In the warmer months of the year, being stuck in the kitchen can seem like even more of a chore. The last thing you want on a nice day is to be cooking a time-consuming dinner inside! But the daily dinner grind waits for no man (or in this case, no weather) and sunshine or no, you’ve got to get something on the table. In those instances, I love to use the grill, but when that won’t do, I love to throw together a quick one-pan skillet meal that features some of summer’s best stuff, like zucchini, basil, and fresh corn. This Sausage Summer Skillet is done in under 20 minutes and comes together in one pan, so you can get outside and enjoy that sunshine.
What Ingredients Are in Sausage Sumemr Skillet?
It’s full of great summer stuff! You’ll need:
- Sausage. I like andouille or kielbasa here, but really any will do.
- One bell pepper.
- Zucchini.
- Corn. (Fresh is best, but frozen or canned work fine!)
- Onion and garlic.
- Red pepper flakes.
- Basil. Use fresh if you can, for summer’s best flavor!
How Do You Make this Sausage Summer Skillet?
Basically, you take a skillet, add some oil, and then sauté everything in it. But in more detail:
You want to start with browning the sausage so you make sure to get some color on it instead of steam it. Once that’s looking nice and brown, remove it to a plate to make room for the other ingredients. I like to work in batches here so that everything has a chance to brown and caramelize a bit. To do this, I start with the bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Once those are cooked, I remove them from the pan, and replace them with the zucchini and corn. Then, everything can head back into the pan, get some seasoning on it, and dinner is done.
If all those batches are too fussy or you’re in a hurry, you can put all the veggies together in at once. Everything will still cook through just fine, it’ll just steam more than it will caramelize. Either way works, it just depends on what fits in your day!
Sausage Summer Skillet
Allergens: Corn
Diet: Gluten-Free
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 oz cooked sausage, such as andouille or kielbasa, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 large zucchini, halved and sliced
- 2 cups corn kernels (about 3 ears)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Add olive oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add sausage and cook until starting to brown, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Make sure you have 1-2 tablespoons of oil left in skillet. Remove any extra to a bowl, set aside.
- To the skillet, add the bell pepper and onion, and cook until starting to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove all veggies to a plate and set aside (you can use the same plate as the sausage).
- To the skillet, now add the zucchini. If needed, add some of the reserved oil to prevent sticking. Let cook until the zucchini softens and takes on some color, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add corn and cook 2 minutes more.
- Stir in sausage, bell pepper, and onion. Then add red pepper flake, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in basil and serve. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Julia's Album.