My Italian sausage rice recipe is a quick and easy one-pan meal! Savory Italian sausage cooked with bone broth for extra protein and an added rich, savory flavor that is so delicious you’ll keep going back for more! I used pork sausage, but you can use my homemade chicken Italian sausage to lighten it up.
It’s perfect for busy weeknights and holds up well, making it ideal for your work lunches or high-protein meal prep. If freezer meals are more your style, this freezes and defrosts beautifully! Add roasted broccoli for a sausage broccoli rice situation, and enjoy the leftovers the next morning with a drippy egg on top. We love eggs and rice around here!
Add this to your collection of high-protein recipes and easy dinners for when you’re craving comfort food and need something in under 30 minutes!
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!
Italian Sausage Rice Recipe
One of the easiest ways to incorporate 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, and flavorful broth high in collagen, the most abundant protein in the human body. Depending on the brand, just one cup yields 8 to 14 grams of protein. When I was going through tonsil cancer treatment, bone broth was one of the only things that I truly believe helped save me from winding up on a feeding tube! When I couldn’t eat, bone broth provided the nutrients I needed.
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. We are a rice-loving family, and this is our kind of comfort food.
- Affordable. The entire meal can be prepared for $12 or 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 necessary ingredients. Seasonings and herbs are optional and not required for the recipe to work and be delicious!
- Italian sausage. This adds most of the flavor to the dish. Use spicy, sweet, or mild – whatever you like.
- Long-grain rice. I prefer long-grain white rice, but any rice will work. See notes below.
- Onion. Some diced white onions add flavor and texture.
- Bone broth. Bone broth adds loads of protein and richness, but feel free to use any broth you prefer.
- Seasonings. A few simple seasonings add extra flavor, but they’re not necessary since 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 to 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, onion, and seasonings.
- Cook the sausage until there is no more visible pink (I use a meat chopper for this)
- 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 initially. 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 the leftovers for breakfast with a fried egg.
- Add some beans and use it as a burrito or taco filling.
- Use it in a rice bowl with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, scallions, and your favorite dressing.
- This filling is perfect for stuffing peppers. Just add canned tomatoes and cheese!
Recipe 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, and onions can 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.
- 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.
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 type of rice, adjust the liquid and cooking times according to the package directions.
How To Store
- 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.
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.
If you try this recipe, I'd love to hear about it! Comment below or tag me on Instagram. Be sure to sign up for my email list so you don’t miss any new updates. Thanks so much for being here, friends! Check out our vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, and low-carb recipes if you have food sensitivities! |
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, onion, and seasonings.
- 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.
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