Chicken, Sausage & Peppers!

All in all, sausage and peppers is one of my favorite meals of all time. It is perfect any time of year, and it can be eaten on its own, or with a variety of side dishes. You can also eat sausage and peppers as a part of any meal and even snacks! One of the single most versatile meals! BONUS: This recipe is made on a sheet pan – minimal clean-up!

Usually, sausage and peppers runs SUPER high in fat – because well, sausage is super high in fat. For this meal, I used a much lower fat sausage, and added in good ol’ chicken breast to up the protein without adding too much fat. I also decided to use more Italian inspired ingredients, but you could swap that for your favorites.

This recipe makes 6 nicely sized servings, at 17g protein, and only 5g fat and 4g carbs. This means that you could easily double up on servings and still be within a reasonable count for carbs and fats (especially is paired with a leaner side dish or eaten on its own).

Here is the recipe for the easy, sheet-pan Chicken, Sausage & Peppers:

• 1 package Thin N Trim Chicken Sausage – Spinach & Red Onion
• 5 1/2 oz Cooked, Cubed Chicken Breast
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 clove Minced Garlic
• 200 g (mixed) Red & Yellow Bell Pepper, sliced thin
• 100 g Sweet Onion, sliced thin
• 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp Basil Paste
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil. Cut your sausage links into 1/2″ slices and add to the sheet pan with onion, peppers, garlic and basil paste. Drizzle oil over the top and mix with a wooden spoon.

Place on the center rack of the oven for 15 minutes, stirring/flipping every 5 minutes. After 15 minutes, add the cubed chicken breast and stir. Cook for an extra 5 minutes to warm chicken breast and combine flavors. Remove from oven once onion and peppers are cooked, and chicken is warmed through.

For this recipe, I use cooked chicken and add it at the last minute (so it doesn’t dry out). The purpose of this is to reduce the amount of water in the pan that would be created by cooking the chicken with the sausage and peppers. The vegetables already make a decent amount of water while cooking, and this helps reduce that to avoid sogginess.

The Thin N Trim chicken sausage is the key ingredient here in keeping the recipe lower in fat than many counterparts. Plus, adding in some chicken breast helps pack in more protein without adding more sodium.

There are SO many things you can do with your Chicken, Sausage & Peppers once you’ve cooked the whole pan. Here are some ideas:

• Add to eggs or egg whites and create a flavorful, high protein omelet!
• Put it over rice, for a stir-fry!
• Top zuchinni noodles, or add it to regular or protein-packed pasta!
• Wrap it in a tortilla with cheese and sauce of your choosing!
• Squeeze it between two tortillas with cheese and top with sour cream for a delicious quesadilla!
• Add some red sauce to the recipe and put it on a hollowed out sub roll for a hot hoagie!
• Place over tortilla chips (bonus points if you bake them at home) and add low fat cheese for nachos!
• Top a salad with this mixture, some tortilla strips and salsa ranch dressing, add tomatoes and cucumbers for more volume with low calories!
• Swap out the Italian style seasonings and Spinach & Onion sausage for Buffalo Thin N Trim sausage and dry ranch seasoning for a different take!

The possibilities are endless with a recipe this simple and tasty.