This Italian Sausage and Peppers Recipe is so easy to make. Just layer the ingredients into your slow cooker, turn it on and in a few hours you’ve got a delish meal to serve. Serve over pasta, stuff them into a bun or serve them with your favorite side dishes. No matter how you serve it up everyone will love this recipe.
I used Italian sweet sausage in this recipe. But you can use a different kind of sausage for this recipe. Swap out the sweet Italian sausage with Italian hot sausage or even other types of sausages including Bratwurst, Chorizo, various flavored chicken sausages, turkey sausage or your favorite plant based sausage. I’ve tried making this with so many different types of sausage and all were delicious!
Italian Sausage And Peppers Recipe in the Slow Cooker
This is such a super easy dish to make. Use your favorite brand of sausage to make this.
We love to eat these in sub rolls or buns. But you can also serve it over spaghetti or keep it keto or low carb by serving it over your favorite pasta replacement such as zucchini noodles, low carb pasta or spaghetti squash.
No matter how you serve it they are delicious, are easy to make and take just a few simple ingredients. It’s a perfect busy weeknight meal.
Ingredients for Italian Sausage and Peppers
Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy slow cooker recipe:
- Bell peppers (green, red, yellow or orange) – take your choice of bell peppers and remove the seeds then cut the pepper into slices. See below for my tips on this.
- Onion – use a large onion and cut into slices. I like sweet onions but you can also use yellow onions or a white onion for this recipe.
- Italian sausage links – use sweet Italian sausage or spicy Italian sausage. The choice is up to you.
- Marinara sauce – Use your favorite brand of sauce. If you are trying to control the carbs in this recipe then use a low carb or low sugar sauce. There are several brands available on the market or see the recipe for a fast and easy marinara sauce below.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese – used to top the sausages.
- Sub Rolls or Buns – use your favorite type of sub roll or bun to serve up these sausages.
Here’s a few tips on ingredients to help save you both time and money.
My favorite tip for this dish is to use frozen peppers or a pepper and onion mixture.
You can use fresh peppers and onions for this dish. Depending on the time of the year fresh bell peppers and sweet peppers can really go up in prices. To help control my costs I love to use frozen peppers. They make this dish even easier.
They save time on the meal prep and they often save me money. When it’s not time for these vegetables to be grown locally the cost of fresh peppers can get kind of crazy. Sometimes they run about $1.50 per pepper. That’s for small to medium sized peppers. But the frozen vegetable price stays stable which means it saves me money.
My local grocery store carries a frozen vegetable mix of peppers and onions. At my local wholesale club I can get a bulk package with 3 individual bags (3.5 pounds total) for $6.29. That’s $1.67 per pound!
Fresh peppers are selling for more than a buck each and they often weight about 4 or 5 ounces. With prices going up and up lately they cost even more now! A pound of fresh peppers might end up costing me $4 to $4.50 per pound! Frozen vegetables can be a big money saver.
Personally I save the fresh peppers for salads and keep a stock of these frozen ones on hand for cooking in meals.
Quick marinara sauce:
Don’t have marinara sauce or even pasta sauce on hand and you want to throw together one? Try this quick and easy marinara or spaghetti sauce. Once the peppers, onions and sausage have been cooking in it the flavor is great.
Try this:
15 ounces crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
4 tablespoons pesto
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Mix the ingredients together and use in place of marinara or spaghetti sauce.
Don’t have pesto? No worries. Try adding 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning mix and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in place of the pesto.
Directions to make Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Peppers:
It just takes about 5 minutes pf prep to load up your slow cooker and in a few hours you’ve got a delicious meal ready to be served.
Step 1: Place the sliced peppers and onions in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Step 2: Place the raw sausages on top of the peppers and onions.
Step 3: Pour the marinara sauce over the sausage.
Step 4: Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low or until the Italian sausages are cooked through.
Step 5: When the sausage are cooked sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top. Serve the sausage and peppers in your favorite sub rolls or buns.
How do you know when sausage is done?
To check if the sausage are done you can measure the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. The Italian sausages should reach an internal temperature of 155–165°F (68–74°C).
How to store leftover Italian Sausage and Peppers:
If you have leftovers, store them in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
Can you cook the Italian Sausage and Peppers in the oven?
Yes you can easily cook this dish in the oven.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a 9×13 baking dish place the peppers and onions spread on the bottom of the pan. Place the Italian sausage on top. Pour the marinara sauce over the sausage.
Place the baking dish in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the peppers are soft and the Italian sausage are cooked through.
Do you remove the casing on the sausage before cooking?
No you don’t have to remove the casing on the sausage. They will cook up tender and delicious in the crockpot. If you do remove it you might find that the sausage breaks into pieces when you serve it up.
What side dishes go with sausage and peppers?
You can serve up this sausage and pepper dish with so many delicious side dishes. Try some of these:
- Sub roll, hoagie rolls or a bun such as hot dog buns or similar rolls
- Serve over pasta, polenta or keep it keto and try it over cauliflower rice
- Enjoy with a slice of cheesy garlic bread
- Try this with a simple side salad, Caesar salad or simple green salad
- Add some of your favorite vegetables on the side.
Looking for some other side dishes to serve? Then check out these 25 side dishes that you can serve with sausage and peppers.
Is this recipe keto friendly?
Yes it is! This recipe is perfect for the keto diet. Simply use a keto friendly bun or serve this over low carb pasta, cauliflower rice or even cauliflower mashed potatoes.
If you turn this into a cauliflower rice bowl meal try serving these delicious keto cheddar biscuits on the side.
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Italian Sausage And Peppers Recipe
Equipment
- Slow cooker
Ingredients
- 1 large Onion sliced
- 16 ounces bell pepper sliced green, red, yellow or orange peppers
- 6 links Sweet Italian Sausage
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 6 Sub Rolls
Instructions
- Place the sliced peppers and onions in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Place your Italian sausage on top of the peppers and onions.
- Pour the marinara sauce over the sausage.
- Cook for 3 to 4 hours on low or 5 to 6 hours on high or until the Italian sausages are cooked through.
- When the sausage are cooked sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top. Serve the sausage and peppers in your favorite sub rolls or buns.
Nutrition
If you enjoyed this slow cooker sausage and pepper recipe you may also like these slow cooker meals:
And for dessert try one of these great recipes:
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