Can I make this recipe ahead of time?

For the best taste and texture, you will need to bake the sausages right before you plan on serving them. However, you could easily mix up the cheese filling a day beforehand, and keep it tightly covered in the fridge. You could also cut the slits in the sausages and shape the space for the filling a day in advance. Then just tightly cover the sausages so they don't dry out and store them in the fridge until you are ready to finish the recipe.

What kind of sauce should I use for stuffed sausage?

Just use your favorite type of tomato sauce, either homemade or store-bought. Be sure it's a sauce you really enjoy, since we are using it as-is, without adding anything to the sauce itself. (Unless you want to dress it up, see the Recipe variations section above for some ideas!)

How should I serve stuffed Italian sausage?

To garnish the stuffed sausage, I suggest a sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes and/or chopped fresh herbs. Fresh basil and/or parsley would be great! In terms of sides, try sautéed peppers and onions. (Or, how about stuffing the sausage, peppers and onions into a hoagie roll? Divine!). You can also pair the sausages with spaghetti with marinara sauce, or any type of roasted veggie or fresh salad, such as my recipe for creamy tomato and cucumber salad .

Stuffed Sausage

Stuffed Italian Sausage

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Italian sausages are stuffed with a blend of three Italian cheeses and baked in the oven with tomato sauce. This simple yet indulgent sausage dinner is made with only 6 ingredients!

Author: Kate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Rest time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 23 minutes
Total Time: 38 minutes
Yield: 5 servings 1x
Category: main course, entree
Method: bake
Cuisine: American, Italian inspired

Ingredients

Scale

5 Italian sausage links (19 ounces/538 g total), see notes 1 - 2
1 1/2 cups (153 g) shredded low-moisture part skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup (117 g) ricotta cheese
1/4 cup (19 g) finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, plus more for sprinkling
1 1/2 cups (355 ml) tomato sauce

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Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F/220 degrees C.
In a medium bowl, add 1 cup of the mozzarella, reserving 1/2 cup for later. Add in the ricotta, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning. Stir together until evenly combined.
Using a small paring knife, cut a slit down the vertical length of each sausage about half-way deep, leaving about 1/2 inch uncut at both ends of the sausage. Use your fingers to press open this gap to create a "boat" shape from each sausage.
Stuff the sausages with the cheese mixture, pressing it into the cavity created in the sausage.
Arrange the stuffed sausages into the center of a 9 x 13 inch metal baking pan. Spoon the tomato sauce all around the sausages.
Top the sausages with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle some additional Italian seasoning overtop.
Bake the sausages, uncovered, in the pre-heated oven, until the internal temperature of the sausages reaches at least 160 degrees F/71.1 degrees C, about 21 - 23 minutes.
Remove the sausages from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

Be sure to use fresh, not pre-cooked sausage for this recipe.

This recipe works best with larger sausages that are around 3.8 ounces (108 g) each, because there is more room to add the cheese filling. However, if you can only find smaller sausages, that's ok too, just use enough to equal about 19 - 20 ounces (538 g) total.

The nutrition information below is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator, and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical, health, or nutritional advice. See our full nutrition disclosure policy.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 sausage
Calories: 461
Sugar: 5.4 g
Sodium: 1315 mg
Fat: 34.5 g
Saturated Fat: 15.2 g
Carbohydrates: 9.5 g
Fiber: 1.1 g
Protein: 25.4 g
Cholesterol: 98 mg

Find it online: https://nibbleanddine.com/stuffed-sausage/