One pan Italian sausage peppers and potatoes skillet made with just 7 ingredients. Ground sausage, peppers, onions, and potatoes are all cooked together with pasta sauce and then topped with cheese for an healthy and hearty dish. Makes a perfect weeknight dinner the whole family will love!

Bring on the easy and comforting recipes! And you won’t be let down with this one pan skillet sausage peppers onions and potatoes – made with 7 simple ingredients, loaded with flavor, hearty and comforting, and making a healthy balanced meal!
This recipe was born actually from a random night of fridge foraging. If you don’t know what fridge foraging is, it is basically just routing through your fridge and pantry, seeing what you have on hand, and creating a meal with things you have available.

Fridge foraging is one of my favorite ways to cook and we do it in our house 90% of the time! Fridge foraging really allows your to get creative, not waste food, and follow your intuition!
One day I was scrounging around seeing what I could whip and and had some sausage defrosted, lots of potatoes, some peppers, and a little pasta sauce that had been opened and was going to go bad. Decided to throw it all into a skillet, added some cheese at the end, and man we were happy with the outcome.
We absolutely loved it and I knew I had to share! Being from Philly, I loved sausage and peppers growing up and thought this is such a fun spin on it.

Italian sausage peppers and potatoes skillet
Just 7 ingredients, plus some salt and pepper, is all you need to make this Italian sausage peppers and potatoes skillet. It’s full of protein, carbs, veggies, fiber, and healthy fats and makes an easy and complete one pan recipe the whole family will love. It is also great for meal prep too!
Here is what you need:
- ground sausage – I love ButcherBox!
- potatoes
- onion
- peppers
- marinara sauce
- Italian seasoning
- cheese
- salt and pepper
- oil – if needed

First start off by sautéing the sausage. Heat up a large cast iron skillet with some salt and pepper, breaking it up with a spoon, and saute for 5-7 minutes until browned and cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside. Leave the grease in the pan and if needed, add some oil.
Next add potatoes and cook for 10-15 minutes or so until browned and almost cooked through. I covered them with a lid and added a little water every so often to steam to help speed up the process. Also, the smaller you dice them, the faster they will cook.


When they are almost done, add the onion and saute for a few minutes. Then add the peppers with the Italian seasoning and saute for 4-5 minutes until softened. Add the pork back in with the pasta sauce and mix well to combine. Let everything warm through, about 1-2 minutes.
Finally top with some shredded cheese if using and let it melt. I like to finish it off with some red pepper flakes and freshly chopped basil or parsley.
Dicing your potatoes
A huge tip for success in this recipe is dicing your potatoes in uniform size so they cook evenly. I try to get mine in 1/2-1 inch pieces. The larger they are cut, the longer they will take to cook, so keep that in mind.
To make it low carb
To keep this dish low carb, feel free to skip the potatoes all together. You can serve it over cauliflower rice if you like.
You can also sub out the potatoes for something lower carb like cauliflower florets.

Substitutions for skillet sausage peppers onions and potatoes
Here are few substitutions for this sausage pepper and onions skillet:
- meat – if you don’t have sausage or want something not as fatty, you can use whatever kind of ground meat you like. Chicken, beef, or turkey will all work well, the flavor profile will just change some. You can also use spicy Italian sausage if you like.
- potatoes – I used Yukon gold potatoes, but any kind will work, even sweet potatoes. You could even substitute butternut squash if you have that on hand.
- veggies – zucchini, summer squash, or mushrooms would be great. They is never anything wrong with adding more veggies!
- spices – one of the easiest ways to change the flavor of the meal! This would be really good with southwestern spices like chili powder, cumin, and paprika or even taco seasoning. You can sub out the sausage for spicy sausage too.
- cheese – use whatever kind of cheese you like, or you can leave it off to keep it paleo and Whole30 approved.
More one pan recipes
Balsamic chicken & veggies skillet


Sausage Peppers and Potatoes Skillet
ingredients
- 1 pound ground sausage
- 1/2 tablespoon avocado oil (or more if needed)*
- 1 1/2 pounds yukon gold potatoes, diced into 1/2-1 inch pieces**
- 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onion (150 grams)
- 5 cups diced peppers (600 grams) (I used red, yellow, and green)
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup packed shredded mozzarella cheese (2 ounces)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- optional toppings: fresh basil, fresh parsley, red pepper flakes….
instructions
- Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add ground pork with a little salt and pepper and break it up with the back of a spoon. Sauté for 5-7 minutes until browned and cooked through. Remove from pan, leaving the grease behind, and place in a bowl.
- There should be some leftover pork grease in the pan. Add avocado oil and let it get hot.* Add potatoes with a little more salt and pepper and cook for 10-15 minutes until browned and almost cooked through. I covered them with a lid and added a little water every so often to the pan to help speed up the process. When the potatoes are geting close to being done, add onion and saute for another 5 minutes.
- Add the peppers with the Italian seasoning and saute for 5-7 minutes until softened. Add the pork back in with the pasta sauce and mix well to combine. Let everything warm through, about 1-2 minutes. Top with the shredded cheese let it melt, about 1-2 minutes. Top with fresh herbs if using and enjoy!
notes
nutrition
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Casaundra says
how should I cook the potatoes if I don’t have a lid for my cast iron skillet?
Kelly says
Hey Casaundra! You can still cook them in the cast iron, it will just take a little longer as a lid helps trap the heat. I would say you probably need to saute for 20-25 minutes without a lid until softened, and you may need some more oil too. You can dice them smaller and that will speed up the process too. Hope that helps!
Kay Gill says
You can also cover with foil
Kelly says
That’s a good tip!
Terri says
Kelly – this is delicious! Easy to make and comes together very quickly!
My hubby loves it. Putting this on the “repeat” menu!
The star rating isn’t accepting my 5 STAR review –
but this is FOR SURE a 5 STAR.
Thank you Kelly – say hi to Cashew 🙂
Kelly says
So happy to hear that Terri! Thanks for trying it and glad it was a hit! And of course, Cashew will get some loving 🙂
Daphne says
So very good. I even used flour tortillas on the side.
Kelly says
Love that way to serve it! Thanks for trying it Daphne and glad you enjoyed!
Amanda B. says
I love this recipe for so many reasons! First, it’s fast so when I don’t have a lot of time to be in the kitchen I can still get a really healthy meal cooked really quickly. Secondly, it’s so customizable to whatever you have. I used turkey sausage and sweet potatoes because that’s what I had on hand. Dice the peppers and onions up small to hide them from the kiddos. 🙂 And finally, it’s easy to prepare and it just tastes good. Simple, tasty, quick prep and cleanup = the perfect recipe for this busy working mom!
Kelly says
So happy to hear that Amanda! So you and the family enjoy it and it fits your lifestyle. Thanks for trying it!
Katie says
This recipe is SOLID. I swapped out the potatoes for rice on the side bc I love rice. Usually don’t eat sausage but this is SO good. 10/10. I make it routinely.
Kelly says
Oh, love that swap! Glad you enjoyed it Katie and thanks for trying it!
Brook says
Yum yum yum! Thank you for this recipe! It was delicious and even better I got to use up the things I needed before they went bad!
Kelly says
Love when nothing goes to waste! Glad you enjoyed it Brook and thanks for trying!
Kara says
This was really good the first night and reheated as leftovers. Simple and tasty! Will be adding this one to the rotation.
Kelly says
So glad to hear that – thank you for trying!
Jessica Donley says
Just made this the other night and it was a HIT! It makes a huge batch so it freezes nicely and is good for leftovers. I might add mushrooms next time I make it.
Kelly says
Mushrooms are a great idea! And all about the leftovers! Thank you Jessica!