Italian Sausage, Peppers & Onions Skillet — This easy one-skillet recipe combines Italian sausage and peppers with sweet Vidalia onions and rice to make a quick dinner that’s ready in 30 minutes! If you’re wondering what to make with Italian sausage tonight, make this!!
Table of Contents
One-Skillet Italian Sausage, Peppers & Onions
I’m all about easy, one-skillet dinners that are ready in 30 minutes. My family is all about flavor and just cares about how something tastes. We were all happy with this dish and the big flavors.
Juicy sausage, sweet Vidalia onions, a hint of garlic, crisp-tender bell peppers, and tender rice.
Rather than yet another chicken and rice dish, I swapped out the chicken and instead used Johnsonville Fresh Italian Hot Sausage Links.
I used hot sausage because I wanted something to stand up and pop against the rice and it wasn’t too hot, but use mild sausage if you prefer.
Ingredients for Sausage, Peppers & Onions Skillet
So many Italian sausage recipes include pasta, but I wanted to pair this flavorful protein without something different. If you’ve been looking Italian sausage recipe without pasta, you’re going to love this skillet!
To make the Italian sausage with peppers and onions and rice, gather the following:
- Olive oil
- Johnsonville Fresh Italian Hot Sausage Links
- Vidalia onions
- Bell peppers
- Garlic
- Instant rice
- Chicken broth
- Fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper
What Type of Italian Sausage Should I Use?
Although I used sausage links for this recipe, Johnsonville also offers Italian sausage in a ground version, which is so convenient if you don’t want to de-case sausage links. Johnsonville’s links and ground Italian sausage — as well as their meatballs and breakfast sausage — come in a variety of flavors and spices, giving you more flavor and saving you time in the kitchen.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Sausage, Peppers & Onions
This Italian sausage meal comes together in about 30 minutes and requires minimal prep. Here’s a rough overview of how the recipe comes together:
- Cook the sausage (removed from its casings) and diced onion in a little olive oil until the sausage is cooked through and the onions are golden.
- Add the peppers and garlic to the skillet and cook for a couple more minutes.
- Stir in the instant rice and chicken broth.
- Cook until the rice absorbs all the liquid, then stir in the fresh parsley and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
Recipe FAQs
I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t say for sure. You probably can, but you’ll have to play around with the amount of liquid you add to the skillet as well as the cook time.
Or, simply add pre-cooked or leftover rice to the skillet.
Of course! If you don’t have Italian sausage on hand, feel free to substitute another type. Just keep in mind that the sausage I used is fresh, not pre-cooked, which is why I browned it together with the onions.
This sausage and rice recipe reheats well and will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. I recommend reheating this dish in a skillet with a tablespoon or two of water or broth, just to keep the rice from drying out.
Of course! I specifically wanted to make this Italian sausage recipe without pasta, but you may omit the rice and boil pasta on the side if desired.
Recipe Video Tutorial
Tips for Making Italian Sausage and Peppers
You’re welcome to use any color of bell pepper you have on hand for this sausage, peppers, and onions skillet. And if you only have one color of peppers, that works too!
Make sure you’re using low-sodium chicken broth for this recipe, as Italian sausage often contains salt as well.
And definitely taste this dish before adding extra salt and pepper at the end since it’s naturally salty already!
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Italian Sausage, Peppers & Onions Skillet
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound Johnsonville Fresh Italian Hot Sausage Links, de-cased (Johnsonville Fresh Italian Hot Ground Sausage or mild sausage may be substituted)
- 2 cups sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, peeled and diced small (about 1 large onion)
- ⅔ cup red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
- ⅔ cup yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced small
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
- 2 cups dry/uncooked minute or instant rice
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ⅓ to ½ cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely minced (stems discarded)
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- To a large skillet, add the olive oil, sausage, onion, and sauté for about 8 minutes over medium-high heat, or until sausage is cooked through and onions are lightly golden browned. Stir and flip intermittently.
- Add the peppers, garlic, and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir intermittently.
- Turn the heat to medium-low, and add the rice, chicken broth, and cook covered for about 5 to 10 minutes or until rice is tender, done, and all liquid has been absorbed.
- Turn off the heat, add the parsley, and stir to combine.
- Taste dish and add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately. Dish will keep airtight in the fridge for 5 days. Reheat gently as necessary.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Post is brought to you by Johnsonville. The recipe, images, text, and opionions expressed are my own. #SausageSunday #JohnsonvilleSausageSwap
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Johnsonville Italian Sausage. The opinions and text are all mine.
Made this dish last night. It was a great family dinner that I will be putting in my rotation. Everyone loved it. So good on a cold day. We had no leftovers. Thank you for this recipe. It will be one I will use over and over again.
Kelly
Made this dish last night. It was a great family dinner that I will be putting in my rotation. Everyone loved it. So good on a cold day. We had no leftovers. Thank you for this recipe. It will be one I will use over and over again.
Kelly
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad that it was good enough that it’s going into your rotation and everyone loved it!
EASY ONE-SKILLET SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS WITH RICE I made this tonight with a little different take. I thought that I had instant brown rice, but I did not. I did have yellow rice and so I made the rice separate from the rest of the recipe because it was not minute rice. I made the sausage, peppers and onions with the garlic like the recipe called for. I just didn’t use the chicken broth and add the rice together with the sausage and peppers. We dished out our rice and put the sausage and peppers over the rice. It was absolutely AMAZING! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. We will definitely be making this again.
EASY ONE-SKILLET SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS WITH RICE I made this tonight with a little different take. I thought that I had instant brown rice, but I did not. I did have yellow rice and so I made the rice separate from the rest of the recipe because it was not minute rice. I made the sausage, peppers and onions with the garlic like the recipe called for. I just didn’t use the chicken broth and add the rice together with the sausage and peppers. We dished out our rice and put the sausage and peppers over the rice. It was absolutely AMAZING! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. We will definitely be making this again.
Thanks for the 5 star review and it’s always great to read when someone improvises based on what they have on hand and make things work with what you have! Glad it was amazing!
This turned out great! Only addition was a few cherry tomatoes that needed used soon. This will be a go to for me!! Thanks
This turned out great! Only addition was a few cherry tomatoes that needed used soon. This will be a go to for me!! Thanks
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad it turned out great and you were able to use up your cherry tomatoes, too!
My teen son walked through the door and said” it smells that that really good dinner we like”. It’s a family favorite here. We likes things really spicy so I add red pepper flakes. Easy, tasty, and I love that it has veggies.
My teen son walked through the door and said” it smells that that really good dinner we like”. It’s a family favorite here. We likes things really spicy so I add red pepper flakes. Easy, tasty, and I love that it has veggies.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad that this is a family favorite dinner! I love adding red pepper flakes too to so many dishes for some extra spiciness!
I think I will try to use about half cooked regular rice. I may have to add a little less liquid, I’ll just wing it and let you know!!
Made this for my husband one night and needless to say it’s on the menu again this week. Thank you, it was very easy and most of all delicious.
Made this for my husband one night and needless to say it’s on the menu again this week. Thank you, it was very easy and most of all delicious.
Made this for my husband one night and needless to say it’s on the menu again this week. Thank you, it was very easy and most of all delicious.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve been so busy lately and I realized the only meat I had for dinner tonight is Italian sausage that I had planned to use in a pasta dish but I had no ingredients for a pasta sauce!
This recipe was wonderful. Some changes I made based on the ingredients I had on hand:
-Added a couple roma tomatoes because I only had a few baby bell peppers
-Used basmati rice
-Used water instead of stock because we’re really sensitive to salt and I didn’t want to risk it turning out salty. As the meat cooked, I could smell that it was going to be really flavorful without the addition of the stock.
For cooking the rice: I browned the meat in a pan, and then in a separate pan I sautéed all the veggies, then added 1 cup basmati rice to “toast” it, then added the meat (drained) and 2.5 cups of water and simmered on low for 20 mins.
So tasty and easy!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve been so busy lately and I realized the only meat I had for dinner tonight is Italian sausage that I had planned to use in a pasta dish but I had no ingredients for a pasta sauce!
This recipe was wonderful. Some changes I made based on the ingredients I had on hand:
-Added a couple roma tomatoes because I only had a few baby bell peppers
-Used basmati rice
-Used water instead of stock because we’re really sensitive to salt and I didn’t want to risk it turning out salty. As the meat cooked, I could smell that it was going to be really flavorful without the addition of the stock.
For cooking the rice: I browned the meat in a pan, and then in a separate pan I sautéed all the veggies, then added 1 cup basmati rice to “toast” it, then added the meat (drained) and 2.5 cups of water and simmered on low for 20 mins.
So tasty and easy!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this turned out tasty and was easy for you!
I halved the recipe because I didn’t need as large of a portion and it turned out amazing. I don’t know if it was the type of rice that I got, but the chicken broth didn’t fully reduce after 10 minutes, so I just uncovered it and kept an eye on it until it reduced completely. Super creamy and really flavorful. Highly recommend this for a quick and easy dinner.
I halved the recipe because I didn’t need as large of a portion and it turned out amazing. I don’t know if it was the type of rice that I got, but the chicken broth didn’t fully reduce after 10 minutes, so I just uncovered it and kept an eye on it until it reduced completely. Super creamy and really flavorful. Highly recommend this for a quick and easy dinner.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad that this came out great for you! And way to think on your feet with the broth/rice situation and letting it simmer uncovered.
It very likely was the rice, they vary in how much they will absorb. Better to have a bit extra liquid and it could simmer off than not enough which would mean that you had crunchy rice unless you added more (many people wouldn’t know how to resolve this).