The Skinny on Chicken Sausage

The vacuum-sealed packaging keeps chicken sausages fresh for a while, so I’ll usually stock a couple packs to have on hand for dinners. I keep one pack of Italian-style around for subbing into other recipes that call for traditional Italian sausages and one pack of apple sausages for the quickest-ever dinner: I sear the sausages in a skillet, throw together a crisper drawer clean-out salad, and serve everything with a maple-Dijon dressing/dip.

Here are some of our other favorite dishes to make with chicken sausages.

Broccoli florets roast alongside chicken sausages in this satisfying dinner. Preheating a sheet pan in a hot oven is a great trick for jump-starting browning, so the sausages and broccoli both pick up flavorful charring. The roasted broccoli gets tossed with quick-cooking barley, Parmesan, pistachios, and garlic for a nutty, supersatisfying accompaniment to the seared sausages. We call for Italian-style, but I think a roasted garlic or spinach-and-feta flavor would be delicious too.

A shredded zucchini slaw makes an unexpectedly fresh side to simple grilled sausages. To start, shred your zucchini, seeds and all (you can use a box grater or a food processor here). Then, to help prevent a soggy slaw, salt it and let it sit in a colander while the salt draws out all that extra water. Toss the drained zucchini with onion, bell pepper, and a piquant honey mustard dressing. You can use any flavor of chicken sausages here, but I particularly like the spicy varieties for the grill.

Calling for store-bought pizza dough and sauce, these individual pizzas come together in no time. Along with chicken sausage, they’re loaded with high-impact toppings (no boring pizzas here!): funky Pecorino Romano cheese, spicy pickled cherry peppers, and a handful of vibrant fresh basil. Stick with Italian-style sausages here. (Note: This recipe calls for raw chicken sausages, but precooked can also be used. Just slice them into rounds before topping, and no need to worry about removing any casing.)