Italian Chicken Sausage and Vegetable Skillet

The Italian Chicken Sausage and Vegetable Skillet recipe is a super easy and healthy meal. It is a one-pan dish that bursts with flavors. Garlic, onions, crunchy bell peppers, and Basil add a hearty and deliciously sweet taste and beautiful colors to those mildly spiced Italian sausages. 

A SIMPLE WEEKNIGHT DINNER WITH ITALIAN CHICKEN SAUSAGES

Don't you love making a one-skillet meal that contains savory flavors with healthy vegetables? Well, this meal is just that, and it is perfect for weeknight dinners. When it comes to sausages, I prefer to buy the meat in bulk without the casing or remove it (as shown in the picture.) Otherwise cut the Italian sausages into bite-sized pieces before sautéeing them with the vegetables. The meat already comes mildly spiced, but feel free to add more of a kick with some extra pepper or cayenne pepper (optional.)

HOW TO MAKE THESE ITALIAN CHICKEN SAUSAGES FOR DINNER

It is a straightforward Italian chicken sausage recipe and super easy to make. But there are a couple of things I like to highlight.

Garlic. With this dish, you are building up the flavors as you add each ingredient and you start with garlic. Sautée it first for 10 seconds only—enough to release its aroma. It will cook further with the rest of the vegetables, and their juices will keep it from burning.

In this recipe, vegetables go first. It is not a rule just a guideline to make this a quick dish. The onion and the bell peppers are softened a bit before combining it with the meat. These veggies also release some sweet juices and flavors as a base. If preferred, you can transfer the vegetables and their juices to a bowl and add them back in later when the chicken sausages are done. But I am here to tell you that this is not necessary and I never do with this type of dish.

The seasoning. I like to add the salt and pepper in increments. First, a bit when the garlic goes in, then when adding the veggies, and at the end when the meat is slightly done. But you can totally opt to season everything when adding the sausages and taste test at the end when the meat is fully cooked.

Fresh Basil. Tear or chop some fresh basil leaves, about 3 or 5, and stir it in at the end. It lifts the whole dish with a refreshing sweet taste and amazing smell. 

SOME SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Don't get me wrong; this dish is excellent on its own. But I often like to serve it with something extra on the side that doesn't require a lot of work. A cucumber, avocado, Basil salad makes it extra satisfying:

• Chop one English cucumber into bite-sized pieced
• Add one to two avocados chopped
• And one handful of fresh Basil, teared
• Season with one tbsp olive oil, some apple cider vinegar or some hand-squeezed lemon juice, and salt.

It truly is a delicious and refreshing salad. You get the crunch from the cucumbers, the creaminess from the avocados and the extra fresh sweetness from the Basil.

(For those who don't mind adding some extra carbs, try stirring in some (leftover) cooked brown rice, or serve with mashed potatoes on the side). 

NEED MORE HEALTHY AND EASY, WEEKNIGHT DINNER IDEAS?

Does your family love meat dishes?

• Then try my grain-free burgers with buttery Brie,
• The Healthy Italian Turkey burgers (with or without the biscuits), 
• The homemade Italian meatballs and different ways to serve them (hint: it is not only with pasta.)

To switch it up, I think you will also love this quick and easy salmon recipe with low carb Shirataki noodles. For a hassle-free dinner, I often take out my slow cooker, and here are a few recipes that you might want to try as well.

• Sweet Potatoes and Spicy Chorizo Stew
• Sweet Shallots Chicken and Potatoes
• And Easy Spicy Beef Short Rib Recipe

These are just a few of my favorites! Enjoy!