Italian Sausage and Peppers Pasta
30-minute sausage and peppers pasta loaded with fresh bell peppers, onion, and savory Italian sausage. This is a quick and easy dinner idea inspired by traditional sausage and peppers and is full of fresh flavor.
Sausage and Peppers Pasta
Traditional sausage and peppers are just that – whole sausage links and peppers cooked in a pan with olive oil and garlic. My twist on the original includes some pasta and a simple sauce turning the classic into a delicious pasta dinner full of fresh flavors.
How to Make It
This sausage and peppers pasta dish is a quick-ish recipe, ready in about 30 minutes, and very non-fussy. There’s some chopping involved, but that work is paid back with lots of fresh flavors from bell peppers, onion, and garlic.
More Bell Pepper Recipes
| Shrimp Fajitas | Baked Sausage and Peppers | Unstuffed Pepper Soup | Chicken Fajita Bowls |
PrintItalian Sausage and Peppers Pasta
This is my take on traditional sausage and peppers that includes pasta and a few simple ingredients to make a sauce. It’s a 30-minute dinner full of fresh flavors.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Saute
- Cuisine: Italian-American
Ingredients
- 8 ounces ziti pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 ounces sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
- 4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3 medium-sized bell peppers (any color), sliced into 2-inch-long pieces
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (see note)
- 18 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Boil the pasta according to package directions.
- In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Break the sausage up as it cooks until it’s browned. Add the garlic, peppers, and onions. Stir and cook the veggies with the sausage until they start to soften, about five minutes or so.
- Add the balsamic to the pan and scrape up the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes and salt. Stir and bring the sauce to a simmer. Cook the sausage and peppers in the sauce for about five minutes or so.
- Add the cooked pasta to the pan and stir to coat it in the sauce. Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve.
Notes
If you have a dry red wine on hand, feel free to use that in place of the balsamic vinegar.
Nutrition
- Calories: 464
- Sugar: 13.8g
- Sodium: 1043.1mg
- Fat: 12.2g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 65.1g
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 24.8g
- Cholesterol: 25.5mg
The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
Recipe Inspiration
My introduction to Italian sausage and peppers was in 2011 when my friend, Toni, shared her family’s favorite slow cooker sausage and peppers. And by ‘share,’ I mean that I saw the finished dish and got a brief overview of the recipe. At the time, I didn’t write anything down, but the aromatic memory stuck with me.
So, I took that memory and came up with this sausage and peppers pasta. It’s not authentic, but it has the spirit of the original, and I can’t help but think of Toni every time I make it.
If you’re looking for a traditional sausage and peppers recipe, Lydia Bastianich, the maven of Italian cooking, has a wonderful recipe.
Ingredient Notes
Italian sausage: I like sweet Italian sausage links, but you can also use mild or hot Italian sausage. If you want to save a step, use ground sausage so you don’t have to deal with the sausage casings.
Peppers: Any combo of bell peppers will work fine. I like the combination of bitter green bell peppers with sweeter red bell peppers or yellow or orange bell peppers.
Onion: Yellow, white, or red onion – choose your favorite. When I’m short on time, I use frozen chopped onion.
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Pasta: Any short pasta shape will work fine. I like ziti, or you could try rigatoni, penne, cavatappi, farfalle pasta, gemelli, or rotini pasta. Or use your favorite pasta shape.
Herbs: Feel free to swap the parsley for fresh basil or thyme. Or use a combo of fresh herbs.
Other garnishes: Sometimes, I add some grated Parmesan cheese on top for serving.
Recipe Tips
This dish has a very bright flavor because the peppers and sauce aren’t cooked very long at all. The peppers will still have a bit of a bite, and the tomato sauce won’t have that hours-long cooked flavor.
If you have time, feel free to simmer the sauce longer – maybe between 30 minutes to an hour. The peppers will be a lot softer, and the flavors in the sauce will develop even more. I’ve made it both ways and, in both cases, you end up with a delicious pan of pasta.
This a quick recipe perfect for weeknights – the combo of flavors with the sausage and peppers is so good! Pair it with a simple salad and some crusty bread for a delicious dinner.
Happy Cooking,
More Hearty Pasta Recipes
This sausage and peppers pasta post, photos, and recipe have been updated from the archives. First published in April 2016.
You can wake me up in the middle of the night for a pasta dish and I wouldn’t even be mad, and this sounds delicious! Smart move to add the wine, need to remember that for the next time I prepare pasta.
This one’s a perfect excuse to open a bottle of wine mid-week (if you even need an excuse!)… a little for the sauce and a glass with dinner 🙂
This is my favorite kind of food – simple, flavor-packed and beautiful. I feel like I could pick up the fork and knife and eat it right off of my lap top. Your photos are gorgeous!
Thanks so much!
You can never have too much pasta in my opinion, and this sounds and looks delicious. Glad you are enjoying the warmer weather, nothing better than being outside and enjoying it all.
There’s never too much pasta 🙂
For sauce fanatics would it throw off the taste to double the amount of liquid to 2 cans of tomato sauce and 1/2 C of white wine?
If you want it extra saucy you could double the tomato sauce, but I don’t think you need to double the wine since you boil most of it off anyway (doubling it would just take longer). I would also double the amount of Italian seasoning and add extra salt and pepper to taste. I haven’t tried it this way, so these are just my guesses 🙂
Looks lovely
I love pasta in all forms and aspects… particularly if it has something green all over it… thanks for this recipe!
Great recipe April…full of flavor and so easy. I like that the peppers aren’t cooked to death but still have some texture when you eat it. Wonderful.
Thanks, Joe – I like the peppers that way, too. Tastes a whole lot fresher that way 🙂
I don’t know when I’ve been so happy with a recipe I’ve found online. This was quick, easy and delicious!
Oh, that’s so nice! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
This recipe ROCKS!!! My husband and I love it – I probably make this once a month – so easy and uses mostly ingredients you already have in your pantry/freezer. I do use a pasts I get at WalMart “Sam’s Choice” called Trompetti (kind of trombone-shaped) and holds the ingredients beautifully – HIGHLY recommend !!!
Oh, so happy you love it! I’ll have to look for that pasta shape, too!
Flavorful and easy!!!
Easy to make and delicious! Adding this to my list of favorites. Every recipe I’ve tried of yours is top-shelf. Keep them coming and thank you!
So glad you liked it!
This is such an easy recipe. Loved it
So glad you liked it!