This Barely Even Feels Like Cooking
One sheet pan, minimal cleanup, and one of the best ways to eat your veggies.
Grab your favorite sausage… chop up your vegetables and your nearly done!
This is one of those dinners that barely qualifies as cooking — which is part of why I love it so much.
Use parchment on a sheet pan and clean up is even easier.
Drizzle EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Shake on some seasoning. Toss it in the oven.
Done.
And somehow it still feels like a real dinner.
I made this the other night with one of those Costco black pepper parmesan chicken sausages, zucchini, peppers, onion, olive oil, and a Trader Joe’s spice blend. That was it.
Shake shake shake the seasoning over the top and into the oven it went. It was delicious. When the hubster says twice in one meal – this is really good – I have to write it down!
Thinking About New Cooks
While I was making it, I started thinking about our friends’ daughter graduating college and heading into that phase of life where you realize nutrition is your job and adulting is now!
Dinner is something that needs to be planned occasionally! 😂
I thought to myself, this is exactly the kind of recipe I bet Sydney would like.
Because it’s easy. Not fake easy. Actually easy.
No complicated ingredients. No giant mess. No standing over the stove for an hour.
And it’s healthy enough that you feel good about eating a giant plate of it.
Great for Cleaning Out the Vegetable Drawer
This is one of my favorite “clean out the fridge” dinners too.
Broccoli? Toss it in.
Zucchini? Sure.
Cauliflower? Yep.
Green beans, mushrooms, asparagus, carrots, cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes — all good.
You really can use almost anything. Just think about how fast the vegetables will bake. Potatoes and carrots take longer than zucchini and peppers.
If you’re adding potatoes, either dice them fairly small and/or throw them into the oven first for 15 minutes before adding everything else.
What Sausage to Use?
By all means – use whatever sausage you like ! Found some at the meat counter – great! Want to make it Italian seasoned – use Italian Sausage / add red peppers if you like it spicier ! If the grocery has a particular sausage on sale – perfect – use the sausage as a guide to your spice selection.
I like to use Chicken Sausage – it saves on some calories (fat grams) and somehow feels healthier. (Typically it is healthier, but always double check your package.)
I found this sausage at Costco – and we really liked it – and of course it comes in a large (3 pack) package so you can have this dinner on repeat pretty easily!
Preparation
I baked my sheet pan at 350 for about 30 minutes, stirred everything around, then cooked it another 20-ish minutes.
BUT… The best part was putting it under the broiler for the last few minutes.
That’s where the sausage browned up and the vegetables got those crispy little roasted edges.
Just don’t walk away. Broilers are sneaky. Things go from “perfectly browned” to “well that’s unfortunate” in about 45 seconds. 😂
Easy Ways to Change the Flavor
Another thing I love about this dinner is how much you can change the flavor just by switching spices.
Italian seasoning + garlic + parmesan = completely different dinner than:
- Taco seasoning (Chorizo)
- Cajun seasoning (Chorizo)
- Italian seasoning (Italian Sausage)
- Garlic Herb blends (Any Sausage would be good!)
- Rosemary and thyme (Pork or Chicken)
Be creative – try something new – or whatever fits your mood.
Fair Warning — Make More Than You Think
Vegetables and sausage cook down WAY more than you think they will.
The hubster and I nearly demolished an entire tray ourselves…as we were hungry.
If you’re feeding kids or a bigger crew, definitely think about:
- making two sheet pans
- adding rice as a side
- chopping and roasting potatoes with the veg
- turning it into dinner bowls
Did Someone Say Dinner Bowl?
If you want to stretch it further, this could make a GREAT dinner bowl. Pile your sausage / veg over:
- Rice
- Quinoa or
- Farro
Then add avocado, hot sauce, feta, fried eggs — whatever sounds good to you !
I have been absolutely loving the Farro from Trader Joe’s lately. It’s super easy and convenient to cook up ahead of time — either earlier in the afternoon or before dinner — and leftovers work in just about anything you’d normally use rice for.
One of my favorite ways to use it is in my Arugula and Farro Salad with Herbs and Feta. The chewy texture holds up so well and somehow makes simple meals feel a little more substantial and cozy.
If you turn this into a rice or farro bowl, a quick sauce takes it over the top. You could always do a quick balsamic/EVOO/mustard dressing, a lemon garlic yogurt sauce, or maybe some pesto thinned with olive oil, or even just a drizzle of balsamic glaze. How about a squeeze of lemon right at the end to wake everything up?
Real ingredients. No nonsense. My favorite kind of dinner.
Simple Sheet Pan Sausage and Veg Dinner
Ingredients
- 6 Sausages Sliced
- 1 Zucchini Diced Medium
- 1 Red Pepper Diced Medium
- 1 Onion Diced Large
- 1-2 Tbl EVOO
- 2-3 tsp Herbs / Spice of your Choice
- S&P to taste
Instructions
- Set oven to 350℉
- Line a sheet pan with parchment for easy clean up.
- Slice the sausages – and add to sheet pan.
- Chop up your chosen vegetables and add to sheet pan.
- Consider how quick they each veg will cook if mixing sturdy vegetables (carrots / potatoes etc) with quick cooking vegetables (peppers). If you are mixing 'sturdy veg with quick cooking veg' give the sturdy vegetables a 15 min head start on the rest of the dinner by cooking them alone, first.
- Add remaining veg / oil / spices / stir – spread out on your sheet pan and bake. I set the timer for 30 minutes, then check everything – stir / flip and then cook additional. I added 10 min additional baking and then broil for about 5. Don't leave the tray broiling and walk away – it may only take 1-2 minutes depending on your oven !!!!
