Busy Day? Sausage Skillet Dinner to the Rescue!
Beans and greens are a classic combo, and we’ve made them even meatier and more satisfying with the addition of big slices of sausage. Toss it all in a skillet—cast iron is great, but any skillet will do—and call it dinner. The magic begins when the sausage, garlic and beans begin to braise together for a few minutes with some stock and herbs. Then you smash some (not all) of the beans sort of casually with the back of the spoon you’re using to stir it all together. Smash and stir, smash and stir. It’s lazy and magical all at once. Kale goes in, wilts, and you’re basically done! This stands as a meal all on its own for a few hungry people, or add a big loaf of good bread and it’ll feed even more people. Plus, you can use the bread to sop up every last ounce of loveliness in the pan. So yeah, bread: not a must, but highly recommended! If you’re wanting more bean recipes try our Red Beans and Rice.
Sausage Skillet: Simple, Pantry Ingredients Make for a Fast, Yummy, One-Pan Dinner
Pre-cooked sausages—you can use Italian sausage or a favorite smoked sausage—plus a couple of cans of beans make up the bulk of this quick, filling skillet recipe. Plus, kale is a hearty green that just lasts and lasts in the fridge—you can buy it and keep it in there for at least a couple of weeks (in an airtight container) without issue, especially if you’re planning to cook it (as we do here). That means it’s easy to keep the ingredients around for a quick dinner almost any time. Here’s everything you’ll need to make this sausage and veggie skillet recipe:
Olive oil
Italian sausage or smoked sausage
Garlic
White beans (any kind you like or have around)
Chicken stock
Fresh thyme
Kale
Lemon juice
Parmesan
How To Make This White Bean & Sausage Skillet Dinner
We kind of blitzed through the gist of this already, but let’s do a quick step-by-step with a few tips worked in so that you can feel super duper confident about making this simple supper. Here’s how to do it:
Brown the sausage—this will help keep it from losing all of its texture when you braise it later. Remember, we’re calling for cooked sausage, so if all you have is raw, cook it first. Then slice it up and brown those slices.
Set the sausage aside while you use that same skillet to get dinner going. Start with oil and garlic, then quickly add the beans, stock, salt, pepper and thyme.
It’s already going to smell like dinner is well on the way at this point, and that’s because IT IS. Now you get to smash those beans—remember some, not all of them.
When everything’s really bubbling together and smelling good, stir in the kale and let it wilt.
Time for parmesan, lemon and sausages! Stir them in and simmer it all together on low.
Dinner is served!
Tools You’ll Need
A good wooden spoon for stirring & smashing
Tongs are so handy (but not required)
Even More Skillet Dinner Recipes to Try
Killin’ It With A Skillet
Is that lame or really great? We’re not sure. What we do know for sure that skillet dinners are total lifesavers. They’re pretty quick, healthyish, only use one pan and often rely on pantry ingredients. In essence, they check all of our weeknight dinner boxes. Oh, and everyone likes them, too. Try the recipe, and let us know how you like it, OK? Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
