Italian Sausage Rice Skillet

Last Modified: Apr 16, 2024 by Janessa.

If you're looking for an easy and delicious one-pot meal, look no further than this Italian Sausage and Rice Skillet. It is absolutely packed with flavour, cooks mostly hands off and makes some of the best leftovers!

I have to be honest with you. This recipe happened by accident. It happened when we were supposed to be having Chorizo Rice Skillet (another tasty one-pot meal that you have to try!) but...

Italian sausage and rice skillet in a bowl next to the pot.

I bought Spicy Italian Sausage by mistake.

A fortuitous mistake it was, though! With a few changes to the spices, switching up the colour of the beans and adding a bit of spinach, another tasty recipe was born.

Try them both and let me know if you have a favourite!

The Ingredients

Ingredients for Italian Sausage Rice Skillet

Spicy Italian Sausage (Hot Italian Sausage)-You need uncooked sausage for this recipe. If it is in casings, remove the ground meat from the casings prior to cooking. Since the sausage is the base of the recipe, make sure you pick a good quality one. The one that I used was simply pork and spices.
Red Onion- A white or yellow onion will also work.
Bell Pepper- Any colour will work or you can leave it out if preferred.
Long Grain Brown Rice
White Beans- Such as navy beans, cannellini beans or Great Northern beans. You could also substitute kidney beans, black beans or chickpeas or leave them out altogether.
Canned Diced Tomatoes- If you have a lot of fresh tomatoes on hand, you can use those instead! Substitute with 1 and ½ cups diced.
Dried Italian Herbs- Use a premixed blend or any combination that you have on hand of parsley, basil, thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, savory, etc.
Garlic Powder- Freshly minced garlic will also work. Use 2 cloves (about 2 tsp) and add them to the pan in the last minute of cooking the onions and peppers.
Sea Salt
Red Pepper Flakes
Water
Spinach- Kale or chard can be used instead but remove the stems and cook them at the same time as the onions and peppers.

The Method

1. Cook sausage. Remove sausage from casings and cook over medium high heat. Stir and crumble with a wooden spoon or spatula until cooked through. Drain excess grease.

2. Sauté onions and peppers. Add the onions and peppers to the cooked sausage and cook until softened, stirring often.

3. Add remaining ingredients. Stir in the seasonings, rice, beans, tomatoes and water.

Rice and Italian sausage cooking in a skillet.

4. Simmer. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Add spinach. When most of the water is gone and the rice is nearly tender, stir in the spinach a few handfuls at a time until wilted. Cover and cook for 2-5 more minutes until rice is cooked through and water has evaporated.

6. Serve.

Italian sausage and rice in a skillet with a wooden spoon.

Leftovers

To Store: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

To Reheat: Warm in the microwave until heated through.

Bowl of Italian sausage and rice with peppers, spinach and white beans.

Make It Your Own

Use White Rice- If you would like to use white rice instead of brown, reduce the water to 3 and ½ cups. Cook time will be about 10 minutes less.
Try it with Sweet Italian Sausage- For a different but equally delicious twist use sweet Italian sausage in place of spicy!
Make it Cheesy- At the end, stir in 1 cup of shredded mozzarella and then sprinkle an additional 1 cup on top. Or try topping it with Parmesan.

Italian sausage and rice skillet topped with optional cheese.

Serving Suggestions

To add more vegetables to this meal, it would be delicious alongside a Mediterranean Salad or Baked Herb Tomato Zucchini. Or try serving it with a piece of garlic toast made on some Honey Oat Bread.

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