Craving something cheesy and Italian but want to switch it up from the usual pasta? These Italian baked beans with chicken sausage are the perfect trio of delicious, easy, and healthy! These aren’t your typical baked beans. Rather, this super satisfying dish is a meal-in-one filled with beans, chicken sausage, tomato sauce, and cheese. These Italian baked beans are delicious on their own, although I love serving these with a side salad and garlic bread. SO YUM.
So growing up, I was 100% certain that I did NOT like baked beans. Or any beans at all for that matter. For the life of me, I honestly do not know/remember if I ever actually tried said baked beans at the many family picnics and BBQs, although it’s highly unlikely. And now talking about picnics and BBQs is making me SO READY and SO EXCITED for SUMMER. I’m 100% over winter and cold and snow. And then of course even though it’s March it snows again today. 🙄
ANYWAYS. Got a bit sidetracked talking about summer! Back to the beans. 😜 It wasn’t until I was an adult that I actually tried baked beans and discovered I actually love them. I also love Italian flavors and specifically almost anything in marinara sauce (and cheese). I’m definitely all about the sauce though. A pet peeve of mine is that most pizza tends to NEVER have enough sauce for me! I like making homemade pizza for a better sauce-to-cheese ratio.
Although, to be honest “homemade pizza” for me most definitely involves using store-bought crust or flatbreads or something of that nature versus making homemade pizza dough. Maybe someday…but that just seems much too time consuming. 🤷♀️
These Italian baked beans combine my love for baked beans + Italian flavors, and while it may sound a bit unique, I’m confident you will love it too if you try it! A bit more about the ingredients to make these cheesy delicious Italian baked beans…
The ingredients are pretty straightforward and honestly, I often have most (if not all) of these ingredients already on hand in my pantry/fridge, so hopefully you do too!
Ingredients:
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Olive oil
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Onion
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Garlic
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Oregano
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Italian seasoning
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Beans (recommend Great Northern, cannellini, pinto, etc.)
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Diced (canned) tomatoes
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Tomato/marinara sauce
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Chicken sausage (pre-cooked. Although I may try ground pork sausage in this next time I make it since I have quite a bit in the freezer! Just make sure to cook and drain it first before baking).
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Cheese (recommend freshly grated parmesan or mozzarella)
This recipe literally only requires about 15 minutes of hands-on prep/cooking time, and then just stick it in the oven for 30 minutes while you can do something else. Usually I’m doing something super exciting like catching up on laundry or washing dishes, but hey, at least you’re basically multi-tasking while dinner is cooking. 😎
I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe!
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans white beans (Great northern/cannellini/pinto)
- 2 (16 ounce cans) diced tomatoes
- 1 package chicken sausage, pre-cooked (12 ounces)*
- 1 cup marinara tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 cup shredded parmesan or mozzarella cheese
- Optional: fresh basil, parsley, or green onion for garnish
- In a skillet or cast iron pan, add olive oil and heat over medium heat. Sauté onion and garlic until softened and fragrant, then add sliced chicken sausage and cook until slightly browned and crispy.
- Next add diced canned tomatoes, marinara sauce, beans, and seasonings. I used a cast iron skillet but could also use 9x13 pan or similar size baking dish.
- Baked at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Add 1 cup cheese and then broil about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
This sounds full of things I like and super easy! Thanks!
You’re welcome; hope you try it and love it as much as I do! 🙂