Tag: kielbasa

Smoked Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner

Can I just tell you how much I love a smoked sausage sheet pan dinner? It’s simple and requires minimal to no measuring. The ingredients can be on hand and everyone in my house will devour it! It has definitely been a go to meal in this season of life we are in with me marathon training, my babies (albeit big babies) not able to drive, BUT involved in nine sports between the two of them, and both the Mr and I working full time jobs. But I don’t measure so I have a hard time coming up with a “recipe” for this smoked sausage sheet pan dinner. 

But then I got to thinking, “That’s the beauty of it.” Sheet pan dinners are customizable. You don’t need to measure. You don’t need a bunch of specific recipes. It’s a “clear the pantry and fridge” kind of recipe. And aren’t those some of the best? Recipes you can throw together without much thought, especially when decision fatigue has set in (Yes, I am a mom and a teacher AND in my 40s….decision  fatigue is freaking real). 

So here we go, my take on a sausage sheet pan dinner.

Your Ingredients 

  • 12 ounces smoked sausage (we typically do a kielbasa rope) 
  • 1 pound yukon gold potatoes (1-2 per serving) 
  • 4-6 cups of chopped vegetables (onions, brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, green beans, you name it) 
  • Olive oil

Your Steps to a Smoked Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner 

Preheat the oven to 425 F. While the oven is preheating, slice the smoked sausage into about 1.5 inch slices.  Cut the potatoes into about 2 inch cubes and prep the vegetables to be similar in size. (Side note: It doesn’t seem to matter how many vegetables I make, they always disappear so I make more than I think we need because who’s going to be sad about their kids eating MORE veggies?)

Combine the potatoes and vegetables in a large bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss. Season with your favorite seasoning combination. We typically keep it simple with kosher salt, cracked pepper, and some garlic powder.  

Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray. Spread the potatoes and vegetables into a single layer on the pan. Sprinkle the sliced sausage on top. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through. Serve it up! 

Note: If you choose less dense vegetables like beans, snap peas, or mushrooms, you may want to season those separately and add them after about 10 minutes of cook time. I have done it both ways (cooking it all at once and adding them separately) and it works fine either way! 

Choose your veg!
Chop and season!
Spread it out!
Serve it up!

Smoked Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner

Quick and easy smoked sausage sheet pan dinner with roasted vegetables and potatoes. A simple, customizable recipe for busy families.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 12 ounces smoked sausage we typically do a kielbasa rope
  • 1 pound yukon gold potatoes 1-2 per serving
  • 4-6 cups of chopped vegetables onions, brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, green beans, you name it
  • Olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425 F.
  • While the oven is preheating, slice the smoked sausage into about 1.5 inch slices.
  • Cut the potatoes into about 2 inch cubes and prep the vegetables to be similar in size.
  • Combine the potatoes and vegetables in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss. Season with your favorite seasoning combination. We typically keep it simple with kosher salt, cracked pepper, and some garlic powder.
  • Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray. Spread the potatoes and vegetables into a single layer on the pan. Sprinkle the sliced sausage on top.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through. Serve it up!

Notes

Note: If you choose less dense vegetables like beans, snap peas, or mushrooms, you may want to season those separately and add them after about 10 minutes of cook time. I have done it both ways (cooking it all at once and adding them separately) and it works fine either way!
Keyword family friendly, kielbasa, sheet pan, sheet pan dinner, smoked sausage, weeknight meals
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Looking for other easy weeknight dinners?

Check out my cooking page, but here are some of my absolute favorites!

JessLeave a comment

Easy Cassoulet

Over a year ago, I was flipping through my classic Red Betty Crocker Cookbook for my Instagram  collab  “one book, three recipes” when I stumbled on their version of “Easy Cassoulet.” I went on to read that cassoulet is a traditional French dish that is slow cooked over many hours and has been elevated over the years to be a staple dish. That was essentially the opposite of the recipe I was reading as this dish cooked up in under 10 minutes but I gave it a try!

It had about 5 ingredients and may have been one of the quickest meals I threw together since the protein was kielbasa (a quick cook) and it called for all canned items or frozen vegetables. Surprisingly, it was tasty and my big kiddo told me it tasted like something I’d cooked before, perhaps food from New Orleans? That made sense as New Orleans has a rich French heritage. 

Immediately, I had the idea to play with the recipe and make it my own. Find a happy medium between Betty’s 5-10 minute dish and what my research told me was a traditional cassoulet, taking upwards of 12 hours of time to create (there’s beans to soak, you know!). Is this totally authentic? Nope. But is it a take that is accessible to tons of families as a comforting meal that can come together pretty quick with minimal work? Absolutely. 

I strive to share meals that bring families together, are full of nutrient dense ingredients, are primarily from scratch, and taste dang good. And I think this does just that! Now let’s get cooking! 

Your Ingredients 

  • 1 green pepper, diced (about 1 ¼ cup)
  • 3 stalks celery, diced (about ¾ cup) 
  • 1 onion, diced (about 1 cup) 
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced 
  • 2 cans cannellini beans, one rinsed and drained
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme 
  • 1 ring sausage, sliced thin (kielbasa if you like it mild, Andouille if you like a kick) 
  • ½-1 teaspoon pepper 
  • Salt, to taste 
  • 2-3 slices of stale crusty bread, for breadcrumbs (1 ¾ cup crumbs total) 
  • Olive oil 

Your Steps to Easy Cassoulet

Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 ½ by 11 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside. 

In a large saucepan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add green pepper, celery, and onion. Cook until softened and onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add pepper, garlic, and thyme, cooking just a minute more. 

To the pan, add diced tomatoes and sliced sausage. Cook until hot. Stir in beans (one can rinsed and drained, one not). Once the mixture is heated through, carefully pour into the prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for one hour. 

Meanwhile, tear the crusty bread into about one inch pieces and place in a food processor. Pulse until rough bread crumbs have been created. Make enough to measure 1 ¾ cup worth of crumbs.

Once the dish has baked for an hour, remove from the oven, top the mixture with bread crumbs and some drizzle of olive oil (A spray with olive oil spray would work too!). Bake an additional 20 minutes, until the bread crumbs are golden brown. Serve up with some additional crusty bread and a salad for a complete meal! 

Soften those vegetables.
Stir in the sausage and tomatoes
Add in the beans.
Ready to bake!
Let’s eat!

Tools of the Trade

There are a few items you’ll want for this dish and so many that you can make with recipes I have here on Jess in the Kitchen. I am a sucker for Pyrex (although I wanted to use a dish my son gifted me for these pictures!) and a small food processor is perfect for the bread crumbs!

Easy Cassoulet

While a traditional cassoulet takes hours to cook, this easy cassoulet, full of hearty vegetables, beans, and sausage, can be put together in 15 minutes and on the table in under two hours. Comfort food at its finest!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Course dinner, Main Course
Cuisine French
Servings 8 servings

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 1 green pepper diced (about 1 ¼ cup)
  • 3 stalks celery diced (about ¾ cup)
  • 1 onion diced (about 1 cup)
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 cans cannellini beans one rinsed and drained
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes undrained
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 ring sausage sliced thin (kielbasa if you like it mild, Andouille if you like a kick)
  • ½-1 teaspoon pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • 2-3 slices of stale crusty bread for breadcrumbs (1 ¾ cup crumbs total)
  • Olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 by 11 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
  • In a large saucepan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add green pepper, celery, and onion. Cook until softened and onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add pepper, garlic, and thyme, cooking just a minute more.
  • To the pan, add diced tomatoes and sliced sausage. Cook until hot. Stir in beans (one can rinsed and drained, one not). Once the mixture is heated through, carefully pour into the prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for one hour.
  • Meanwhile, tear the crusty bread into about one inch pieces and place in a food processor. Pulse until rough bread crumbs have been created. Make enough to measure 1 ¾ cup worth of crumbs.
  • Once the dish has baked for an hour, remove from the oven, top the mixture with bread crumbs and some drizzle of olive oil (A spray with olive oil spray would work too!). Bake an additional 20 minutes, until the bread crumbs are golden brown. Serve up with some additional crusty bread and a salad for a complete meal!
Keyword bakes, beans, breakfast sausage, casseroles, cassoulet, comfort food, kielbasa, white beans
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Looking for other dinner inspiration?

Check out my cooking page for all sorts of ideas, or maybe try one of my favorites below!

JessLeave a comment

Cheesy Kielbasa and Potato Soup

It’s no secret that if you asked me about my favorite category of food, I would say soups and stews without hesitation. I love the creation of them; the chopping, the fact that you don’t really have to measure, the slow cooking on the stove that you get to walk over and lovingly stir throughout the cook time. I love all of it. So when the temperature really began to drop and our evenings got a little less chaotic, I immediately set out to create a new soup recipe: Cheesy Kielbasa and Potato Soup.

I didn’t grow up eating kielbasa. Looking back, I don’t know why because it seems like a perfect meal for our little family of four. However, the Mr. did; so when we got married, it quickly became a staple every couple weeks. It’s great because it keeps well in the fridge so you can grab it at the grocery store and save it for the hectic nights. And my kids LOVE it. 

Generally speaking, if we aren’t eating it with scalloped potatoes and green beans (my kid’s favorite), we are mixing it up in this Kielbasa Quinoa Bowl (SO DANG GOOD!), and now we will add this recipe for Cheesy Kielbasa and Potato Soup to the list of go to kielbasa recipes. 

Think of this soup as your traditional potato and ham soup with a twist. The kielbasa adds another layer of flavor with its own unique spice blend. Let’s get cooking!

Your Ingredients 

  • 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil 
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • ¾ cup diced onion
  • 4 cups diced potato (I leave the skin on)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups chicken stock 
  • 2 cups diced kielbasa
  • ½ teaspoon pepper 
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 ½ cups milk 
  • 1 ½ -2 cups freshly shredded cheddar cheese 
  • Salt, to taste 

Your Steps to Cheesy Kielbasa and Potato Soup 

In a large dutch oven (Bring on the cast iron. I love it so much!), heat the olive oil over medium. Once hot, add celery and onion. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes, giving some color to the potatoes. Slowly add chicken stock and pepper, cooking until the potatoes are soft, approximately 10 minutes. 

While the potatoes are cooking, heat a saucepan. Cook the diced kielbasa until just crispy, about 5 minutes. Kielbasa can be oily, so this will pull that excess oil rather than adding it to the soup. Remove the sausage from the pan, and place on a paper towel. Reserve the grease and add enough butter to reach 2 tablespoons of fat. Stir in flour and whisk until the roux starts to bubble. Continue to whisk for about 2 minutes over medium heat.

SLOWLY stir in the milk, ⅓ of a cup at a time, whisking the whole time. Once the milk has been incorporated, stir it into the simmered vegetables. Add freshly shredded cheese (This matters. Pre shredded cheese doesn’t melt as well) and the kielbasa. Cook over low-medium heat until the cheese has incorporated. Serve it up with some fresh bread, a salad, and top with parsley if you choose! 

Chopped onions, potatoes, and celery
Chop, chop, chop.
Softening the vegetables.
Soften up those veggies!
Adding color to the kielbasa
Crisp up that sausage.
Gotta love a beautiful roux.
Cheesy kielbasa and potato soup
Perfection. Let’s eat!

Cheesy Kielbasa and Potato Soup

Grab your dutch oven and cook up a batch of this comforting and cozy cheesy kielbasa and potato soup for you and your family!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 6 servings

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • ¾ cup diced onion
  • 4 cups diced potato I leave the skin on
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cups diced kielbasa
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 ½ cups milk
  • 1 ½ -2 cups freshly shredded cheddar cheese
  • Salt to taste

Instructions
 

  • In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium. Once hot, add celery and onion. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes, giving some color to the potatoes. Slowly add chicken stock and pepper, cooking until the potatoes are soft, approximately 10 minutes. 
  • While the potatoes are cooking, heat a saucepan.
  • Cook the diced kielbasa until just crispy, about 5 minutes. Kielbasa can be oily, so this will pull that excess oil rather than adding it to the soup. Remove the sausage from the pan, and place on a paper towel.
  • Reserve the grease and add enough butter to reach 2 tablespoons of fat. Stir in flour and whisk until the roux starts to bubble. Continue to whisk for about 2 minutes over medium heat.
  • SLOWLY stir in the milk, ⅓ of a cup at a time, whisking the whole time. Once the milk has been incorporated, stir it into the simmered vegetables.
  • Add freshly shredded cheese (This matters. Pre shredded cheese doesn’t melt as well) and the kielbasa.
  • Cook over low-medium heat until the cheese has incorporated.
  • Serve it up with some fresh bread, a salad, and top with parsley if you choose!

Notes

Note: If you or someone you love is gluten free, you can totally skip the roux. Simply add the milk (preferably 2% to thicken the soup up a bit) to the chicken stock and skip the flour and butter. 
Also, if you want to thicken your soup without the flour and butter, an option is to hit the soup with an immersion blender for just a bit before you add the kielbasa and cheese. This is a great way to given the perception of a creamy soup without adding the extra stuff. 
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Oh the Soups you can make!

If you dug this soup, I have a few more favorites that you may want to try!

JessLeave a comment

Kielbasa and Quinoa Vegetable Skillet

The scene: It’s 5 o’clock and you still have no idea what’s for dinner, but you know you don’t want to cave to the temptation of take out or the quick rotisserie chicken from the local grocery store. You know that life? It was mine just recently. I was coming home from a training to teach cycling (Eeee!) and hadn’t a clue what was for dinner. Enter this delightful little diddy: Kielbasa and Quinoa Skillet. 

You guys know me…I sneak all the extra vegetables into a meal. And this one is full of about 5 cups of them. You get all the color with broccoli, tomatoes, and corn. Quinoa provides a nice little base, and the kielbasa has the spices mixed in already so you only need a little garlic, some salt, and some pepper. Best yet? It comes together in under 30 minutes! Winning on all the fronts. 

Ready to get cooking? I sure am! 

Your Ingredients 

  • ¾ cup dry quinoa 
  • 1 ½ cups chicken stock (or water will do!)
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic 
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil 
  • 1 kielbasa, sliced
  • 3 ½ cups broccoli, chopped (include the stems!)
  • 1 15 ounce canned diced tomatoes, drained and salt free
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste

Your Steps to Kielbasa and Quinoa Skillet

In a saucepan, bring chicken stock to a boil. Add quinoa and lower the temperature to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add broccoli and kielbasa. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Stir in the tomatoes and cook an additional 4 minutes. Finally, add corn, quinoa, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium-high heat until the corn is heated all the way through. 

Yup. That’s it. A complete dinner in truly 20 minutes. Does it get any better than that? And yes, it seems short on spices, but the kielbasa will give it all it needs. And the color? It’s dreamy. A definite recipe to add to your rotation. 

  • broccoli
    Don’t throw out the stems! They are just as good!
  • kielbasa slices
    Slice up the kielbasa uncooked.
  • Cutting board picture
    The color is starting to come together.
  • All the color
    Eat the rainbow!
  • Cooked quinoa
    Quinoa should be finished about when you are ready to mix it in!
  • Almost done cooking
    Almost there!
  • Finished bowl
    Let’s eat!

Interested in planning out some other meals? Check out my cooking page for all sorts of soups, bakes, and more! Click here!

Finished bowl

Kielbasa and Quinoa Vegetable Skillet

Kielbasa and Quinoa Skillet: Eight ingredients, full of color, and comes together in under 30 minutes. This complete dinner is perfect for any weeknight!
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • ¾ cup dry quinoa
  • 1 ½ cups chicken stock or water will do!
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 kielbasa sliced
  • 3 ½ cups broccoli chopped (include the stems!)
  • 1 15 ounce canned diced tomatoes drained and salt free
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • Salt pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste

Instructions
 

  • In a saucepan, bring chicken stock to a boil. Add quinoa and lower the temperature to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
  • Once the oil is hot, add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add broccoli and kielbasa.
  • Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
  • Stir in the tomatoes and cook an additional 4 minutes.
  • Finally, add corn, quinoa, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium-high heat until the corn is heated all the way through. Serve.
Keyword kielbasa, quinoa, skillet, vegetables
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Jess7 Comments