Whether you are looking for soups, stuffed peppers, sandwiches, or casseroles, we have it all in this collection of the best Italian sausage recipes! Using both spicy sausage and sweet sausage, these 25 recipes for Italian sausage contain some of the best dinner ideas using both sausage links and ground sausage so you can make a wide variety of easy and delicious sausage recipes.
And be sure to scroll to the bottom to get our popular recipe for cheese stuffed Italian sausages! It's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
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Italian sausage recipes are always a great dinner idea in our home! Whether it's an Italian sausage loaded into a roll with onions and peppers, a baked sausage dish with marinara and cheese, or even peppers stuffed with ground Italian sausage, I know that when I make sausage for dinner, my family is going to love it.
Today I am sharing with you 25 of the best Italian sausage recipes I could find, many of which are our own family favorites! From sausage & cheese manicotti bake to spicy Italian sausage dip we have a collection of recipes for Italian sausage that is varied and eclectic but also includes the classics like sausage and potatoes as well as sausage, peppers, and onions recipes so you can find the perfect option for your family's dinner table.
Be sure to check out our other sausage posts, too, including how to cook bratwurst with 6 different cooking options, and this collection of the best sausage casseroles with 21 different recipes to choose from.
What to make with Italian Sausage
Our collection of recipes with Italian sausage brings you the best of Italian sausage recipes! With delicious pasta bakes, soups, and stuffed peppers, you are sure to find something you love.
How to cook Italian Sausage
Cooking Italian Sausage in the Oven
The best way to make a quick dinner that is full of flavor is to cook Italian sausage in the oven. This recipe utilizes a mild Italian sausage that is paired with colorful bell peppers and onions, and it's all drizzled in balsamic vinegar before baking.
Ready in under 30-minutes, Italian sausages in the oven is a great weeknight dinner!
Air Fryer Sausage (Italian, Links, Uncooked)
A simple recipe that is perfect for cooking up Italian sausage in just 20-minutes, this air fryer sausage recipe is here when you need to get dinner on the table quickly.
The easiest way to cook raw Italian sausage links, this air fryer sausage links recipe is the easiest no-frills cooking option that allows you to cook up your sausage links while you prepare vegetables, rolls, or other sides.
How to Cook Italian Sausages on the Stove
No need for fancy gadgets or long lists of ingredients with this recipe for Italian sausage links cooked on the stove!
Utilize your stovetop and your favorite pan to easily cook up raw sausage links for use in sandwiches, casseroles, pasta dishes, and more, in under 20 minutes.
Appetizers
Swedish Meatballs
These Swedish meatballs are a super easy dinner or appetizer made with ground Italian pork sausage and beef.
Ready in just 35-minutes, the meatballs bake up quickly while you prepare the cream cheese sauce. When both parts are done, combine and serve with toothpicks to a sausage appetizer or over noodles or zoodle for a tasty dinner.
Spicy Italian Sausage Dip
When you need a great appetizer recipe, look no further than this spicy Italian sausage dip!
Perfect for game day, serving a crowd, or a simple dinner, spicy Italian sausage dip combines spicy Italian sausage, diced tomatoes, and pepperoncinis, in a seasoned blend of cream cheese and parmesan that makes this hot dip perfect for dipping with your favorite bread or crackers.
Italian Sausage Recipes for Dinner
Stuffed Italian Sausage
Stuffed Italian sausages combine creamy marinara sauce, delicious mozzarella, and Italian sausage links for a savory and delicious 3-ingredient dinner that is quick and easy to make!
This stuffed Italian sausage recipe is keeping things low-carb by simply stuffing the Italian sausages with string cheese and then covering them with marinara sauce before baking for just 30-minutes, making this one of our favorite quick & easy Italian sausage recipes any night of the week.
Stuffed Peppers Without Rice
These stuffed peppers without rice let you enjoy more of that delicious Italian sausage flavor and make a complete meal that is perfect for low-carb, keto, and gluten-free lifestyles.
Filled with a mix of Italian sausage, onion, garlic, and cauliflower rice, and topped with a blend of 3 delicious kinds of cheese, this is one Italian sausage recipe you are going to want to add to your shortlist as it's ready in less than 40-minutes!
Creamy Sausage Pasta
This creamy sausage pasta dish is the perfect blend of sausage, pasta, and a homemade cream sauce with roasted red peppers.
In just under an hour, you can create this creamy dish with Italian sausage links, al dente pasta, roasted red peppers, spinach, and a delicious sauce made with both cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Top with red pepper flakes and fresh parsley and serve.
Italian Beef and Sausage Pie
Made with a hearty blend of ingredients, Italian beef and sausage pie is a comfort food classic that is sure to be loved by your family!
Sandwiched in between a yogurt-flavored bottom crust, and a cheese-blend top crust is a delicious mix of ground beef, ground sausage, onion, bell peppers, and seasonings. This oven-baked dinner is a flavorful way to serve up a hearty dinner that is sure to please.
Italian Sausage & Cheese Baked Manicotti
A delicious dish, this Italian sausage & cheese baked manicotti recipe is helping you pull out all the stops with a detailed recipe and instructions for a classic Italian dish.
Cooked manicotti tubes are generously stuffed with a mix of Italian sausage, onion, spinach, mozzarella, and grated parmesan before being baked in a pan with your favorite red sauce and covered with additional cheese. If you have about 70 minutes, you can make this Italian sausage recipe tonight.
Sausage Potato Soup
A delicious sausage potato soup with both stovetop and slow cooker instructions.
Ground Italian sausage, red potatoes, onions, and carrots, all combine in a broth made of chicken stock and seasoned with soy sauce, hot sauce, heavy cream and cheddar cheese to create a delicious & creamy sausage potato soup that is ready in a little over an hour.
Easy One-Skillet Sausage and Peppers with Rice
This easy one-skillet sausage and peppers with rice is a quick and easy dinner that is sure to make your evenings a whole lot easier.
Ready in just 30-minutes, this one-pan dish combines fresh Italian sausage, yellow onion, red and yellow bell peppers, and rice to make a helpful dinner that is bursting with sausage flavor.
Baked Ziti with Sausage
Baked Ziti with sausage is here to show you that not every pasta dish needs ground beef.
Made with fresh ground sausage that is simmered with tomatoes and sauce, then combined with al dente cooked ziti, mozzarella, and parmesan, this baked pasta dish is a great way to try something different and add some new flavors to baked ziti.
Ground Italian Sausage and Potatoes – Easy Comfort Food
One of the ultimate comfort food recipes, this ground Italian sausage and potatoes dish is bringing you all the delicious flavors you love in just a single cast iron skillet.
Ready in just 40-minutes, ground Italian sausage browns up quickly in a cast iron pan and then rests off to the side with thinly sliced potatoes and onions cook up in the sausage-flavored pan until they are golden and crisp. The final touch is a generous sprinkling of Parmesan Reggiano before serving.
Sausage and Peppers Meatloaf
This sausage and peppers meatloaf recipe replaces traditional ground beef with ground Italian sausage and peppers to create a delicious twist on a classic recipe.
Combine marinara sauce with Thai chili sauce and cooked bell peppers. Add ½ of the mixture to raw ground sausage and Ritz crackers. Form the mixture into a loaf and top it with the remaining sauce and bake for about an hour for a deliciously different spin on meatloaf.
Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta
With a cheesy tomato sauce, this creamy Italian sausage pasta is a great stovetop pasta dish that shows just how delicious Italian sausage recipes can be.
Made with crumbled Italian sausage, cooked pasta, tomato sauce, beef broth, half and half, and white sharp cheddar cheese, creamy Italian sausage pasta is bursting with flavor and perfect for a weeknight dish with a cook time of just 35 minutes.
Italian Chili
A delicious Italian chili, made with hot Italian sausage, that mimics the traditional flavors of Italy in a whole new way.
Ready in about an hour, Italian chili combines hot Italian sausage with roasted red peppers, diced tomatoes, and beans in a delicious broth flavored with cumin, paprika, basil, and oregano, topped with parmesan. It's a twist for sure, but that one makes perfect sense from the first bite.
Three Cheese Italian Sausage Alfredo Bake
This three cheese Italian sausage alfredo bake is the 45-minute pasta bake that you are going to want to add to your weekly dinner rotation.
For this recipe, penne, alfredo sauce, sour cream, ricotta, Italian sausage, parmesan, and mozzarella cheese are all going to combine to make a quick and easy baked alfredo pasta dish with Italian sausage that everyone is sure to love.
The Bomb Italian Sausage Sandwich
The bomb Italian sausage sandwich is a two-handed sandwich loaded with Italian sausage, a homemade red sauce, and cheese, baked until warm and gooey.
Baked in a homemade red sauce, Italian sausage links are sliced thin and topped with pepper jack cheese before being loaded onto Italian bread and baked until everything is melty. Serve warm and enjoy this hearty Italian sausage sandwhich.
Spicy Italian Sausage Gnocchi
Perfect for a weeknight dinner, this stovetop spicy Italian sausage gnocchi perfectly blends some of the best Italian flavors around.
Cooked ground Italian sausage combines with onion and garlic in a cream sauce seasoned with Dijon mustard and Calabrian chili peppers, and, of course, gnocchi, in a single pan making this Italian sausage recipe with gnocchi a super easy dinner to add to your rotation.
Grilled Italian Sausage With Sweet-and-Sour Peppers and Onions Recipe
Whether you are looking to serve your grilled Italian sausage with sweet and south peppers and onions in a bun or not, you are going to want to give this recipe a try!
Cooked onions and peppers are coated in apple cider vinegar and sugar before being combined with raw Italian sausage links. Both are cooked together until the sausage links are cooked through, about 20-minutes. From here, decide if you want to char your Italian sausage links, serve them on a plate, or load a bun, and enjoy this quick and easy Italian sausage recipe.
Recipes with Italian Sausage for the Crockpot or Instant Pot
Stuffed Pepper Soup (Instant Pot)
This stuffed pepper soup is made right in your pressure and contains all of the wonderful flavors of traditional stuffed peppers you already know in love but in a fun and flavorful soup option.
With ground meat (beef or sausage), rice or cauliflower rice, bell peppers, cheese, and tomatoes, plus a wonderful blend of seasonings, pressure-cooking stuffed pepper soup is a great way to enjoy Italian sausage in a whole new way in less than 45-minutes.
Creamy Italian Tortellini Soup (Crock Pot, Instant Pot)
WIth instructions for three different cooking methods, this creamy Italian tortellini soup is sure to become a household favorite.
A creamy soup thanks to heavy cream and chicken broth, Italian tortellini soup combines ground sausage, tomatoes, tortellini, and spinach to create a delicious Italian soup that is ready in as little as 30 minutes or ready to slow cook all day long.
Crockpot Sausage and Peppers
Perfect for the weekends or dreary days, crockpot sausage and peppers combines classic flavors and tastes just like a crustless Italian sausage pizza.
Italian sausage links, bell peppers, and onions all combine in your slow cooker with chunky marinara sauce. Slow cook for up to 7 hours and serve, or add the optional mozzarella cheese first to let it melt.
BEST Zuppa Toscana Instant Pot Recipe
While it tastes just like it came from your favorite Italian restaurant, this Zuppa Toscana Instant Pot recipe is a delicious homemade copycat!
Loaded with Italian sausage, bacon, potatoes, and heavy cream, then topped with cheese, this pressure cooker soup recipe is ready to be served with your favorite salad and breadsticks in just about an hour.
Italian Sausage Recipe FAQs
The term "regular sausage" can be a bit broad, since it could mean a wide variety of sausages from different regions and with different flavors. However, in the context of comparing it to Italian sausage, we can assume "regular" refers to a basic, unseasoned sausage like plain pork sausage.
Italian sausage is a type of sweet or hot pork sausage that's seasoned with a variety of spices and herbs, most commonly fennel, anise, and salt whereas plain sausage doesn’t add those types of spices. Both plain pork sausage and Italian sausage are usually made with pork but they can also be made from chicken too.
The distinctive flavor of Italian sausage comes primarily from the seasonings used. The most prominent flavors are fennel seeds or anise, which give Italian sausage its unique sweet and slightly licorice-like flavor.
Italian sausage often has other seasonings like garlic, salt, and pepper. Hot Italian sausage also includes red pepper flakes, which add a spicy kick.
Vegetables: Bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and garlic are classic pairings. Other vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, spinach, and kale also work well.
Herbs and Spices: Basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and parsley can complement the flavors in the sausage. For heat, consider crushed red pepper flakes.
Grains and Pasta: Italian sausage is often used in pasta dishes, and it also goes well with risotto and polenta.
Beans and Legumes: Cannellini beans, lentils, and chickpeas can make for hearty dishes when combined with Italian sausage.
Cheese: Italian cheeses like mozzarella, ricotta, and Parmesan can be excellent with Italian sausage, particularly in pasta dishes or on pizza.
Wine: If you're cooking with wine, a robust red like Chianti can stand up to the strong flavors of Italian sausage.
Sauces: Tomato sauce is a classic pairing. Creamy sauces, pesto, or even a white wine sauce can also be delicious.
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More Sausage Recipes
25 Italian Sausage Recipe Ideas (Cheese Stuffed Sausage + More!)
You won't believe how easy stuffed sausages can be, dinner can't get easier than this 3 ingredient meal! Be sure to check out all of our recipes for Italian sausage in our blog post.
Ingredients
- 1 lb raw Italian sausages, mild or spicy
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 5 string cheese sticks
- Optional garnishes- Italian seasoning, dried or fresh basil, shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F and make sure the oven rack is in the center.
- Cut the Italian sausages halfway lengthwise, with either kitchen scissors or a sharp knife. Don't cut all the way through.
- Insert a string cheese stick into each sausage and then pinch the top of the sausage closed over the top of the cheese. Place the stuffed sausages into a baking dish.
- Evenly drizzle the marinara sauce over the top of the sausages. Bake them for 30+ minutes or until they're cooked through and reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Notes
Chicken Italian sausages can be substituted for pork sausage.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 5 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 431Total Fat 32gSaturated Fat 13gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 21gCholesterol 76mgSodium 1101mgCarbohydrates 3gNet Carbohydrates 3gFiber 0gSugar 1gProtein 25g
Be sure to let us know which of the Italian sausage recipes were your favorite and please let us know if we left something off the list that should've been considered!
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