ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND WHITE BEAN SKILLET

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND WHITE BEAN SKILLET

This Italian sausage and White Bean Skillet is so extremely versatile that I wanted to give you a few variations. I decided to go with a “one skillet” and low-er carb version because those recipes seem to be quite popular lately, but you can lower the cost and stretch this meal out by replacing some of the sausage, beans, or spinach with 8oz. of cooked pasta, preferably orecchiette, which is a flat, disk-like shape. If you can’t find spinach for a low price like I did (thank you, Aldi!!), you can cut the amount of spinach in half and still have a great dish, or use frozen chopped spinach.

It doesn't get easier than this high protein, high fiber, high FLAVOR Italian Sausage and White Bean Skillet! 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. Italian sausage (hot, mild, or sweet) $3.49
• 1 Tbsp olive oil $0.13
• 2 15 oz. cans cannellini beans* $1.10
• 8 oz. spinach $1.49
• Freshly cracked pepper $0.05

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Remove the casing from the sausage and add the sausage to a large deep skillet, or wide bottomed soup pot, along with the olive oil. Sauté the sausage over medium heat, breaking it into pieces as you go, until the sausage is cooked through, brown, and crispy on the edges (about 10 minutes).
2. While the sausage is cooking, rinse and drain the cannellini beans. Once the sausage is brown and crispy, add the beans and some freshly cracked pepper to the skillet. Gently stir the beans into the sausage to coat them in the fat, and allow them to heat through.
3. As the beans are heating through, roughly chop the spinach. Add the spinach to the skillet or pot in batches, gently stirring it into the sausage and beans until it wilts down. Once the spinach is mostly wilted, turn the heat off. Taste the mixture and add salt if needed (this will depend on the salt content of your sausage and beans). Serve hot.

RECIPE NOTES

*Cannellini beans are the preferred white bean for this recipe because they are large, firm enough to hold their shape when stirred into the skillet, and have a wonderfully creamy flavor.

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