We all have a kitchen shift when the weather cools down, when we begin baking more and putting soups back onto the menu. Roasted vegetables make sense this time of year because the high oven heat warms the house and the rich aromas make it cozy. Sausage and Sweet Potatoes are a versatile meal that can be adjusted according to taste and what you have on hand.
What Kind of Sausage?
Either fully-cooked or raw sausage is good for this meal, and there are a ton of choices. Polish dogs, kielbasa, Italian or chicken options; I prefer something fully-cooked for how quickly the dish comes together with it. I like Aidell’s Chicken and Apple variety, so when I find it on sale I pick up a couple packages.
How About the Sweet Potatoes?
Online grocery ordering sure makes things wonky: What’s your craziest quantity snafu? I ordered one jalapeno and got a pound. I noticed that my store now offers increments of a quarter pound of jalapenos. I heard of one friend getting something like 30 bananas (!) and another getting one Brussels sprout. Yes, one. Nice garnish.
So whether your sweet potatoes (as well as appetites!) are little or big, this recipe can be adjusted according to what you have.
We Need More Veggies
Along with a protein and starch, there ought to be some vegetables to round out the meal. Green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, or Brussels sprouts provide complementary color to the reds already going on with the meal. Chunks of onion and bell peppers may be your preference. Anything goes!
So what you’re going to do is cut everything into hunky chunks. Sausages into about six pieces each, sweet potatoes into cubes, and veggies in large bite size. Place the vegetables into a large bowl and swirl them with oil, season with some salt, and dump onto one side of your sheet pan. Use the same bowl for the sweet potatoes, oil, and seasoning, then dump onto the other side of the pan. Put it all into a 450° oven. Depending on how reliably your oven heats and the size of your cut vegetables, it may take 20-40 minutes.
While that roasts, I like browning the cut sausages in a skillet. They get a nice, crispy edge that way.
Watch your vegetables, and if they’re done before the potatoes, just scoot them off the sheet pan and continue cooking the sweet potatoes.
When everything is hot and tender, mix it all together and serve it up with some ketchup and mustard, and maybe some crusty bread and butter. Sausage and Sweets! Another easy weeknight meal.
Sausage and Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 12 oz sausage kielbasa, chicken sausage, Italian sausage
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1/2 head cauliflower OR
- 2 colored peppers OR
- 1 bunch broccoli OR
- 20 Brussels sprouts OR
- 1 lb green beans
- 1 T olive oil
- 1/2 t salt
- 2 t sweet potato seasoning
Sweet Potato Seasoning (this is a batch, save the rest!)
- 1 T salt
- 1 T garlic powder
- 1 T onion powder
- 1 T paprika
- 1 T cinnamon
- 1 T parsley flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°
- Peel, clean, and cut sweet potatoes and vegetables. Allow to dry on a towel
- Place vegetables into large bowl. Add 1/2 T olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle salt, dump vegetables to one side of sheet pan
- Place sweet potatoes into same bowl. Add 1/2 T olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle sweet potato seasoning, and add sweet potatoes to other side of sheet pan
- Bake for 20 minutes. Check for tenderness. Continue baking as needed, 5-20 more minutes
- Meanwhile, cook raw sausages in a skillet with a little bit of water, just enough to keep them from sticking. Once they are nearly cooked through, cut each sausage into 4-6 pieces and continue browning on open ends, adding a bit of olive oil.If using pre-cooked sausage, cut each one into 4-6 pieces and brown them in a skillet with a bit of olive oil.
- Turn sausages so the cut sides brown.
- Combine all three components in a large bowl and serve with ketchup and mustard.
Sweet Potato Seasoning
- Combine all six seasoning ingredients in a small bowl or reuse a spice jar.
- You will notice they are equal parts. You may reduce the quantity to a teaspoon of each, or prepare a tablespoon of each so you have plenty on hand for future use.
Other Recipes Using Sweet Potatoes:
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