Italian Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal
Italian Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal is quick and delicious and this is a new way to use zucchini in an easy one-pan dinner! And everyone who likes sausage and zucchini will love this tasty summer dinner idea!
PIN the Sausage and Zucchini Skillet to try it later!
Italian Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal is a new recipe that will be a hit with everyone who loves Italian Sausage and is looking for ways to use zucchini! The recipe is a variation of a very old recipe for pasta sauce that was one of my favorites when I used to eat whole wheat pasta. Now I’m not eating much pasta (and most of my readers don’t seem to want pasta) but I still love this flavor combination!
And this sausage and zucchini dinner is a whole meal that’s made quickly in one skillet. I bet everyone likes the sound of that, right?
The original version had fresh sage, but when I made it I often switched out the sage for basil so when Kara and I worked on this recipe we made that change, and I’m guessing basil a bit more readily available. We also increased the amount of zucchini to make it a complete meal that makes six servings. I hope you enjoy trying this recipe; be sure to serve with a generous amount of Parmesan Cheese!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- onion
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- Italian Herb Seasoning (affiliate link)
- hot or mild Italian Sausage
- zucchini
- yellow summer squash
- salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste
- chicken stock or canned chicken broth (affiliate link)
- chopped fresh basil
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese
What sausage did we use for the Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal?
We used spicy hot Italian sausage for this skillet meal, but use any Italian sausage you prefer, either turkey or pork.
What is a Skillet Meal?
On my site I have a category called Skillet Meals where you’ll find one-pan meals that are main dishes made in one skillet.
How low in carbs is the Sausage and Zucchini Skillet?
This easy skillet meal recipe has only 10 net carbs and 7 grams of protein! (You could add more sausage if you wanted to make it lower in carbs and higher in protein.)
How to make Italian Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Chop zucchini, onions, and fresh basil, and measure out the Parmesan Cheese.
- Heat olive oil, add onion and cook about 2 minutes.
- Add Minced Garlic (affiliate link) and Italian Herb Seasoning (affiliate link) and cook for another minute.
- Add sausage, and cook until it’s well browned, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks. Move cooked sausage to a bowl.
- Add more olive oil and heat the oil, the add zucchini and yellow squash pieces.
- Cook squash, turning every few minutes, until the yellow squash and zucchini is starting to lightly brown.
- Season squash with salt to taste and some fresh-ground black pepper.
- Add the cooked sausage back into the skillet with the chicken stock.
- Turn heat to medium-low and cook about 5-7 minutes more, or until the stock is mostly evaporated and the squash is tender-crisp. (Some people are reporting their broth is not mostly evaporated after this long, so if you feel it’s not cooking down as quickly as you’d like, I would turn the heat a bit higher.)
- Add the chopped fresh basil and gently stir to combine.
- Sprinkle the sausage and zucchini skillet meal with Parmesan cheese and serve!
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
This easy Italian Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal could certainly be served as a summer one-dish meal. But if you wanted to add something else, it would be great with any of these low-carb salads:
- Caesar Salad with Kale, Romaine, and Shaved Parmesan
- Al’s Famous Hungarian Cucumber Salad
- Kalyn’s Favorite Baby Arugula Salad
- Fattoush Lebanese Salad
- Sweet and Sour Cucumber Salad
Want More Recipes Using Zucchini:
Check out my collection of 50 Amazing Zucchini Recipes for lots more ideas for using zucchini if it’s a bit too abundant at your house!
Italian Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal
When you have zucchini that needs to be used, this Italian Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal is a tasty low-carb dinner that only uses one pan!
Ingredients
- 1 T + 2 T olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 T minced garlic
- 1 tsp. Italian herb blend
- 19.5 ounces hot or mild Italian Sausage (see notes)
- 2 medium zucchini, cut into pieces about 1/2 inch wide)
- 2 medium yellow summer squash, cut into pieces about 1/2 inch wide)
- salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste
- 1 cup chicken stock (see notes)
- 1 cup chopped fresh basil, washed and dried if needed
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cut stem and blossom ends off squash, cut lengthwise into quarters, and then slice into pieces about 1/2 inch thick.
- Chop onion, chop up one cup fresh chopped basil, and measure out 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese. (You might want a little more Parmesan to add at the table.)
- Heat olive oil, add chopped onion and cook over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes.
- Add minced garlic and Italian Herb Seasoning (affiliate link) and cook for another minute.
- Then squeeze the sausage out of the casing, and cook until it's well browned, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks. I like to use an old-fashioned potato masher (affiliate link) to break the meat apart. Move cooked sausage to a bowl.
- Add the rest of the olive oil and heat the oil, the add diced zucchini and yellow squash pieces.
- Cook over medium heat, turning every few minutes, until the yellow squash and zucchini is starting to lightly brown.
- Season squash with salt to taste and some fresh-ground black pepper.
- Add the cooked sausage back into the skillet with the browned zucchini and add the chicken stock.
- Turn heat to low and cook about 5-7 minutes more, or until the stock is mostly evaporated and the squash is as tender-crisp as you prefer.
- Add the chopped fresh basil and gently stir to combine.
- Sprinkle the Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal with Parmesan cheese and serve!
Notes
I used the hot sausage version of my favorite turkey Italian sausage, but use turkey or pork Italian sausage, whichever you prefer.
Canned chicken broth will be fine for this recipe.
Recipe created by Kalyn and Kara, and adapted to be a no-pasta version of Rustic Pasta Sauce with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Sage.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 153Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 11mgSodium 344mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 3gSugar 6gProtein 7g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Sausage and Zucchini Skillet would be suitable for low-carb or Keto diets, or for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. You could add more sausage if you wanted it to be even lower in carbs for Keto! South Beach dieters will want to use turkey Italian sausage, but low-carb dieters might prefer pork sausage.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Skillet Meals to find more one-pan dinners like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for Italian Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal was first posted in 2008 as a rustic sauce for pasta. When I was no longer eating much pasta, in 2020 I updated it into a one-dish skillet meal with zucchini and Sausage. It was last updated in 2025. (You can still find the printer-friendly version of the original Rustic Pasta Sauce recipe on my site if you’d like to see it.)
37 Comments on “Italian Sausage and Zucchini Skillet Meal”
Easy, quick and delicious. I didn’t alter the recipe. I did miss he carbs so a nice piece of bread with butter did the trick for me😊
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I tried it and whole family liked it. I kind of missed the pasta, but I’ll get over it 😉
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
My broth never evaporated. What did I do wrong?
Hard to say exactly, but some zucchini will release more water than others, or perhaps low on your stove is not as hot as it is on the stove I tested the recipe on. Easy to fix though, Just use a slightly higher temperature to simmer or even use a bit less broth if you prefer.
Fantastic taste ! Love that it’s gluten free, for my wife, and still tasty for everyone! Only issue is I have no idea how big a “medium “ squash is. I cut up 1 zucchini and 1 yellow squash from the garden, smallest ones , and had way too much. Maybe add in how many total cups of cut up squash you need. If I had to guess after making … probably 6ish? Still awesome recipe though!!! 😁
Sorry you had a problem with that. To me a “medium” squash is about 8-9 inches long. Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Your jump to recipe button is broken
I just tried it on this recipe and it worked fine for me. Not sure why you’re having a problem, sorry.
I can’t even with this recipe!!! I’m pregnant and nothing sounds appetizing for dinner, other than small snacks mainly consisting of Dill Triscuits and hummus of course. I had ground Italian Sausage, Summer Squash, and Zucchini about to expire and on a whim I stumbled upon this recipe on Google. I followed everything to the T and it was perfect!!!!! I’m okay admitting that this dinner will be my new hyper fixation for the next month or so and wanted to thank you for that!
So glad that worked well for you!
A+ recipe. Easy to make in my large iron skillet. I followed the recipe exact……..I loved it and so did my family. I even tossed on my Feta, just because I had it……Thank you……….Easy Peezy and will surely make it again!!!!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I had a little Italian sausage left over from another recipe and always have zuchini and squash on hand, so I googled the three ingredients, and voila! I thought it was delicious!
The broth would never have evaporated as quickly so I just kept the fire on medium high and it worked fine. I also didn’t remove the sausage to cook the veggies. Just moved it to the side of the pan and that worked well, too. I will definitely fix this again!
Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
This is sooo good! Read some of the previous reviews…. I had no issues . I would give this a 5 star rating.
So glad you enjoyed it! I appreciate the 5 star rating too, those ratings are so important.
Did you make this in a cast iron skillet? When I cook with cast iron I tend to have a lot less liquid in the final dish. I also cooked this on a slightly higher temp than what the recipe stated. -Good luck!
I can’t figure out why people are having trouble with this recipe. I went back and checked my recipe to be sure it was one cup of broth, and that is the amount I used. I do have a high-powered stove, but the broth was mostly evaporated for me, as you can see in the photos. I will edit the post to make it clear that you cook until most of the broth is evaporated. Sorry it was disappointing for you.
I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t work for you. I always hate it when someone is disappointed, but since I am not at your house cooking it with you I can’t tell why you got different results than I did. I definitely didn’t have that experience and everyone enjoyed the dish when I made it, and there’s a comment directly below this from someone who liked it.
The recipe says “about 5-7 minutes more, or until the stock is mostly evaporated.” Did you think of turning the heat a bit higher when the broth wasn’t evaporating as much as you wanted? That’s the first thing I would have done.
Fixed this sausage and zucchini last night. We enjoyed it! My husband kept remarking how good it was. Thank you!
I love hearing that; so glad you enjoyed it!
Lydia, I think that's my favorite Dreamfields shape!
I still use Dreamfield rotini all the time, and I love it. I'm pretty good with chopsticks, and the rotini is easy to grab — and chopsticks make me eat more slowly, which is a good thing!
Beth dried sage would work here as well. It's a strong flavor especially when dried so I would probably start with only about 2 teaspoons, added when you add the fresh sage.
We'll, darn it. I just pulled up my sage because I couldn't find a recipe I liked using it. Would dried sage work? If so, how much would you recommend? This recipe sounds so delicious!
Sage and sausage go so well together, don’t they?
I miss Italian sausage! That’s something we can’t seem to find in my part of France — maybe in the Southeast…
That looks and sounds wonderful! Sage is definitely one of my favorite fall flavors, after pumpkin of course. I also wanted to thank you for linking to my turkey sausage use in your collard greens recipe that I loved so much.
This sounds like th perfect fall pasta dish!
What a great way to use some of my overgrown sage. As usual, Kalyn, you’ve done a great job with great produce!
Sage and squash is a favorite flavor combo of mine. So fallish! And the best part is that any kind of squash seems to cozy up to sage- and pasta. I can picture this sauce on spaghetti squash, too.
Katerine, I have so much sage too! This is a good way to use some, but try making the dried sage blend – it’s wonderful.
Deborah, thanks.
Tanna, will have to look for that. We barely got Whole Foods here.
I love Whole Foods Hot Italian Chicken Sausage! It is so often what I turn too when I have no dinner plan because it works magic in just such as this. This looks really wonderful.
This looks awesome- just the thing for these cooler evenings!
This looks really good! We have so much sage and my boyfriend adores it so he would love this.