I’m sharing #SausageFamily in my life as part of a Johnsonville sponsored series for Socialstars™
This simple and delicious Italian Sausage and Peppers recipe is a breeze to whip up for a family meal. It’s a classic meal that never gets old. Serve it over rice or pasta or stuff it into hoagie rolls for a filling dinner the whole family will enjoy.
Flavorful chunks of Italian sausage are combined with diced tomatoes, garlic, oregano, basil, lots of red and green bell pepper and onion. It’s a comforting meal but light enough to be enjoyed on a warm summer day.
For this Italian Sausage and Peppers recipe I used Johnsonville Natural Italian Sausage. Johnsonville Naturals is a new product line that not only includes Italian Sausage, but 3 flavors of bratwurst too: White Cheddar, Jalapeno Cheddar, and Andouille.
They are perfect for lightening up your summer meals.
Johnsonville Naturals have the great taste you know and love Johnsonville Sausage for, but with a short ingredient list. They have no MSG added, zero grams trans fat, no fillers, and are gluten free.
Not only is this a meal you can feel good about serving your family, but it can be made start to finish in under 30 minutes, making it great for those busy summer days when you glance at the clock and realize it is 5 pm and you haven’t even thought about dinner yet.
Learn more about Johnsonville Naturals and find more recipes at Johnsonville.com
Watch Our short How To Make Italian Sausage and Peppers Video Below
Italian Sausage and Peppers
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil
- 1 package Johnsonville Naturals Mild Italian Sausage
- 1 green pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 sweet onions, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Add vegetable oil to a large pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add sausages and cook until browned on all sides. Remove sausage from pan and set aside (Note: You do not need to cook it through at this point.)
- Add onion and peppers to grease left in pan and cook over medium heat until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Slice sausage into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces.
- Return sausage to pan along with all other ingredients.
- Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until sausage is cooked through and sauce is thickened.
- Serve on hoagie rolls if desired.
Nutrition
By far the best sausage and peppers recipe I’ve ever tasted!!!
This recipe has consistently been great every time I’ve made it! Of course everyone’s going to add their own unique style to it and in my opinion, that’s what makes it so fantastic. You can switch out the type of sausage you use (we use Brawts), the color of peppers, add more tomato paste and it still turns out soooo tasty. It’s so easy to follow that I’m sending my 20 year old son the recipe, who told me he was sick of pasta…and that their has to be something else he can make that’s, “easy.” Thanks so much for posting this!
Made per recipe….it was delicious….my family loved it…thanks for sharing!!
Instead of using tomato paste and chopped tomato, I used leftover homemade meat sauce I froze from a lasagna I made on Christmas Eve.
Just made the hoagie with toasted Philly rolls. Delicious! Wife especially liked the red pepper flakes. Thanks!
Perfect every time!
Excellent recipe. I didn’t have tomatoes or paste but instead I used a 15 oz can of Cento pizza sauce I had in the pantry. Instead of serving on a grinder roll I had a 1/2 lb of Ditalini pasta left over from another time. Makes the perfect bowl of comfort food! YUMMMMM!!!
I made some adjustments to suit our family. I used hot links from my grocery store rather than Johnsonville and omitted the tomato paste. Added a bit of cayenne pepper for an extra kick and a small amount of sugar to my sauce as I do with all tomato recipies to kill the tartness. Also kept the links whole for hoagies. Added some provolone on top at the end. I thought it came out wonderful. I had the tomato paste on hand and intended to use it but the sauce looked and smelled lovely before I added it so figured no need. Wonderful meal!
So easy and super delish. Next time I make this I will serve with plain noodles and substitute hot links instead of mild for an extra kick. My family loved this. It will be put on my monthly recipe rotations.
Substitute the Johnsonville with a real sweet Italian sausage from your local butcher or Italian shop. The difference is mind blowing!
Have been making sausage and peppers for 50 years. Tried this recipe a few months ago. Deeelicious… can’t get enough of it!!!Have only changed 2 things.. used red peppers and left sausages whole for hoagies.
Wonderful recipe…I could not get over how well the flavors melded together!
Excellent recipe as already stated, I added a sprinkle of red wine vinegar.
So good and so easy! Works for a low carb diet by simply eating it by itself!
It is good for low carb, buy don’t forget that the tomatoes and onions carry some carbs.
Simple, easy and super delicious. I used some marinara sauce instead of diced tomato/herbs. Served in a hogie, topped with swiss cheese and broiled to melt. Perfection. My onion/pepper hating husband loved it.
Incredible… made no changes or substitutions and it was so delicious! Thank you!!!
This was so yummy! Simple yet delicious and the diced tomatoes were a perfect touch!
This is exactly the recipe I was looking for. OMG. Amazing. I used crushed tomatoes (all I had) and glad I did. Made an amazing sauce. I don’t know if the color of peppers makes a difference but I only had red, orange and yellow so that’s what I used.
This recipe is so good! I make it with chicken sausage and use it for my lunch meal preps. Goes great with a little white rice. I actually look forward to lunch all week long when I do this recipe. It holds up all week and on weight watchers, its only 7 points! 4 if you leave out the rice!
I loved this recipe! Super easy and super tasty. I followed the recipe exactly until the end I covered the sausage and peppers so the sausage would cook through faster.
Delish…I’ve made this several times already. Since I serve this over rice instead of on rolls, I add 1 cup of homemade chicken broth for a bit more liquid…so good
The only change I would make is to the instructions. After browning the sausage, I’d add a pinch or two of salt to the peppers and onions to help them soften. After softening I would add the tomato paste to cook the rawness out of it for a minute, then add the other spices, then add the diced tomatoes to sort of deglaze the pan. Nice easy recipe and a great dish overall.
Exactly the recipe I was looking for! Best Sausage and Peppers recipe. I made 2 batches, hot and sweet. Both came out deliciously.
Made this tonite and doubled the recipe….Home Run!! Will be repeated often.
Very tasty recipe. Will definitely make again.
This recipe is the best sausage and peppers recipe I have found. You can use different sausages (obviously), and adjust the seasonings to your tastes, but this is a terrific base recipe, thank you so much!
PS I added extra diced tomatoes in the morning to the leftovers and made shaksouka.. just heat until bubbling and add an egg or three to cook in the juices.. YUM!
Excellent dish. Made with mild Italian sausage from the butcher and farm fresh peppers. Excellent recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Need to make for 100 + Is there a crowd size recipe.
Would serve over rigatoni or I like the mashed potato idea.
Allrecipes has a chart that can help you cook for that many people. It will tell you how much you’ll need. thank you
Wish I cold read Raul’s reply. Looks like he is going to give quantities for the recipe for 100. The recipe and comments keep jumping around all over and Raul’s reply won’t open.
30 pkg’s. Johnsonville Sausage…..
Can I use spaghetti sauce in thus recipe
I did once and it still came out excellent.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! Super easy!
My husband really liked it!
You did not mention when to add spices/herbs and tomato products.
PS… I use veg sausage and,or tofu. Very good.
Step 4 says to add all other ingredients
Can I double this recipe without making any adjustments? It sounds delicious but i need more for a party!
I doubled it and it turned out awesome!!
I made this for the fourth of july!! It came out delicious.! Tasted just like the Jersey Shore! This recipe is definitely a keeper!!!
I can vouch for that, just like the Jersey shore!
VEGETABLE OIL & Johnsonville Sausage?????? NO WAY!
You gotta use EVOO & authentic Homemade Italian Sausage FAGETABOUT IT
Keep your stupid opinions to yourself…
Has anyone frozen for later?
Love this recipe. Made it this past Christmas, for a family party, it was a favorite. Any advice on making it ahead of time? I want to do a couple trays of this for a graduation party and I’m trying to come up with the best way to manage my time with food prep. Any helpful comments are appreciated
Kim…I’m catering this item for a grad party. There isn’t one ingredient that can’t be prepared ahead. This dish only gets better the next day as flavors develop.
Large crockpot or in the oven
Do not freeze this !!
The peppers will fill with water and come out like mush! Everything can be cut up and stored in the fridge until cook time . Also you can Brown the sausage and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350 until done.
I put sausage in oven to. My pan wasn’t big enough after I added all the extra ingredients!
I just wanted to let you know that Pinterest has blocked this link because it “may lead to inappropriate content”. I was able to find the recipe by going to your website, but thought you would want to know.
Thanks for looking out☺
Crock pot time for this? I’d like to put it in either at 8am before work or at 12pm when I’m on my lunch for it to be done at 4:30-5 when I’m done work. Can anyone give me tips?
Such a simple yet delicious recipe! Only addition was some mushrooms to bulk it up a bit, bacause we ate it with green salad. A winner! Thank you.
can you cook this in the oven – if so how long
I lighty toasted the roll with provolone cheese . Served on a crunch roll was a great dish. Friends loved it. I will make this again and again.
I make this in an oven or slow cooker. I braise the sausage and onions then turn on 200 degrees for 2-3 hours. It is great. And I serve over pasta with mozzarella. family fav
I made this tonight and it was GREAT! Didn’t have tomato paste but didn’t miss it. I added parmesan cheese. Will definitely make again.
I’m taking this to a 70th Birthday right now yummm
Has anyone made this using fresh tomatoes instead of the canned diced? We really love this recipe as is, but curious about how it would be with fresh tomatoes…
Thanks
I haven’t tried it with fresh tomatoes Donna, but I am sure it would be good. Let us know how you like it!
Liked your idea with the fresh tomatoes, so made it today. If you do it, the thing lacking in fresh tomatoes, is the water/juices, so add about 3/4 – 1 cup of water to compensate, and add the moisture needed for simmering. It turned out amazing this way.
Oops forgot to mention that we have it with mashed potatoes instead of on a bun. Mouth is watering with the smells coming from the kitchen.
We really liked this dish so I’m in the middle of making it again for tonight’s dinner. Only difference I use homemade hot Italian sausages from the butcher. This is absolutely delicious. Thank you for posting such great recipes.
So glad you enjoy them Mary!
Trying this tonight. Instructions do not indicate if the can of tomatoes should be drained, or not??
No need to drain the tomatoes Shirley.
Thanks for your post! Through your pen I found the problem up interesting! I believe there are many other people who are interested in them just like me! Thanks your shared!… I hope you will continue to have similar posts to share with everyone! I believe a lot of people will be surprised to read this article!
I read this 4 times . Got it memoorized. Just ate now ready to eat again. What a great dish and simple. Its a keeper!!!! Thanks for the share Cristian
So happy you like it Sammy!
I want to make this but accidentally bought bratwurst instead. Will this work? And is it just as good? Someone at work made it and I loved it. But I think they had the Italian sausage.
You can try it with bratwurst but it will definitely taste very different than Italian sausage.
With bratwurst, just sautéed the onions and peppers . Use green bell or hot peppers.Don’t use any sauce, just cover the sandwich with provolone
Same sandwich is $6.00 at carnivals.
OMGosh. Served on toasted buns with pepper jack cheese
Came out so good and it still super easy!
All I have to say is WOW!!! This was amazing! I will continue to make. I used all red bell peppers , Italian seasoning, and penne pasta. I will double the recipe next time.
So happy you enjoyed it!
Great recipe I live in Canada and I cook Italian dishes often. I am also of Ukranian, Irish and Canadian heritage. I love cooking the pinterest world of recipes as there are so many sites with people who have a great passion for food. There all amazing cooks. I like to put this yummy recipe over spaghetti squash. Moe
Loved it on a hogtie roll. We add prov/mozzarella cheese too.
Excellent! Great recipe won’t be the last…..
Great recipe ! looking forward to making this. Just wondering how this would be in a crockpot. Any ideas ? Thanks for your time !
Yes, it can definitely be made in the crock pot. I would brown the sausages first in a pan. Then add all ingredients to the crockpot and cook until the sausage is cooked through. Not exactly sure on the time.
YUM!! The ingredients list is not also very long. So, no hassle at all. Thank you for sharing.
FANTASTIC!!! Have made it a couple times now – as a Canadian, this isn’t a normal recipe we would think of (like chicken and waffles?!?!?!) but EVER SO HAPPY to have found this! DELICIOUS!!!! Thank you!
Can I make this ahead of time and freeze? Sorry, I’ve never actually frozen a prepared meal before ? but am feeding a crowd and looking for recipes I can make in advance. 🙂 Thanks for your time!
Great taste sensation! My husband and I both really enjoyed it over fettuccini! Thank you for the recipe! It will be in our weekly favourites, for sure!
I have been making sausage and peppers for years. However, I really liked adding the garlic, herbs, tomato paste and tomatoes and making a nice sauce. I served this with Italian bread, but next time pasta, rice or anything. Great recipe. It’s a keeper
So glad you enjoyed it Sophie!
It doesn’t say in the instructions when to add the can of tomatoes.
You add it when it says “add all other ingredients”.
I love this dish. I added my own spin to it. This is my second time making this dish and let me tell you it is worth it. It is easy, simple, delicious and something different out of the everyday meals. I already added this meal to my list of loves…You should so the same.??? #YUMMYFORYOURTUMMY
This was delicious!!! Thanks for sharing.
Do you drain the can of diced tomatoes
No, I do not drain the tomatoes.
This looks so yummy! Pinned 🙂
Thank you!
It’s not even 9 AM and I’m already craving one (or several) of these sandwiches. For real, these look insanely good!
Mmm this looks like such a fantastic summer meal, Christin! My Grandma used to make Italian sausage, and it was so good when it was on a fresh bun. Love this flavorful dish!
Looks so yummy! Beer and few of these..and I would be happy!
My recipe: Sausages (sometimes sliced or quartered) sliced peppers (green and red) sliced onion can of diced tomatoes couple spoonfuls of tomato paste garlic cloves seasoning- basil, garlic powder, onion powder, etc
Can youuse brats instead?
Definitely!
I made this last night-so delicious! Thanks for a wonderful quick recipe!