Sheet Pan Meal: Sausage and Veggies
Hola, hi! Raise your hand if you’ve ever made a sheet pan meal before.
Raise your hand if you became slightly addicted to sheet pan meals.
Am I the only one with their hand still up? I absolutely love making sheet pan meals. There’s chopping, aluminum foil, throwing food onto a baking vessel, cooking, waiting, and throwing aluminum foil away. So. Little. Mess.
This recipe is one the Payaso and I could eat every week because it’s super duper delicious, and a breeze to make (what does that expression even mean?).
Sausage and Veggie Sheet Pan Meal
Ingredients:
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes
- 1 package smoked sausage, cut into coins
- 1 head each of broccoli and cauliflower cut into similar size as the sweet potatoes
- 2 bell peppers cut into strips and then cut in half
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- Canola or olive oil
- 1 heaping tablespoon each of dried basil, oregano, garlic powder and paprika
- Salt/pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Add ingredients in their order to a foil lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle a good amount of oil on top of ingredients.
- Season with spices, salt and pepper. Using your hands, combine all ingredients together.
- Cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Mix, and cook uncovered another 20-25 minutes. Veggies are done when they have some caramelization on them, and potatoes are easily pierced by a fork.
- If desired, sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese.
I will admit that generally speaking, we can fit everything onto one sheet pan; however, tonight required two pans. I used a sheet pan and a large baking pan. I’m of the mindset that people don’t season their food enough so here are pictures before the pans went into the oven. Do you see all those little warrior specks of seasoning ready to go to battle the war on bland food? Confession: I don’t measure my spices for this recipe. I take the spice jar, open the side with the three little holes, and shake around the entire pan. Sometimes, okay a lot of times, I say something like, “oh $#*!” because too much of a particular spice has gone into my dish, but the truth is the food always tastes great. The Payaso says I add salt like I’m “making it rain.” Go crazy, keep your tablespoons clean and trust your culinary judgment. Become besties with the pepper grinder. When you think you’ve added enough fresh, cracked pepper, turn that grinder five more times before kissing the grinder goodnight.
Do you see that one cauliflower in the upper left of the first picture? That’s the kind of caramelization you are looking for. There’s something truly magical that happens when veggies are roasted and have those beautiful, brown spots. Look for those browned edges before you consider the dish done because they really do add a huge pop of flavor. Like so many of my other recipes, go buck wild when it comes to the ingredients you choose. Use up what you need to use in your fridge. Brussel sprouts, green beans, asparagus, and/or butternut squash would all be great additions to this dinner. Gosh, maybe even some sliced apple would add a nice sweetness (add a pinch of crushed red pepper or cayanne pepper to balance the sweet). See how easy it is to come up with your own variation? Want dinner on the table 10 minutes faster? Use prechopped veggies from the market. Enjoy and, if you become addicted, don’t say I didn’t warn you at the beginning of this post. Buen provecho!
