Sausage and Rice Skillet
Fluffy, short grain rice, cooked with savory pork, onion, tomatoes, bell pepper, and garlic! There’s so much flavor and texture in every bite. Plus, this one-skillet meal is ready in about 30 minutes!
Short grain rice makes all the difference in the world! I chose short grain, Spanish rice for this dish because I wan’t a paella-like meal. Spanish rice absorbs liquid incredibly well (thus flavor) and stays firm, without getting mushy. If you don’t have Spanish rice, you can use arborio or sushi rice instead.
This dish is jam-packed with flavor thanks to the pork and veggies. The savory ground pork creates the base flavor for this rice dish, and then the simmering broth is spiked with tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. There’s also a bit of oregano, which adds a great floral note to the sauce.
What kind of pork should you use? I used regular ground pork sausage; not the links. You can certainly use your favorite link sausage, just remove the casing before cooking so the meat breaks up and spreads out in the pan (that way you’re guaranteed a nice balance of pork, rice, and vegetables in every mouthful).
You can make this dish spicy if you want. This dish isn’t necessary spicy, unless you use spicy/hot pork sausage and add more red pepper flakes. To add heat, add more red pepper flakes, or add hot sauce or cayenne pepper when you add the oregano. You can also serve extra hot sauce on the side.
This is a great way to use up leftover short grain rice! I don’t know about you, but I’m often left with half a package of short grain rice after making paella and/or risotto. The package sits there for weeks, until I stumble upon it while looking for something else! This recipe gives you a chance to utilize the rice in a completely new way!
Sausage and Rice Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground pork sausage, or sausage of choice
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 bell pepper, any color, seeded and diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more/less to taste
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup Spanish rice, such as paella rice, or any short grain rice
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 15- ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, optional
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned, breaking up the meat as it cooks.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the vegetables soften. Add the oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and stir to coat.
- Stir in the rice and cook for 30 seconds. Add the broth and tomatoes and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.
- Season to taste with salt and black pepper, garnish with parsley (if using) and serve.