Baked Bourbon Sausage and Peppers
As easy as it is delicious, this one pot Oven Baked Bourbon Sausage and Peppers recipe comes together in a flash, and is great for potlucks, tailgates, parties or just a super casual dinner for friends and family. The rich and smoky flavor of the bourbon, the sweet from the brown sugar and the heat from the sausage and red pepper flakes really sets this dish apart from your traditional baked Italian sausage and peppers recipe.
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Easy and delicious Baked Bourbon Sausage and Peppers
A twist on an Italian-American classic, this isn’t your grandma’s sausage and peppers (sorry, grandmas). This is sausage and peppers gone on a boozy journey. Infused with the bold flavors of Bourbon Whiskey and brown sugar, it’s sweet, it’s spicy, it’s tangy, it’s savory- it’s delicious! Best of all? It’s a one pan meal!
What goes into the baked Italian sausage and peppers?
To make this quick and easy one pot Baked Bourbon Sausage and Peppers, you will need:
- 4-5 sweet Italian sausage links, sliced.
- 4-5 hot/spicy Italian sausage links, sliced. If you don’t like spice, you can omit the spicy sausage and use all sweet! I love Mulay’s sausage for this recipe.
- 10 cloves of garlic. These can either be minced, pressed or whole (and removed when serving).
- 3 red, yellow or orange bell peppers. You can use a mix of all 3 or just one color! The sweetness of the multi colored peppers works well with the green peppers.
- 2 green bell peppers.
- 2 large onions.
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper.
- Crushed red pepper flakes.
- Brown sugar. Both light and dark brown sugar are suitable for this recipe.
- Bourbon whiskey.
The story behind the Oven Baked Sausage and Peppers
Going back at least 10 years, I was tasked with coming up with the main dish for a buffet style party/fundraiser for a friend. I immediately thought of sausage and peppers, as the friend is a huge fan of sausage- but I wanted to put my own personal stamp on the dish. Recalling a friend who once grilled sausages for a BBQ with whiskey in his marinade (genius!), I decided to concoct a one-pot dish with a similar flavor profile- enter Bourbon Sausage and Peppers. I love, love, LOVE cooking with booze, so Bourbon Sausage and Peppers was a no-brainer. It’s baked Italian sausage and peppers- but better!
One Pot Baked Bourbon Sausage and Peppers = less dishes!
Aside from being SUPER easy to make, this dish is also great on the wallet, helping you feed a lot of people for very little scratch. Just chop up a few ingredients, stir them up, and let the oven do all the work, while you, I don’t know.. drink some delicious bourbon cocktails? Bonus points for avoiding dishes by using a disposable foil pan. Sunday Funday here you come!
Can I leave out the hot sausage?
Sure! If you are not a fan of the heat, you can use all sweet sausage and remove the red pepper flakes.
Can I use chicken sausage instead of pork sausage for the Bourbon Sausage and Peppers?
You could sub in chicken sausage if you like, but be sure to use the raw kind, not the fully cooked varieties that are available so that the final texture is comparable and it doesn’t dry out.
Can I make this in advance/reheat it?
You sure can! This dish reheats great, and can be made a day in advance and set to warm in a foil pan/Sterno situation, or in a crockpot.
If you make my Oven Baked Bourbon Sausage and Peppers, please be sure to leave me a comment! I would love to hear from you, and value your feedback! Lastly, if you make the recipe and love it, please tag me on Instagram! I love to see your photos!
Looking for more fun dinner ideas?
Why not try my Instant Pot Honey-Chipotle Pulled Pork Sandwiches, South Philly Pork Burgers, Easy Crockpot Carnitas, or Rueben Egg Rolls!
Baked Bourbon Sausage and Peppers
Ingredients
- 4-5 sweet Italian sausage links, sliced*
- 4-5 hot Italian sausage links, sliced
- 10 cloves crushed garlic
- 3 red, yellow or orange bell peppers, sliced
- 2 green peppers, sliced
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 3/4 cup brown sugar , (light or dark)
- 1/2 cup bourbon whiskey, plus 1 tbsp
- Hoagie/sub or club rolls, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.2. Grease a 9×12 (or larger) glass, ceramic or metal baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. 3. Slice sausage links, and place into the greased baking dish.4. Slice peppers into thin strips and onions into half-moon slices of even width and place into mixing bowl with the sausage. No need to worry about extra thin slices or perfection here- everything is going to be well and cooked down. 5. Press 10 cloves of garlic with a garlic press and add to mixing bowl. Alternatively, you can smash the garlic and add it whole to the dish. 6. Add in salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, ½ cup bourbon and ¾ cup brown sugar and mix all ingredients together. Transfer the dish, uncovered, to preheated oven for 30 minutes, undisturbed.7. After 30 minutes, remove the dish from the oven and stir well. Place back into over and bake an additional 45 minutes, until sausage is well browned, and veggies are tender. 8. After baking an additional 30 minutes, remove from oven, add final 1 tbs of bourbon and stir well. 9. Remove dish from oven and serve on long or party size hoagie/sub rolls. Great for transferring to a crockpot set on warm, or a foil pan warmed with a Sterno for a great self-serve dish parties!
*Substitutions:
If you want the dish to be less spicy, you can use all sweet sausage.
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I made this jawn and followed the recipe exactly. This jawn was oustanding. This is how I will always make sausage from now on. Thanks for sharing this!!!
Thank you Keenan! So glad you enjoyed the jawn!!