I’ve been obsessed with this super simple Sausage and Vegetable Skillet lately, making it at least once per week. There’s no chopping, it only takes a few ingredients, it’s super filling, packed with color and flavor, and it makes the perfect meal prep! Plus, it’s quite flexible and can take a lot of different random substitutions and add-ins!
What’s in the Sausage and Vegetable Skillet?
This meal is a result of me scavenging my fridge and freezer for whatever I had left and tossing it all into a skillet. And wouldn’t you know, it tasted great! The skillet basically includes some sort of seasoned meat (in this case sausage), frozen cauliflower, frozen peppers and onions, frozen kale, and your favorite seasoning.
What Kind of Meat to Use
It’s important to use some sort of pre-seasoned meat for this skillet for maximum flavor. In the photos here, I’ve used Italian sausage, but you could also use chorizo, or I’ve even used some leftover Chili Rubbed Pulled Pork. If you do plan to try this with a plain ground meat (turkey, chicken, pork, beef) you’ll want to add seasoning to the meat as it cooks as well as seasoning the skillet at the end.
What Else Can I Add?
You can experiment with adding other frozen vegetables, like broccoli, corn, peas, green beans, etc. Or try adding in some beans or roasted potatoes to bulk it up a bit. Another way to bulk this up is to increase the vegetables (you might want to increase the seasoning if you do so).
Extra toppings are always fun, like a fried egg, avocado, sour cream, cheese, salsa, or any other sauce or dressing that you like. But me? I keep it simple and just eat it as-is!
How to Serve Sausage and Vegetables
I’ve been eating this dish just the way it is straight out of the skillet, but if you want to bulk it up even more you can serve it over rice or mashed potatoes. A little Garlic Bread would also be awesome with this meal!
Sausage and Vegetable Skillet
Servings 4 about 1.25 cups eachIngredients
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1 lb. Italian sausage ($5.99)
- 1/2 lb. frozen cauliflower florets ($1.00)
- 1/2 lb. frozen peppers and onions ($1.00)
- 1/4 lb. frozen kale ($0.83)
- ½ tsp seasoning salt or seasoning blend (or to taste) ($0.05)
Instructions
- Add the cooking oil and sausage to a skillet. Cook the sausage over medium heat until brown and crispy.
- Add the cauliflower, peppers and onions, and kale to the skillet with the sausage. Continue to stir and cook until the vegetables are heated through.
- Add a liberal amount (or to taste) of your favorite seasoning salt or seasoning blend and stir to combine. Serve hot.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Sausage and Vegetable Skillet – Step by Step Photos
Add a tablespoon of cooking oil to a skillet and add the Italian sausage (or whatever seasoned meat you prefer). Cook the sausage until it is brown and crispy.
Add ½ lb. frozen cauliflower florets, ½ lb. frozen bell peppers and onions, and ¼ lb. frozen kale to the skillet. You don’t have to measure these exactly, just estimate based on the weight of the bag (if it’s a 12 oz. bag, estimate ⅔ of the bag to get ½ lb.).
Continue to stir and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are heated through. Don’t overcook the vegetables.
Then just add a liberal amount of your favorite seasoning blend. I’m using Tony Chachere’s here, but you can use just about any seasoning blend. I tend to use seasoning blends that already contain salt, but if yours doesn’t, just keep in mind that you’ll want to add some salt to help make the flavors in the skillet pop.
And that’s it! The skillet is done! The fat and seasoning from the sausage adds a ton of flavor and richness to the entire skillet, and then the added seasoning at the end adds a final layer of flavor. It’s simple, but SO GOOD.
And now my lunches for the next few days are done! :)
If I want to use fresh veggies, how much should I buy? (Sorry if this is a stupid question, but like, how many peppers and onions? How many heads of cauliflower? How much kale?)
Any tips on how to reduce the amount of water in the pan without over cooking the vegetables? Love how this recipe tastes and how quick it is to make!
That extra water is coming from the frozen vegetables, so you could try thawing them separately and pouring off some extra water. Also, using a higher heat will make the water evaporate faster without having to cook them for as long. Another way to make the water reduce faster is to use a wider skillet (with a bigger surface area) so all the ingredients aren’t as crowded in the pan and the extra liquid will evaporate faster. ~ Marion :)
This didn’t turn out great for me and I’m not sure if I missed a step or something. Getting the sausage brown and crispy made it less tender than I’d have liked. The frozen cauliflower florets long enough to cook that the bell peppers were mush by the time everything was done. And there’s nothing about draining the fat, so the whole dish turned out *really* moist and oily.
Good concept, but the timing/execution didn’t work as great on my end.
Whenever a recipe says to add frozen vegetables to it, I definitely heat them in the microwave the first! It works out much better for me. I have experienced the same thing in other recipes.
I made this with Montreal steak seasoning and served it over rice and it was delicious! Great mix of veggie flavors with the sausage!
What brand of chicken sausage did you use in this recipe. Thank you in advance.Â
It is Kroger brand Italian Sausage. XOXO -Monti