Hooray for quick skillet dinners! This one is so fantastically easy that it kind of feels like cheating. Between the Italian sausage and marinara sauce, the dish has all of the seasoning built in, so you don’t even have to measure out any extra herbs or spices. You’re pretty much just heating it all together and then it’s ready to eat!
You can bulk this recipe out further and probably make about 6 decent sized servings by stirring in some cooked pasta (I’d use 1/2 lb. dry), or by spooning this mixture over a bed of rice. It’s a pretty filling mix of ingredients, so I just skipped both and ate it plain. Not a fan of chickpeas? White beans would probably be pretty awesome in this, too.
Want to try a vegetarian version? I think sautéed eggplant or mushrooms would be a great replacement for the sausage, but you’ll want to add a teaspoon or so of Italian seasoning blend to make up for the lost spices. You’ll also need a little olive oil to sauté them in. I really can’t wait to try it with eggplant!
Sausage & Kale Skillet
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Sausage and Kale Skillet
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1/2 19oz. package Italian Sausage ($2.25)
- 1 bunch kale ($0.99)
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas ($1.00)
- 1 cup marinara sauce ($0.88)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($0.90)
Instructions
- Squeeze the sausage from the casings into a large skillet (freeze the remaining links for later use). Cook the sausage over medium heat until fully brown. Break the sausage up into pieces as it cooks. It’s okay if it sticks to the bottom of the skillet a little as it cooks.
- While the sausage is cooking, remove the woody stems from the kale, then slice it crosswise into thin strips. Rinse the kale well, then add it to the skillet. Stir it into the sausage and continue to cook until it is fully wilted (this happens within a few minutes).
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Add the chickpeas to the skillet and stir to combine. Pour the marinara sauce over the skillet, then top with the shredded cheese. Place a lid on the skillet and let it simmer until the cheese is melted (about 5-10 minutes).
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Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
This is all you need for this super quick skillet! I used only half of the sausage (the rest went in the freezer), half of the cheese, and about half of the jar of marinara. I used Lacinato kale (or dinosaur kale) because that’s what I had on hand. You can definitely use curly kale in its place with no modifications.
Squeeze half of the sausage into a large skillet and cook it over medium heat until fully browned. I didn’t add any extra oil to the skillet because sausage has quite a bit on its own. It’s okay if some of it sticks to the bottom of the skillet, it will dissolve off later.
For most kale, the stem is super tough and woody, so you’ll want to remove them (especially for curly kale). Just take a sharp knife and run it along the stem to cut it out. Then, stack the leaves and cut across into thin strips.
This particular bunch of kale had really soft stems, so I didn’t even bother removing them. Stack the leaves and cut across into strips. This will be slightly more difficult with curly kale because it’s so fluffy, but you can still do it. It’s easiest if you cut each leave into two long pieces when removing the stem. After chopping the kale, make sure to rinse it really, really well.
After the sausage has browned, stir in the kale. Continue to cook and stir until the kale has wilted. This happens pretty fast. It’s okay if the kale is still a little wet from rinsing. The water will turn into steam and help it wilt, plus it will help dissolve the browned bits of sausage off the bottom of the skillet.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then add them to the skillet.
Pour the marinara over top… (you can stir it in, if you want).
Lastly, sprinkle the shredded cheese over top, cover it with a lid, and let it simmer until the cheese has melted.
And now it’s ready to eat! It may not be the prettiest dish in the world, but OMG is it ever flavorful and filling!
Hi Beth! I don’t have chick peas. Do think blackeye peas could be substituted instead? The kale,sausage, and mushrooms taste wonderful so far. We may not add the marinara sauce and cheese.
Hmm, yes, I think that would be a nice combo! I love black eyed peas. :)
This recipe is great! I made it with turkey Italian sausage and it was fantastic! Thank you for the quick healthy recipe!
I made a manly version with:
2lbs of sausage
1 can chick peas
1 can white beans
3 cups sauce
1lb shells
Never paired up Italian sausage and kale, and it is amazing. Ended up with a full-sized pot to eat on all week. I work in the Permian Basin on long hours, so these type of simple, economic, and healthy skillet meals are life savers. Thanks Beth!
Hi Beth! What kind of herb is that in the finished picture?
My husband loves this and it has now been added to our rotation. Thanks :)
Delicious and quick recipe!
Wonderful!! I made this tonight and served it over brown rice, and it was delicious. Thanks for another great recipe!
Big hit Beth! Simply, yet rich taste. Our two year old gobbled it down. Delicious! Thank-you!
Made this tonight but substituted with a bag of baby spinach, fantastic! I will be making this again. Cheap and so, so easy.
About how much does a “bunch of kale” at your market weigh?
I think it’s usually about 8 oz. with stems.
i was wondering if there is any ideas what I could use instead of marinara sauce. I am not able to have tomatoes at all. Any help would be appreciated. :)
If you have a go-to pesto recipe, that might be a good swap. I make a great sausage-pasta dish with just white wine and lemon zest+juice from 1 lemon for the sauce, if pesto isn’t appealing. I use whatever white wine is on sale, and you might be able to use sherry instead. I’d love to hear what works!
I am going to make this for dinner soon! I was thinking about using ground turkey instead of sausage and wanted to know your thoughts on how this would turn out?
Well the herbs and spices in the sausage are what provide a lot of flavor in this dish, so if you use plain ground turkey it will be much more bland. BUT I have seen Italian sausage made with turkey before (near the rest of the ground turkey products), so hopefully you can find some of that. :)
This looks great and I’ll be trying it soon! I bet the marinara sauce is what really makes this dish. I made something similar a few weeks ago that called for diced tomatoes but no sauce, and it was bland. Thanks for sharing this!
Wow, yum!!
I made this for dinner tonight with a few changes. I used Quorn ‘meatballs’ in place of the sausage, and added a can of tomatoes. I served it on top of toasted English muffins. Can’t wait for the leftovers!
I made this exactly as written and it was amazing! Served with brown rice, it was a filling and delicious. I can’t get enough — I’m making it again tonight and can’t wait for leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I’m thinking it would make a great soup too with a tomato base and maybe some pasta. Thanks for the great recipe!