My Italian sausage rice recipe is a family favorite! It’s an easy, one-pan meal that’s ready to go in about 30 minutes and perfect for meal prep!
I love it when a kitchen mishap turns into something fabulous, and that’s precisely what happened with this Italian sausage rice recipe! It started as a pasta sauce, but I didn’t realize I was out of tomatoes until after I had browned the sausage. So I pivoted and added bone broth (for extra protein), rice, and seasonings, and our new favorite rice dish was born. This is my kind of food, and I don’t get tired of it. It’s simple, flavorful, nutritious, and versatile!
What Is Bone Broth?
One of the easiest things you can do to get extra protein into your meals is to replace regular broth, stock, or water with bone broth. Unlike regular broth and stock, bone broth cooks for 12 to 24 hours. Cooking it low and slow over a long period of time extracts a boatload of protein and nutrients from the bones. The result is an incredibly nutritious, rich, flavorful broth high in collagen, the most abundant protein in our body. Depending on the brand, just one cup yields 10 to 15 grams of protein. When I was going through tonsil cancer treatment, bone broth was one of the only things that didn’t feel like acid in my mouth, and I truly believe it helped save me from winding up on a feeding tube!
Italian Sausage Rice Recipe
Why We Love It
- One pan meal. Everything cooks in one pan, and we love that!
- High protein. Between the sausage and the bone broth, this is loaded with protein.
- Versatile. Enjoy this straight out of the pan, or use it in other dishes. I’ve listed some ideas below!
- Comfort food. This kind of dish screams comfort food for us. (we LOVE rice in our house)
- Affordable. The entire meal can be made for about $12, even less if you’re a savvy shopper.
- Meal prep. Divide it into containers with a side of veggies for nutritious and satisfying meals all week.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This is a short list with just four main ingredients, parsley, and a few spices!
- Italian sausage. I use ground Italian sausage without the casing, so it’s ready to go.
- Long grain rice. I prefer long-grain white rice, but I have listed other options below.
- Onion. Some diced white onions add flavor and texture.
- Bone broth. Bone broth gives us loads of protein and flavor, but use any broth you like.
- Seasonings. A little garlic, onion, salt, and pepper is all you need. The sausage is loaded with flavor.
- Italian parsley. A generous amount of Italian parsley at the end adds freshness and color.
Pro tip. Ingredients like Italian sausage, store-bought broth, and stock can be very salty. I have a little salt in the recipe, but that’s because I use unsalted bone broth. I recommend omitting the additional salt if you use regular or low-sodium broth. Once the dish is done, you can taste and adjust the salt before serving. It’s always easier to add more than try to fix it once it’s too salty.
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How to Make Italian Sausage Rice
The instructions are on the recipe card below, but here’s a quick rundown.
- Place a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid on the stove over medium heat.
- Add the Italian sausage and seasonings.
- Combine the sausage mixture using a firm spatula or meat chopper.
- Cook the sausage until there is no more visible pink.
- Move the sausage to one side of the pan, and soak up any extra grease with a paper towel.
- Keeping the heat on medium-high, add the rice.
- Stir and cook for about one minute or until fragrant.
- Add the bone broth and bring to a simmer.
- Turn the heat down to low, cover tightly, and cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for five minutes.
- Gently fluff with a fork, add the parsley, and fluff again.
- Taste and adjust the salt.
Pro tip. I did not add any oil to the pan in the beginning. Cooking the Italian sausage at a lower heat renders out the fat, which starts to happen pretty quickly. I find that additional fat is just not necessary. If the brand of Italian sausage you use is on the leaner side, feel free to add a little olive oil to the pan before adding the sausage.
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Serving Suggestions
- Enjoy at breakfast with a fried egg on top and a generous amount of scallions.
- Add some beans and use it as a burrito or taco filling.
- Use it in a rice bowl with chopped romaine, tomatoes, olive scallions, and your favorite dressing.
- This filling is perfect for stuffing peppers. Just add canned tomatoes and cheese!
- For a deconstructed version of stuffed peppers (our fav), sauté some bell peppers, add Italian sausage and rice, top with cheese, and melt some cheese.
Variations
- Melted cheese makes everything better! After stirring in the parsley, sprinkle a layer of your favorite shredded cheese, cover, and let the residual heat melt the cheese.
- Add some greens. I love stirring in a couple of cups of finely chopped spinach or kale at the end. Kale is my favorite because it adds some nice texture and a ton of nutrition!
- Veggies make this even better. Diced zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, or all of the above stretch the dish and make it even more nutritious.
- Chopped tomatoes add brightness and texture, and the acid from the tomatoes helps cut through the dish’s richness.
- Feel free to use long green, jasmine, basmati, or brown rice. ** see note below.
Helpful Tips
- If using Italian sausage links, remove the casing before cooking.
- I like to get some good color on the sausage. It adds flavor and texture.
- Toasting the rice with the seasonings adds additional flavor and yields lighter, fluffier rice.
- If using a different rice, adjust the liquid and cooking times according to the directions on the package.
- My sausage released very little grease, so there was nothing for me to soak up. If yours does, the paper towel method works great. Push the sausage to one side, tilt the pan up so the grease drains to the other side, and use tongs to soak it up. Then you can toss the paper towel in the trash!
Storage
- To store. Cool completely and store in the refrigerator for up to four days.
- To freeze. Cool completely and store in the freezer for up to two months.
- To defrost. Place in the refrigerator overnight or reheat in the microwave on the defrost setting.
How To Make This More Budget-Friendly
- Buying ingredients when they’re on sale is the easiest way to save money on food.
- Bone broth is expensive. Regular broth is fine (and cheaper) if you don’t care about extra protein.
- Add a can of Cannellini or white kidney beans to stretch this for next to nothing!
- Long-grain rice is already inexpensive, but feel free to use whatever is the most affordable at your store that day. Make sure to adjust the recipe ratios accordingly.
Check out our vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, and low-carb recipes if you have food sensitivities! |
Serve This With
- 10-Minute Tangy Tomato Dressing Recipe
- Foolproof Butter & Lemon Baked Rice Recipe
- Easy Oven Roasted Broccoli Recipe
- Homemade Basil Pesto Recipe | Plus 25 Ways To Use It
If you try this recipe, I'd love to know! Comment below or tag me on Instagram. Be sure to sign up for my email list so you don’t miss out on anything new. Thanks so much for being here, friends! |
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Italian Sausage Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 2 cups unsalted chicken bone broth
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
Instructions
- Place a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid on the stove over medium-high heat.
- Add the Italian sausage and seasonings.
- Combine the sausage mixture using a firm spatula or meat chopper.
- Cook the sausage until there is no more visible pink.
- Move the sausage to one side, and soak up extra grease with a paper towel.
- Keeping the heat on medium-high, add the rice.
- Stir and cook for about one minute or until fragrant.
- Add the bone broth and bring to a simmer.
- Turn the heat down to low, cover tightly, and cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for five minutes.
- Gently fluff with a fork, add the parsley, and fluff again.
- Taste and adjust the salt.
Notes
Nutrition
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Several pictures show chopped onions but there is no mention of them in the ingredients. I can figure out when to add them but that needs to be corrected.
Good morning! I just fixed it! Thank you so much for letting me know. I like to add the onions with the sausage so they get nice and caramelized, but you could also add them with the rice if you want them to have a little more texture!