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Instant Pot Sausage and Peppers are very flavorful. With loads of bell peppers, onion, garlic, and seasonings, this pressure cooker Sausage and Peppers recipe is sure to be a hit!
Instant Pot Sausage and Peppers
Today’s Instant Pot recipe is one of my favorites. It is super flavorful, has a great sauce, and feeds a crowd.
If you enjoy Italian sausage (which comes as sweet, mild, or hot), and bell peppers, this is the recipe for you!
Feeding a Crowd?
This Sausage and Peppers recipe serves 10 people, if everyone eats one sausage.
Can this Recipe be Cut in Half? Does the Cook Time Change?
Yes, you can halve all but the broth/water. Only reduce the thin liquid by 1/2 cup in total for the 6 qt pot. Reduce by 1/4 for the 8 qt pot. This recipe needs that liquid to get the pot to pressure.
If after cooking, the sauce is too thin for you, just stir in some more tomato paste. The cook time stays the same.
What Goes With Sausage and Peppers?
Some really simple side dishes you can serve with Sausage and Peppers:
• Green salad
• Fruit salad
• Bread (I like French bread, It soaks up the sauce).
• Gnocchi
• Fried Potatoes
How to Make Sausage and Peppers in the Instant Pot
First off you’ll need to gather all of your ingredients and prepare them. Chop the veggies, open the cans, measure out the spices, etc.
This will prevent you from having to rush, and also make it less likely to burn your food because you are still chopping or whatever. So much easier this way!
Brown the sausages in two batches. This doesn’t take very long as you are not cooking them all the way.
You just want some good color on them for the best flavor.
When you are sautéing the onion, if it gets a little dry you can add the 1/4 cup of broth earlier in the process to ensure the garlic that you will be adding doesn’t burn.
It is important to use the layering method when adding tomato products to the pressure cooker. They contain sugar and burn easily.
Since the heating element is on the bottom, and you can’t stir the pot once the lid is closed, you don’t want those tomatoes on the bottom.
After pressure cooking, remove the sausages to a plate and cover them to keep warm. Then stir the sauce gently so as not to break up the peppers too much more.
The peppers will be very soft. This is intentional as they add a lot of flavor to the sauce when they break down.
How to Serve Sausage and Peppers
There are several ways to serve this delicious pressure cooker Sausage and Peppers recipe. Here are some ideas:
• Over Pasta
• Over rice
• Over Quinoa
• On a hoagie roll (my favorite!)
• Over Cauliflower Rice
• Over Gnocchi
The options are many! Do what you like. There will be a good amount of yummy sauce, so you can add a nice serving to whatever you put it on.
Can Sausage and Peppers be frozen?
Yes, use a plastic zipper freezer baggie. Reheat slowly at a medium temperature.
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Instant Pot Sausage and Peppers
Equipment
- 6 qt or 8 qt Electric Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 -19 oz packages Italian Sausages (I like the Johnsonville® Sweet Italian Mild)
- 1 lg Red Onion sliced
- 4 lg cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 ¼ cup Chicken Broth or Water, divided
- 1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ½ teaspoon Coarse Salt
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 4 Bell Peppers, different colors, sliced lengthwise, about 1 inch wide
- 1 -14.5 oz can Diced Tomatoes, with juice
- 1 -15 oz can Tomato Sauce
- 1 -6 oz can Tomato Paste
Instructions
- Gather all of your ingredients and prepare them (chop the veggies, open the cans, measure the spices, etc.).
- Turn on the Sauté setting on your pressure cooker. When it is hot, add the oil, then 1 package of the sausages (5 per pkg). Brown them about 4 minutes on both sides and remove to a plate. Then repeat with the second package.
- Add the onions and stir, cooking until they start to soften. Add 1/4 cup of the broth or water and use a wooden or silicone spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot to get up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add the garlic and sauté for a minute.
- Add the remaining chicken broth or water, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Stir.
- Add the sliced bell peppers. Do not stir.
- Add the sausages back in on top of the bell peppers. Do not stir.
- Pour in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and spoon the tomato paste on top. Do not stir.
- Close the lid and cancel the Sauté setting. Seal the vent if your model pot does not do so automatically.
- Press the Pressure Cook (or Manual) button or dial. Then use the +/- buttons to select 10 minutes. Choose High pressure. The pot will take several minutes to build pressure. Stay with the pot until it comes to pressure (just in case you get a BURN error. I haven't, but you never know with the newer more sensitive pots).
- When the cook time is finished, let the pot sit undisturbed for 4 minutes (4 minute Natural Release). Then manually release the remaining pressure.
- When the pin in the lid drops down, carefully open the lid and remove the sausages to a plate. Cover lightly to keep warm.
- Then gently stir the peppers to incorporate the tomato paste. This will thicken the sauce a bit and keep it from being too watery. The peppers will be very soft. This is intentional as they add a lot of flavor to the sauce when they break down.
- Serve the sausage and peppers with a generous bit of the sauce over rice, or quinoa, pasta, or on a hoagie roll.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Resources to Make this Recipe and More
Is the cook time the same if I cut recipe in half?
Yes, it mainly depends on the thickness of the sausages and veggies. Smaller pieces need shorter cook time, but volume is about the same.
Can I substitute chicken sausages for this? I believe they are already cooked, so is there a difference in preparation? Thank you so much. Would really love to try this recipe but I don’t eat pork.
Yes, you can use any type of sausage. Even if precooked. Cut your veggies a little thinner for a shorter cook time.
Wanting to make this for my Bunko group but need 12 servings can you add a couple more sausages? What size IP did you use. Mine is a 6 qt.
Yes, they will cook up just fine!
I made this with the ingredients i had on hand. I didn’t have any whole bell peppers so I used diced bell peppers that I had frozen. I sliced a sweet onion. I thought it turned out great. Evan my great granddaughters liked it, and they are really picky eaters. Thank you for the recipe idea. I will make this again and get some whole bell peppers so that I can slice them poperly
Recipe like this, I like to keep frozen bags of the cut up bell peppers and onions. Found in the freezer veggie isle.
That is such a smart tip. Bell peppers are not cheap, so if you can buy them on sale and cut & freeze them, recipes like this are even easier, and you save money!
I am making this stat!