Baked Italian Sausage is quite possibly the easiest dinner ever and ensures that your sausage links are cooked completely! There are countless flavor combinations to spice up your roasting pan and make your sweet Italian, spicy Italian, beef, pork, chicken, or even turkey sausage into a one-pan meal!
Baked Italian Sausage Recipe
Those crazy, hectic family nights are made for this ridiculously easy Baked Italian Sausage dinner! It's worth having at least one package of frozen sausages stored away in the freezer for a quick dinner option that doesn't even require thawing before baking.
The choices for vegetables to spread on the baking sheet and roast simultaneously are varied. You can add potatoes or sweet potatoes, root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, and beets. Or bake your sausages up with onions and peppers.
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If cooked up as seen here you can toss the sliced baked Italian sausage with buttered pasta if desired, or place on a sandwich roll with some melted mozzarella! Either way, some marinara sauce is a fantastic addition. Or, just use your marinara for dipping!
Ingredients You'll Need
There aren't many dinners that are easier than this sausage dinner! Just a few ingredients and your dinner is well on its way to being ready to enjoy!
- Italian Sausages - in your favorite flavor! Use sweet, mild, hot, or spicy flavored beef, pork, chicken, or turkey sausages. In the UK, they're called Italian recipe or Sicilian style sausages.
- Cherry Tomatoes - or your favorite grape tomatoes, vine tomatoes, or even sliced tomatoes will roast beautifully with your sausages!
- Sweet Bell Peppers - in a colorful variety of red, yellow, and orange for a vibrant meal! The mini sweet peppers are super flavorful too!
- Olive Oil - is a staple of delicious Italian-inspired flavors! Use EVOO for its great taste as well as coating all of your sheet pan ingredients.
- Italian Seasoning - is such a wonderful addition for enhancing the Italian flavor combination! Dried Italian seasoning works so well! However, if you see the freeze dried Italian herbs in the produce section at your local grocery store I highly suggest you give them a try!
- Salt & Pepper - the base seasoning spices that highlight all of your amazing ingredients!
The ingredients included below in the recipe card are for the baked Italian sausage as shown here. The cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, olive oil, and Italian seasoning are optional.
How To Bake Italian Sausages
- Preheat your oven to 400ºF ( 205ºC ) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Place sausages on the baking sheet (with or without cherry tomatoes and peppers) in a single layer, and so that sausages are not touching each other.
- Bake in the center rack at the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF (for pork products) and 165ºF (for chicken sausages).
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
*If your sausages are sticking to your baking sheet, adding a small amount of water will loosen them.
How Long To Bake Sausages in the Oven?
- Bake at 350ºF ( 175ºC ) for 25-30 minutes
- Bake at 375ºF ( 190ºC ) for 25-30 minutes
- Bake at 400ºF ( 205ºC ) for 20-25 minutes
- Bake at 425ºF ( 220ºC ) for 15-20 minutes
Your sausages are cooked when the casings have a nice golden color, the inside ground meat is no longer pink, and the juices from the meat run off clear. You should be able to see these pan juices on your baking sheet, and they should be free of any pink discoloration.
Sausages need to be cooked until they have an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees F (for pork sausages in the US) and 165 degrees F (for poultry sausages in the US).
*The temperatures shown above for 'safe' meat temperatures are noted as specific to the United States and follow the USDA food safety guidelines.
**Trichinosis in pork in the US has been greatly diminished (some claim virtually eliminated) due to the pork industry's measures taken to control trichinella in our US-based farms.
Looking for a great casserole using Italian sausage? Check out my Italian Sausage Bake!
How to Get A Crispy Skin on Your Baked Sausages
My family and I think that our oven-baked Italian sausages are perfect as they are, directly out of the oven. If you like the skin extra crispy, there are a couple of options that help to add that 'extra'!
For the first option, you can heat the baking tray in the oven during the preheating. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the baking tray, then follow the directions for baking your sausages.
The second option is to turn on the broiler to low. Finish baking the Italian sausages with the broiler on for the last 5 minutes or so.
Can I Bake Sausages That Are Frozen?
Yes, definitely! Of course, check the package instructions for any directions to the contrary. Overall, however, you should be able to cook sausage from frozen without defrosting or thawing. This will typically work with any brand or variety of sausage.
When starting with frozen sausages, add 10-15 minutes of cooking time. Also, rinse in warm water to separate the sausages that may be frozen together.
Should I Pierce The Casings?
This is a debate about whether or not the casings will 'pop' or burst, spraying the sausage juices all over your oven.
I do not prefer to pierce the casings. This allows the juices out of the casing, which means it loses flavor. Also, the juices inside the casing help to cook the ground sausage meat thoroughly. However, it is just a personal preference and you can do whatever works best for you!
📖 Recipe Card
Baked Italian Sausage
Ingredients
Baked Italian Sausages
- 1 19 oz package sweet Italian sausage (5 count package - use more as desired)
Roasted Vegetables
- 1 lb cherry tomatoes (optional)
- 1 sweet bell pepper (red, orange, or yellow - optional)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin)
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- salt & pepper (to taste)
Instructions
Roasted Vegetables (skip if only roasting the sausages)
- Rinse and cut cherry tomatoes in halves. Rinse and cut bell pepper in strips, then cut into 1 inch bite size chunks. Arrange in a single layer on the parchment paper lined baking sheet.1 lb cherry tomatoes, 1 sweet bell pepper
- Drizzle olive oil then sprinkle Italian seasoning over the vegetables. Toss to coat.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, salt & pepper
Baked Italian Sausages
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or aluminum foil).
- Place sausages on the baking sheet (with or without cherry tomatoes and peppers) in a single layer, and so that sausages are not touching each other.1 19 oz package sweet Italian sausage
- Bake in the center rack at the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Equipment You May Need
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
Lori says
Do I drizzle olive oil on the sausages with out the veggies?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
You can, but it isn't necessary. Thanks for asking!
Lori says
Thank you
Janet says
Thank you!
Perfect .
Had some frozen chicken cordon blue pieces, and some Italian sausage (5links) to cook.
No onion or peppers tonight. Sifh.
So.Roasted some smallish sized (Alberta hutterite - the best! Fresh carrots! Just rinse, top & tail if needed)
Tossed in a wee bit of each: olive oil,table salt, table black pepper. Add some parsley,butter, whatever you want, at serving if u like.
Steamed some Hutterite fresh green beans. Tossed veg together.
ALL meats (+carrots) cooked at 400f, 30 minutes. Done.
Microwaved green beans, rice in meantime.
Dinner done. 30 minutes.
Works for me!
I'll maybe get some onion& peppers to make a pasta dish tomorrow!
Chris Carter says
Best sausage recipe I have ever made!
Rick L says
Fantastic! Made mine following the recipe exactly except I added sliced onions and roasted potatoes!
Chris says
Great recipe, I did my sausages with sliced green peppers!
Emmy says
My family loved this! I added onions and whole garlic cloves to the tray but otherwise followed the recipe as-is. Simple, quick, and easy; thank you! This is definitely a 5 star recipe! 🙂
Brett says
Definitely a 5 star recipe! I agree so simple yet delicious 🙂
Heather says
I'm thrilled to have started BAKING my sausages! I love them in the stove top as well but this way is MUCH LESS MESS!! Can't go wrong with that😊 I saw a comment where her's "exploded", but my suggestion to all is do NOT go STRICTLY by TIME... rather... keep eye and use that thermometer. All ovens vary so the internal temp is what matters most and makes for a perfectly cooked meat😊 Thanks for the idea of roasting tomatoes with it. Can't Wait to try that with chix sausage😋
steve clark says
Doing a large amount of sausage as well as peppers and onions (stove top) for a party . putting Sausage in oven at the same time is a great help and time saver!
Thank you !!!
Steve
Tina says
I made this last night. The sausages burst open and all the juices leaked out, so they were disappointingly dry. Baked at 400 for 25 minutes.
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
I mention in the post that some prefer to pierce the casings when baking sausages. I typically don't and I have never had my sausages split, did you check them at 20 minutes (the lower end of the recommended cooking time)?
IVAN says
Tina, try roasting the sausage at a lower temperature. I never cook pork at 400°, wouldn't go over 350 for pork. Another commenter asked if you could tent it with foil, and yes, that should help with any splatter, but I don't believe the vegetables would roast as well.
Lori says
Hi Can I roast asaparagus and sliced onion with the sausages instead of tomatoes and bell peppers?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Yes, most definitely those would be wonderfully tasty too!
Red says
Yes I have done that, I precook them in the microwave a couple of minutes first. They turn out tender and moist.
Anonymous says
These oven baked sausages really hit the spot I made them with peppers and onions as well.
Kathy says
Great recipe, very flavorful and so easy to fix. This one’s a keeper!
Dale says
Agreed, fantastic instructions, my sausages turned out perfect!
NOLA girl living in the wild west says
Mmm... it's in the oven now! Thank you for posting! You're the first link I clicked when searching for baked Italian sausage. Thank you again!!
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
They're a great, easy dinner! Hope you enjoyed the baked sausages!
Stacy W says
Can you freeze the sausage AFTER cooking this way?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Yes, most definitely! Cooked sausage can be frozen, preferably whole so that they retain their juiciness as best as possible. Do use a vacuum sealer if you have it as you also want to remove any excess moisture or air when freezing fully cooked sausages. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for asking!
Luke says
I froze my leftover Italian sausages and they were still great after 2 months in the freezer!
Anonymous says
I hope you take questions. When baking saus., can I loosely cover with foil? Vented of coarse.
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Yes, you most certainly can!
Holly says
Thanks for the great recipe! Everyone loved it!
Anonymous says
Easy and delicious! We roasted some onions along with the other veggies, with a social sausage on the other side of the pan.
Rick Delaney says
Thanks Angela for taking the time to create this site. Easy baked Italian Sausages tonight!
Sharon Ravert says
Excellent, easy dinner. I cooked in an iron skillet and put my Sausage on top of thick slices of onion. Served over yellow rice and black beans. My husband loved it too!!
Tania says
Great easy recipe for cooking sausages, I rate this one a 5 star!
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Thanks! We love easy dinners! So glad you enjoy the sausages!
Blessed Patriotic Hippie says
Looks delicious 🙂 what do u serve it w? Pasta? Everything tastes good w roasted pepper n tomato’s, right? LOL 🙂 thanks for the recipe
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Definitely pasta, or pile it onto a sub or hoagie roll for a tasty sandwich! Enjoy!
Dani says
Super easy recipe for dinner thanks!
Stacy says
Great instructions turned out good.