Here is an easy pressure cooker sausage and peppers recipe you can make for under $10. It feeds 5 people and you only need 3 ingredients for a delicious dinner! Try it in your Instant Pot, Crockpot Express or Ninja Foodi tonight. If you loved our Crockpot sausage and vegetables this one is faster!

A white bowl contains two pressure cooker sausages submerged in a thick, chunky sauce with visible pieces of red, green, and yellow bell peppers. The sauce has a glossy texture, suggesting a rich, flavorful broth or gravy. The dish is set on a surface with a hint of colorful fabric.
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I love an easy recipe with vegetables and some sweet Italian sausage together. That’s where this pressure cooker sausage and peppers recipe meal came about. It tasted amazing inside hoagie rolls for dinner the other night! If you’re all about easy Instant Pot recipes this is going to go on the top of your list!(affiliate links present)

How Long to Cook Sausage and Peppers in Instant Pot

You only need about 6 minutes for this!! We have made sausage links in so many ways and love them all. It really is personal preference but if you’re ready for a really fast one pot meal, this is it! You can use Italian sausage or if you want some heat there are some great spicy versions out there too.

Ninja Foodi Sausage and Peppers

If all you have is a Crockpot Express or Ninja Foodi that is okay, they work the same way. For the latter use the lid that isn’t attached for this one.

You may have made Ninja Foodi sausage with the air fryer function but with the pressure cook function you’ll enjoy a whole new meal. To crisp at the end, follow the directions below and when done transfer the meat to the top and close the attached lid for a few minutes at 400 just to crisp.

If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:

For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

A white Instant Pot with a Star Wars theme sits on the kitchen counter, ready to tackle your favorite beef arm roast recipe. The digital display glows "On." Next to it lie a patterned cloth and some green onions, all against the backdrop of blue kitchen cabinets and a stovetop.

Pressure Cooker Sausage Peppers and Onions

Yes you can make Instant Pot brats all by themselves but if you want to add veggies and a savory thick sauce this is how it is done. Either one can be taken out when done and heaped on to hoagie rolls to eat that way. OR you can serve on a plate with a side dish like rice or a quinoa.

Ingredients

  1. 5-6 pork sausages
  2. 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
  3. 2 bell peppers
    1. really you can add more peppers and onions if you want
    2. buy extra and make a batch of green pepper jelly with them on the saute function next
  4. 1 onion 
  5. 3/4 cup of water – you’ll need to add some liquid in order to get it to come to pressure
    1. beef or chicken broth could be used too

The brand of spaghetti sauce really doesn’t matter, I get what is on sale. If you want this meal to be really cheap you can usually find a jar at the Dollar Store. Seriously, electric pressure cookers make this easy dinner possible in under 10 minutes.

Along with the meat and peppers you can always go with slices of onions too. The thicker you cut them the more firm they will remain. Not hard, they will soften quite a bit but if you don’t want them getting too too soft and falling apart I would keep that in mind. Once you fall in love with this one you can try our smoked sausages and too, there are so many different ways you can cook these babies.

smoked sausage

Frozen Sausage and Peppers in Instant Pot

  • Ensure that they aren’t in 1 huge clump. If stuck together, separate them. If you run under cool water they will break apart.
  • Add sausages to pot with all other ingredients. Then following instructions below.
  • Set to high for 8 minutes vs. 6., set valve to sealing
  • Quick release and slice one in half to ensure they’ve cooked through
  • If not just put back in and set pressure cooker to saute
  • Allow to bubble and finish cooking the sausages, 8 minutes should be plenty though.

I chose sweet like I use with our air fryer Johnsonville Italian sausage you see here because it is the style my husband prefers. They offer a spicy sausage version as well if you like a little heat.

What are sausage links?

They’re really a mixture of ground meat, fat, seasoning, and sometimes fillers packed into a casing. Then each one is tied or twisted to create individual links. These days most commercial sausages use synthetic casings.

    Pressure Cooker Sausage

    There are many types of links. You can find turkey or chicken versions that may be lower in fat but we typically choose Italian style pork. There are a lot out there at the store I know. It really doesn’t matter which you want to use for this since even if they are raw the high pressure will get them done.

    • Andouille is often times spicy and has a ton of flavor already inside so rarely needs a lot of other ingredients.
    • Bratwurst in oven is very popular and known to be eaten often in Germany
    • Chorizo is used a lot in Mexican dishes and is usually pretty spicy too
    • Italian Sausage is what I usually buy and used in this pressure cooker recipe

    What if your sausage is frozen? Once you’ve had this you’ll love our pressure cooking jambalaya too.

    Pressure Cooker Sausage 3

    How to Serve Instant Pot Sausage Peppers and Onions

    Sometimes I grab some hoagie style rolls to put them in. Other times I’ve served it over rice. I literally see what’s on sale and buy that! This is what you need to make this and then try our other Instant Pot sausage recipes.

    How to cook on the stove

    Want to make stove top sausage and onions? Follow directions below as far as layering your ingredients in a pot. Cover with a lid and set to medium heat. Stir intermittently until sausage is warm in middle, also allow peppers to soften to your liking too.

    There is no need for browning the sausages. If you really want to you could with a little olive oil at the beginning on saute.

    • The sausages I used was medium size. Typical of those in packages in the meat section of your grocery store.
    • If yours has thicker casings you may want to put it in for 8 minutes. 6 minutes always works well for us.

    Want to make Instant Pot sausage and mashed potatoes all cooked together?? Kinda’ like bangers and mash I suppose if you’ve had that.

    Pressure-Cooker-Sausage

    This is another idea you can take advantage of! We love one pot meals where you have a side dish and protein cooked together at the same time. This one wouldn’t be as low carb as the one in the recipe card below but SO good for kids.

    How do you cook perfect sausage?

    In my opinion it’s this way! I like how tender links become under pressure and mixed in with flavorful sausages with some veggies turns out so good.

    Here’s another way that’s awesome because once they’re tender, you can also get the outsides get nice and crispy too! I spoke about how to do this above. Let us know what you think of both. There are SO many possibilities I tell you.

    What sides to serve with sausage and peppers?

    1. No soak baked beans literally go with everything I say
    2. French fries are fun especially if you have kids you’re serving
    3. Coleslaw ready made or your own recipe brings a coolness to the overall dish
    4. Try a bed of mixed vegetables too
    5. Potato salad is an option
    6. Pressure cooker white rice is easy peasy to make
    A white bowl contains two pressure cooker sausages submerged in a thick, chunky sauce with visible pieces of red, green, and yellow bell peppers. The sauce has a glossy texture, suggesting a rich, flavorful broth or gravy. The dish is set on a surface with a hint of colorful fabric.
    5 from 3 votes

    Pressure Cooker Sausage

    By The Typical Mom
    Here is an easy and cheap pressure cooker sausage and peppers recipe you can make for under $10 and feeds 5 people! You only need just 3 ingredients to make in a Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot.
    Prep: 10 minutes
    Cook: 6 minutes
    Total: 16 minutes
    Servings: 5
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    Equipment

    • 1 pressure cooker

    Ingredients 

    • 6 sausage, links, we use sweet Italian sausage
    • 1 jar spaghetti sauce, 15 oz
    • 3/4 c water, or broth
    • 2 bell peppers, sliced
    • 1 onion, sliced

    Instructions 

    • Slice onion and bell peppers.
    • Pour 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of your pressure cooker.
    • Place sausages on top, not overlapping.
    • Put sliced onions and bell peppers on top and pour the remainder of your spaghetti sauce on top.
    • Pour 3/4 c of water into your jar of spaghetti sauce, put lid on and shake.
    • Pour this into your pressure cooker and put the pressure cooker lid on, close steam valve.
    • Set to pressure high for 6 minutes.
    • Do  a quick release and put sausage into hoagie rolls, on top of rice, or serve as is with peppers and onions from pot. Pour some sauce over the top and serve.

    Video

    Nutrition

    Serving: 3oz, Calories: 361kcal, Carbohydrates: 11g, Protein: 17g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 1365mg, Potassium: 819mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 2155IU, Vitamin C: 71.9mg, Calcium: 33mg, Iron: 2.7mg

    Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

    Additional Info

    Course: Dinner, Entree, Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Tried this recipe?Mention @thetypical_mom or tag #thetypicalmom!
    ninja foodi frozen sausage

    About The Typical Mom

    Justine is the creative mind behind The Typical Mom and The Typical Family on YouTube. She began blogging about easy recipes, budget friendly activities for kids, and fun family travel destinations in September 2012.

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    5 from 3 votes

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    7 Comments

    1. Super easy and delicious! Mine was frozen solid so I added 10 minutes which I really didn’t need to. Sauce was nice and thick! I added salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste! Yum!

    2. GAD!, I just wanted to get pressure and time, waded through all tour other words and sentences. Of course my search was, “pressure cook sausage,” and yours is a recipe. I would ruin my pressure cooker with just 3/4 cup of water, I’ll try 15 pounds, 10 minutes.

    3. Does adding the water make the sauce really thin? If i wanted to serve this over pasta would the sauce be too runny?