12 Ways to Turn Chicken Sausage Into an Easy Weeknight Dinner

Kelli Foster
Kelli FosterSenior Contributing Food Editor
Kelli is a Senior Contributing Food Editor for Kitchn. She's a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and author of the cookbooks, Plant-Based Buddha Bowls, The Probiotic Kitchen, Buddha Bowls, and Everyday Freekeh Meals. She lives in New Jersey.
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updated May 4, 2023
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Chicken and lentil stew in a slow cooker
Credit: Joe Lingeman

One thing I always keep stashed in my fridge: a pack (or two) of chicken sausage. I consider it my in-case-of-emergency dinner solution. May I suggest you do the same? Partnered with a few items from the pantry or the freezer, it’s a super-handy ingredient for easy weeknight dinners. It also comes in a ton of different flavors — spicy andouille, Italian herb, apple-chardonnay, and pesto, to name a few.

For an Italian-ish sausage that has some heat without being too spicy, we love this organic option from Bilinksis, but try a few out and figure out what suits you — and what you’re cooking — best.

To get you started, here are 12 easy and delicious ways to turn a pack chicken sausage into dinner, from one-skillet and one-pan meals to soups, stews, and sandwiches.

Chicken Sausage Dinner Ideas

1 / 12
Broccolini, Chicken Sausage, and Orzo Skillet
Turn chicken sausage, quick-cooking orzo, and broccolini into an easy one-skillet pasta dinner with this weeknight-friendly recipe.
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2 / 12
5-Ingredient Sausage, Kale, and Sweet Potato Soup

Browned sausage, tender sweet potatoes, just-wilted kale, and Italian herbs infuse store-bought broth in this hearty soup.

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3 / 12
Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Chicken Sausage

An easy recipe using Trader Joe's sweet potato gnocchi roasted on a sheet pan, but feel free to swap in any other kind of gnocchi.

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4 / 12
Sauerkraut and Sausage Roll
A recipe for spicy chicken sausage with sauerkraut and roasted red peppers on a pretzel roll.
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5 / 12
Sausage and Lentil Soup

While any variety of chicken sausage will work in this dump dinner, I love using andouille-style. It’s packed with a little heat and lots of flavor and is an easy way to jazz up lentils.

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6 / 12
Sheet Pan Italian Sausage and Veggies
This sheet pan dinner pairs Italian-style smoked chicken sausage with a colorful mix of chopped veggies for a satisfying 30-minute meal.
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7 / 12
Weeknight Orzo Paella
An easy recipe for a skillet shrimp and orzo dinner inspired by Spanish paella.
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8 / 12
Gnocchi Skillet with Chicken Sausage and Tomatoes

Four ingredients and about 15 minutes is all it takes to get this family favorite on the table. The recipe calls for nine ounces of chicken sausage, but I can tell you from experience that you won’t regret tossing in the whole 12-ounce pack.

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9 / 12
30-Minute Sheet Pan Potatoes and Chicken Sausage

If you’re already breaking out a baking sheet for potatoes, use the extra real estate on the pan to roast some sausages to make a meal out of it.

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10 / 12
White Bean and Chicken Sausage Stew

This soup is one of those magical recipes with just a few ingredients, and all the usual suspects — carrot, onion, beans, chicken broth — that nevertheless turns out to have such a deep, wonderful flavor you don’t mind that it makes enough to feed you for a week.

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11 / 12
Polenta Bowl with Garlicky Spinach, Chicken Sausage and Poached Egg

This dish is an easy mix of things that you may already have in your fridge, namely chicken sausage, a bag of baby spinach, and a handful of cherry tomatoes.

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12 / 12
Cauliflower and Chicken Sausage Casserole

For those who feel that vegetables get short shrift in casseroles this dish makes cauliflower is the star. And it is delicious.

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Chicken
easy
Ingredient
quick
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