Cheesy Baked Sausage and Peppers
Comfort In A Casserole Dish
Cheesy Baked Sausage and Peppers is a delicious Sunday delight. This bakes up in your oven for a couple of hours while making your house smell and feel cozy and delicious.
The steps to prep this dish are easy, then you let it bake up in the oven or slow cooker. At the end of cooking, you top the whole dish with freshly shredded mozzarella cheese and enjoy.
I love making a dish like this on a cozy Sunday. This Cheesy Baked Sausage and Peppers bubbling away in the oven gives me all the cozy feels.
I like to buy a big loaf of fresh crusty French bread so I can dip it into the delicious sauce that this makes. Dinner will have everyone coming to the table.
There’s a recipe card with the full list of ingredients and instructions at the end of the post and a “print” button that will allow you to bring up the whole recipe on one page without ads. First, however, I’ve got some tips and pictures you’ll want to see!
My Favorite Marinara
I have been a long time fan of this marinara sauce from Aldi. I used to splurge on the Rao’s Brand and then found this and stopped spending the extra money on the Rao’s.
This sauce is only a couple of bucks. I ALWAYS have a jar in my pantry on hand.
This is the same sauce that I often use to make my Stuffed Shells Recipe and my Famous Lasagna Recipe. Make sure to grab a couple jars to keep in your pantry and to make this recipe.
Sauté For Extra Flavor
I share the exact method for sautéing the peppers, onions, and sausage in the recipe card below. Sometimes if I am in a pinch, I just throw it all in a pan together to get things going.
I DO recommend taking the few extra minutes to perform the steps listed on the recipe card. I am just saying if you feel lazy, this will still be delicious.
Freshly Shredded Is Best
I am a big believer in shredding mozzarella cheese by hand when you want it to melt. I buy the brick of mozzarella from Aldi and shred it up by myself and it always melts beautifully.
The stuff in the package that is already shredded does not melt up as nicely, but it will do in a pinch.
The Perfect Salad
If you need a side to serve with this sausage bake, my Pizza Salad recipe will be absolutely perfect for this dinner. It is cool, crisp and delicious and the dressing will really compliment the baked sausage dish.
Cheesy Baked Sausage and Peppers
Cheesy Baked Sausage and Peppers is a delicious Sunday delight. This bakes up in your oven for a couple of hours while making your house smell and feel cozy and delicious. The steps to prep this are easy. Then you let it bake up in the oven or slow cooker. At the end of cooking, you top the whole dish with freshly shredded mozzarella cheese and enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 lb of spicy or mild Italian sausage (links) * you can double the sausage for this while keeping the rest of the ingredients the same
- 2 jars of your favorite marinara *the one I like is pictured in post
- 3 to 4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup of finely grated Parmesan
- 1 large green bell pepper
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon of dried oregano *or to taste
- 2 teaspoons of white sugar
- garlic salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons of butter or cooking oil of your choice
- 1 box of penne pasta cooked according to package directions
Instructions
- In a large skillet add your butter and then chop your bell pepper and onion into bite sized pieces and add to the skillet. Sauté until golden brown and soft. Season with garlic salt, black pepper and the dried oregano.
- Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Add the peppers and onions to a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
- In the same pan that you made the peppers and onions, add your sausage links and brown on all sides. Cook for a few minutes on each side. Add the sausage to the casserole dish with the peppers and onions.
- In the pan, add your two jars of marinara. I add a little water to each jar and shake it to get the excess sauce out and pour that in the pan as well. Bring this to a simmer and use a spatula to scrape up the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the sugar. Let this simmer for a couple of minutes and pour this over the sausage and peppers. *at this point you can add this all to a slow cooker and cook it slow and low for 6 to 8 hours.
- If continuing with the oven, cover the dish with a piece of foil and place in the oven to bake for 2 hours.
- At the 90 minute mark, uncover, give the whole pan a stir and top with the Parmesan and the freshly grated mozzarella. Sprinkle the top with more dried oregano or dried parsley and bake for 30 more minutes. *if making in the slow cooker, do this step in the last hour.
- Depending on the sausage you use, you may have more grease on top than usual, you can skim this off with a ladle before serving. I also use some cheap white bread to soak it up and then toss the bread.
- Serve this on top of penne pasta. Top with some of the melted cheese.