My sausage and peppers recipe is simple and delicious, just like the way it’s almost always made here in New York. Italian sausage, red and green bell peppers, sliced onions, oregano, and copious amounts of olive oil. Served by itself, or on a hero/sub roll, this is the real deal New York-style recipe for sausage and peppers.
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A Classic that should always be simple!
Sausage and peppers, though eaten all year long, is the quintessential Italian-American festival food. Found at street fairs across the New York metro area, this beloved dish is comprised of just a few ingredients.
Zeppole or sfinci, pizza, meatball parm heros, and cannoli are all great, but there is one street festival food that reigns supreme: sausage and peppers and the sausage and peppers hero.
And this my friends, is the best version.
I’ve made sausage and peppers hundreds of times in my life, and have eaten even more, and my recipe below is reflective of all that research.
This is the tried and true sausage and peppers recipe that rivals that of any street fair!
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Italian sausage. This is the ingredient that will make or break your sausage and peppers. Most mass-produced brands of Italian sausage will taste nothing like the sausage at street festivals. They have less fat, are usually overmixed and more homogeneous, and just taste bland compared to sausage from an Italian pork store. That being said, buy the best quality sausage you can find. A good sweet fennel and hot (spicy) sausage will start you on the right path. I like to make a batch of each.
- Peppers and onions. Red and green bell peppers should be used along with plenty of yellow onion.
- Bread. Even if you don’t plan on making a sausage and peppers hero, you’ll still want some crusty Italian bread to mop up the oily sauce.
- Dried oregano. Use high quality Italian or Sicilian oregano. And please, skip that horrible Italian seasoning ingredient. Just use oregano.
How to make authentic sausage and peppers
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Place sausage links in a baking dish. Poke a couple of holes in each link and roast in the oven at 400°F until mostly cooked through (about 20 minutes).
- Heat a large stainless steel pan to medium-low heat for 3 minutes. While the pan is heating up, pat dry the sausages of any excess moisture. Add a 1/4 cup of olive oil to the pan and place the sausages into the pan. Cook the sausage links on all sides until well browned (about 10-15 minutes total).
- Remove the sausage links and set aside. You can lightly tent the sausage links with foil to keep warm. Add the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil to the pan and all the peppers and onions. Mix the peppers and onions around so that they are coated with the sausage fat and olive oil.
- After a couple of minutes of cooking add 3 ounces of water to the pan. Cover the pan so that the peppers and onions can cook quicker. I don’t have a lid for my 14″ fry pan so foil works great in a pinch.
- After 10 minutes remove the cover and the peppers and onions will be much softer. Add the salt, pepper, and oregano. Continue cooking for a few more minutes to allow any excess water to evaporate.
- Once most of the water has evaporated and the peppers and onions are very soft, return the sausage links back to the pan and mix together. You should have plenty of oil, but if you need a bit more, add it now. Sausage and peppers should have plenty of oil! Serve as is with Italian bread to mop up the oil and peppers and onions. Or, make a sausage and peppers hero which is never a bad idea!
Top tips
- Oil and more oil. Sausage and peppers should be oily and a bit messy. The fat from the sausage and the olive oil combine to make one of the best sauces for bread dipping. Don’t skimp on the olive oil!
- Buy high quality sausage. This is the defining ingredient for whether your sausage and peppers will be amazing or mediocre.
- Make it your own. You can add cherry peppers or calabrian chili paste to a hot sausage and peppers. Or roast some thin sliced potatoes and add the sausage and peppers on top for a full meal. But perhaps my favorite addition is adding melted mozzarella to a sausage and peppers hero. So darn good!
- Make ahead and reheating. This is the perfect dish for making ahead. Simply reheat in a 350°F oven covered with foil until hot or on a stovetop with the lid cracked.
More great recipes with Italian sausage
If you like Italian sausage as much as I do, you’ll want to try these other recipes.
- Sausage and peppers rigatoni
- Italian sausage and potatoes
- Orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe
- Chicken Scarpariello
- Sausage cherry tomato pasta
- Sausage bread
- Italian sausage pasta
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Sausage and Peppers (Simple and Authentic)
Ingredients
- 8 large mild Italian sausage links about 2 pounds
- 3/4 cup (180ml) olive oil
- 3 large bell peppers sliced, red and green
- 3 large onions sliced
- 3 ounces (90ml) water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the sausage links in a baking dish and poke a few holes into each link. Roast until mostly cooked through (about 20 minutes) then remove from the oven.
- Dry off the sausage links to remove any moisture. Heat a stainless steel pan to medium to medium-low and once hot add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the sausage and cook until the links are well browned on all sides (about 10-15 minutes total).
- Remove the sausage from pan and set aside tented with foil to keep warm. Add the remaining olive oil and peppers and onions to the pan. Cook for a few minutes coating well with the olive oil and sausage drippings. Add the water to the pan and cover.
- Remove the lid after about 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and oregano. Continue cooking to evaporate any excess water. When the water evaporates and the peppers and onions are soft, add in the sausage links.
- Cook for a few more minutes and taste test. Make any final adjustments to salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil if required. Serve the sausage and peppers with Italian bread or on top of a hero/sub roll. Enjoy!
Notes
- Sodium. Salt levels really need to be adjusted based on the sausage brand used. Make sure to taste test and adjust before serving.
- Sausage. The sausage quality makes all the difference. Use the absolute best sausage you can find!
- Oil levels. Sausage and peppers should be very oily from both the sausage fat and the added olive oil. Don’t be shy with olive oil!
- Leftovers. Sausage and pepeprs can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be reheated on the stovetop over medium-low heat until warm.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Delicious and oh so easy!
So happy you enjoyed, Faith!
Great recipe! Only two of us so we have a couple of meals of sausage and peppers. But best leftover dinner is-slice the sausage, warm it in a pan with peppers and cook with a couple beaten eggs. The best!
I don’t use bell peppers. I use the cubanell peppers
Add a half a teaspoon of MSG at the end. Your mind will melt.
The peppers and onions with jalapeños little less oil is how I make potatoes for breakfast. Now I will bring on the ( A GAME ) and put sausage in them. Thank you
Wonderful dish . Costco discontinued their Fresh Italian Sausage in Texas. Hope you would do a comparison of some popular brands as you did with the tomato sauces. That was the best show ever. Some have too much fennel for tomato sauce , but would be good grilled. You could demonstrate how their used too .Love all the local recipes . thanks
Good, easy, tasty recipe. I made 2 small changes. I cooked the sausages in the air fryer and added a generous 1/2 t of red pepper flakes. I’d definitely make this again. Thanks.
Hi James and Tara,
I want to thank you for making cooking Italian food very approachable and empowering me to get into cooking it. This is a special website and I am very grateful for what you.
My wife and I are about your age and I’m a quarter Italian through a paternal grandfather that immigrated to El Salvador from Lombardia (My dad grew up in El Salvador). I grew up in Plymouth, MN until I was 14 without any Italian-American culture. One of my first truly Italian-American food experiences was going to a Red Sox game in the early 1990s, right after we moved to Massachusetts, and getting a sausage and peppers sandwich outside of Fenway Park. At the time, it was one the most awesome things I had eaten. I loved it so much that the last time I went to Boston, I went to the stadium just get that sandwich, even though I didn’t have tickets to the game.
30 plus years later, I just made this for the first time for a group of friends (along with the pasta e fagiole recipe). It brought back great memories of the few times I got to get one of those sandwiches, and it felt awesome to make them myself.
All the best to you both and your family.
Hi Juan, we’re so happy you’ve been enjoying the recipes and appreciate you sharing a bit about your background and appreciation for Italian-American food. Thank you for the comment!
I am a 70 year old Italian women who has been cooking for her family for 50 years. I made sausage & peppers many times and it was good but after trying your recipe I am hooked. My family loves it also. I have tried many of your recipes and they are amazing.
We’re so happy you’re enjoying the recipes, Patti, and thank you for the comment!
This looks delicious! A while back I had asked you about a wings and peppers meal my mom used to make. I can’t seem to replicate it. I wish I had asked her for the recipe. This is so much like it. Is there anything that needs to be done differently using wings? What oil do you suggest frying up the wings? Olive Oil? Any Garlic? Her wings were browned and flavored from the peppers which gave them a distinct taste. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Penny, Jim suggests drying the wings really well and seasoning with salt and pepper. You can use olive oil to fry and garlic if you’d like to. Hope that helps!
Hi James
Love your recipes!
most of them are the same or almost my mom and my nonna use to make!
Hi Alba, thanks for the comment. We’re so happy you are enjoying the recipes!
Most of your recipes are familiar to me. They are the food I grew up on, I still save and make them. Your food is a comfort on so many levels. Grazie Mille. V
Hi Victoria, thanks for the comment and so happy you’re enjoying the recipes!
You make the food look great on screen and I must say taste even better. I made the sausage and peppers😋
If your son loves your cooking it speaks volumes. I love the pasta you make as well.
I’ve made a lot of your recipes they all turn out delicious. Graci, multi bene
Hi Rita, I really appreciate your comment! So happy you’re enjoying the recipes, thank you!
Love your recipe video’s especially when you have your young “taste testers”….. lol. 🤗. This particular recipe is almost identical to the way I make sausage and peppers. I just cook the sausage entirely on the stovetop first piercing the links. The rest of the recipe is the same, comes out delicious.
Hi Ronnie, thanks so much for the comment and glad you enjoyed the recipe and the videos too!
I make it like you.
I love your recipes. I am 76 now, and learn something new from you, every time I watch your videos.
Thank you so much. I missed out on many Recipes, from my Sicilian side of the family. My My mother was Irish, and Step father Polish. She cooked many different foods, including some Italian. I learned on my own, she did’t let anyone in her kitchen when cooking. So, I appreciate what you give us!! Thank you. You have a beautiful family.
God Bless
Hi Dolores, we really appreciate your comment and am so happy you’re enjoying the recipes. Thank you for following along with us!
Hey Jim
Quick question ,do I add any tomato sauce at any point
Thanks , love your recipes!
Bob
Hi Bob, we’re glad to hear you’re enjoying the recipes! For this one, Jim doesn’t add any tomato. If you do want to use tomato, watch the video that’s in the recipe card. Jim makes sausage and peppers two ways in the video – one with tomato and one without. There’s also a sausage and peppers pasta recipe here on the website and he uses tomato for that one as well.