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Skillet meals are so easy. You simply choose your meat or preferred protein and your vegetables and seasonings and cook everything together. Of course, recipes like this skillet Italian sausage and peppers dish can just be cooked in just one pan, which means a quicker, easier cleanup afterward, too! You can serve this with your favorite side dishes, maybe potatoes or garlic bread, and it also freezes well.
Skillet Italian sausage and peppers makes a quick and simple meal for those busy weeknights or even those lazy weekends. It’s a tasty, satisfying meal.
Skillet cooking fans might also want to try this chicken and bell pepper skillet, turkey with sweet potatoes and kale, or for a skillet-friendly sweet treat, you can’t go wrong with maple cinnamon French toast. This sheet pan shrimp and andouille is also really good.
Why You’ll Love This
Easy: Seriously, this has to be one of the easiest recipes ever. You just need to add the ingredients to a skillet and cook them!
Flavorful: The combination of juicy Italian sausage links with sweet bell peppers and onions, and a few carefully chosen seasonings really delivers on flavor.
Adaptable: Not only can you use any kind of link sausage and any color peppers, but you can even use different vegetables. You can also change up the seasonings.
Sausage and Peppers Skillet Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below
Mild Italian pork sausage links: These are always good but if you prefer a sweet or hot Italian sausage you can use one of those instead. Or a mild sausage instead of spicy sausage, paired with a pinch of red pepper flakes.
Vegetables: Onion and bell peppers add flavor as well as color to the dish. You can use whatever color peppers you want.
Butter: To sauté the vegetables. Use olive oil if you prefer.
Chicken broth: This makes a tasty sauce. Sub vegetable broth or any other kind (maybe you have homemade pork broth and that would be good!)
Garlic: Garlic makes everything delicious! Feel free to be heavy-handed and throw in some extra.
Italian seasoning: A simple combination of herbs and spices to infuse the dish with Italian appeal.
How to Make Italian Sausage with Peppers
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card
Cook the sausage: Cook the sausage in a skillet over a medium heat for around 6 minutes or until browned all over.
Cook the veggies: Put the sausage on a plate and melt the butter in the same skillet. Add the vegetables, Italian seasoning, and some salt and pepper, and cook for a few minutes.
Add more ingredients: Next you can add the garlic and cook for a minute, then pour in the broth and cook for 5 minutes, stirring once in a while.
Put the sausages back in: Return your sausage to the skillet, turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until the sausage is cooked through.
The finishing touches: Serve hot, as soon as the sausage is cooked, garnished with some fresh parsley.
Substitutions and Variations
Gluten-free option: If you want a gluten-free version, just ensure you are using gluten-free chicken broth. I like this one.
Different broth: Swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth, mushroom broth or even some homemade pork broth if you have it. Lamb or beef broth might be a little rich for this dish (but hey, it’s fun to experiment in the kitchen to discover new things!)
Sausage subs: You can use mild, sweet or spicy Italian sausage here, or even another variety of link sausage altogether.
Pick your peppers: Your sliced peppers can be green, red, orange, yellow, or a combination. For some kick, consider adding a jalapeno or two as well (maybe not if you choose to use hot Italian sausages!)
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers: Kick off dinnertime with mini pizza bagel bites or one of these light appetizers.
Side dishes: Pair your Italian sausage skillet dish with mashed red-skinned potatoes, garlic bread, or parmesan truffle polenta fries.
How to Store Sausage and Bell Pepper Skillet
Store: Keep leftovers for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Freeze: This recipe freezes really well. I like to freeze separate portions and just defrost what I need.
Thaw: Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Reheat: You can reheat leftovers in a pan on the stove or in the microwave. A hot oven would work for reheating too if you happen to have it on already to cook something else.
Top Tips
Change up the protein: You might like to pair smoked andouille sausage and shrimp for a gumbo-inspired riff on the recipe.
Get slicing: If you slice the sausage before serving, it’s easier to serve up equal portions.
Other sides: If you don’t want potatoes or fries, what about serving your skillet-cooked sausage dish over buttered pasta or with roasted vegetables or some salad?
Onion and Peppers Italian Sausage FAQs
As it stands, yes it is. But if you want to make sausage and peppers and onions keto, just serve the finished dish with cauliflower rice instead of potatoes.
Absolutely. Use hot peppers, either adding in some jalapenos or your preferred pepper or swapping one of the bell peppers for your chili pepper of choice.
You’re the chef so you can make it any way you want! Sometimes I like to top the sausage slices and veggies with a handful of shredded cheese. If you have kids, you should definitely serve it this way – they love melted cheese!
You can either serve them with whichever side dish you had them with before, or try something different, such as serving the sausage pieces and veggies over hot rice or quinoa. You could even toss the chilled leftovers with rice or pasta to make a cold salad, perhaps stirring through some tomato sauce, dried basil and maybe some shredded provolone cheese too. Or what about a hearty sandwich?
Italian Sausage with Vegetables Recipe
Skillet Italian Sausage and Peppers
Ingredients
- 5 Italian sausages, mild
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 2 Teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ Teaspoon salt
- ½ Teaspoon black pepper
- 3 Cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ Cup chicken broth
- fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until brown on all sides, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside on a plate.
- Melt butter in the same skillet. Add onions, bell peppers, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Pour in chicken broth and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
- Return sausage to the skillet. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through.
- Serve immediately garnished with fresh parsley.
Notes
Get slicing: If you slice the sausage before serving, it’s easier to serve up equal portions.
Other sides: If you don’t want potatoes or fries, what about serving your skillet cooked sausage dish over buttered pasta or with roasted vegetables or some salad?
Nutrition
This fantastic sausage peppers and onions recipe is made in just one pan. It’s an easy weeknight supper and, if you double it up, you can serve half and freeze half, since we all have those days we simply don’t feel like cooking from scratch. There aren’t many ingredients in this recipe – just juicy Italian sausage, crisp red bell peppers, green bell peppers, onions, and a few other things. However, it’s a truly delicious dish, despite also being a very simple one.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
This dish is a flavor bomb. Made it for Sunday dinner and it has made a regular appearance on our table since.
Loved this recipe. I will be making it again for sure!
It’s become a weekly ritual—this recipe is just too good to pass up!