When I’m craving sausage peppers and onions on a busy weeknight, this skillet version is always my answer. Everything cooks in one pan in just 25 minutes. Juicy Italian sausage seared until golden, then simmered together with sweet caramelized peppers and a colorful mix of red and white onions. I love deglazing the pan with chicken broth to pull up all those golden brown bits from the bottom. No sheet pan and no oven. Just one skillet and a dinner your whole family will love.
The Weeknight Dinner That Does It All
If you know me at all, you know I’m completely obsessed with one-pan dinner meals. I reach for my skillet almost every single night of the week. It’s honestly one of my most-used tools in the kitchen. And the fewer dishes I have to wash at the end of the night, the better!
This Italian Sausage Peppers and Onions recipe is one of my all-time favourite skillet meals. It’s hearty, packed with flavour, and it actually tastes even better the next day.
I first developed the slow cooker version with my Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Peppers, but honestly? This skillet version has become my go-to when I need dinner on the table in 25 minutes.
I also love how versatile this recipe is. I like to serve it over white fluffy rice for the easiest weeknight combo, or tossed with penne pasta when I want something a little more hearty and comforting. You can also stuff it inside sandwich buns, my son Thomas loves it this way or serve it alongside Creamy Mashed Potatoes to soak up all that incredible sauce.
Key Ingredients:
All ingredients and their amounts are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Italian Sausage – I always use fresh Italian sausage for this recipe, and after making it so many times, I’m convinced it’s the only way to go. The flavor it brings is so much richer than any other option, and the blend of spices is already perfectly balanced. I like to use mild or sweet Italian sausage, but hot works great if you want a little extra kick. You can also use homemade Italian sausage with fennel seed, ground pork, or even ground beef if that’s what you have.
Onions – I’ve made this with just white onions and just red onions, and both are good but I always come back to using a mix of the two. Together they bring a mild sweetness and a little more depth of flavor that I really love in this dish. Yellow onions are a great swap if that’s what you have on hand.
Bell Peppers – I always use a mix of red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, and not just because they taste great, but also because my kids love how colorful the dish looks! Each color brings a slightly different sweetness, and together they make the dish so vibrant. That said, if you only have one color, go ahead and use it. The flavors will still be delicious.
Seasoning – I’ve tested this recipe many times, and I always come back to the same simple lineup: salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes for a little heat. Then I finish with fresh parsley and basil, and honestly, that’s where the magic happens. Fresh herbs make such a difference.
How to Make Sausage Peppers and Onions
Step 1: Browning & Slicing the Sausage
I always start by browning the sausage links for about 2 minutes per side. I’m not cooking them through here, just building that deep, golden color. Then I move them to a cutting board and slice them and than just tossing them in sliced from the start.
Step 2: Sautéing the Peppers & Deglazing
After sautéing the veggies for a few minutes, I pour in chicken broth and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. I always tell readers: don’t skip that step! Those bits are where all the flavor lives.
Step 3: Bringing It All Together
This is my favorite part, adding the sliced sausage back in, covering the skillet, and letting everything simmer together for about 10 minutes. Then I uncover it, crank the heat, and let the liquid evaporate for 3 more minutes. I like to finish with fresh parsley and basil right before serving.
Best Tips to Make Sausage and Peppers
Sausage is cooked through at 160 degrees. You can check the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer.
Make sure to cut onions and bell peppers to similar sized pieces. This helps ensure they are cooked evenly.
Slice after searing, not before. I remove the sausage from the skillet, let it rest a minute on the cutting board, then slice. This keeps all the juices inside instead of losing them in the pan.
Don’t rush the deglazing step. When I add the chicken broth, I make sure to scrape every single brown bit off the bottom of the skillet. Those bits are pure flavor. I think it’s honestly the most important step in the whole recipe.
Don’t overcrowd the skillet when you sear the sausage. I always make sure the links have enough space between them. If the pan is too full, they steam instead of brown and you lose all that gorgeous color and flavor before the recipe even gets going.
Add the fresh herbs at the very end, off the heat. Heat kills the flavor of fresh herbs fast, so I like to add them right before serving to keep that bright, fresh finish.
Other Italian sausage recipes to try:
Italian Sausage Peppers and Onions
Video
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 1 cup white onion sliced
- 1 cup red onion sliced
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper sliced
- 1 orange bell pepper sliced
- 3 garlic cloves sliced
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ cup chicken broth (you can use red wine as well if you are not on low-carb and whole30 diets)
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the sausage links, and cook for about 2 minutes each side, just until they turn brown. The sausage will not be cooked through.
- Place them on a cutting board, slice them, and set aside.
- Add the onions, and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir constantly. Then, add the bell peppers, garlic, salt and black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
- Add the chicken broth to the skillet with the peppers and onions, and scrape the bottom of the skillet to release all the brown bits.
- Return the sausage back to the skillet, and reduce the heat to medium. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Then, uncover the skillet, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook for 3 more minutes, just until the liquid is evaporated and the sausage is cooked through. Top with parsley and basil. Enjoy!
Notes
- To store: I recommend you portion out this recipe into air tight containers once it has cooled. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days and reheat in the microwave.
- To freeze: Freeze leftovers in a use airtight containers or freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
- To reheat: Thaw the frozen Sausage Peppers and Onions in the refrigerator before reheating. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave until thoroughly warmed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?
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I am going to make this tomorrow and was wondering if I can use white wine vinegar? It looks so good.🤗
I’ve never made this recipe with white wine vinegar, but I believe it works with white wine vinegar too.
Your recipe is good. The website is crap. Four popups and a totally unrelated video on my screen right now. Logging off and not coming back.
Sorry about that. We just removed the video popup on the site and also another popup. It should be much better to navigate on the site now. Hope it helps. Thanks for your feedback!
Bro, chill.
Made this for dinner tonight with a spicy Italian chicken sausage, just the way the recipe states and it’s delicious! This will definitely be in my dinner rotation.
That’s awesome!
I picked this recipe at random because I wanted sausage and peppers for some reason. I AM SO GLAD I DID. Delicious. Broth reduced easily…I just loved this so much. Pan completely deglazed by the broth.
So happy you enjoyed this recipe. It’s one of our favorites!
Good recipe. However, the liquid you are left with at the end of the 10 minutes cooking covered takes way more than 3 minutes to burn off. long enough that you then have over cooked vegetables. I would recommend not covering it for any part of the cooking process.
I agree it does take more then 3 mins for it to evaporated
So good! I usually use turkey hot italian sausage. I change it up – have added sauerkraut to the pan and separately air-fried potatoes. I haven’t yet had a bad version. Thanks so much!
So happy to hear that! Thank you for your feedback!
Hi, can i use water instead of wine or broth?
Yes you can, but if you use broth it will be more flavourful.
I made this recipe to the “T” and it was delicious! My family loved it and this will be a regular dish on our table. Thanks for sharing!
You’re very welcome! So happy to hear that.
Thank you for writing and sharing this! I’m a beginner cook and was missing a few ingredients and substituted a few, but it turned out amazing! I sub’d white wine for chicken broth, yellow onion instead of white and red, and green bell pepper instead of the combination red, yellow, orange. This was over a ceramic non-stick pan instead of cast iron, so I didn’t have the heat go over medium.
I have made this recipe 4 times since I discovered it. I’m obsessed. It’s so delicious. I’ve made this in a cast iron skillet, a stainless steel pan, and even a ceramic pan, and the broth reduced easily. I’m actually making this again tonight, which is why I’m here!
That’s awesome! Happy to hear that you enjoy this recipe.
Made this tonight with the red wine. So so good! My husband loved it. I served it over brown rice and it was perfect. Thank you!
Happy you liked this recipe!
Made this for dinner last night with chicken-gruyere sausage and it was delightful. I didn’t have chicken broth, so I used veggie broth with a tablespoon of tomato paste instead and tossed in a quarter teaspoon of oregano because the sausage didn’t have much spice, and it was excellent. Thank you so much for posting. It was just what we wanted for dinner.
Happy you liked it. Thanks for stopping by 😉
I loved trying this. It was so fast and easy. I didn’t have Italian sausage but used chicken sausage and added mushrooms and a couple other spices and it’s a big hit for my catering jobs. Thank you so much for making it easier on me.
That’s so nice. Happy to hear that 😉
This was incredible!!! I was looking for something new to make and this really looked interesting especially when I thought about serving it over mashed cauliflower. Such a simple recipe yet so flavorful. I can’t thank you enough Olivia. To anyone reading the comments I would say it’s great to use both the chicken stock ( I prefer stock to broth) AND the sweeter red wine.
The sausage took me a little longer to brown than 2 minutes per side. And the liquid took a bit longer to evaporate at the end . I would say use a little less liquid overall so that it evaporates a little quicker but even with the longer cooking time everything was perfect. One other thing I would say is DO NOT SKIMP on the basil and parsley. Adds a very good note to the dish. For the cauliflower , try the recipe I found on line for mashed garlic cauliflower. That roasted garlic and Dijon mustard were so good to add. My husband thought he was eating mashed potatoes with a little cauliflower thrown in.
Sometimes you wonder if a basic meal like sausage,peppers and onions and be made better, but this recipe definitely makes this meal even better.Thank You
Aww you’re so kind. Thanks!
Can you make it in the morning and then refrigerate it and serve later in the evening?
Yes you can!
Made this for my family and they loved it. Served it over white rice. Delicious. Yummy
Mm… yummy! We serve with white rice too and it’s always so good!
This was an amazing dish. I would recomend this recipe to everyone. My husband is a picky eater and for him to have seconds says a lot. I will be making this dish again.
That’s awesome!
OMG It was delicious! Followed the recipe other than more garlic, but hey, doesn’t everyone? Will make this again and again.
So happy you liked this recipe!
It was a very tasty meal. I would probably add more veggies next time like celery and mushroom
Good idea!
Dekucious!!!! Husband raved about it!
Awesome!
Easy to prepare, especially using the tips noted herein (peppers and onions prepped a few days ahead)! And, the taste…EXCELLENT!
Glad to hear that!