Messing up only one skillet, skillet meals include meat, veggies, and a starch all together in one pan in a savory sauce. Our recipe for Italian Sausage and Rice Skillet Dinner cooks up quickly and easily in a skillet with a lid. Your family will love the tomato based sauce.
One of the most useful pieces of cookware in the kitchen, a skillet can be used for many different things. One can use it for browning meat, like a baking pan in the oven, or for sautéing vegetables. Additionally, in a pinch, one can use it for cooking rice or pasta. If you only have money enough to buy one quality piece of cookware, buy the best skillet that you can afford.
You will find it money well spent. One useful application of the handy kitchen skillet is to make a one-dish meal for the family. One dish meals typically include meat, some diced vegetables, pasta or rice, and some delicious seasonings in a tasty sauce.
Italian Sausage and Rice Skillet Dinner Recipe
Skillet dinners are a wonderful way to quickly get dinner on the table without making a big mess in the kitchen. Our recipe for Italian Sausage and Rice Skillet Dinner gives you a new recipe to offer the family on busy nights. With spicy Italian sausage, bell peppers, and a delicious tomato-based sauce, this recipe is sure to be a family favorite.
Equipment
- Large skillet
- Tight-Fitting Lid
- Spatula
- Heatproof Container
- Dish
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil divided
- 1 pound Ground Italian Sausage
- 1 pc Bell Pepper whatever color you prefer
- 1 teaspoon Dried Basil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 cup Jasmine Rice
- 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
- 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes optional
- 1½ cups Chicken Broth
- 15 ounces Fire-Roasted Tomatoes in their Juices from a can
- 1 tbsp Dried Parsley
- Parmesan Cheese or Mozzarella Cheese optional toppings
Instructions
- In a large skillet that has a tightly fitting lid, over medium heat, heat one tablespoon of the olive oil. The oil is hot enough when it sizzles if you flick a drop of water into it.
- Brown the Italian sausage, chopping it with a spatula into small bits. Drain any excess grease from the pan into a heatproof container to discard later.
- As the meat is cooking, wash, core, and chop the bell pepper into small pieces. You want the pieces of bell pepper to be about a half-inch square.
- Remove the meat from the pan, placing it in a dish, and heat the other tablespoon of oil over medium heat until it is hot. Add the bell peppers and sauté them until they are lightly browned. This should take between 3 and 5 minutes.
- Add the rice, the garlic, and the pinch of red pepper flakes, coating the rice with the oil as you stir. Cook this mixture for about 20 to 30 seconds.
- Add the canned tomatoes with the juice and the chicken broth, stirring to combine. Bring this mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. When it boils, turn the heat down to a very low simmer and put the lid on the pan.
- Let the pan simmer undisturbed for about 15 minutes. Don’t lift the lid, and there is no need to stir. The rice will cook perfectly with the steam trapped in the pan.
- After the time is over, turn the heat off on the stovetop and remove the lid. Stir the cooked Italian Sausage into the rice mixture, sprinkle the dish with parsley, and serve it in bowls with spoons. If your family loves cheese, you can sprinkle each bowl of the rice mixture with Parmesan cheese or mozzarella cheese.
Notes
One dish meals, also known as skillet meals, are popular because they include several courses for the dinner menu in one pan. Skillet meals cook up quickly and easily, and the person in charge of cleaning up the kitchen only has to wash up one piece of cookware. Generally, skillet meals are served in bowls. As side items, one can serve a fresh garden salad and crusty bread.
Our recipe for Italian Sausage and Rice Skillet Dinner uses bulk ground Italian sausage. If you cannot find this kind of ground sausage in your local grocery store, feel free to buy the kind of Italian sausage that is found in a casing. If you have that kind of sausage, you can either slice it and cook it in slices or you can just remove the casings and chop it just like ground meat.
Another thing that is great about skillet dinners is that they are very good as leftovers. You can send them in someone’s lunchbox to work where they can reheat them in the office microwave. Sometimes, you may want to add a bit of extra chicken broth before you reheat the dish, so it won’t be all dried out.
This recipe also freezes very well. Put the leftovers in a container with a tightly fitting lid, and freeze it for up to three months. You can defrost it by putting the dish in the fridge overnight before you want to eat it. You can microwave the defrosted dish, or you can put it in a saucepan on the stove with some extra chicken broth. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture is steaming.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
