Do you have recipes that are your “go-to” dishes? Ones that you’ve cooked so many times you could make them with your eyes closed? I do, and this is one of them. Italian sausage and peppers is a long-time favorite in our house. While neither one of us has an ounce of Italian heritage, we are avid fans of the cuisine. Given the choice, we’d probably take a local Italian pizza place over any other kind of restaurant.
This recipe is my own method of making Italian Sausage and Peppers. Though probably not strictly authentic, it’s pretty tasty. And if you use a turkey sausage and pan spray instead of olive oil, it’s pretty darn low in fat, too. I know that many people enjoy this mixture on a bun, but I always serve it over hot cooked pasta. Usually fettuccine. That’s spinach fettuccine in the photo. I think it makes a lovely dish.
Italian Sausage and Peppers - a fantastic family meal. Click To Tweet
Start by prepping the onions, peppers and garlic. Slice the peppers in half and remove the seed and ribs. Then slice each half into strips. Slice the onion into vertical strips approximately the same size as the pepper strips. Mince the garlic. Set the vegetables aside.
Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Prick each sausage several times with a fork. This prevents the skin from bursting during cooking. When the skillet is warmed, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the sausages and cook, turning occasionally, until they are brown on all sides. Remove sausages from skillet and set them aside.
Add the onions, peppers and garlic to the pan (don’t clean the pan out between the sausages and vegetables). Saute until veggies are crisp-tender. Add basil and tomatoes with their juice to the pan with the vegetables and stir all together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Place the sausages on top of the veggies and tomatoes in the pan. Be sure to pour in any juices that may have accumulated from the sausages while they were sitting.
Cover the pan and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until sausages are done all the way through. Serve on toasted hot dog buns or over hot cooked pasta.
Enjoy! A fantastic family meal of Italian sausages cooked with onions, peppers, and tomatoes and served over pasta. All text and photographs on Never Enough Thyme are copyright protected. Please do not use any material from this site without obtaining prior permission. If you'd like to post this recipe on your site, please create your own original photographs and either re-write the recipe in your own words or link to this post.
Italian Sausage and Peppers
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
More Italian sausage recipes you might enjoy:
- Fettuccine with Creamy Tomato Italian Sausage Sauce from Simply Recipes
- Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup from Two Peas and Their Pod
- Italian Sausage and Kale Soup from Good Life Eats
- Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup from Iowa Girl Eats
My “go-to” dishes usually consist of pasta. They’re so easy to make and almost fool-proof. I say almost becauce I’ve had my fair share of screwing some up. hahaha… Sausage, bell peppers and pasta = deliciousness.
oh man, those babies look so good – and so does your recipe…
Delicious picture, recipe and you have successfully made me want to eat the picture spectacular!!!! thanks very much for a beautiful mouth watering post!
I do indeed have a “go-to dish.” It’s sausage & peppers and yours look oh so good. Pass the Semolina please:)
You may have your “Go -to recipes”… but this food blog/website has become my “Go-to recipe finder”. When I haven’t a clue what to fix for dinner, I know I can find something here. Always ingredients I can identify, recipes within my skill level, and flavorful food combinations that all become my family’s favorites! Thanks for all the time you put in here because it saves me a bunch when I step into the kitchen.
Instead of poking a bunch of itty-bitty holes in the sausage to keep the skin from splitting, I put about a half inch of water in the saute pan and simmer the sausages. Once the water is gone, I keep the sausages in the skillet until browned. They still cook the same amount of time, though. I don’t know the science behind it, but the sausage is cooked through and the skin isn’t split or cracked.
I also learned a time-saving, cost effective trick while I was in Japan. Bell peppers were extremely cost prohibitive (about $8/lb.). Instead I used a bag of already-sliced onions and peppers from the freezer section. They worked just as well, and in this recipe, would make the recipe go just that much quicker.
I can see why this is a go to food. Can’t wait to try this one soon and add it to my list of regulars. It would be great for breakfast too – minus the pasta of course – although I could eat pasta all day long.
Hi Lana! I’m your “veteran” partner for Adopt-a-Blogger 4, so I wanted to stop by and introduce myself! Your blog is adorable, and I’m looking forward to this adventure with you and getting to know you. Will be in touch when Kristen posts more details. Hugs, Amy
Lana, that looks like a party waiting to happen in my mouth! Phenomenal!!
I grew up Italian and I have never made sausage and peppers with tomatoes. And not because it’s “un-Italian” not to make it that way. There are many Itlalians I know who do make it that way. I don’t know why I never have, especially since it would make it a nice pairing with pasta as you served it. I think I’m trying it your way next time with some pasta with it.
A good tip; if you want to make this for a crowd, slice the peppers (after you have browned them) into three’s. It stretches the recipe and makes for easier serving. We often do sausage and peppers for parties and serve it with the sausage sliced to serve on hoagie rolls.
Pam, thanks for the tip. I’ll try it on rolls next time. It can’t help but be good!
Sorry, I made a mistake in my other comment. I didn’t mean to say “slice the peppers” if you are serving a crowd. I meant to say “slice the sausage” if you are serving it for a crowd. LOL
Hi Lana, This recipe looks great! How many servings does this recipe make? I am looking to make it for a large crowd–a half tray and need to know if I should be tripling the recipe.
Sammy, this recipe (along with 1# of pasta) serves four.
To print a recipe I have to print twelve sheets of paper too many
If you click on the “Print” button in the recipe, it takes one sheet of paper to print out the recipe.