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Our Italian sausage, pepper, and potato recipe is perfect for those nights when you want something easy without compromising flavor. Whether you use traditional pork or leaner chicken or turkey sausage, a garlicky balsamic glaze is what sets our version of this dish apart, adding a subtle tangy flavor that pulls all the ingredients together.
We also give the potatoes a head start in the oven to make sure they come out tender and golden. As an added bonus, everything bakes on one sheet pan, making cleanup a breeze.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
Here’s what you need to know about the key ingredients in this recipe. The complete list, including quantities, is in the printable recipe card below.
ITALIAN SAUSAGE: We like chicken sausage (or turkey) for this dish since they render less fat than pork, but any variety works, even hot Italian if you like a little kick.
POTATOES: Baby yellow potatoes are our choice, though Yukon golds are a good substitute and don’t need peeling. Tip: If you’d like a lower carb version, swap out the potatoes for fresh cauliflower florets.
BELL PEPPERS: Using a mix of red and green bell peppers offers balanced flavor. Green adds herbal freshness, while red brings a sweetness that offsets the salty nature of Italian sausage.
BALSAMIC VINEGAR:
Tossing the ingredients in a little balsamic vinegar helps caramelize everything and adds acidity. If you need to substitute, try red wine or apple cider vinegar mixed with a 1/2 teaspoon of honey or brown sugar.
Overview
How to Make Baked Italian Sausage With Peppers and Potatoes
Planning to make this recipe? Here’s a quick overview of how it’s done. Detailed, step-by-step instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment. Cube the potatoes, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and start them roasting. Meanwhile, whisk balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and garlic in a bowl. Add the sausage, toss to coat, then transfer to a plate.
Toss the peppers and onions in the remaining balsamic mixture. Combine them with the partially roasted potatoes, spread everything on the pan, and bake. Add the sausage partway through and continue roasting until everything is browned and cooked through.
Serve with simple green salad with a light vinaigrette or fresh spinach sautéed in olive oil. A few slices of crusty Italian bread for soaking up any juices is a nice addition too.
More Italian Sausage Recipes To Try
Italian sausage is a flavorful base for easy meals, whether you’re short on time or planning ahead. For quick weeknights, try a sheet pan combo of chicken sausage, apples, and potatoes flavored with honey and thyme, or toss pasta with caramelized onions and crumbled sausage for a savory-sweet dish with minimal fuss.
When you have more time to spend in the kitchen, make a hearty minestrone soup with sausage, pancetta, and red wine, or bake up our three-cheese sausage lasagna with mushrooms and homemade marinara.
One-Pan Sausage, Pepper and Potato Bake
Ingredients
- 1 lb baby potatoes
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 lb Italian sausage, cut into 1-inch chunks (see notes)
- 1/2 sweet onion, thickly sliced and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Add to a mixing bowl, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and a pinch of black pepper. Toss to coat.
- Spread the potatoes on the baking sheet in a single layer and pre-bake until tender but not browned, about 15 minutes.
- While the potatoes are in the oven, whisk the balsamic vinegar, remaining olive oil, and garlic together in the bottom of the mixing bowl.
- Add the sausage chunks, toss to coat, then use tongs to transfer them to a plate and set aside.
- Add the onion and peppers, to the mixing bowl, season with a few grinds of black pepper and a pinch of salt, and toss to combine.
- As soon as the potatoes are done, combine them with the peppers and onions, spread them on the baking sheet in a single layer, bake for 15 minutes.
- Use a spatula to turn the veggies for even browning then scatter the sausage chunks on top. Bake for another 15 minutes, or until the sausage is cooked through and the potatoes and peppers are nicely caramelized.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Question….after you first cook the potatoes until tender then they go in the oven again for 2-15 minutes? Is that right? 30 minutes after they are already tender?
Confused in Kansas,
Patti R
Hi Patti,
Thanks for your question! You understood the instructions correctly – the potatoes spend about 30 more minutes in the oven after the initial 15 minutes of par-cooking. That might sound like overkill, but here’s why it works:
We pre-bake the potatoes to get them tender. Since the oven temp is set to 400°F (a bit lower than the usual 425°F for roasted potatoes), they won’t brown much, but that lower temp is important to keep the sausage juicy and the peppers from shrinking too much.
Once the par-cooked potatoes are combined with the onions and peppers, they bake for another 15 minutes, then the sausage is added and it’s back in the oven for that final 15 minutes. When you add these other ingredients a little moisture is created in the oven, which slows down the browning, so even though the potatoes are “tender” after 15 minutes, they need that extra time to develop color and flavor alongside the peppers and sausage.
Other things like how small you cut your potatoes, how hot your oven actually runs, and how often the oven door is opened can affect roasting time too. If your potatoes are smaller or your oven runs a little hot, they might be ready sooner. Hope this clears things up! Let me know if you have any more questions. I’m always happy to help.
Made this dish today, my first sheet pan dinner and all I have to say is… game-changer! So easy and enjoyed by the family! Didn’t have balsamic vinegar so I substituted with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar and 1/2 tsp brown sugar and it worked like a charm! Because I cut up more veggies than what the recipe called for, not as much liquid to coat everything so I would increase that in the future. Great recipe!! Thank you!
Hi Catherine,
I’m so glad you liked this recipe. The apple cider vinegar combined with brown sugar is a smart substitution for balsamic. Thanks so much for sharing that idea!
Yum! Made it exactly as stated, never got it to brown at the end, but it was good. I think next time I will add a little more balsalmic and get spicy sausage.
Hi there,
Glad to hear you liked the recipe overall. If you’d like a little more browning, I think you could safely raise your oven temperature up to 425°F, skip the microwaving, and roast the sausage and potatoes by themselves for 5 minutes before adding the peppers and onion. Watch the overall time though because you don’t want the sausage to get dry or the sugars in the balsamic to burn.
Can I make this in an instant pot?
Hi Jessica,
Here’s how I would go about making this in an Instant Pot. Put about 1/2 cup water in the bottom of the pot, arrange the potatoes, sausage, onion, and peppers on a steamer rack, cook on high pressure for 5 minutes and let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Drain the liquid, remove the rack and add the olive oil and garlic and sauté until lightly browned. Last add the balsamic vinegar and continue to cook on sauté to glaze all the ingredients. Hope this helps!
This came out really well. I simplified just a little by putting the potatoes into the oven on the parchment-lined pan for about 10 minutes first (a little oil drizzled on them), mixed the rest of the ingredients per directions in the bowl, then just added them to the potatoes. I turned them all over after 20 minutes and baked another 20 minutes (15 probably would have been fine) and everything was excellent! Will definitely make again
Very delicious and easy to make
Hi Patricia,
Glad you liked this recipe. It’s one of my favorite easy meals.
This is super easy and fast to fix. I like to add a couple of cut up vidalia onions, but then I live 10 minutes from Vidalia, so those things go into nearly everything.
Vidalia onions make just about everything better!