This delicious One Pot Sausage and Peppers Pasta is the perfect easy weeknight meal the whole family will devour. The pasta is cooked right in the skillet, soaking up all the delicious flavors from the sausage and peppers....YUM!
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A simple pan of sausage and peppers is a staple dish for Italians. I turned it into a hearty pasta dish that's cooks all in one pot, making it great for busy weeknights. Serve alone or with a side of garlic bread and a salad and you're set!
I love making pasta dishes in a "one pot" format for a couple reasons. The first reason is quite obvious - there's simply very few dishes! Next, it saves time since you don't have to wait around for a large pot of water to boil. And second, you get so much more flavor as the sauce gets soaked into the pasta and the flavors from the sausage and peppers really meld together beautifully.
Ingredients Needed (Amounts in Recipe Card Below)
- Vegetable Oil
- Sausage Links - I used mild Italian sausage links, but you could also use hot Italian sausage, sweet Italian sausage or a combination. I personally LOVE the Johnsonville brand.
- Bell Peppers - I like using a mix of different colors. Red bell pepper is a little more sweet (same with yellow and orange bell peppers) and green bell pepper adds a different flavor dimension, so a combination is great!
- Onion - White onion or yellow onion will work best
- Water
- Italian-Style Diced Canned Tomatoes - If you can't find (or don't have) this specific flavor, you can use plain diced tomatoes and add 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning.
- Tomato Sauce - You can use ½ cup tomato paste + ½ cup water instead.
- Sugar, Salt and Black Pepper
- Pasta - Any short pasta such as bowtie (farfalle), penne, rigatoni, orecchiette or rotini pasta will work great.
How to Make One Pot Sausage & Peppers Pasta
First, add the oil into a large skillet over a burner on medium-high heat. Brown the sausages on one side.
Flip the sausages and add the peppers & onions, giving them a quick stir. You'll let the sausages brown on this side and the veggies will begin to soften.
Next, you'll add ½ cup of the water and let the sausages simmer until they're fully cooked. Remove them from the pan and slice 'em up!
To the large skillet, you'll add the water, tomatoes, seasonings and dry pasta. Give it a stir, cover and bring the mixture to a rolling boil.
Cook until you've got al dente pasta then stir the sliced sausages to the skillet.
Fun Ways to Mix It Up!
- Make it a Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta by using hot sausage links and some crushed red pepper at the end.
- Add cream cheese and/or heavy cream at the end to make it a creamy sauce.
- Top with a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese for all the cheese lovers!
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. You can also freeze this dish for up to 3 months.
You can with a few simple changes. First, you'll want to use a gluten-free pasta. Then, just double-check that the rest of the ingredients are gluten-free (some sausage brands are and some are not gluten-free). With or without gluten, it's still a super simple one-pot meal!
If you've got leftover cooked Italian sausages (or even cooked ground sausage), you can definitely use that! Simply begin by sauteing the veggies and add the sausage at the end until heated through.
Other One Pot Pasta Recipes I Love
Creamy Red Pepper Pasta Skillet
One Pot Sausage and Peppers Pasta
Equipment
- One Large Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- One pound Italian sausage links
- 2 cups sliced bell peppers
- 1 cup sliced onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 ½ cup water divided
- One 14.5 ounce can Italian-style diced tomatoes drained
- One 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 8 ounces uncooked bowtie pasta or other short pasta
Instructions
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil.
- Once hot, add the sausage links and let sear for 3 minutes.
- Flip the sausages and add the peppers, onion and minced garlic; let cook for 3 minutes.
- Add ½ cup of water and cover with the lid; let simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the sausage reaches 160℉.
- Remove the sausages to a cutting board.
- Add the remaining water, drained tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and pasta to the large skillet with the peppers and onions.
- Cover and bring to a boil.
- Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender.
- Slice the sausages and stir into the pasta.
- Serve warm with parmesan cheese, if desired.
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