Cheesy Sausage and Rice is one-pan comfort food made with white rice, onions, bell peppers, smoked sausage, and cheddar cheese. Try my Chicken and Rice Casserole for another deliciously cheesy dish made with rice.
Cheesy Sausage and Rice
With cool, fall nights coming our way, this Cheesy Sausage and Rice dish is perfect to warm you up. It is also satisfying, filling, and makes plenty to feed an entire family. This creamy dish would be delicious paired with a basket of breadsticks and a side of green beans.
Cheesy Sausage and Rice Ingredients
Smoked Sausage: I used a ring of smoked sausage that I cut into thin slices. (You could also dice the sausage.) Andouille, chorizo, or Polish kielbasa would be great substitutes. Turkey sausage would also work.
Bell Peppers: The green and red bell peppers not only give the dish some added flavor but also some color. You could stick to one color of bell pepper if you prefer.
Chicken Broth: Use two cups of broth OR use two teaspoons of chicken bouillon powder mixed with two cups of boiling water.
Red Pepper Flakes: The crushed red pepper flakes give a little kick to the cheesy sausage and rice. You can leave this ingredient out if preferred.
How to Make Cheesy Sausage and Rice
This dish is made in one 15-inch, oven-safe skillet, which makes for easy cleanup! To get started, heat up the oil in the skillet and sear the slices of sausage for 2-3 minutes per side, or until browned.
Next, remove the skillet from the heat and add the onion, bell peppers, garlic, rice, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, one cup of cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Then, top the mixture with the 4 pats of butter (equally spaced) and the remaining cup of cheese.
Cover the skillet with aluminum foil and bake the cheesy sausage and rice in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the cheese is hot and bubbly. Serve topped with parsley and salt to taste.
Can I Freeze this Dish?
Yes! This is an easy dish to freeze. To freeze the cooked sausage and rice, let it cool completely. Then, transfer the cheesy sausage and rice to a freezer-safe container. Cover the dish with a lid and then completely cover the dish with aluminum foil. Label and date the container. You could also freeze portions for easy meals.
When ready to eat, let the dish thaw in the refrigerator, still covered. Warm it up in the microwave or oven. Do not re-freeze once thawed. It will last in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Cheesy Sausage and Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ring (13.5 ounces) smoked sausage, or kielbasa, sliced into ¼-inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 2 cups instant white rice
- 2 cans (10.75 ounces each) cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups (480 g) chicken broth
- 2 cups (226 g) mild cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup (½ stick / 57 g) unsalted butter, sliced into 4 pats
- parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Add olive oil to a 15-inch oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the sausage and sear it on each side until browned, 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Remove the skillet from heat and add the onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, garlic, rice, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, 1 cup of cheese, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Top with pats of butter (evenly spaced) and the remaining shredded cheddar cheese.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake another 20 minutes, or until cheese is hot and bubbly.
- Top with parsley. Salt to taste.
Did you make this recipe?
You can tag me at @iamhomesteader.
We LOVE this recipe! It is absolutely delicious! The hardest part of the recipe is cleaning up the iron skillet afterwards I’ve made it ny times and shared it on facebook and I only do that if I really love it.
Can I prepare this recipe through step 3 (before it goes in the oven) and then refrigerate until the next day and then bake it off?
I’ve made this many times now and I LOVE it. I don’t even like sausage all that much but the rest is so good I love it all! It makes my hubby happy…so important!
One of my favorites now. Made it 2 times. I used Andouille sausage with 1/2 recipe. It is a perfectly balanced and forgiving recipe.
Did you half the cook time also or did you cook it the same amount of time? I wanted to try this but the serving is way too large and was afraid if I halved it the cook time would be way off.
I wanted to make this recipe but I didn’t have some of the ingredients. So I was inspired to make a risotto version without the cream of chicken soup and subbing a poblano pepper for the bells. It was delicious.
Can this be made in a crockpot?
I am not a fan of sausage but I LOVED this recipe! My husband and I both enjoyed it so much. It is a definite keeper. I loved it so much I shared it on facebook (I only share recipes that Ived tried and LOVE) My DIL is fixing it tonight for their family. Thanks for sharing!
Is this recipe freezer friendly?
You are absolutely one of my favorites! This is a favorite recipe of ours but I have actually never used the oven. I just leave it on the stovetop, covered, and it works great. I will use the oven method soon.
This is delicious ! Nice cozy fulfilling recipe. Everyone loved it and I will definitely make this again.
Thank you so much.
My family loved this recipes. They like trying new dishes; this one was a hit.
Could you clarify the butter amount? It’s says 1/4 cup and also 1/2 stuck?
Going to make this dish tonight but I only have jasmine rice. How long should I cook and how much broth should I use? Thanks…
1/4 cup is the same as a half stick. One stick of butter is 1/2 cup.
My apologies I read the recipe wrong👍
Super easy, affordable dinner with the potential to switch out ingredients to change up the flavors. Big hit with us! We subbed one bell pepper for a jalapeño and it was delish. Absolutely will make it again!
Outstanding comfort food! This was definitely a winner at our house.
This was delicious. Ended up kind of like a risotto. The only thing I did different was I sautéed the onions, peppers, and garlic before mixing In the other stuff. Just a personal preference. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you so much.
Do I have to use instant rice?
anyone know if regular rice can be used. Don’t fo instant
I subbed regular rice, doubled the chicken broth and cooked for an hour. It came out great
Can I put it in a oven safe casserole dish after browning the sausage? I don’t have an over ready skillet
Yes
Can you make this recipe with cauliflower rice?
Is the rice precooked when added to other ingredients?
The instant rice is NOT precooked. It cooks with the dish. 🙂
I did cook the cauliflower rice, as it is frozen. It’s in the oven now, we’ll see if it comes out soupy.
Recipe looks great and I’m planning to try it. I’m confused about the chicken broth. It calls for 2 cups of broth or 1 cup water with 1 tsp bouillon. Do you mean 2 cups of water with 2 tsp bouillon? I’m guessing yes, but would appreciate knowing for sure. Want to make sure it isn’t supposed to be 1 cup chicken broth.
My apologies!!! You are absolutely correct and I have updated the post with the correct amounts. 🙂