This easy oven baked Italian sausage is a simple and delicious recipe that makes an awesome appetizer. You can throw it together in minutes and let the oven do the rest of the work — and can even double it for a crowd! Want it for a meal? Just serve over pasta!
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love Baked Italian Sausage:
- Ingredient Information And Substitutions
- How To Cook Italian Sausage In The Oven
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Tips For Making Baked Italian Sausages
- What To Serve With This Italian Sausage Bake
- Other Delicious Italian Sausage Recipes To Try
- Oven Baked Italian Sausage with Tomato Sauce
Why You'll Love Baked Italian Sausage:
It's always a good idea to have appetizer recipes up your sleeve that can be thrown together at the last minute. This Italian sausage with tomato sauce and bell peppers is one of those recipes. It's minimal work up front for you, and then the oven does the rest. It can easily be prepped in advance and doubled for a crowd. And the results are seriously delicious. You can think of this as a fun new take on sausage and peppers!
Not only is making Italian sausage in the oven crazy easy, but you can even add pasta to make it a meal! After I photographed it, I actually roasted a spaghetti squash and served this over it for lunches that week. Everyone who has tried it has loved this recipe, which is no surprise. Here are a few more reasons to try it:
- Incredibly quick and easy to make
- Full of Italian flavor
- Perfect for weekly meal prep
- Versatile — add extra veggies if you want!
- Prepped in 10 minutes
Ingredient Information And Substitutions
- Italian Sausage: You can use spicy or sweet sausage links. Cut them into thirds before you add them to the baking dish. Feel free to use poultry Italian sausage to lighten it up.
- Crushed Tomatoes: Forms the base of your sauce. Opt for canned to make things easier!
- Bell Pepper: You can use any color you'd like — I prefer red peppers for their sweet flavor.
- White Wine: I like a dry white wine. And if you don't cook with alcohol, you can always substitute with the same amount of chicken broth.
- Aromatics: I use both onion and garlic! They add so much flavor.
- Seasonings: A simple combination of Italian seasoning, kosher salt, and crushed red pepper flakes is all you need.
- Cooking Spray: So nothing sticks to the baking dish!
How To Cook Italian Sausage In The Oven
Step 1: Mix the tomato sauce ingredients.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and grease an 11 x 7-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Add the crushed tomatoes, wine, Italian seasoning, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes to a large bowl. Stir in the sliced bell pepper, onion, and garlic until well combined.
Step 2: Add sausage and sauce to the pan.
Place the sausage pieces in the prepared baking dish and set aside. Spread the tomato sauce mixture over the sausage.
Step 4: Bake.
Place the baking dish uncovered in the oven and bake the Italian sausage for about 1 hour, or until the sausage reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can assemble the ingredients in the baking dish and pop it in the oven just before serving. You can also assemble and transfer it to a slow cooker set to Warm to keep it warm and delicious for the party.
I always go with Italian sausage (turkey or chicken Italian sausage will make it a bit more heart-healthy). My personal preference is spicy, but if you aren't into spicy foods, then use sweet Italian sausage instead.
Yes, you can totally substitute other veggies for the same amount of peppers! Or, you can even add them in addition to the peppers. I love oven baked Italian sausage with mushrooms too.
I find the sausage pieces reach 165 degrees F in around an hour.
I like to serve this as an appetizer with toothpicks and some crusty bread to sop up all the delicious sauce. You can also serve it over pasta or spaghetti squash for a satisfying dinner.
Around 3-4 days covered in the refrigerator.
Tips For Making Baked Italian Sausages
- I prefer to cut my sausage links into thirds to make them more appropriate for an appetizer (and generally easier to eat). You can always keep them whole if serving as an entree. Just double-check the internal temp before serving to make sure they're cooked through, as smaller ones tend to cook a bit faster (the cook time may vary).
- I like to whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a large bowl and then stir in the vegetables. It's so much easier than trying to mix in the baking dish.
- Be sure to spray your baking dish down with olive oil cooking spray to avoid sticking.
- You'll bake this uncovered so that the sauce thickens slightly as it cooks.
- Ingredients to prep ahead: Cut the sausage, dice the onion, slice the bell pepper, and peel the garlic in advance to save some time.
- Leftovers and storage: Store any leftover oven baked sausage and peppers in an airtight container in the fridge for the best results. It will keep for about 3-4 days. You can use your microwave or stovetop to reheat.
What To Serve With This Italian Sausage Bake
You can serve your oven baked sausage with toothpicks and crusty bread as an appetizer like I do, or you can cook up some pasta to make it a meal. And if you love spaghetti squash, I definitely recommend that you try that for a lighter twist! Here are some tasty sides:
Other Delicious Italian Sausage Recipes To Try
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5 star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below ⬇️ and/or a review in the comment section further down. Check out my Amazon Store for all my favorite tools, including those used in this recipe. And follow @thelifejolie on Instagram and TikTok!
Oven Baked Italian Sausage with Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 ¼ pounds Italian sausage links, cut into thirds, spicy or sweet
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper (or more if you prefer it spicy)
- 1 cup bell pepper sliced thin (around 1 medium pepper)
- ½ cup diced onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray an 11" x 7" baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl mix crushed tomatoes, wine, Italian seasoning, salt and crushed red pepper until well combined. Stir in peppers, onions and garlic until well combined.
- Place sausage chunks into prepared pan and spread sauce evenly over the sausage.
- Bake uncovered for 1 hour or until the sausage is cooked through to 165 degrees internal temperature. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- I prefer to cut my sausage links into thirds to make them more appropriate for an appetizer (and generally easier to eat). You can always keep them whole if serving as an entree. Just double-check the internal temp before serving to make sure they're cooked through, as smaller ones tend to cook a bit faster (the cook time may vary).
- I like to whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a large bowl and then stir in the vegetables. It's so much easier than trying to mix in the baking dish.
- Be sure to spray your baking dish down with olive oil cooking spray to avoid sticking.
- You'll bake this uncovered so that the sauce thickens slightly as it cooks.
- Ingredients to prep ahead: Cut the sausage, dice the onion, slice the bell pepper, and peel the garlic in advance to save some time.
- Leftovers and storage: Store any leftover oven baked sausage and peppers in an airtight container in the fridge for the best results. It will keep for about 3-4 days. You can use your microwave or stovetop to reheat.
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