8 Best Smoked Sausage Recipes

One of the things we like best about smoked sausage — besides how it tastes, of course, since smoking makes almost everything taste better — is the fact that it's fully cooked. What this means, for the indecisive shopper, is that it will last a few days longer in the fridge than raw meat, thus giving you plenty of time to decide what to do with it. Still, even smoked sausage won't last forever, so we'll help speed the decision-making process along by suggesting some of our favorite ways to use it.

These smoked sausage recipes are a fairly diverse lot. Some are made on the stovetop, and others can be cooked in one of those handy-dandy kitchen appliances that might otherwise be gathering dust. While sausage itself is the star of several dishes, in others it plays more of a supporting role to meats such as chicken and shrimp. (No amphibians, though, despite the presence of Frogmore stew on the list.)

Cajun pasta dishes are a popular casual eatery entree and, while ours isn't specifically a copycat dish, it certainly seems like something that wouldn't be out of place on the menu at any of the ABCs (these being Applebee's, Bennigan's, and Chili's). It's pretty easy to put together, too, since all you're doing is sauteing sausage, peppers, and onions and then combining them with cooked pasta and cream cheese. The basil leaves in the picture are strictly for decorative purposes so you may feel free to leave them out.

Recipe: Cajun Smoked Sausage Pasta

Burgoo is a stew associated with the Bluegrass State, as you probably guessed from the name of the recipe. That makes it the perfect dish to eat while you watch the Kentucky Derby. This mixture of beef, chicken, sausage, and a whole bunch of vegetables would also make a great entree for any football festivities you might have in mind as it's hearty enough for cold weather. One note on the bourbon this recipe calls for: This ingredient is not typically used in burgoo, so you're not bucking tradition if you leave it out.

Recipe: Kentucky Burgoo

Since smoked sausage, as we mentioned, is already cooked as part of the smoking process, it really doesn't matter how you heat it up. Here the sausage is sauteed in an Instant Pot along with bell peppers, onions, and canned tomatoes, and the dish cooks in just a few minutes as advertised. Of course, it would also do so in a frying pan, so you can make this recipe even if you're Instant Potless.

Recipe: Instant Pot Sausage and Peppers

Little smokies (also lil' or lit'l, depending on the brand) are smoked sausages in their cutest form since they're bite-sized like baby carrots. While you can use them to make itty-bitty pigs in blankets, you could also go old-school with this church basement staple of smokies in a sugary sauce. Some retro recipes for the dish call for a combination of grape jelly and chili sauce, but ours uses an equally sweet mixture of barbecue sauce, ketchup, and brown sugar.

Recipe: Easy Slow Cooked Little Smokies

Traditionally, a Low Country boil would be, well, boiled, and most likely in a large cauldron as the dish is often made to feed a crowd. This recipe lets you cook a much smaller amount of the sausage, shrimp, potato, and corn stew. Using your Instant Pot instead of a pot on the stove lets you get some use out of that pricey appliance. Plus, you might save a few minutes cooking the potatoes as the small red-jacketed kind may take 15 to 20 minutes to boil and here they only need 10.

Recipe: Quick Instant Pot Low Country Boil

While a shrimp boil, as its name indicates, is made with shrimp, it includes several additional ingredients such as corn, potatoes, and sausage to make it more of a one-pot meal. This recipe calls for andouille sausage to add a Cajun touch, but Italian sausages may be used in Carolina-style shrimp boils. So either the mild or hot variety would make for a more than acceptable substitute. 

Recipe: Instant Pot Shrimp Boil

In the U.S., we think of kielbasa as a specific type of sausage, but in Poland, the word simply translates to "sausage," so even Jimmy Dean's finest would qualify. For those of us not in central Europe, however, it's best to choose a smoked, Polish-style sausage to use in this simple, yet tasty one-pan meal flavored with caraway seeds and sauerkraut.

Recipe: 1-Skillet Kielbasa and Potatoes

Before we feast on Frogmore stew, let's usher the elephant — or rather, the amphibian — out of the room: No, the dish doesn't include any of Kermit's cousins. Instead, it's simply another name for Low Country boil, which means that it's made with shrimp, sausages, corn, and potatoes. Those ingredients, plus a few seasonings and some water for cooking, are all you need to make it, although you can toss some parsley on top if you want to get fancy.

Recipe: Authentic Frogmore Stew