Instant Pot Sausage and Peppers
Instant Pot Sausage and Peppers are a hearty and flavorful one-pot meal that’s perfect for a crowd. Made with mild Italian sausages, colorful peppers, and tomato sauce.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe: This sausage and peppers recipe uses just four ingredients to produce a super flavorful and satisfying meal the entire family loves. It comes together in no time, thanks to your Instant Pot / pressure cooker.
Instead of simmering for 4 hours, this easy pressure cooker version of sausage and peppers takes only a 25-minute High Pressure cook time. But it doesn’t skimp on flavor, thanks to Italian sausages, dried seasonings, and tomato sauce.
We love this one-pot Instant Pot meal! It’s delicious served over pasta, rice, or polenta, but it’s just as tasty with a nice crusty bread to sop up all the broth.
This recipe was originally created by Teri, a long-time Pressure Cooking Today reader. She adapted her family-favorite recipe to the pressure cooker and graciously let me share it with all of you.
We often make this recipe for dinner, so I’ve updated the post with new photos and tips to help you make the best family dinner tonight!
INGREDIENTS
You only need a few simple ingredients for Instant Pot Sausage and Peppers for dinner tonight:
- Italian sausages: We like mild sausages, but if you prefer more spice, feel free to use a hotter version.
- Peppers: You can use any color, or a mix, of bell peppers you like.
- Diced tomatoes and tomato sauce: Choose no-salt-added to better control the seasoning in your dinner.
- Seasonings: The tomato sauce gets flavor from dried basil, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.
How to Make Sausage and Peppers in an Instant Pot
✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
First, prep the bell peppers
Your bell peppers need to be cored, seeded, and thinly sliced.
(Lately, I’ve been using this awesome method for slicing bell peppers. It might leave a little bit of pepper behind, but it’s SO much quicker.)
You can use any color or size of bell pepper that you like. (My family swears that green peppers taste different from yellow, orange, or red, and each of my kids has a favorite color they prefer. So we prepare a mix of colors and freeze the extras.
Add ingredients to the pot in order
As long as you add it in the order listed, this is a simple toss-it-in-the-pot recipe.
You need to add the water, spices, and tomatoes to the pot in the order listed in the recipe.
Next, add the whole sausages, then the peppers.
⚠️ We make this with 1 cup of water. However, if you prefer a thicker sauce, you can use just 1/3 cup of water.
With this small amount of water it is essential you follow the order listed in the recipe notes. Without enough water to thin the tomatoes, you can get the Instant Pot burn notice.)
Pressure cook, then serve
Next, cook at High Pressure for 25 minutes. If you’re serving the sausages and peppers over rice or pasta, you can start preparing those now.
When the cook time ends, use a quick pressure release. Your meal is hot, ready, and delicious!
You can transfer it to a serving dish or scoop it right from the pot.
Since I’m serving kids, I usually use tongs to remove the sausages from the cooking pot. Then I’ll slice them into smaller pieces and divide them up into the different bowls. However, that’s totally optional.
Frequently Asked Questions about Instant Pot Sausage and Peppers
Yes, for a thicker tomato sauce, simply use 1/3 cup of water. Pour the tomatoes and tomato sauce on top of the peppers, and don’t stir before pressure cooking.
To round out your meal with some starch, serve it with pasta, toasted bread, polenta or rice.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. You can reheat servings in the microwave.
Certainly! It’s an extra step, but if you want to brown your sausage, use the Saute function before adding the remaining ingredients to the pressure cooking pot.
More Instant Pot Sausage Recipes
Try these other hearty sausage recipes next:
- Cajun 15 Bean Soup with Rice and Sausage is fully loaded with protein and gently spiced.
- Instant Pot Sausage and Potato Soup is a light dinner with tomato broth, topped with parmesan.
- Quick Instant Pot Black Bean and Chicken Sausage Chili is simple, healthy, and delicious served with spaghetti squash.
Do you LOVE this recipe?
Leave us a review below to tell us why!
Teri’s Pressure Cooker Sausage and Peppers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 packages 19-ounces each Johnsonville Italian Sausage (10 sausages)
- 4 large bell peppers seeded, cored and cut into 1/2 inch strips*
- 1 can 28 ounce diced tomatoes
- 1 can 15 ounce tomato sauce
- 1 cup water**
- 1 tablespoon basil
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder or 4 minced cloves
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- Optional: prepared rice or pasta for serving
Instructions
- In the pressure cooking pot, combine water, basil, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Add the diced tomatoes with the tomato sauce on top, then layer on the sausages.
- Place the peppers on top of the sausage, and DO NOT STIR.
- Lock the lid in place and select High Pressure. Set the cook time for 25 minutes.
- When the cook time ends, turn off the pressure cooker and use a quick pressure release to release the pressure. When valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- If you like, transfer to a serving dish and serve hot. (If company's not over, we serve it right out of the cooking pot.)
Notes
Nutrition
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Would I be able to use precut frozen veggies for this instead of fresh? If so, would that change the time at all? And I’m only using 1 package of sausage since there’s only 2 of us…unsure if that will decrease the time as well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Hi Alaina – frozen precut veggies and half the sausage will work, but I would reduce the cook time to 12 minutes. Enjoy!
Hi, I’m using the slow cook function for this on my instapot. How long should I cook it on high? I’m only using 1lb of sausage. Thank you
Hi Lisa – I rarely use the slow cook feature, but I’m guessing it would only take a couple of hours on high.
I love this recipe and have used it several times over the last few years. I’m planning to make it for a larger group, doubling the recipe, do you think it would be ok to make in a crockpot, what would be a good time frame? Thank you.
Hi Jozie – It’s so nice to hear you love the recipe. I haven’t made it in a crockpot, but similar crockpot recipes cook it on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Let me know how it goes.
This Was delicious! I did pierce my sausages multiple times with a fork and browned them in 1 tablespoon of olive oil about 2 min per side. Pulled sausages out, added my sauce ingredients. Only 1/4 cup of water added. Topped the sauce with sausages peppers and onions. Did not stir Pressure cooked on high for 7 min and quick released. Turned out perfect! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Thanks Melanie – glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for sharing your changes.
Looks good but i would pressure cook the sausages first and add the peppers in during he last 5 minutes. 25 minutes is too long for a vegetable.
Thanks Heidi – that’s a good idea if you don’t want the peppers to break down and become part of the sauce and prefer them firmer.
Came out watery, too much liquid. Need to reduce the water and/or the Tomato Sauce
The cooking liquid is intentionally thin but since you prefer a thicker sauce, I’ve updated the recipe card with directions on how to cook it that way. Thanks for the feedback!
I cheated and used Ragu spaghetti sauce. Turned delicious.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Michael.
I made this tonight and my husband said it was the best sausage and peppers he’s had. I really enjoyed it but would ideally liked the sausage browned first and firmer peppers. How much would I decrease the cooking time to do this? Thanks again for the recipe!
Thanks Michaela – glad your husband loved it. You can certainly brown the sausage before cooking and shorten the cook time. You could go as short as 3 minutes cook time for firmer peppers but then the peppers won’t break down and incorporate into the sauce as much. Let me know what you decide to do.
I made this tonight it was good but watery. Next time I’ll leave out the water or drain the tomatoes. The grinder rolls got too wet and fell apart lol
Hi Rose – glad you enjoyed it! If you’re serving it on rolls, you could reduce the water and not stir in the tomato sauce, but you’ll need at least 1/2 cup of thin liquid to come to pressure.
Mine tended to watery also but I add a handful of spinach, arugula or whatever greens we have on hand along with a tablespoon of tomato paste and the sauce was just right for our tastes.
Followed the recipe exactly. Ended up with mushy sausage and a very watery sauce. I took out the sausage and cooked it on the stove. I added cornstarch to thicken the sauce. When I recombined it all, it was delicious. Good recipe, but my advice is to brown the sausage first and add less water
Anyone cook this on the stove top? The cook time seems too long for a Fissler on a gas stove, a bit over cooked, sausage and peppers.
If you like your peppers firm, definitely reduce your cook time to just a few minutes.
did you use frozen sausage or already thawed?
Hi John – either will work in this recipe with the same time.
thanks
I made this last night and it was DELICIOUS!!! I am SO glad I found you!!! The only difference is since it was just for the 2 of us, I used one pkg. of Italian hot sausage and added an 8 oz. pkg., thickly sliced, of baby Bella’s and reduced the water to 1/2 cup. Putting the veggies on top was GREAT as the veggies were not mushy, especially the mushrooms. The flavors in the sauce were delicious and it made my house smell like an Italian restaurant 😂😋. It’s also great using my instant pot and not to have to clean up the grease on my stove from it splashing previously!!!!👍👏
This will definitely be my go-to recipe for sausage/veggie hoagies. I took the other review’s suggestion and added shredded cheese on top—YUM!!!
THANKS, AGAIN!!! Stay safe and well during these most trying, sad times our country and world are facing. May God Bless us all and keep us safe!
Sounds like delicious changes! Thank you so much Susan!
If you brown the sausage first does it reduce the cooking time?
Hi Denise – yes, you can reduce the cook time by 5 minutes or more if you like your peppers less soft.
Hi! I was wondering about using veggie sausages instead of meat ones… do you think I would reduce the cooking time or keep it the same?
And any thoughts about adding lentils in – would it need more liquid/different time etc?
Hi Hannah – I haven’t tried it but veggie sausages should work well. I would probably reduce the cook time to 6 minutes with a 10-minute natural release if you’re adding some lentils based on my lentil taco recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-turkey-lentil-taco-filling/ You may want to add more liquid depending on how many lentils you add.
Incredibly tasty dinner. Followed the instructions exactly except for adding one chopped onion and used 4 tablespoons of corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce for about 15 minutes on sauté after I removed the sausages and peppers. Five stars.
That’s so nice – thanks Daniel!
Loved this recipe but could you substitute chicken for sausages? If so, would the cooking time need to be changed dramatically?
Hi Mark – if you want to make it with diced chicken breasts, I would reduce the cook time to 3 minutes. If you want to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, I would use a 6 minute cook time. If you want to use chicken thighs, you could use a 9 minute cook time. Enjoy!
Thanks Barbara!
It sounds great and and easy to make but why are you saying to do a quick release? Everything I have read about Instant Pots and other pressure cookers say to do a natural release for ten minutes or longer. Boiling the meat is the result of a quick release. Keeping meat under pressure doesn’t allow the liquid to boil and dry out the meat.
Hi Robert – when meats are in a liquid they typically don’t dry out even with a quick release. Overcooking is generally the cause of dried out meat. It’s a misconception that a quick release causes boiling. Anytime you’re pressure cooking, you’re raising the boiling point at which liquids boil, but every time you pressure cook, the liquid is brought to a boil. If you want to use a natural release instead, you can, but reduce the pressure cooking time to compensate.
For sandwiches should I brown the sausage, before or after I cook it in instant pot?
Hi Lisa – either would should work well.
I made this dish this week and got a burn warning because some food had burned to the bottom 😩 I’m new to the instant pot. Can you help me figure out what went wrong? I put tomatoes (fresh chopped), garlic and water in first, sausage, peppers, and then tomato sauce (I used jarred pasta sauce). I did not mix anything, and I put in fresh basil after instead of dried spices. Do you think I should have put the trivet under the sausage?
Thanks!
Hi Stephanie – I think the jarred pasta sauce caused the problem. Jarred sauce often have thickeners that can settle on the bottom of the pot and create problems coming to pressure.
Put the water in first, then the veggies and then the sausages. Pour the sauce on the top of everything. Don’t stir. That should help to get it started before the sauce has a chance to give you the dreaded burn notice.
I made this dish with sweet onions, took out the tomato sauce, used two cups of home made chicken stock and small tomato paste. Spilled a bit of 19 crimes in it too. Dirty rice made a complete meal. Paired with the rest of the red wine. Hum
Thanks for sharing David – glad you enjoyed it.
I made this. The flavor was great. But the sausage and peppers were totally over cooked and the sauce was like a watery broth. 🙁 I made no changes to the recipe. Not sure what went wrong, but wanted to share. My guests liked it anyways FYI.
Hi Rebecca – I’m glad your guests liked it. Yes, the peppers do breakdown into the sauce more than some people like. You can use a much shorter cook time if you prefer. If you don’t like a thin broth, you can also thicken the broth with a cornstarch slurry – equal parts cornstarch and cold water. I’d start with 2 tablespoons.
I have bone-in chicken thighs (5), andouille sausage (4) carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, and potatoes. Thinking about adding chopped up cabbage. I am a newbie. I have a power quick pot. Any assistance or advice.HELP!!
Hi Clay – I like to cook chicken thighs for 9 minutes with a quick release. You’ll need to cut your potatoes into large pieces for a 9 minute cook time.
Love this recipe! I toss in an onion and top it with some penne posta! The flavors are amazing. And it’s best with Johnsonville sausages IMO.
Sounds like a great way to serve it. Thanks for sharing your tips Renee!
I made this with both sweet & hot sausage and
added a sweet vidalia onion. It was delicious! I served it with whole grain brown rice & Pinot Noir!
Sounds like a perfect way to serve it – thanks Michelle!
I’m making this tonight on advice from one of my sisters-in-law. I added some nice chunks of onion in with the peppers. Going to pair it with some quinoa, never tried that before. Hope it turns out well. I’ll update after dinner! Bon appetit!
Update: This turned out amazing. I put the prepared quinoa in a bowl then added the sausage, peppers, onion and sauce. The quinoa took on the flavor of the sauce and soaked up some of the extra liquid and was absolutely delicious!
That’s awesome – thanks for the update!
Delish! I loaded the sausage and peppers into a hoagie roll and topped with mozzarella cheese and some of the sauce and broiled until cheese was melted. Will use remaining peppers and sauce on rice and salads during the week!
What a fun way to serve it. Thanks Diane!
The sauce in this dish ended up being “looser” than I like. Delicious but next time I’ll try jarred Marinara Sauce instead of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Wonder if peppers and sausage created a juicier sauce.
Thank you for recipe.
Hi Harry – glad you enjoyed the meal. If you want to sub marinara and tomato sauce, be sure and add them last and don’t stir them, so that you don’t have problems with coming to pressure.
I made the sausage and i added patatoes and squash cauliflower broccoli zucchini and it was very delicious
Sounds like a great way to change it up. Thanks Nancy!
What type of potatoes did you add and did u have to adjust cook time
What should the cook time be for frozen sausage?
I would use the same cook time for frozen sausages.
Thinking of making this tomorrow but I want to add potatoes and onions..What do you think??
Hi Jose – you’ll want to reduce the cook time so the potatoes aren’t overcooked. I would try 5 minutes.
Reduce cook time by 5 minutes (cook for 20 minutes?)
No just 5 minutes cook time. Potatoes cook quickly so it’s better to not cook the sausage and peppers as long to keep the potatoes from overcooking.
Thank you…
What if you wanted to cook pasta in same pot w meat. What would you do differently
Hi Kristie – it depends on what type of pasta you use. Here’s my guide for cooking pasta https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-cook-pasta-in-the-instant-pot/ I would just shorten the cook time to the time required for the pasta.
WOW! Thanks for sharing. Love this recipe. I used marina sauce mixed with chicken stock instead of water adding mushrooms and onions. I used the small colorful peppers. The only thing I would change is to add the peppers at the end as I prefer them to be a little firm. I used chicken Italian sausage. Cooked for ten minutes. Very flavorful!
Great! Thanks for sharing Judy.
Does anyone know roughly the nutritional value if I used turkey sausage instead? Or how I would figure it out? I’m trying to figure out the weight watchers points for this, it looks soo good 🙂
Hi Jen – here’s a site you can use to estimate nutritional values https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 Enjoy!
Thanks so much for your quick helpful response!
Such a great dinner recipe when you are in the mood for something easy and filling. So good.
One of our favorite EASY comfort food recipes!
My whole family loved it! So flavorful!
This was so delicious! Making it for dinner again later this week.
This is simply FANTASTIC! I tweaked a bit. Used Guinness beer instead of water, home made tomato sauce, fresh diced Roma’s and mango habanero brats. Cooked for 10 min and NPR. OMG. I will double recipe next time. I served on top of zoodles. Very tasty.
Sounds like delicious changes – thanks Cheyann!
I have chopped peppers in the freezer….can I use those instead of fresh?
Hi Lisa – yes, frozen peppers will work well in this recipe.
great!! And thank you for your quick response!!
I’ve made your recipe many times. My husband, the Italian in our family, always requests it. I think it must be my favorite instant pot recipe out of all that I make. It is so easy. I have one going in the pot as I write this.
I only make a half recipe at a time and save the sauce for lunch later in the week. My small changes are that I brown the meat first before I add the tomatoes, herbs, and sliced red bell peppers. I also sub a cup of red wine for the cup of water….my Italian requests that too. LOL It is fabulous as is or over pasta.
Thank you for sharing your recipe! It is da bomb.
Thanks Wendy! Sounds like a delicious way to change it up.
Giving this a go tonight! Added zucchini and some onion powder. Looking forward to it!
Sounds like a delicious addition Annie. Enjoy!
the recipe is way too runny when water is added. just layer sausage, vegetables and sauce, crushed tomatoes on top without mixing – close the lid and cook. done.
Hi Michele – a lot of people like the extra liquid. It’s really flavorful and great if you’re serving it over rice. You have to be careful when using just tomato sauce that you have enough liquid to come to pressure.
I used Marinara Sauce instead of tomatoes, added the spices mentioned. The one thing I noticed when I printed out the recipe, it says to use high pressure, but which button, I have an older machine and does not have a pressure button.
Hi Palladini – if your pressure cooker doesn’t have a pressure button then you probably can change the pressure and it always cooks at high pressure.
Respectfully, I think this only needs 10 minutes (or less) at high pressure. It would cook in that amount of time on the stovetop. Also, you can cut the water out. The tomato sauce and the water in the diced tomatoes can provide enough moisture to get a seal, and adding water produces a very watery result rather than a sauce you can serve alongside. Otherwise great!
Hi Daniel – I agree you could use a shorter cook time if you prefer. I would be careful about eliminating all the water when you also add tomato sauce because there isn’t much liquid in tomato sauce. Glad you enjoyed it!
Made this last nite. Flavors were super and the sausage had a wonderful juicy tendernes. I saved the leftover sauce for chili base.
Great idea – thanks Linda!
do we know the carb count on this?
Hi Kellie – I like to use this site http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php for nutrition information.
I have been making this recipe for a couple of years now and am delighted to find it on your website as well! I use chicken sausages or turkey sausages and avoid the fat issue entirely. LOL This go-round I will be adding sliced red onions and I always use lots of minced garlic. Never thought of using mushrooms, as one of your commenters does, but will try that in the future!
How long do you cook the Turkey sausage?
I halved the recipe, added a medium onion and sliced mushrooms. It is cooking as we speak, I browned the sausages, and saute’d the onions and mushrooms for a bit. If the smell is any indication, this is going to fantastic when I pull it out!!! Can’t wait….20 minutes and counting!!!
If I cut the sausage links in half, would the cooking time be the same?
I’d probably cut the cook time in half as well.
Thank you. The sausage links I can get at the Sprouts near me are quite large.
I halved the recipe and used mini sweet peppers. The tomato and onion sauce was delicious, but the peppers were a disaster. They were extremely bitter. I thought I had bought mini tangy peppers ( like banana type peppers ) it turned out they were mini bell peppers. Not sure I’d make this recipe again.
I made this a few weeks ago, as written except for the addition of an onion or two (can’t remeber exactly!). It was good, but there was a ton of leftover sauce – which turned out great bc I used it for pizza. The pizza came out even better than this recipe! So I made this again for dinner and doubled the sauce ingredients just to make pizza tomorrow. The only other difference was leaving out the onion bc the instant pot was so full! I was so excited… But something went wrong…. the “sauce” isn’t sauce, but super thin. Do you know what happened?? Is there is anything I can do to thicken it back up? Thanks!
The easiest way to thicken it is a corn starch slurry. Use equal amounts of cold water and cornstarch. Perhaps 3 tablespoons each would be about right?
We have found a few things that make this even better. We like to Brown the sausage first, then deglaze with 1/2C white wine (on sauté mode). Cook out the wine then add the rest of the ingredients. Follow the normal recipe.
We find it a bit too soupy so once done cooking under pressure, we strain the sausage, peppers and onions out, put the liquid back in the Instant Pot and Sauté to reduce to a nice spoon coating consistency. This then sticks well to Pasta for my hubby and to spaghetti squash for me!
Flavors are amazing. We use Savory Spice Shop’s Cantanzaro herbs in it when cooking. Can keep it low sodium this way.
Thanks for sharing your tips Christine!
Just put this together in my new IP! I am using venison jalepeno cheese sausage. Cant wait for the outcome! Thanks for sharing!
OMG is this good!
I used the ‘sweet’ Italian sausage, and a 16 oz package of the small multi-colored peppers (I cut the larger ones in half crosswise).
I love Penzey’s spices and had received a free jar of their freeze-dried minced garlic. 1 tsp of the freeze dried mixed garlic = 4 cloves of minced fresh garlic. The Instant Pot is a great way to use this form of garlic!
I added 2 peeled and coarse chopped onions (1 large and 1 med) and also added 1/4 – 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes to kick it up a notch.
I slightly browned the sausages, then removed them and sautéed the onions. When the onions were done I added some of the water to get all the browned bits off the bottom (if you don’t do this, they will most likely become scorched during the pressure cooking – or so I’ve read). Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly, using the full cup of water and putting the peppers on top.
It was very yummy over whole wheat spaghetti and went wonderfully with my steamed fresh green beans with browned butter!
I have always loved sausage and peppers and am thrilled that I can now make it at home, relatively quickly in my Instant Pot!
Thank you SO much Barbara for this recipe! It is one of my all-time favorites – it is that good!
Thanks for sharing your changes Cheryl. So fun to hear how much you loved it!
can I cook this with the pasta at the same time ?
Hi Sam – if you want to cook pasta at the same time, you’ll want to increase the water to completely cover the pasta and reduce the cook time to 1/2 the cook time listed on the package minus one minute. Let me know how it goes.
Can, or should, I brown the sausages before combining with the other ingredients?
Hi Len – I didn’t, but you definitely could if you’d like a little color and a bit more flavor on the sausages.
What do you mean when you say to cook the peppers first and refrigerate overnight to get the fat layer off easier? Do you mean cook the entire thing??
Hi Jen – yes, cooking the entire thing.
Yes your totally confusing people by the wording of that paragraph.
Thank you!!
Funny, I rarely make sausage myself. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t like it either. This was absolutely delicious and had such a flavorful sauce. We ate it over papparadelli with a sprinkle of Parmesan. We’ll definitely be eating more of this.
Can you use precooked sausage for this recipe?
Hi Brianna – yes, but I would reduce the cook time to 3 minutes.
Why do they look browned?
How did the sausage get browned?
The sausage touching the bottom browned a bit.
Hi im a 30 year old singel male and just bought a power pressure cooker xl from costco in canada to try and eat healthier and cause im a horrible cook so i thought this would help cause some vidios ive watched seems you put a bunch of stuff in hit a button and she comes out great me problem is i never know how to do it all haha i thought this would be an easy soulution to me problem i just dont know if im just cooking for the most part meat veg and brown rice how to do it corectly as in how much water or liquid to use or do i need water or liquid at all and i tried to make asparigus on the steam tray with 2 or 3 cups of water in it and it was saugy as hell i know this has nothing really to do with your recipy but im trying to loose weight and get in better shape so any help link or advise you could give would be so very greatly appriciated please dont mind me spelling without spell check im as good as a three year old hahaha
Hi Harold – hang in there, you’ll get the hang of it in no time. Here’s a post I did about using the PPC XL https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-use-the-power-pressure-cooker-xl/ that will help.
thank you so much Barbara for getting back to me so soon it is greatly appreciated i will review the link and videos. hopefully i get the hang of this!
how can I set the timer to 90 or 100 minutes I don’t know how to do this please help. thank you
Hi Charles – what pressure cooker do you have?
Liz asks if I can use sausage that is frozen?
Hi Liz – yes, you should be able to use frozen sausage without changing anything.
I left water out, but it was still very very liquidy.
I wanted to serve it on pasta so it wasn’t really what i expected. I took out sausages and as much peppers possible and thicken the sauce for… a very long time until it became similar to pasta sauce. I needed to season a bit with salt and pepper. I put the sausages and peppers back and warm up for a bit and served on pasta with some parm. It was very tasty!
Next time i might use tomato paste instead of tomato sauce..
I bet the sauce was so flavorful cooking it down that long. Just be careful not to make the sauce too thick to begin with or you’ll have trouble initially coming to pressure. Thanks for sharing!
I see two cans of diced tomatoes but only one listed in the ingredients list. Did you only use one?
Thanks!
Hi Cat – yes, is just used one can of diced tomatoes. Enjoy!
She used two 14 oz cans 🙂
Was hoping to add potatoes to this dish would you suggest putting them in for the same amount of time?
Hi Michelle – if I was making it with potatoes I would use large pieces of red potato, halves or quarters, and reduce the cook time to about 6 minutes.
Hi, if I halved the recipe would I still use same time/settings? All your recipes look great, just got my Instapot and would love to try this. Thanks
Thanks Brandy! Yes, the time/settings are the same. Generally, when you halve or double a recipe in the pressure cooker, the time doesn’t change unless the thickness of the meat changes. Have fun!
We liked this very much. Like others said, it had a bit too much liquid. Next time I will omit the water and maybe use a can of tomato paste instead of tomato sauce.
Just tried this recipe. I have a lot of liquid left. I don’t mind,however what can I use the liquid for? It is delicious!!!
Hi Lori – you could use it in a soup or a side dish, like rice pilaf would be delicious https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/rice-pilaf-with-carrots-peas-and-parsley/
What about adding 1 cup of rice? Should I add it near the end, for 5 minutes? Since people are saying a lot of liquid is left over I wonder if I need to add extra water for the rice or leave it alone.
Hi Lori – I think adding rice is a great idea. I’d be tempted to try adding rice at the beginning and just using a 5 minute cook time with a 10 minute natural release. I think you could add 1 cup of rice without adding any extra liquid. In fact, you may need to reduce the liquid or your rice could be a little soupy. Let me know if you give it a try.
Welll…I tried what you said and it worked like a charm! I browned the sausage a tad, took them out and added big pieces of 2 lg onions and sauteed. I then threw in 4 diced garlic at the end to soften and added the rest of ingred. I didn’t have tomato sauce so used leftover marinara sauce in fridge. Added bay leaf, paprika, 3/4 c. rice and 1/2 cup of washed out marinara sauce bottle. Wish I had added wine instead (“sigh”). Closed her up and PC at 6 min and used 10 min natural release like you said. Don’t tell anyone but I added a little bit of honey to sweeten a tad at the end. Mmm..so good! Topped w/ parm! I had to use up the last of my peppers from the garden so it was perfect timing! Tks again Barbara!
PS, I hope I didn’t butcher Teri’s recipe too bad! I think it’s all about what you have on hand!
Thanks for the update Lisa. Definitely use what you have and make any recipe your own. Glad you enjoyed it!
Could you add a little more liquid and then add dry pasta for a one pot pasta meal? Thanks!
Hi Shannon – you could add pasta if you reduced the cook time to 5 minutes, or if you cooked it for 20 minutes then released the pressure, added the pasta and cook for another 5 minutes. Make sure the pasta is covered with water and if it isn’t as tender as you’d like after the 5 minutes pressure cooking time, just use the saute button and simmer it for a minute or two more. Let me know how it goes 🙂
They look like they are browned first..
Hi Dianne – a couple of the peppers that were touching the bottom did get a little browned, but I didn’t brown them first.
I just made this in my pressure cooker. Delish! It was a hit at my house. Thank you.
Thanks Maddie – glad you hear you loved it!
This was the first meal that I prepared in my new Instant Pot pressure cooker, and I have to say that it came out perfectly.! I used two bags of the mixed miniature peppers (as you recommended) and the flavors of both the sausages and peppers were amazing. This will definitely be a recipe that I will use again.
So great that your first meal was a big hit. Thanks for letting me know.
Barbara
I made this recipe in an electric pressure cooker. My electric pressure cooker tends to create more liquid than my stove top cookers. This could be the reason some folks are having problems with too much cooking liquid., and reduced flavor. And by reducing the liquid, you can achieve the same concentrated flavor you get from the stove top cooker.
Just made this, and was slightly disappointed with the amount of liquid which reduced it’s flavor potential,
Even though I had browned the sausage before adding the other ingredients.. So I removed the peppers and sausage and put the cooker back on sauté, reducing the liquid to half, reduced until it had the flavor I wanted. I then put the peppers and sausage back into the cooker, and Brought the cooker back up to high pressure, cooking for seven more minutes. Then did a quick release. Best tasting sausage I’ve ever eaten.
Great recipe!!!
Thanks Rich – so glad you stuck with it until it was just the way you liked it.
We made this dish and it was great. 🙂
Thanks Chip!
Made this last night, halving the ingredients for just the 2 of us. It was very easy and tasty, but…
It was very watery, like a thin (but well-flavored) soup due to the watery tomato and green peppers. After years of a relatively low fat diet, I couldn’t help but think about all the grease that I was swallowing, so I had little. I don’t think the water was necessary – the minimum water content had already been accounted for. Or it should be tomato paste, not tomato sauce.
The portions are also off. Surely one sausage is a serving, not two.
DH said he would eat the remaining 2 sausages in a sandwich for lunch, but discard the broth.
What water? From the tomatoes? A little wine instead?
The ingredients list says 1 cup water.
Hi Chris – that’s correct it goes in with the tomatoes.
CHRIS, green peppers are mostly water.
I plan to brown the meat first. How does this affect the cooking time? Thank you so much!
Hi Melissa – I’d reduce the cook time by 6 minutes if you’re browning first. Enjoy!
Hi! Could you use wine instead of the water? Or a mix? Red wine would give this dish even another push of flavor. Anytime I’m making a red pasta sauce, I always use some red wine with it.
Thanks!
Hi Aaron – I don’t see why not. Enjoy!
Hi, I intend to make this but am confused about the time. I am not a real cook so bear with me. I read (here I think) that brats pressure cook in 7 min. So why 25 min for these sausages?
Thanks for your help and the time you spend giving it,
– Bill
Hi Bill – In this recipe, I’m assuming they decided to use a longer cook time so the sausages would release more of the juices and flavor the broth and peppers.
Thanks Barbara. Keep up the good work and have a fun day.
– Bill
Im going to add a little bit of tomato paste to thicken the sauce
Did you brown the sausage first? It sure looks like it
I just received an 8 quart Power Pressure cooker. X L I have never used a pressure cooker before and was wondering if I can cut the recipes in half because I have a small family.
Yes, most recipes can be divided in half, as long as you use enough liquid for your pressure cooker to come to pressure. This recipe has plenty of liquid to be halved. Enjoy!
i have the Power Pressure Cooker XL and I don’t understand what setting to use for this?
Meat? Rice? Vegetables? Fish?
Hi Tammy – the buttons on the XL function similarly to the Instant Pot buttons, most of them cook on high pressure and it’s just the pre-set times that change. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-duo-and-smartcooker/ So it doesn’t matter much which button you use, as along as it’s cooking on high pressure. So you could use the meat button and just adjust the time.
I had a meal once that had sausage peppers and red potato. Would I have to change the amount of liquid to add 8-10 small red potatoes?
Hi Sherri – you won’t need to add any liquid, and I would add the potatoes whole so they don’t over cook. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-tip-small-potatoes/
Hi- I got my first electric pressure cooker for Christmas and am just learning how to use it. It is the Instant Pot DO-60 7-in-1 model.
I cooked this recipe today and it was awesome! The flavors, the sausage, everything, amazing! And so easy!
My one question (and I don’t want to appear naive here) since I have so much liquid and food left, can I freeze this for later?
I know some foods you can and some you can’t.
Thank you!
Thanks Mike – glad you enjoyed it. I don’t see any reason you couldn’t freeze the liquid to use later in a recipe. It would make a very flavorful rice.
Oh my goodness! I picked this for our company potluck tomorrow. I am so glad I did. I just made it and had to sneak a taste. It is delicious. The sausage melts in your mouth and the mini peppers are perfectly sweet! I can’t wait to share tomorrow. I think I’ll make a batch of rice to go with. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks Kathleen – definitely make some rice to go with it. The cooking liquid is so flavorful. I’m sure it’s going to be a hit at the potluck. Have fun!
I am new to pressure cooking. I have a different pressure cooker that doesn’t have a timer you set. You just pick chicken, beef or stew button and it puts the time on. It takes 14 mins to heat up. On the sausage and peppers recipe it says put the timer on 25 is that counting the warm up time also or should you count 25 mins after that.
Thanks
Hi Bonnie – that isn’t counting the time it takes for the pressure cooker to come to pressure and start counting down. The 25 minutes is time at pressure. Enjoy!
Thanks so much!
I made this last night and it was terrific, however, I enjoy my peppers to have a bit more crunch to them. I would prefer to steam them in the microwave for a few minutes and mix them in at the end. Do you think it would work without the veggies and potentially with a less liquid? I threw out a lot of the yummy looking tomato mixture. I know there is a lot of good ideas out there for the liquid, but at 10 p.m. at night while cleaning up, I didn’t have much of a vision for it!
Hi Heidi – glad you enjoyed it. You could certainly reduce the liquid by half, and steam the peppers instead. Just don’t omit the water of the tomato sauce could scorch, but you could use 1/2 cup water instead.
The picture shows sausage with slightly burned spots.
Did you do this, as it is a common practice for a pressure cooker, via of browning them first in a little olive oil in the pressure cooker before adding everything else?
Also we bloomed the spices, basil, fresh garlic, Italian seasoning, with a little olive oil about a tablespoon covering them, in a small ramekins, microwaving for 15 seconds; YMMV, don’t microwave over 60 seconds, heat in small steps only if needed, checking for smell, you will know when it blooms, stirring it in between heatings.
I’m a big advocate of browning before pressure cooking, it adds lots of flavor. Toasting your spices is also another great way to add flavor. I didn’t brown the sausages before cooking, but a few of the sausage that were in contact with the pot, did brown during pressure cooking. But I think browning the sausage in this recipe is a great idea.
Barbara, I made this about a month ago, I halved the recipe for just the two of us, and it was delicious! We did have a lot of liquid left-over, which I hated to throw out, so I poured it into a measuring cup to see what I had, then added it back into the pot and added rice for that amount of liquid! The rice was SO GOOD, it reminded me of the box Spanish rice I use to make! I did add some cooked hamburger and we had another delicious meal off the liquid!
Hi Mary – How great to use the left over liquid to make rice. I bet is was so flavorful.
Hi again:) I used the quick release and this is by far one of the tastiest, easiest meals I’ve ever made! The sauce is perfect. The sausage is easy to slice with a fork and not rubbery, delicious! The peppers are soft but I love them that way. Thanks for sharing this recipe and your quick reply to my question:)
Just wondering if it’s ok to not use the quick release when the time is finished, thanks:)
Hi Robyn – yes, you can use a natural release when the time is up, but you may want to reduce the cook time.
thanks for your reply, If it’s better to use quick release I will, I was just concerned about the sauce coming out with the steam, this will be my second time using the pot so I’m new at this:) If I use the natural release do you know how much time I should use? thanks Robyn
If I cust the recipe in half what would be the cook time? Thank you.
Hi Chere – no, as long as the peppers and sausages are the same size the cook time should be the same. Enjoy!
This recipe is delicious. I’m making a big pot of it next weekend for a party.
Do you think this would work just as well with uncooked hot chicken italian sausage?
Hi Susan – I haven’t tried it, but I think it would work well, but chicken sausage is generally leaner, so I’d probably cut the cooking time in half.
Don’t cut the cooking time, the lean-ness of the sausage doesn’t factor into the cooking time. Leaner meat takes just as long to get tender as fattier sausages.
My reason for saying to cook it less is because lean meats are less forgiving than fattier cuts. For instance, a boneless, skinless chicken breast will get very dry and unappealing when overcooked in the pressure cooker, but a chicken thigh is much more forgiving. Better to cook it for a shorter time, check it and if it needs more time, just lock the lid in place and cook it a little longer. Thanks Teri!
I have made this with many different kinds of sausages and they are all good in this recipe. I’ve been using this recipe since I was about 12 and my best friend’s mother showed me her “recipe” which is pretty much the same recipe I shared. I’ve made it for many occasions and it was always a hit
I left the food in the pressure cooker for about 30 minutes after reaching pressure. The sausage was the best I’ve ever had – super moist and melt in your mouth tender. Peppers were a bit overdone but still good. Sauce is rich in flavour. Wonderful! Easy recipe too.
Do you remove the casing from the sausage before putting it in the PC?
Hi Terry – no, I didn’t remove the casings.
This recipe is the bomb! So good.
Thanks Susan for taking the time to let us know how much you enjoyed it.
Sorry this may be a silly question, but if I purchased fully cooked italian chicken sausages instead would I still put these in the pressure cooker? And if so, how much time would you recommend?
Hi Mariah – I haven’t tried it, but I would put them in the pressure cooker and only cook it for about 5 minutes so the sausage flavors the sauce and peppers.
I would cut the cooking time by half, but 5 minutes isn’t long enough. 10 minutes should do it though.
Why does the sausage look like it was prebrowned in hot oil?
.
A few of the sausages that were on the bottom of the pot did get a little browned.
Can I add pasta to the pressure cooker?
Yes, but the cook time will be a lot shorter for pasta and you’ll need to add enough water to cover the pasta. Cook the pasta for less than half of the time recommended on the box.
I may be adding a pressure cooker to my wish list! Another terrific recipe!!!
I am delighted with mine–I can’t tell you how much I love it. It is without a doubt the BEST cooking device EVER and I am sorry I didn’t have one years ago. My sister used to use it and so did my Mom but I was always leery of them exploding and such but the electric one I have is the greatest cooking took I have in the kitchen. I made corned beef, cabbage and potatoes in 30 minutes and the corned beef was fork tender, the potatoes were fluffy and creamy (and they were bakers–not red creamers). You have to get one of these–the sooner the better!
Love this idea. I came here from Facebook and wondered if you noticed it says “WordPress” where it should have the name of your site. Facebook, always messing with us.
As an Italian….I make sausage and peppers a lot. I add sliced onions and sometimes mushrooms too. They’re super with pasta or once they’re done cooking, slice the sausage, mix them in the sauce with the peppers and onions, spoon some of the mixture into a sub roll that’s split partway and enjoy. Teri has a GREAT idea cutting down the low and slow cooking time by using the pressure cooker. I’m having one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” moments. 🙂
Oh-a hint—-what I do when I make Italian sausage in dishes is something my Mom always did before making sausage, peppers and onions. Poke some holes in the sausage with a fork, place them in a saucepan, cover with water and boil them for about 8-10 minutes…that releases some of the fat. I take them out of the water and put them on a paper towel lined plate to drain. It does cut down some of the fat that goes into the sauce.
The next time I make sausage and peppers, I’ll be using my pressure cooker for sure. Thank you Teri and Barbara!
Great tips Carol – thanks for sharing!
I used to pre-cook them to get rid of some of the grease back when I bought into the myth of fat being the “Great Satan” of food, but I found that boiling them took a lot of the flavor out of commercial sausage which is not all that heavily spiced to begin with. If you have a butcher shop that makes their own sausage, (or if you make your own) then it might stand up to being boiled first, but now I either make them the day before (which adds to the flavor) and pull the red fat off the top or draw it up in a turkey baster if I want to get rid of it. I have discovered that sausage today has a lot less fat than it used to contain in decades past, but it isn’t what I’d call low-fat! I used to spend HOURS making these (and you can use the same recipe in the crock pot in the morning and slow cook for excellent results too), BUT if you want to dazzle and don’t have a lot of time, get out the pressure cooker! Also, I use the leftover sauce and toss boneless, skinless chicken breast chunks into the sauce and pressure cook them again for a really good chicken caccitiore . I add a 12 oz can of tomato paste and a pound of mushrooms, an onion and more peppers. You can also do a second batch of sausages in the same sauce if you want-just add more peppers-my family eats every sausage and I hate tossing out perfectly good sauce so I recycle it. LOL I’ve even poured a cup or so of the last of the sauce into a meatloaf just to use it up–with GREAT results. I used to have a restaurant so I don’t waste anything!
Teri, Love the idea of the chicken caccitiore. How long do you cook that for? Thanks!