Baked Sausage and Peppers

Baked sausage and peppers is an easy-to-prep one-pan dinner that you can serve with pasta, rice, mashed potatoes or cauliflower. The seared Italian sausage simmers in the oven with fresh bell peppers and onions in marinara sauce. So easy. So delicious.

In the spirit of keeping it simple, I’m here today to share with a super-easy baked sausage and peppers recipe.

Savory and juicy baked Italian sausage mingled with fresh bell peppers in a simmering short-cut marinara sauce is a quick-to-prep (only 10 minutes!) one-pan wonder that is not only delicious but smells amazing while it’s bubbling away in the oven. Kitchen aromatherapy is the best.

Baked Sausage Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Mild Italian sausage
• Sliced bell peppers
• Sliced red onion
• Store-bought marinara sauce
• Balsamic vinegar

Could you make your own marinara sauce from scratch for this dish? Yes, but these days there are so many amazing jarred marinara sauces available. For this recipe, I used Bertolli brand and I also love Rao’s Homemade but you do you and choose your favorite.

I love a colorful medley of peppers for this recipe only because in the dead of winter it’s nice to have technicolor freshness front and center. So, I used red, yellow, green orange and red bell peppers but you can use all or some of each color you like.

One-Pan Sausage and Peppers

You will need an oven-safe pan (or pot) to make it. The pan should be wide enough to fit all of the sausages in an even layer with space to spare so you can brown them.

So, start on the stove and give them a nice browning on each side. This not only gives them a pretty color but also leaves all sorts of deliciousness on the bottom of the pan that will flavor the rest of the dish.

Once browned, take them out and add all of the peppers and onions. Stir them around in the delicious juices left behind in by the sausages.

Add the marinara sauce and balsamic and give it all a stir so the peppers are coated in the sauce. Place the sausages back in the pan and sort of nestle them into the peppers.

Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 375°F. It will bubble and simmer and emit the most wonderful aroma which I think I already mentioned but it’s so worth mentioning again.

When the sausages are cooked through, take the pan out of the oven and let it all rest for a few minutes. Uncover and give it all a stir.

How to Tell When the Sausages are Done

Depending on your oven you may need more or less time for the sausages to cook. The easiest way to know when they are cooked is to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature which should be at least 160°F.

You can also cut into one to see if it’s cooked all the way through. There shouldn’t be any pink inside.

Options for Serving

Once you have your delicious pan of baked sausage and peppers there are a few ways you can serve it:

• Spoon the sauce and peppers over rice and top with the sausages.
• Or, mix some cooked pasta into the sauce – any sort of pasta will work.
• Spoon a mound of mashed potatoes or cauliflower mash in a bowl and top with the sausage and pepper goodness.
• Get crazy and serve the sausages on hoagie rolls with the peppers and onions on top. Get even crazier and top with cheese and pop it under the broiler until it’s nice and melted.

Garnish it with some grated Parmesan and parsley, too!

Low-fuss, hearty and delicious. So, so good – I hope you love it, too.

Happy cooking,

More Recipes to Try

Want more comfort food recipes? You might like to try these easy recipes, too:

• Easy Pasta with Olive Oil and Garlic is a quick 15-minute pasta dish for one – you only need 6 ingredients to make it.
• If you love chicken parm, but don’t want a hassle you have to try my super easy Chicken Parmesan Casserole. No pre-cooking, no frying and no fuss – everything cooks together in one baking dish.
• Creamy Garlic Pasta has a rich mascarpone cheese sauce and takes all of 20 minutes to make.

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