Sausage and Rice – One Pot!
This Cheesy Sausage and Rice Recipe is easy to make in One Pot and is served Casserole style! Use Italian, Chicken, or Ground sausage and add in some Bell Peppers for color and crunch.
Sausage and Rice
I have a weakness for creamy, cheesy rice, and nothing beats the flavors in this sausage. I happened to use chicken Sausage with Roasted Peppers and Asiago, but you can use any kind that you want, even ground sausage will work!
I love making casserole-style recipes like this, especially because it makes great freezer food for a quick lunch during the week.
Let’s get into everything you need to know so that you can get this one the table ASAP. Your family will love it.
Ingredients
The bottom of this post also contains recipe card with ingredients and full instructions.
- 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil, separated
- 11 oz. Sausage, see notes
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- ½ cup Yellow Onion, diced
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 2 ½ cups Chicken Broth
- 1 ¼ cups White Long Grain Rice, uncooked
- 1 small Red Bell Pepper, sliced
- 1 small Green Bell Pepper, sliced
- 10.75 oz. Cream of Chicken Soup- try my homemade version!
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- ¾ cup Milk
- 1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded- I use Heluva Good! Sharp Cheddar. It melts really well.
- 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes, optional
*Consider using unsalted butter and reduced sodium chicken broth/condensed soup if preferred.
How to Make It
Sear sausage in olive oil over medium heat to add color and texture. Remove and set aside. Add butter and onions to the pan, saute until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add chicken broth and rice. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover tightly and cook for 10 minutes.
Add bell peppers and replace cover, refrain from stirring. Cook for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and let sit with the cover on for 10 minutes to allow any rice on the bottom of the pot to release.
Return to low heat and add sour cream, milk, cream of chicken soup, and shredded cheddar. Stir to combine.
Add sausage and heat until warmed through. Serve!
PRO Tips for This Recipe
How to Prevent Rice from Sticking to the Pot:
- Place the rice in a strainer and rinse in cool water for 1 minute to remove excess starch, which will help to keep it from sticking.
- Adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the chicken broth prior to adding the rice.
- Don’t mix the rice while it cooks as this releases starch and makes it stickier.
- Make sure the lid is on tightly to prevent steam from escaping.
- Let the rice sit for 10 minutes after steaming to allow any rice on the bottom to release.
Ingredient Variations
- Chicken, Ham, Ground Beef, or Steak all make excellent meat choices in this casserole.
- Different types of rice may be used. Refer to package for liquid measurements and cooking times as this will vary. *Note: I don’t recommend minute rice as it is much sticker, less creamy, and less nutritious.
- Other vegetable options in include broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, froze corn, peas, carrots, and more.
- Condensed cream of mushroom, cream of broccoli, cheddar cheese soup, or broccoli cheese soup can also be used.
Be sure to check out my make-ahead rice casseroles with chicken and broccoli, ground beef and mushrooms, ham and broccoli, or chicken cordon bleu casserole!
Storage
Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. This recipe does freeze and reheat very well for quick & easy lunches.
Try These Next
- One Pot Broccoli Mac & Cheese
- Meatballs and Gravy
- Baked Spaghetti
- Chicken Alfredo Bake
- Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken
- Chicken Caesar Pasta
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Tried This Recipe?
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Sausage and Rice - One Pot!
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil, separated
- 11 oz. sausage, see notes
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- ½ cup yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups white long grain rice, uncooked
- 1 small red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 small green bell pepper, sliced
- 10.75 oz. cream of chicken soup
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
Prep Work
- Place the rice in a strainer and run it under cool water for 1 minute. This rids it of excess starch which will help to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot when cooked.
- Shred the cheese and set aside, it will melt better if it’s not cold when added. Avoid packaged shredded cheese as it contains cellulose which prevents it from melting well.
- Measure out remaining ingredients prior to cooking.
Cooking Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. Slice the sausage and sear it on each side for color and texture. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Melt 2 Tablespoons butter and add the diced onions. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.
- Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil to the pan along with the chicken broth. Run a silicone spatula along the bottom of the pot to lift the brown remanence from the sausage, which will give the dish more flavor.
- Add the rice. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
- Cover tightly and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the bell peppers and close the lid, don’t stir. It will release starch and make the rice stickier. Cook 5 more minutes.
- Turn off the heat and leave it covered. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Any rice left on the bottom will release during this time.
- Return to low heat. Add the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, milk, and cheese. Stir to combine.
- Add the sausage, and red pepper flakes. Stir and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and serve!
Notes
I sliced pre-cooked chicken sausage but you can use any kind of sausage that you want.
Condensed cream of mushroom, cream of broccoli, cheddar cheese soup, or broccoli cheese soup can also be used.
Other types of rice may be used, refer to package for liquid measurements and cooking times as this will vary.
Other meat options include chicken, steak, ground beef, and ham.
I made this lastnight for dinner and it was delicious. It is also great reheated. The only thing I did different was crumble the sausage. I’m making the Salisbury Steak tonight. I’m so glad I found this website!
I’m so glad to have you here Rosa! Thanks for the great review and enjoy your Salisbury Steak!😀
Hi, I’m using my new instant pot do you have cooking time for this recipe?
Hi Sandra, Unfortunately I haven’t tested this in the Instant Pot.
You forgot to put “cups” on the ingredients for rice. ☺️
Ah! I owe you one Sheri! Thank you so much! (Fixed!!) 🙌🏻❤️
New favorite!
This has great flavor and was extremely easy! I forgot the pepper flakes the first time and loved the results. With the pepper flakes a few days later it was also amazing! (It also works perfectly with brown rice and no timing adjustments)
The tips on cooking the rice are priceless. Tips I wish I knew 30 years ago, but will now never forget.
Thanks for another winner, Stephanie!
Thanks so much Mona, I’m glad you found the tips to be extra helpful! It’s amazing how a couple of little secrets can make such a big difference. Thanks so much for the review, I’m glad you liked this one!!!😀
Tried this last night – it turned out really well. Very creamy and had great flavors. I used chorizo, which is a tad spicy for me, but sausage varieties are endless. The rice was a tad crunchy, so next time I’ll try cooking the rice separately and incorporating it into the dish. I’m glad I wandered onto this site. Sunday I’ll be trying the chicken stew. Thanks for sharing your great recipes!!
Hi Carol! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it, and you’ll LOVE the Chicken Stew recipe, it is super popular and really tasty. I’m curious about the crunchy rice though! White long grain rice takes exactly 15 minutes to steam after you’ve brought it to a boil. Did you time it? I never have an issue with the rice being crunchy so I’m curious!
Where to begin…first I reduced the servings to 4 and I’ve been cooking long enough to subscribe to the measure by eyeball method. I used just under 1 cup of rice and 1 1/2 cups broth (actually used a measuring cup for the broth). Brought it to a boil and lowered the heat to low. Cooked the rice for the 10 minutes then added the peppers. I could tell by sight that the rice wasn’t going to be done in 5 more minutes, so I gave it 10 minutes and added the rest of the ingredients. It wasn’t super crunchy by any means – my husband didn’t mention the rice at all. Maybe I needed more broth? All in all, a super recipe that will get a rerun here.
Gotcha!! Yup, if you used 3/4 cup of rice then 1.5 cups of chicken broth is right on!! I wonder how long the package that you used says to cook the rice for… I’m going to let it go, hahaha! I’m glad it worked out well enough, you’re the best! Have a great weekend!!
Well this really hit the spot! So rich and delicious! I love that it is all made in the same pan to layer the flavors, oh and the fact that there is only pan to clean after!
I diced my pepper and cut the sausage into half circles so it was easy to get a little bit of everything in each bite. This is a keeper!
Thanks Andrea, so happy you liked it!😁I’ll be honest I’m a fan of the one pot cleanup myself! Thanks for the review!
My family loved this recipe, we used jalapeno sausage and it was amazing! Definitely adding this to our regular rotation. Thank you!
That’s great to hear Wanda! It’ll be on our regular rotation for a while too, my husband devoured it! 🙂