Smoked Sausage Recipes

Last night, my husband and I were in a hurry to get to our daughter’s preschool open house, plus we’d forgotten to take the hamburger out of the freezer for the meatloaf we’d planned to prepare for dinner. Luckily, next to that hamburger, we found a frozen Eckrich smoked sausage.

These days, I looooooove smoked sausage. You can thaw it within minutes by running under hot water. And since it’s already cooked, you don’t have to do much fancy with it. We like to chop it up and add it to jambalaya mix or red beans and rice. Occasionally we’ll fry it up with onions and leftover potatoes. Or, simply split one in half, warm in the microwave or a skillet, and serve on a bun with ketchup, mustard and a little canned sauerkraut.

I figured there must be some quick and easy smoked sausage recipes on the net, so I checked out Cooks.com. They’ve got dozens of recipes that look really yummy. I selected three to share with you that were especially easy.

Smoked Sausage Lasagna

Ingredients

• 6 oz. lasagna noodles, cooked, drained
• 1 cup Ricotta cheese
• 3 cups Prego sauce (any kind)
• 1 lb. Eckrich smoked sausage (chopped)
• 1 lb. package sliced Mozzarella cheese, cut into 3/4 inch strips

Directions

1. In greased baking dish, alternate layers of noodles, Ricotta cheese (dropped by spoonfuls), spaghetti sauce, smoked sausage, Mozzarella cheese.
2. Bake in preheated oven 350 degrees 45 minutes until heated through. Serves 6.

Smoked Sausage with Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 can green chilies, chopped & drained
• 3/4 cup uncooked rice
• 1 cup water
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 1 (16 oz.) can red beans
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 lb. smoked sausage
• 1 tsp. Tabasco

Directions

1. In medium saucepan, heat oil over medium high heat; add onion and chilies and saute 3 minutes.
2. Add rice, water and bouillon cube.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat, simmer, covered, 10 minutes until rice is tender.
5. Stir in beans, cheese, smoked sausage and Tabasco.
6. Serve warm. Serves 4.

Barbecued Smoked Sausage

Ingredients

• Barbecue sauce
• Smoked sausage

Directions

1. Cut smoked sausage into bite-size pieces.
2. Put sausage in skillet and simmer until grease melts off sausage.
3. Drain; add barbecue sauce and let simmer for 15 minutes.