Braised Italian Sausage and Vegetables – a quick & easy one pot meal.
A delightful meal with a depth of flavors and textures created by spicy Italian sausage, a variety of vegetables and capers, garlic and more. Just throw all of the ingredients into a Dutch oven, cover, simmer for 30 minutes, and then sit down and eat.
I have served Braised Italian Sausage and Vegetables over rice, creamy polenta, and fried polenta. A friend of mine serves it over pasta. Also, a good crusty bread like the Cooks Illustrated adaptation of Jim Lahey’s No Knead Bread is a wonderful complement. Soaks up some of the broth in the bread, smash a garlic or two on the crust of the bread – well – you can imagine the party in your mouth.
A quick and easy one pot meal with lots of flavors. Just throw all of the ingredients into the pot, cover, simmer for 30 minutes, and then sit down and eat. Serve with crusty bread like Farmer’s bread or serve over rice or grilled polenta.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information, substitutions and links where applicable.
- 3 Italian sausages* , cut into 1” pieces
- 1 medium sweet bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 small onion, cut into bite size pieces
- 5-8 garlic cloves*, halved
- 6 large button mushrooms, quartered or 10 medium, halved
- ½ tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried sage
- ½ cup vermouth or white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth or stock
- ¼ to ½ tsp. cracked white pepper or to taste *
- 1 Tbsp. capers, drained and rinsed
- Drizzle of olive oil
- 1 ½ – 2 cups artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (canned or frozen)
- Place all ingredients (except capers, olive oil, and artichoke hearts) in a braising dish or large Dutch oven. Toss to combine ingredients.
- Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a slow simmer. Sprinkle the capers over the top and drizzle lightly with olive oil.
- Cover and cook 15 minutes. Add the artichoke hearts and stir gently to mix in with the veggies and sausage. Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and taste. Add salt if needed.
- Serve with a big piece of crusty bread (or rice or grilled polenta).
Italian Sausage – A mild sausage works best. Hot Italian sausage tends to overpower the other ingredients. A chicken or turkey based sausage could be used. No matter what type of sausage you use, it’s easier to cut the sausage if it’s a little frozen.
Mushrooms – Cut large mushrooms into large pieces. Small mushrooms could be left intact. I large piece of braised mushroom is delicious.
Artichoke – Use canned or jarred cooked artichokes, but do not use marinated artichokes. Be careful not to add the artichokes to early. Braising them too long can make them mushy.
Garlic – Five cloves of garlic creates a nice garlicky flavor in the background, while eight cloves yields a nice, complementary but robust garlic flavor. If you are a garlic lover, then I highly recommend going for 8 cloves.
Capers – If you’re not a capers fan, substitute with sliced green olives.
Herbs – If you have fresh herbs, then of course, use fresh instead of dried – just double the amount.
Omit the salt – The salt from the broth, sausage, and capers should provide enough salt, so no additional salt is needed. However, always taste, and adjust seasoning before serving.
Braising meat with vegetables is a wonderful one pot meal and is usually easy to throw together just like this braised Italian sausage and vegetable dish. Some braised dishes are better with a grain side like a rice, barley or couscous, but those can always be cooked while the dish is braising.
Here are some other braised meals that we love and I know you’ll enjoy.
Quick, easy, delicious and made with things I usually have on hand. We had it over fusilli, a bit soupy, YUM. THANKS MJ!
This is one of those oldies but goodies. 🙂 Glad you found it and liked it! The soupy is great for soaking up all of that wonderful bread you make.
This looks SO good, my mouth is watering! I love the addition of the capers…a little surprise flavor punch! Thanks for sharing with us on Allergy free Wednesdays, this recipe is pinned!
Thanks Tessa! It is mouthwatering good!
Delicious that is only word I can say. Eventhough I won’t eat meat my hubby does. Thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop.
Party in my mouth was exactly the words that came to mind when I read this recipe! It sounds delicious and I love that it is so flexible. Thank you for sharing this recipe with the Hearth and Soul Hop.
I just made your recipe “Braised Italian Sausage with Vegetables” using Trader Joe’s Chicken Italian Sausage. Oh, yum! The chicken sausage is lower in fat than the other Italian sausage I’d been using and it’s really delicious. It is salty so I rinsed the capers and artichokes and didn’t need to add additional salt at the end. Is this synergy? Whatever, it’s good!
Thanks Anna! I’m so glad you tried it with the “more healthy” sausage! OMG! Yes – it is synergy, but it’s also the weekend, so we’ll just call it goooooood and save the other word for weekdays. -:)
Thanks for this recipe! I made it last night and it was great and so simple. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Sally, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback.