This Sausage And Veggie Skillet is unbelievably easy (thanks to frozen veggies) while being loaded with flavor (thanks to an incredible spice blend)!

View of Sausage and Veggie Skillet, still in the pan

This Sausage And Veggie Skillet is part of our Back-To-School Lifesavers — a series of recipes that are intended to have little (or no) veggie chopping, minimal prep time, around 10 ingredients, or less (not including pantry staples), and use kid-friendly ingredients. Click here to see all the recipes in the series!

Sausage And Veggie Skillet

Frozen veggies are a total time-saver and the perfect addition to these lifesaver recipes — we’re saving so much time by not having to be at the cutting board chopping all kinds of veggies to specified sizes. Thanks to the packages of frozen and pre-chopped veggies, we’re still getting in all kinds of important nutrients with minimal work required.

This meal is a hearty “meat and potatoes” meal that is loaded with veggies, while it is still sure to be a hit with the kiddos. Because of the sausage and all the flavor in it, plus the herbs, the veggies are nothing short of addicting! No mushy steamed broccoli for kids to complain about here!

Ingredients shot: image of the items used in this recipe

Sausage And Veggie Skillet Ingredients

A few ingredients worth going into detail about:

  • Italian-style ground sausage: Depending on personal preference, use mild or spicy sausage — either works. (When making for my kids, we use mild.) Sausage can come in different-sized packages — as long as you’re in the general ballpark, this recipe will work just fine. We use 1 pound, but if you have a 19-ounce package, throw it all in if you like. You’ll just have a slightly meatier meal. If using Italian sausages with casings, remove the casings before cooking
  • Parmesan cheese: Finely grated Parmesan (off a block) is the perfect finishing touch — it adds a nice final seasoning (Parmesan is salty) and melts nicely into the veggies and sausage. For the perfect super-fine texture, we like to use a microplane and grate it right over the serving plates.
  • Frozen veggies: This blend of veggies is our absolute favorite in this Sausage and Veggie Skillet! It has red potatoes, bell peppers, sweet corn, broccoli, and carrots. So much flavor and texture with practically no work on your end. Occasionally we’ll get a bag that has especially large broccoli florets which do need a quick chop to make them more bite-sized. If you can’t find this specific blend, grab a similar one!

Process shots: brown the Italian sausage and season with salt and pepper: add in veggies.

Shortcuts

Sausage And Veggie Skillet Recipe Shortcuts 

  • Garlic. We love frozen garlic Dorot® cubes. You can keep the packages handy in the freezer and pop them into this (and other) recipes when needed. Another option is to use refrigerated minced garlic. 
  • Frozen veggies. Instead of chopping the veggies, we use pre-chopped and frozen produce.

Process shots of sausage and veggie skillet: sauté the veggies; add kale, garlic and seasonings; continue cooking; stir in Parmesan at the end.

Serving Suggestions

This Sausage And Veggie Skillet is surprisingly filling, but if you’d like to round it out a bit more, we like it with a salad. In true lifesaver recipe form, we’d recommend a salad kit at the store. If you have some extra time or are feeling ambitious, here are our favorite salad recipes to pair with this recipe:

We also love this crusty No-Knead Bread on the side — so good still warm from the oven! Plus it’s totally a lifesaver-type recipe — minimal ingredients and hardly any hands-on time! Rip off some warm bread and scoop up every bit of this Sausage and Veggie Skillet meal! 

Quick Tip

Seasoning blend. Not a shortcut per se, but when I make this Sausage And Veggie Skillet, I’ll typically make 5 or 6 more “packets” of the seasoning blend. Since all the spices are out and I’m measuring anyway, it takes just a few extra minutes. Measure out the spices, put them in labeled individual snack-size bags, and store those packets with your spices. Next time this dish will come together even that much quicker.

Overhead view of Sausage and Veggie Skillet

More Recipes That Use Italian Sausage

5 from 1 vote

Sausage and Veggie Skillet

This Sausage And Veggie Skillet is unbelievably easy (thanks to frozen veggies) while being loaded with flavor (thanks to an incredible spice blend)!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients 
 

Instructions 

  • VEGGIES: Heat both packages of frozen veggies in the microwave for 2 minutes. Let them thaw while browning the sausage. Open the packages, chop any large broccoli or potato pieces into bite-sized chunks, and set aside.
  • SAUSAGE: Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage, sear, then crumble and cook through. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
  • FINISHING: Once the sausage is browned, drain excess grease, leaving 1 tablespoon in the pan. Add veggies and cook for 3-5 minutes until heated through. Add frozen kale, seasonings, and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat, serve with grated Parmesan, and enjoy!

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Sausage: Use mild or spicy sausage based on preference. For kids, use mild. Any package size close to 1 pound is fine; a 19-ounce package will just make it meatier. Remove casings from Italian sausages before cooking.
Note 2: Frozen veggies: This is my favorite veggie blend includes potatoes, red bell peppers, sweet corn, broccoli, and carrots. Sometimes, the broccoli needs a quick chop to be bite-sized. If you can't find this exact blend, a similar one works too!
Note 3: Parmesan cheese: Finely grated Parmesan (off a block) is the perfect finishing touch โ€” it adds a nice final seasoning (Parmesan is salty) and melts nicely into the veggies and sausage. For the perfect super-fine texture, we like to use a microplane and grate it right over the serving plates.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 481kcal | Carbohydrates: 12.3g | Protein: 18.5g | Fat: 39.4g | Cholesterol: 86.2mg | Sodium: 868.4mg | Fiber: 4.7g | Sugar: 3.6g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

 

Meet Chelsea


Hi there! Iโ€™m Chelseaโ€“the recipe developer, photographer, writer, and taste tester behind Chelseaโ€™s Messy Apron (although my little ones help me out quite a bit with the taste testing part!). I LOVE getting creative in the kitchen and then posting my creations here for you to enjoy.

Thanks again for stopping by!

More Recipes You'll Love

5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating