Sheet Pan Italian Sausage and Veggies
This sheet pan Italian sausage dinner with sweet potato, green beans, and cherry tomatoes is a filling, one-pan, veggie-packed meal that’s easy to get on the table. Just a few minutes of prep, and no pile of dishes to deal with afterwards!
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has found myself in the following scenario – you had a plan for dinner. It was fantastic, whatever it was. And then, it falls apart. You don’t have as much time as you thought you would. You had ingredients for two but – surprise! – you’re cooking for four. Or, you simply don’t have what you thought you had in the freezer.
That third scenario is what led me to the lovely sheet pan dinner you see here. I tend to buy and freeze enough meat to last us a few months at a time, which makes weekly grocery shopping a little more manageable. So I assumed I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer. It was going to make a beautiful dinner alongside the green beans I had just bought that day.
Needless to say, I was wrong.
But, as I’m sure you can see coming, I consider it a happy accident, because obviously the Italian sausages that were in the freezer rose to the occasion.
How To Roast Different Vegetables At the Same Time
In addition to the green beans I had purchased, I nearly always have sweet potatoes on hand, because they’re one of the most nutritious foods Henry will happily eat, as well as cherry tomatoes.
Not only do these bright, boldly-colored veggies look beautiful together, the flavors complement each other surprisingly well. The sweetness of the potatoes sets off the savory, crisp beans very well. And, well, any roasted vegetable is a delicious vegetable!
Sweet potatoes generally require much longer to roast than either green beans or cherry tomatoes, however. Fortunately the solution is simple: cut them into small cubes, then give those cubes a head start in the oven. Just about 15 minutes – long enough for you to prep the rest of the vegetables, clean up the potato peels, and pour yourself a well-deserved glass of wine. Cook’s prerogative.
Now the rest is simple – mix all the veggies together on your baking sheet, toss as many Italian sausages as you need to serve on top, and back into the oven everything goes.
You could slice the sausages into bite-sized coins before baking, and just stir those in along with the veggies. In fact, doing so would make this dinner, which is terrific for meal prep as it is, even more straightforward as a grab-and-go lunch. I simply don’t do this for dinner because, well, it would be ever so slightly more work for me.
I’m probably the laziest hard-working person you know. 🙂
Bake and Serve!
20 more minutes in the oven, and voila! Dinner is served. Easy as that.
This is quite a filling meal as it is, and I’m happy to eat just this because (a) it’s delicious, and (b) it’s one more meal that helps me reduce my epic dependency on carbs at dinnertime. That said, I’ve made it a few times now and also have paired it with rice and quinoa. I think a nice couscous or pilaf would pair well, also.
This meal is also a testament to how little you need to do to produce a high-quality dinner if you start with good, fresh ingredients and use simple, reliable techniques, such as roasting. You don’t need anything fancy, or even much seasoning beyond salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic, to coax the best flavor out of these veggies.
Of course the fact that they get to roast in the drippings of those tasty sausages probably doesn’t hurt. 🙂
After all, just look at that beautiful crinkly texture.
And the true cause for celebration?? Not only did I adapt and make a “plan B”, it was something I came up with all on my own, used what I had on hand, and was delicious. But none of that really matters compared to the fact that MY SON ATE IT. He ate the sweet potato, predictably, at least tried the green beans, and ate AN ENTIRE SAUSAGE.
For context, I believe this is literally the first time he has ever eaten meat outside of meatball or nugget form.
So, although this meal might have come to me by accident, it is now on the regular rotation for busy weeknights!
I hope you enjoy as much as we do, not only the meal, but the fact that it leaves you enough downtime before dinner to actually sip that glass of wine you poured. ♥ Happy cooking!
More Quick Weeknight Meals:
- One-Pot Spiced Cashew Chicken and Rice
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Sheet Pan Chipotle Lime Shrimp Fajitas
- Lemon Asparagus Pasta with Shrimp and Pistachios
- One-Pot Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
- Healthy 20-Minute Tortellini Soup
If you’ve tried this sheet pan Italian sausage dinner or any other recipe on the blog, please remember to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. I love hearing from you, and other readers will benefit from your experience!
Sheet Pan Italian Sausage and Veggies
Ingredients
- 3 small or medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into cubes of about 1/2”
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 9 ounces (250 grams) fresh green beans, trimmed
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- a pinch of kosher or coarse sea salt
- a few turns of freshly-ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 4-5 links sweet or mild Italian sausage
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 C).
- Peel and dice the sweet potato, if you haven't already, then spread cubes in a single layer on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on top, then give them a quick stir to coat the cubes somewhat evenly. Place pan in the oven for 15 minutes.
- While the sweet potatoes start roasting, prepare the rest of the veggies. In a large bowl, combine green beans, tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, Parmesan, and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Stir to combine.
- After 15 minutes, remove pan briefly from the oven. Add the rest of the veggies, and stir briefly to combine with the sweet potatoes. Place sausages on top, and return pan to the oven for 20 minutes more, or until the sausages register at least 165 degrees F on an instant thermometer. Serve hot!
Notes
- This is a filling meal in its own right, but I often make some rice, quinoa, or another grain to serve with it and stretch the meal even farther.
- This sheet pan dinner makes terrific meal prep - you might want to slice the sausages into bite-sized pieces either before or after baking, simply to avoid needing a knife if taking your meals to an office, etc.
Nutrition Estimate
