How to Cook Italian Sausage in the Oven

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It's incredibly easy to cook Italian sausage in the oven. You'll have a fantastic and easy dinner in 25 minutes that the whole family will love.

You can use this recipe to prepare sausages to add to other recipes - baked sausage is great in pasta or other dishes. You can also cook the optional tomatoes and peppers alongside this dish for a full meal.

This sausage and peppers recipe is incredibly simple, but I'll give you a few tips to make sure your sausage is perfectly done!

This baked Italian sausage recipe couldn't be easier. You only need a few ingredients; it only takes a few minutes of hands-on time to assemble.

There are my different ways to cook sausage, but baking sausages is one of the easiest ways to cook them. It's largely hands-off; you only need to flip them once. And you don't have to worry about burning them on the grill or having water boiling over on the stove.

Adding some vegetables can make this a fantastic sheet pan dinner that involves hardly any cleanup!

Jump to:

• Ingredients You'll Need
• How to Bake Italian Sausage in the Oven
• More Easy Dinner Recipes to Try
• Substitutions
• Tips for Making this Recipe
• Italian Sausage in the Oven

Ingredients You'll Need

To make Italian sausages in the oven, you only need a few sausage links, a sheet pan, and either parchment paper or aluminum foil.

If you want to make sausage with some roasted vegetables, here's what you'll need.

Sausage - 1 pound of Italian Sausage. This will usually be anywhere from 3 to 5 links, depending on how large each link is. You can double or triple this recipe if you are cooking for a larger group.

You can use the more traditional pork sausage for this recipe, but chicken sausages will work as well.

You can use sweet (or mild) Italian sausage or hot Italian sausage. Sweet Italian sausage is simply the less spicy of the two and is made without red pepper flakes.

Tomatoes - 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes. Use whatever tomatoes you have available - I had a colorful mix of baby heirloom tomatoes.

Bell Pepper - 1 red or orange bell pepper (green bell pepper will work as well). You'll remove the seeds and cut them into thin strips.

Toppings - 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon sea salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper.

Optional - Feel free to top this with some roughly chopped fresh herbs, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, or a little tomato sauce.

See the recipe card for full details.

How to Bake Italian Sausage in the Oven

Here are the simple steps for this Italian sausage bake.

Preheat oven - Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 C). 

Line a baking sheet - Line a half or quarter-sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

Add the sausage - Place it on the baking sheet, leaving space between them. 

Bake - Place the sheet pans in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Flip the sausages over. If they look like they might burst, prick them with a fork a few times. Return the sausages to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes. 

Check temperature - Check the internal temperature of the sausage; they will be done when they read 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. 

Serve - Remove sausages from the oven and serve immediately with optional vegetables.

Optional vegetables - If you are making the vegetables, toss the tomatoes and sliced bell peppers with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them flat on a separate parchment or foil-lined baking sheet (or baking dish). Bake for 20 minutes (along with the sausage).

More Easy Dinner Recipes to Try

Love a great weeknight meal like this one? Try some of our other favorite easy weeknight dinners!

• Baked Caprese Chicken - a delicious chicken, tomato, and mozzarella dish.
• Grilled Cod in Foil - an easy and tender lemon butter cod recipe.
• Ground Beef Bulgogi - a fantastic and flavorful ground beef bowl with veggies.
• Sheet Pan Sausage and Veggies - looking for more sausage recipes? Check this one out.

Substitutions

Want to make some changes to this recipe? Here are some optional substitutions.

• Onions - You can also add sliced red onion or yellow onions to the veggie tray.
• Kind of Sausage - if you'd like, you can use Italian turkey sausages in this recipe instead of pork sausage.
• Seasoning - Feel free to add Italian seasoning, crushed red peppers, or some dry oregano to the tomato and peppers before cooking.

Tips for Making this Recipe

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Cooking Tips - The cooking time may vary based on the size of your sausages. If they are smaller links (5 in a package), check them after 18 to 20 minutes. If they are larger (3 to 4 in a package), they will likely take closer to 25 minutes.

Recommended Tools - Use a meat thermometer or instant-read thermometer to check the temperature of the sausage (it's done at 160 degrees F).

You can use a baking tray for this recipe, but I do recommend a rimmed sheet pan. In case the sausages release any juices, they won't slosh out and burn in the oven.

I highly recommend using parchment paper or aluminum foil to line your sheet pan; it keeps the sausage from sticking to the bottom of the pan and makes cleanup much easier.

Storing Tips - Cooked sausages will keep for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator when stored in an airtight container.

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