9 Can't-Miss Sausage Recipes
We've found creative takes on one of the best-kept dinner secrets: quick-cooking, deeply flavored sausage.
By Lynn Andriani
Photo: PeterGrof/iStock/360/Thinkstock
The Burger You Haven't Tried Yet
We've seen burgers made with vegetables, beans, chicken, fish and lamb, but the sausage burger is totally unexpected. It's also ultrasimple (and delicious). Since the meat is already so packed with flavor, you don't need to add a thing. Just remove the meat from the casing, form it into patties and cook. Follow these directions and serve the burgers on buns with provolone, spinach and pesto, or whatever toppings you like.
Get the recipe: Italian-Sausage Burgers with Garlicky Spinach
A Different Sausage-and-Pasta Dish
Hearty sausage pairs well with greens; and while broccoli (and its more strongly flavored cousin broccoli rabe) is the usual, this recipe swaps in slightly spiced arugula. When you toss the greens with hot spaghetti, the leaves wilt, so it's easy to twirl a forkful and get the perfect bite: salty sausage, peppery arugula, al dente pasta plus a little kick from thinly sliced jalapeño.
Get the recipe: Spaghetti with Sausage, Arugula and Jalapeño
The Fastest Way to Make Grilled Chicken Taste Amazing
Alternating chunks of chili-lime marinated chicken with pieces of spicy smoked andouille on skewers is a brilliant move: The juicy sausage prevents the chicken from drying out and also adds some major oomph to a common grilled food. The recipe also calls for threading cherry tomatoes and zucchini cubes onto the skewers, though red bell peppers and red onions would work well, too.
Get the recipe: Cuban Chicken and Sausage Skewers
The Most Adaptable Dinner Ever
If you're going to have one back-pocket recipe that will never let you down, this is it: You throw links of sausage, wedges of potato and onion and some olive oil onto a baking sheet and roast, adding a can of peas at the end. But if you think of the vegetable ingredients as merely suggestions, tons of possibilities unfold. Use sweet-potato wedges instead of the Idahos. Skip the peas and toss in sliced, red bell peppers in their place. Sprinkle everything with
truffle salt. It's almost impossible to go wrong. No matter what you use, the sausage's robust flavor brings everything together.
Get the recipe: Sausage, Peas and Potatoes
Photo: Alison Gootee/Studio D
Quite Possibly the Healthiest Sausage Recipe You Can Make
When you're hungry for something meaty, but don't want to totally ruin a healthy-eating streak, try this salad, which incorporates sliced Italian sausage, toasty cubes of polenta and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. It's a dinner salad that needs no accompaniment (except maybe a nice glass of wine).
Get the recipe: Arugula Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Polenta Croutons
A Diner Breakfast with a Latin Accent
Sausage and eggs are a natural pair, and this brunch recipe gives the familiar a new twist. It's a brunch enchilada casserole you can prepare the night before, so all you have to do in the morning is pop it in the oven for 35 minutes. Instead of using regular Italian sausage, it calls for chorizo, which goes great with the dish's other Mexican flavors: red and yellow bell peppers, pepper Jack cheese and cumin.
Get the recipe: Egg, Sausage and Pepper Breakfast Enchiladas
The Lightened-Up Baked Pasta
We know chicken sausage is a healthy alternative to pork, but if you're slicing it and tossing it with pasta on the stove, you're missing out on one of the best ways to enjoy it. It turns out sweet Italian chicken sausage is also wonderful in casseroles, as this good-for-you recipe shows. It uses just a half-cup of grated Pecorino Romano, plus fat-free ricotta and part-skim mozzarella. Then there's high-fiber or low-carb pasta, chopped spinach, marinara sauce and the chicken sausage. The result is a comforting, crowd-pleasing dish that just so happens to be under 400 calories.
Get the recipe: Baked Pasta with Sausage and Spinach
The Fallback Soup Your Freezer Needs
No matter the season, a container of frozen soup is a wonderful thing to have around for nights when you just don't feel like cooking (or you've made a grilled cheese sandwich or a salad and need a little bowl of something to go with it). What's unique about this kale-sweet-potato-sausage soup is that it incorporates both sweet and spicy Italian sausage, so there's just a touch of heat. A healthy dose of carrots, celery, onions and tomatoes brighten the dish with fresh flavor.
Get the recipe: Kale Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Sausage
Photo: rez-art/iStock/360/Thinkstock
The Creative Quesadilla You'll Crave
Crispy, melted quesadillas often rely on chicken and beans to make them taste filling, but chicken sausage works equally well, if not better, when you layer in thin slices of sweet Jonah Gold apples. The fruit nicely complements the sausage, as do some chopped, fresh thyme leaves.
Get the recipe: Sausage and Jalapeño Cheese Quesadillas
Published 06/03/2014
