Best Sausage Rolls in Melbourne

There are two ways to go with a sausage roll, and not much in between.

The old-fashioned variety includes oddly loud plastic wrapping; pastry oily enough to turn a brown paper bag into a clear sheet; and a sausage with completely unidentifiable ingredients.

The other is wrapped in a delicate, flaky pastry and contains a sausage that’s moist, well-seasoned and texturally, far more than just a log of jelly-meat. It might even be served on a plate.

Both have their place, but this guide is where to find the latter.

Words by
Updated on 8 March 2023

Restaurant

Tivoli Road Bakery

This one’s ingredient list reads almost like a shopping list for a gourmet grocer: Western Plains pork, Pepe Saya butter, and an egg wash made with Burd eggs and St David Dairy milk. The team here adds herbs, fennel seeds and sourdough breadcrumbs, then pipes it into the pastry and wraps each roll by hand. Served with chilli jam.

Cafe

All Are Welcome Northcote

At this popular spot (and its Thornbury sibling), finely minced pork is combined with fennel and fresh oregano, with a fat-water ratio that keeps it moist and light after baking. It’s wrapped in puff pastry laminated with Belgian butter and baked fresh daily – the whole process takes up to 24 hours from end to end.

Shop

Baketico Brunswick East

It’s no wonder that one of Melbourne’s best pie shops also excels at snag rolls. Pastry is made with vegetable fat instead of butter, and it’s wrapped around a moreish mix that’s 90 per cent meat. The remaining 10 per cent consists of tasty cheese and veg, plus some fresh parsley.

Shop

Falco Bakery

Falco’s hefty 15-centimetre roll has a crispy, crackled exterior from the all-butter pastry. Inside is an aromatic base of confit fennel mixed with pork mince, onion, fennel seed and fennel pollen. The result is a moist and juicy filling enveloped by ultra-flakey pastry.

Cafe

Candied Bakery

Classic, organic beef rolls are the standard issue, but this bakery has been known to whip up the some inventive one-off. Take the char siu roll for instance, a Chinese-inspired number made with organic pork and a sticky marinade of black-bean sauce, honey, fresh ginger and a boatload of Asian spices.

Cafe

Smith & Deli

Grab a tray and shuffle down the cafeteria-style counter for hot vegan brekkies, daily salads and desserts. Or hit the vegan deli and carvery for vegan cold cuts, sandwiches, pantry items and more.

Shop

Oasis Bakery Murrumbeena

As this popular family-run bakery, cafe and grocer shows, the classic Aussie sausage roll also lends itself well to Middle Eastern flavours. Minced lamb is mixed with currants, haloumi, roasted almonds, spices and parsley, then wrapped in pastry, topped with sesame seeds and baked.

Cafe

Green Refectory

A fresh batch of these best-selling rolls is made by hand at 5am every day. They’re packed full of beef, carrots, potato and onion, and served with house-made tomato relish. The generous, quarter-kilo portion can be a meal on its own.

Shop

Meatsmith Fitzroy

This number (from Andrew McConnell’s fancy butcher) requires a little more effort than a ready-to-eat roll. You have to heat it up at home – but it’s well worth it. It’s made with Glen Eyrie Farms and Beachport Berkshires pork mince, mustard, celery seeds and dijon, then wrapped in all-butter pastry. Keep one in the freezer and pop it in the oven for a juicy, golden roll whenever the craving strikes.

Cafe

Mabels

This homey bakery is best known for its cakes and pies, but the classic sausage rolls are equally worth visiting for.

Cafe

Country Cob Bakery Boronia

Crowned Victoria’s supreme snag roll at last year’s instalment of the Victorian Baking Show in Bendigo (it also won in the gourmet beef pie category). With locations in Boronia, Kyneton and Springvale, this bakery is one to hit the road for.

More Options

Molly Dene, Bentleigh
When you take home the gourmet sausage roll prize from the Great Aussie Pie Competition, you must be doing something right. It brought home the top gong for a roll filled with beef mince, tomato paste, breadcrumbs and spiral pasta (which is kept al dente for extra bite). A dash of paprika on the egg wash adds smokiness to this hearty, bolognaise-esque roll.

Tony's Pies, Essendon
The cheapest of the lot comes from Tony Gavaghan, who opened his family-operated pie business in 1985. His secret seasoning blend is mixed into a beef and pork filling, which is piped onto a pastry, then rolled by hand every day. For something a little bit different, the bakery has its own take on the lasagne roll, too.

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