Vegan Sausage and Peppers (Sheet Pan Dinner)
I’m the first one to stand up and advocate for trying new cooking methods and venturing outside your culinary comfort zone. But sometimes, all I want to do is dump some stuff on a sheet tray and roast it up until it’s caramelized and delicious. If you resonate with that, this recipe is for you. This vegan sausage and peppers recipe is:
- A one-tray recipe (fewer dishes for the win!)
- Protein-packed with a healthy dose of veggies
- Versatile, going great over pasta, in a sandwich, and so much more
If you can stand turning on the oven during the summer and early fall, I highly encourage you to make this when fresh, local peppers, tomatoes, and basil are at their peak. Otherwise, it will still make a cozy winter meal using produce bought from the supermarket.
This recipe is part of my “Kinda Garten” series, where I make vegan Ina Garten recipes. It’s quite easy to convert this recipe — all you need to swap out is the animal-based meat for a good plant-based Italian sausage (more on that below).
Key Ingredients
Most of it is in the name — with a few secret ingredients to pump up the flavor.
Vegan Italian sausage: For me, the best plant-based option is Beyond’s Italian Sausage (I use half hot and half sweet for a balance of flavors). I find this brand contains a good amount of fat that allows the sausages to roast nicely without burning or drying out. Plus, the “drippings” help flavor the vegetables. Make sure the sausages are fully thawed. Frozen sausages won’t roast as evenly, drying out on the outside while still being cold in the inside.
Onions: Because what pairs better with roasted peppers than onions? Use a white or yellow variety rather than red.
Bell peppers: Use a mix of red, yellow, and orange (even green, if that’s your thing) for a nice variety of color.
Fennel: Fennel is the secret ingredient in this dish. It amps up the flavor and adds a very faint anise note. Don’t skip it!
Garlic: Thinly slice the garlic, but don’t go as far as to mince it — the garlic will burn before the rest of the vegetables are done caramelizing.
Dried oregano: Adds a classic Italian flavor and herbaceous notes to the dish.
Good olive oil: This allows everything to roast evenly.
Cherry tomatoes: Little cherry tomatoes add a beautiful pop of acidity to every bite!
White wine: White wine acts as a deglazing liquid, allowing you to scrape up all the delicious brown bits that have accumulated on the pan halfway through roasting. You can substitute this for vegetable broth if needed.
Fresh basil: For garnish
Vegan parmesan: For garnish
How to Make Vegan Sausage and Peppers
We love a sheet pan dinner. This recipe couldn’t be simpler to throw together.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the sausages, peppers, fennel, and garlic on two sheet pans. Drizzle on the olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Toss well and spread out so that everything roasts evenly.
Roast for 20 minutes.
Add the white wine and tomatoes, scraping up any brown bits. Add the sausages on top and roast for another 20–30 minutes, or until the sausages are nicely browned.
Serve hot all by itself or over your choice of pasta, polenta, grains, mashed potatoes, and more (see serving suggestions below).
Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways to enjoy this vegan sausage and peppers roast. Here are just a few ideas:
- Over the pasta of your choice (pictured below)
- Over creamy polenta
- Over garlicky mashed potatoes
- As a topper for rice, quinoa, or another grain
- As a sandwich in a toasted bun
- Alongside a big leafy green salad
- All by itself!
If you’re looking for a refreshing salad to pair this with, might I suggest this tortellini and green pea salad, or, if it’s the peak of summer, my vegan caprese salad.
Vegan Sausage and Peppers
Ingredients
- 2 white onions sliced into half-moons
- 1 red bell pepper 1/2 inch sliced
- 1 orange bell pepper 1/2 inch sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper 1/2 inch sliced
- 1 fennel bulb cored and 1/2 inch sliced
- 6 cloves garlic thinly sliced (not minced)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 package Beyond Italian Sausage (sweet), (thawed)
- 1 package Beyond Italian Sausage (hot), (thawed)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1/3 cup dry white wine (like Pinot Grigio)
- 1/2 cup fresh basil (julienned, for garnish)
- ` vegan parmesan cheese (for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- On two baking sheets, place the onions, peppers, fennel, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Toss in the olive oil and spread out for even roasting. (Do not use parchment paper, as it will prevent browning.)
- Roast for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and add the white wine, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom. Add the cherry tomatoes and place the vegan sausages on top of everything.
- Roast for 20–30 more minutes, until the sausages are browned.
- Remove from the oven and serve alone or over pasta, polenta, mashed potatoes, or grains. Garnish wit the basil and vegan parmesan.
I do love a sausage traybake, they make for such a delicious yet simple supper. What luck to find your recipe and make something a bit different to my usual one. Particularly love the addition of fennel.
The fennel makes it, doesn’t it? So glad you loved this one.
Just returned from holiday and did not have the energy for an elaborate meal. This worked perfectly- all boxes ticked!