Baked Italian Sausage

Quick 40-minute easy dinner idea with this delicious baked Italian sausage cooked with perfect seasoning and juicy bell peppers.

Craving some simple yet filling dinner mid-week? Have you tried my Italian sausage recipes? Baked Italian sausage with bell peppers, onion, and garlic will make a great meal with some roasted potatoes or grits and comes together in no time and with minimal effort.

Plus, this Italian-American bake makes great leftovers and will be amazing for weekly meal prep.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It is a fantastic sheet-pan dinner for a family. Savory, comforting, and really yummy. You don’t even need to convince kids to eat, they love these sausages.
• Mess-free and easy clean-up.
• Easy sausage and peppers recipe: just a few simple ingredients, and foolproof steps, and you don’t need to pre-cook Italian sausage
• Versatile. It works as an appetizer for a crowd or a complete meal.

Ingredients Notes

• Italian sausage links (mild, sweet, or spicy). Italian sausage is a pork sausage with fennel seeds. Has to be raw, not pre-cooked. But you can use frozen sausage links – just add a few more minutes to the cooking time. You can sub in turkey sausage if desired.
• Bell peppers of different colors. Classic choices are red peppers and yellow bell peppers, but don’t overlook the green peppers or orange peppers! All look amazing in this sheet pan meal.
• Aromatics: onion and minced garlic. Both yellow and red onion options work. You can use onion and garlic powder too, but for the best flavorful meal, I recommend using fresh onions and minced or chopped garlic.
• Olive oil helps the sausages brown and crisp while baking.
• Seasoning: Italian seasoning, kosher salt, and black pepper

Kitchen Equipment

• Baking pan or baking sheet
• Optional, meat thermometer.

How To Make Oven-Baked Italian Sausage

1: Prepare The Peppers & Seasoning

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. Spray a baking dish with cooking oil and then add raw sausages in a single layer. Parchment paper is optional, but it does help a ton with cleanup.
3. Combine the bell pepper, onion, garlic, olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl and toss until all of the ingredients are evenly coated with the oil and seasonings.

2: Transfer To Baking Dish & Bake With Sausages

1. Transfer the vegetable mixture to the baking dish with the sausages and spread out into an even layer. Do not poke the sausage skins.
2. Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes, flipping the sausages halfway through. Be sure to bake until the sausages are golden brown and cooked through (internal temperature of 160°F for pork or 165°F for chicken).
3. Serve hot with your choice of sides and a slice of nice crusty bread.

Storage

Store baked sausage, peppers, and onions leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

Thaw overnight and reheat till hot in the oven, microwave, or on the stove.

Note, that if you add potatoes to this baked Italian sausage recipe, I wouldn’t freeze it.

You can make baked Italian sausage 1-2 days ahead of time.

Substitutions & Variations

• What sausage to use? You can use pork sausage, turkey sausages, or chicken sausages. Mild Italian sausage and sweet Italian sausage are the common choices, but feel free to use spicy sausage links, chorizo, Polish sausage, Kielbasa, etc.
• Add-ons: cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes), tomato sauce or marinara sauce, fresh herbs like rosemary (in addition to dried Italian seasoning), canned hot peppers, wine or chicken broth. Honestly, anything (any veg) goes.
• Make it spicy. Use hot Italian sausage links, crushed red pepper, red pepper flakes, and cayenne pepper and serve the dish with hot sauce (homemade or store-bought).
• Make it a complete meal. You can add potatoes or sweet potatoes to the dish (then use a large baking dish) or cook them separately in a frying pan using some drippings and sauce from the sausage and peppers. Green beans, sweet peppers, yellow onions, polenta, and simple pasta are great pairing options for baked or roasted sausage too.

Expert Tips To Make The Best Italian Sausage Bake

• Whole Italian sausage bakes at different times at different temperatures. At 325F the sausage needs around an hour in the oven, at 350F it takes around 40-50 minutes, 375F it needs 35-40 minutes, at 400F – under 35 minutes but it has a risk of burning. Based on my kitchen tests, the best temperature to bake Italian sausage is 375F. Sliced sausage can cook through within 10 minutes. Cooked sausage should not be pink!
• Sliced or cut sausage will cook much faster and will work best if you’re making an appetizer. Cut each sausage in thirds.
• Don’t overcrowd the pan or dish. The circulating air will make sure all the ingredients are cooked evenly and faster.
• You can use leftovers for burritos, lasagna, pasta, pizza, or sliders – it is great the next day.
• Peppers take longer than onions to cook through so you can make chop larger pieces of onion with smaller pieces of bell peppers.

Popular Questions

Should You Bake Sausage Covered Or Uncovered?

You can bake Italian sausage both covered and uncovered. If you are using tomato sauce or similar, you can cook Italian sausage uncovered so the sauce thickens and the sausage gets a nice golden brown color.

It will be also easier to check the color and doneness of the sausage and peppers. If you see the sausage is browning or blackening, the temperature is too high, but also you can cover it with foil.

How To Cook Sausages In The Oven Without Drying Them Out?

You can use the sauce and oils, as well as raw juicy veggies like tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions to keep sausage moist.

Also, make sure not to overbake and check the temperature and cooking time, as well as the internal temperature of the sausage, and take it out of the oven as soon as it reaches 165F.

What Kind Of Sauce Goes Well With Sausage?

Mustard and classic tomato sauce are the two best sauces that go well with baked or roasted sausages. You can also eat it with light vinegar-based sauce if mixed with salad or with any of your favorite store-bought sauces. 

If you love this baked dinner recipe, you’re going to love these other baked meals too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!

More Great Sausage Recipes

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Soup

Smoked Sausage Pasta

Sausage Green Beans and Potatoes

Cajun Sausage Spaghetti

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