The trick with this Fried Sausage and Pepper Orzo is that the orzo never touches a separate pot of boiling water. Instead, it gets toasted right in the same pan as the sausage, peppers, and onion, so it picks up all that savoury, slightly sweet flavour from the drippings before the stock is even added. It’s a small change in order, but it’s the reason this comes out tasting so much more complex than a quick one-pan dinner usually does.
I make this one on repeat because it asks so little of me and gives back so much in return. There’s no extra pots to wash and nothing to babysit on the stove, just one pan doing all the work while I do next to nothing. My kind of meal. It’s plenty filling as a main on its own, but you can toss a salad together alongside it if you want to feel like you made a whole meal happen. Either way, this one is going straight into your dinner rotation. Want more one pan dinners? Try my One Pan French Onion Orzo and One Skillet Fried Sausage, Potatoes & Peppers.
😍 Why You’ll Love This Fried Sausage and Pepper Orzo
One pan, one pot, done: everything cooks together in the same pan, so there’s minimal cleanup and maximum flavour.
Ready in under 30 minutes: this comes together fast enough for a weeknight but tastes like it simmered all day.
Sweet, savoury, and cheesy: crispy sausage, sweet fried peppers, and melted mozzarella all in one bite.
Simple ingredients, big payoff: nothing fancy here, just a handful of pantry staples that turn into something really satisfying.
🥘 Ingredients You’ll Need To Make This Fried Sausage and Pepper Orzo
Olive oil: used to fry the peppers, onion, and sausage, building flavour right from the first step.
Garlic: minced and sautéed to add warmth without overpowering the dish.
Red peppers: sliced and fried until just softened, adding natural sweetness that balances the savoury sausage.
Yellow onion: thinly sliced and cooked alongside the peppers.
Italian sausage: casings removed and cut into bite-sized pieces, then fried until browned for that crispy, savoury bite in every forkful.
Orzo: toasted briefly in the pan before the stock goes in, which helps it develop a little extra flavour as it cooks.
Chicken stock: this is what cooks the orzo directly in the pan.
Mozzarella: shredded and stirred in at the end until melted, giving the dish its creamy, cheesy finish.
Salt: added to taste, keeping in mind the stock and cheese both bring their own saltiness.
Pepper: for a little bit of background heat and depth.
Dried oregano: a classic Italian seasoning that ties the whole dish together.
Parmesan (optional): grated over top right before serving for an extra hit of salty, nutty flavour.
Fresh basil (optional): torn or roughly chopped and added both during cooking and as a garnish for freshness.
✔ How To Make Fried Sausage and Pepper Orzo
Begin by preparing the garlic, red peppers, and onions. Set aside until ready to use.
Remove the casings from the Italian sausage and chop into bite sized pieces. Set aside until ready to use.
To a large frying pan set to medium heat, add the olive oil. Add the red peppers and onions and cook for 2-3 minutes, just until softened.
Add the garlic and spices and sauté for an additional minute.
🤝 Sammy’s Tip for Fried Sausage and Pepper Orzo
- If you are using a salted chicken stock, skip the added salt.
- Stir every 5 minutes or so to ensure the orzo doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add the chopped Italian sausage and fry for 3 to 4 minutes just until the sausage begins to brown.
Add the orzo and allow it to toast in the pan for a minute before adding the chicken stock.
Add the chicken stock and a handful of fresh basil.
Reduce heat to low/simmer, cover and let cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the orzo is cooked and the majority of the chicken stock has been absorbed. Remove the lid during the last 5 minutes of cook time.
Once the orzo is cooked and the stock has been absorbed, add the shredded cheese and mix until melted. Taste here to see if you need to add more salt.
Garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh basil and enjoy.
🗒 Variations
Spicy version: swap the Italian sausage for hot Italian sausage, or add a pinch of red pepper flakes when you sauté the garlic.
Extra veggies: stir in some baby spinach or chopped kale near the end of cooking for added colour and nutrients.
Different cheese: try provolone or fontina in place of mozzarella for a slightly different melt and flavour.
Herb swap: fresh oregano or thyme can be used in place of dried for a brighter, more aromatic finish.
🗒 Substitutions
Sausage: chicken or turkey sausage both work well here if you want a lighter option.
Peppers: any bell pepper colour works, or try a mix of red and yellow for more variety.
Mozzarella: provolone, fontina, or even a smoked cheese all melt nicely in this dish.
🍴 Leftovers? Lucky you.
Leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds, or warm it in a small pan over medium heat with a splash of chicken stock or water to loosen it back up.
🤔 FAQ’s
Can I use a different pasta instead of orzo?
Orzo is what gives this dish its texture, since it cooks almost like a risotto and soaks up the stock as it simmers. If you want to swap it out, small pasta shapes like ditalini or pastina will work in a similar way, though you may need to adjust the cook time slightly.
What can I use instead of Italian sausage?
Chicken or turkey sausage both work well here if you’re looking for something a bit lighter. Just keep in mind the flavour will be a little more mild, so you may want to add a touch more seasoning.
Is this recipe spicy?
Not as written, but it’s easy to add heat if you like. A pinch of red pepper flakes when you sauté the garlic, or swapping in hot Italian sausage, will do the trick.
Can I make this ahead of time?
This dish is best made fresh, since the orzo continues to absorb liquid the longer it sits. That said, leftovers still reheat well, so it’s a great option for meal prep even if it’s not quite as creamy the next day.
Can I freeze this?
Freezing isn’t recommended, as the texture of the orzo tends to break down and turn mushy once thawed. This one’s really best enjoyed fresh or as fridge leftovers within a few days.
Do I need to remove the sausage casings?
Yes, removing the casings lets the sausage brown properly and break into those crispy, bite-sized pieces throughout the dish. It only takes a minute and makes a big difference in the final texture.
👩🍳 Hungry For More?
If you loved this Fried Sausage and Pepper Orzo recipe, then make sure to check out a few of my other recipes you may also love:
- Sausage Tortellini Soup
- One Skillet Fried Sausage, Potatoes & Peppers
- Stuffed Peppers with Sausage and Boursin
- Spicy Penne Rosé with Sausage & Spinach
- French Onion Chicken & Orzo
- Green Goddess Chicken and Orzo Soup
- Creamy Shrimp Orzo with Asparagus and Peas
💌 Let’s Stay Connected
Keep in touch with me on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Pinterest! If you do make this Fried Sausage and Pepper Orzo recipe (or any recipe of mine) don’t forget to leave a review.
Fried Sausage & Pepper Orzo
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 red peppers, sliced
- 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 4 Italian sausage links, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1½ cups orzo, uncooked
- 3½ cups chicken stock, low sodium
- 1 cup mozzarella, shredded
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- parmesan, optional to garnish
- handful fresh basil, optional to garnish
Instructions
- Begin by preparing the garlic, red peppers, and onions.Set aside until ready to use.
- Remove the casings from the Italian sausage and chop into bite sized pieces. Set aside until ready to use.
- To a large frying pan set to medium heat, add the olive oil. Add the red peppers and onions and cook for 2-3 minutes, just until sofened.
- Add the garlic and spices and sauté for an additional minute.Sammys tip: if you are using a salted chicken stock, skip the added salt.
- Add the chopped Italian sausage and fry for 3 to 4 minutes just until the sausage begins to brown.
- Add the orzo and allow it to toast in the pan for a minute before adding the chicken stock.
- Add the chicken stock and a handful of fresh basil.
- Reduce heat to low/simmer, cover and let cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the orzo is cooked and the majority of the chicken stock has been absorbed.Remove the lid during the last 5 minutes of cook time.Sammy's tip: stir every 5 minutes or so to ensure the orzo doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Once the orzo is cooked and the stock has been absorbed, add the shredded cheese and mix until melted.Taste here to see if you need to add more salt.
- Garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh basil and enjoy.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Let’s stay connected!
Keep in touch with me on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest! Also, if you do make this recipe (or any recipe of mine for that matter) be sure to tag #sammymontgoms so I can see your re-creations!
Do you boil sausage before hand? Also could you use rice instead of orzo.
No need to boil the sausage before, just fry it right in the pan with the veggies. I have never made this dish with rice but I imagine it would work well!
This was amazing! I made it last night after seeing your post on TikToc. Husband doesn’t like peppers so I substituted what vege I had on hand – zucchini. The flavors were so good. I seasoned with Italian, parsley and basil dry seasonings too. This will definitely be a staple in our monthly rotation!
Although, once I added the 4 cups of chicken stock it did take about 20-22 minutes for the stock to get absorbed vs the 10-12 minutes in the recipe. I wouldn’t hesitate to add spinach to it as well, but probably when stock is about 2/3rd’s of the way soaked up.
Can’t wait to try your other recipes!! Thank you for sharing!!
I had to do the same! Followed recipe to a T but ended up cooking with lid on for about 18 min (stirring occasionally) then taking off lid and letting the rest of the liquid soak up for about 5 min.
Delish and easy!!
I’ve made this recipe several times, it’s one of our family’s favorites. I use ground sausage instead of the links but just as good.
Hello Sarah, thank you for taking the time to send in a review. So glad you like the recipe.
– Sammy
I made this, awesome flavors but cooking covered like the recipe screwed it up for me 😩 it had ton of liquid left after 15+ mins and I realized too late to take lid off to allow liquid to escape and orzo became mushy.. will try again some day with uncovered cooking.
My family loved this!!! Into the rotation it goes!
Yay! Thanks for sharing this feedback Vicki!!
Found you on Tik Tok. I’ve made some of your recipes! Looking forward to making this orzo dish.
Excited to have found your recipes here.
Thanks again for great quick meals
Geo
Thanks so much for this comment! I am so glad you’ve found my website and it will be helpful for you.
All the best,
Sam
I found your recipes on Tik Tok during your Date Night Series…. Loved, loved, loved what you shared. I have added so many of your recipes into my rotation. My husband’s favorite was the pretzel chicken! You are by far my favorite chef to follow and I love that you bring wine into your meals!!
Well you are the sweetest ever! Thank you for finding me here and trying my recipes! Happy eating. xo
Loved it!! Even the kids enjoyed it. Well, one gave it 55/5 and the other gave it a 3 because she can’t even handle black pepper and claimed the “mild” Italian sausages were “like fire”. 🔥 But still loved the flavour 🤣🤣. Keep these coming! Delicious 👌🏻
Love this review lol! So awesome! Thanks for sharing!!
Made this last night. It turned out Sooo Good!!! Definitely making it again!! Love your videos ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks so so much for this review and thank you for the support! xo
Perfect way to use up the last peppers from the garden!
Hope you love it!
AMAZING. So delicious. I made this with a yellow and orange pepper. Seriously one of the best recipes I’ve ever tried. To be honest, I actually loved it without the cheese – so silky and flavourful.
OH this is so awesome, I am so glad you loved it Rynnel!! Thank you for this review!
I made this tonight and it was delicious, will definitely make again! Like some other reviews I had to cook mine a little longer than the recipe stated. I had to make some tweaks based on what I had in the kitchen (yellow and orange pepper instead of red) and I used a blend of Tex Mex cheese instead of mozzarella. Overall, loved it!I haven’t made orzo many times, would it freeze well?
Thanks for this review Megan! I wouldn’t recommend freezing this one, I find orzo doesn’t freeze well. In my opinion it comes out too dry. Thanks again for sharing a review.
Warmest,
Sam
Delicious and came together so easily! I forgot to buy fresh basil so I substituted with dried and added spinach I had on hand for color. I will definitely make this again.
That sounds so delicious Mandy. Thanks for this review, I appreciate it so much!
Thanks for this! My fiancé and I are building our repertoire before our Italy honeymoon – this recipe is a keeper, for sure! We couldn’t find orzo at our grocery store (!?!?), so we used ditalini instead. Paired this dish with a 2021 montepulciano. 🤌🏽
Hi Izzy! OMG YUM! Thanks for this review 🙂 Also – how dare your grocery store not have orzo lol.
We tried this for the first time tonight and it was definitely a hit. Will be making this again soon.
Hi Amber, thank you so much for sharing a review! It means so much to me!
This is my second time making this in two weeks and it’s better than the first time. Definitely recommend!! So good and flavorful.
I made this last week and holy s*%# it was so good! I had it for lunch and dinner multiple times. I think next time I’ll add spinach just to have one more veggie but definitely staying in my recipe rotation!
This recipe was super fun!
I ended up with something way soupier than you instructions, so I cooked another cup of orzo separately and added things afterwards.
There is clearly a mismatch here.
Everything turned out great afterwards!
A new family favorite. So easy and delicious!
Yay! That makes me so happy to hear Lauren. Thanks for sharing some feedback it means so much to me!
DELICIOUS! But just a heads up 3 cups of broth is plenty, can always add more if needed!
Glad you liked it Amanda! xo
Another winner! My kids are 15 and I’m trying to teach them to cook. Gave them this one, but the prep time took almost double. But who cares! I was relaxing on the couch so they can take all the time they want!
I had them brown the meat first so they could drain some of the grease.
Hi Nicole! Thats so great how the kids cooked this one, even if it took them 2 hours….they STILL COOKED! Thats a win win in my books. So glad you all enjoyed it.
This was so great and simple! I have been wanting to try and cook orzo for a while. So j was excited when j say this recipe on insta. I personally am not a huge fan of sausage so I definitely would use less than what is in the recipe. But overall I will be making this recipe again!
Hi Jade! Thanks for this feedback! Yes totally use more/less of things you like and don’t like. I am glad you enjoyed the recipe and will be making again! Have a great day.
Sam
OMG! I just made this for dinner for the first time and it was incredibly delicious! Perfect as a last weekend of summer dish. I did tweak it a bit: replaced one of the four cups of broth (I used chicken broth) with a cup of white wine and let it reduce. May used 4 ounces of the mozzarella (because they’re all I had) and added a couple of cloves of extra garlic (because I love it). But it was such an easy yet very delicious one pot dish. My family loved it! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes and for helping us cook delicious meals without a lot of hassle. Buon apetito! ❤️🍝🍷
This is an embarrassing question, but do you think I could I substitute frozen chicken & roasted pepper meatballs? I have all the other ingredients and my husband isn’t a fan of pork sausage. Maybe if I cook the meatballs first and crumble them up into the recipe?
Definitely very tasty!
This will be added to the rotation in our house. Super easy! The flavors were perfect. I used spicy sausage for a kick. 10/10 would recommend!
So tasty! After following Sammy on instagram for several months, I finally gave one of her recipes a try. and let me tell you what, it won’t be the last! This recipe was simple and delicious. This will now be in my rotation of meals to make that will give me leftovers, which is super important for me. Keep the recipes coming!
Hi Mikayla! Thank you so much for taking the time to reach out. This is so sweet of you and I am so happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Fantastic! We were out of Italian sausage (the horror!) so I made this with a Cajun-inspired twist – Andouille sausage, Cajun seasoning, fresh thyme sprigs instead of basil and a healthy dash of Frank’s hot sauce at the end. Topped it with fresh parsley and sliced green onions. It took probably 3x longer to cook, but the end result was delicious and reminded me of a cross between jambalaya and risotto. I look forward to making the recipe as written next time and trying other flavor combos in the future (Mexican, Greek, etc.). 😀
Hi Nicole! Thank you so much for sharing. I am so happy you enjoyed the muffins.They are one of my favs too 🙂
Made this tonight and it was sooo good. Real wintery stick to your ribs dish. Can’t wait to try the leftover.😋
Delish!
I found that slicing the peppers super thin allowed it to be flavorful without overpowering the other ingredients.
First time using orzo and now I’m hooked!
Thank you!
Hey Nicole! Thanks for this comment, really glad you enjoyed the dish!
Great idea for a twist on sausage and peppers! Thank you! I threw in some spinach at the end! 🙂
Love me a ONE-PAN dinner!!! Merry Christmas 🙂
Nancy
Made this for dinner tonight and it’s delicious! My only issue, like a few other comments, was the amount of liquid. I ended up taking the lid off and also spooning a little liquid out because I didn’t have time to wait for it all to absorb with the lid on. I think I’ll add a bit less broth the next time I make it. Otherwise it’s great! And super easy too
This was so delicious! I did change a few things, added broccoli because we don’t all like peppers, and I didn’t have mozzarella so subbed with cheddar cheese. It was a hit and so delicious! And it was pretty easy!
Sammy you KILLED it with this one. I think about this dish weekly. Adding to the monthly rotation for sure!
1 1/2 cups of orzo and 4 cups of broth — I was cooking on low, realized it was taking a long time so upped the heat to medium high. Took a total of 30 minutes after adding the broth.
So delicious, easy, and quick. We LOVE it. I actually used hot Italian sausage and it hit all the yummy notes. Thank you!
Will definitely make this soon! Looks delicious 😋
I recently made your homemade chicken broth and my family loved it! I’ve made some of your other recipes as well – so many more I want to make. Thank you for the amazing and easy recipes!
I added spinach to this recipe to give it some green color! Very good recipe!
Such a wonderful recipe. Quick and easy to make. As my daughter doesn’t usually like peppers, I used a chopper to make the pieces smaller. My family loved it. We also added some chilli flakes to spice it up.
This came together quickly and it was so delicious. Definitely a go to on those busy week day nights.
I love all of your Orzo recipes but I think k this is our favorite!!!
This recipe has become my husband and I’s FAVORITE. Simple and absolutely delicious, I love that it’s all in one pan. I use bone broth for a little extra protein 🙂 The broth and orzo timing can be a little tricky! But the outcome is always amazing.
Sammy, I made this this evening and it was a HUGE hit. All four of us enjoyed it. My picky (lots of allergies, bad cooking growing up) husband said it was good. My son said that he would be happy if this was in the rotation! I told them all that it was my “Canadian/Italian” wine drinking recipe source. :0) (We love the Italian Stuffed Pepper recipe as well) I think this was my first time using Orzo, which seems to be a crime? I am 1/2 Italian and always have a batch of sauce and meatballs in the freezer… Thank you for the go-to recipe’s that you provide. :0)
Hi Jenn! If your son says add it to the rotation – thats a win!!! Thanks for making my peppers too! And I am happy you found the love for orzo! LOL! Thanks for being here! xo-Sammy
Delicious quick meal. Made with Turkey Sausage. It did take closer to 20 minutes. Will definitely make this again. As they say, it’s a keeper!
So delicious! I made sure to stir the orzo every five minutes as directed which helped with it sticking. Loved this and will definitely make again. Thank you!
Delicious!
We LOVE this dish!! THANK YOU SO MUCH for Sharing it😘😘
I found this recipe on tik tok a year or two ago.
It is a staple in my house, I make it at least monthly.
It’s SO good, and SO easy. Would recommend to anyone