip up these easy dipping sauces like Spicy Blue Cheese, Barbecue Ranch or creamy Honey Mustard sauce.
- Honey Mustard Sauce: Stir together ¼ cup honey, ⅓ cup Dijon mustard, ¼ cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or white vinegar), and a pinch of cayenne pepper until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Quick Barbecue Ranch Dressing: Stir together ¾ cup ranch dressing and ⅓ cup barbecue sauce. Swap the barbecue sauce for salsa if you’d like a salsa-ranch instead. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Spicy Blue Cheese Dip: Whisk together ½ cup sour cream, ¼ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup sriracha (or your favorite hot sauce), and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt until smooth. Stir in ⅓ cup crumbled blue cheese and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Storing Pigs in a Blanket
Freeze cooled, baked pigs in a blanket in an airtight baggie or container for up to 3 months.
Store leftovers in an airtight container or baggie in the fridge for 5-7 days.
Reheat pigs in a blanket by placing them back in the air fryer for 2 minutes or so at 350°F (175° C).
Can you freeze unbaked Pigs in a Blanket?
Yes! Flash-freeze them by placing the small bites on a parchment-lined baking sheet in the freezer for 1-2 hours, then transfer them to a freezer bag or an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Air fry Frozen Pigs in a Blanket | Preheat air fryer to 400°F for 4-6 minutes, then reduce to 350-360°F. Place frozen pigs seam side down in the basket and cook for 8-10 minutes until golden, checking around 7 minutes. Mine were perfect at 9 minutes.
Oven-baked frozen pigs in a blanket: place frozen on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cook in a preheated 400°F (205° C) oven for 20-25 minutes until puffed and golden.
What to Serve with Pigs in a Blanket
Here are some delicious sides to round out this delicious appetizer. Some of the most popular side dishes I like to serve alongside are:
Frequently Asked Questions
Folks say it was a lunch for on-the-go manual laborers in England. And still others say it was originally a sausage wrapped in bacon! Either way, they have always been a meat wrapped up and easy to eat, and that is good enough for me!
Can you make pigs in a blanket ahead of time? Yes, freeze the unbaked wrapped sausages on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 1-2 hours. Once frozen, remove them and dump them into a freezer baggie. The uncooked pigs in a blanket will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
When ready to serve them, bake the frozen pigs rather than letting them thaw first. Preheat the air fryer to 400°F for 4-6 minutes, then reduce to 350-360°F.
Then, layer pigs in a blanket in a single layer in the preheated air fryer basket with ½ inch space apart to rise. Bake for 8-10 minutes until puffed and golden brown.
You bet! If preferred or needed, slice the hot dogs into thirds or fourths, so they are about the same size as the cocktail sausages. You may also use whole or mini hot dogs and wrap them in large triangles of crescent dough if you like!
The cook time should be the same if you cut the hot dogs into pieces. However, if you use whole ones, you might need to air fry or bake them a little longer.
Sure! I use an organic can of crescent roll dough. I also do my best to find uncured small sausages or hot dogs with no nitrates or nitrites. Or try turkey sausages.
More Easy Appetizers
- Hammy Sammies
- Crockpot Cranberry Meatballs
- Roast Beef Sliders
- Philly Cheesesteak Sliders
- Colorado Green Chile
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Ingredients
- 8 ounce refrigerated crescent roll dough I like Organic canned crescent roll dough
- 14 ounce cocktail-sized smoked sausages I used uncured, no nitrates or nitrates, Lil Smokies work great too
Optional Ingredients
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tablespoon water
Honey Mustard Sauce (optional sauce)
- ¼ cup honey I use locally sourced honey
- ⅓ cup Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar
- pinch cayenne pepper
Quick Barbecue Ranch Dressing (optional sauce)
- ¾ cup ranch dressing use homemade or your favorite store bought brand.
- ⅓ cup barbecue sauce use homemade or your favorite brand, or swap with salsa if preferred
Spicy Blue Cheese Dip (optional sauce)
- ½ cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sriracha sauce or use Chile sauce or your favorite hot sauce, Buffalo hot sauce yummy too
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup blue cheese crumbled
Instructions
- Make some quick homemade dipping sauces, or just use store bought, barbecue sauce, spicy mustard, ranch dressing, blue cheese, honey mustard or plain ol’ ketchup and mustard!
Honey Mustard Sauce
- Stir together in a small bowl, honey, Dijon mustard, mayo, lemon juice and pinch of cayenne pepper. Stir until smooth, refrigerate until ready to use.¼ cup honey, ⅓ cup Dijon mustard, ¼ cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon lemon juice , pinch cayenne pepper
Quick Barbecue Ranch Dressing
- Stir together ranch dressing and your favorite barbecue sauce until combined. Or try using the same amount of salsa in place of the barbecue sauce for salsa ranch dressing. Refrigerate until ready to use.¾ cup ranch dressing , ⅓ cup barbecue sauce
Spicy Blue Cheese Dip
- Whisk or stir together sour cream, mayo, hot sauce, salt until smooth and combined. Stir in blue cheese crumbles, refrigerate until ready to serve.
Pigs in the Blanket
- Unroll the crescent roll dough on a lightly floured surface, separating the dough into 8 triangles, at perforations. Cut each triangle into three or four smaller triangles for a total of 24 triangles. A pizza cutter makes quick work here.You will likely have more little Smokies than you do crescent dough, I cut some of my triangles into fourths to make more.8 ounce refrigerated crescent roll dough
- Using paper towels, pat dry the cocktail wieners, then place 1 cocktail sausage (cut up hot dogs will also work here) on the widest portion of the triangle and roll towards the pointed end. Dough will overlap, wrapping around the sausage to form a blanket.14 ounce cocktail-sized smoked sausages
- Place seam side down on a parchment lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining sausages.
- If desired, brush the pigs in blankets with an egg wash for a shinier look. Beat the egg with 1 teaspoon of water and brush all over the dough. Sprinkle if desired with everything seasoning or salt blend.1 large egg, 1 tablespoon water
Air Fryer Pigs in a Blanket Baking Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 350-365° F. Bake the pigs in blankets in a single layer in the basket of an air fryer for about 5 minutes until they are puffed and golden, you may need to do in batches. Depending on your air fryer, you may need to bake them a bit longer. I used the Ninja Foodi XL, and they baked beautifully at 350°F /460 for about 5 minutes. Serve with favorite dipping sauces.
Oven Baked Pigs in a Blanket
- First, preheat the oven to 375°F (190° C). Next, assemble the pigs in blankets as directed in the air fryer instructions. One by one, place them onto a parchment paper or silicone mat-lined baking sheet with the seam side down.
- Then, bake for 12-15 minutes until they are golden brown on the surface. Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauces, like the ones above, or simply, use Ranch, Blue Cheese, BBQ sauce, Honey Mustard, or Hot Honey.
Notes
- Gluten-Free Crescent Dogs | Check sausages to make sure GF. Then, all you need to do is use a GF crescent roll dough mix, as I have not yet found a canned GF dough.
- Freeze Leftovers | Freeze cooled appetizers in airtight baggie or storage container up to 3 months.
- Refrigerate | Store leftovers in tightly sealed container or baggie in fridge for 5-7 days.
- Reheat | Reheat pigs in a blanket by placing them back in the air fryer for 2 minutes or so at 350 degrees.
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