Who doesn’t love a quick and easy 30-minute meal made in a skillet? This sweet potato apple sausage skillet dinner comes together super quick, is full of flavor and protein. Gluten free and easily made Paleo and Whole30 with compliant sausage
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Life is busy, folks.
As I am writing this, we are in the thick of the holiday season. I have parties booked up multiple nights of the coming weeks, holiday concerts to go to attend for my daughter, gifts to wrap, gifts to mail, cookies to bake and yada yada yada. I love it all, but it kind of makes my head spin when trying to get it all done on top of the hustle of normal everyday life. Like getting dinner on the table.
And while I want to blame it on the holidays, let’s face it….life is always busy. There is almost away something just on the horizon that keeps us moving and adapting. And in this fast forward, always-one-more-thing-to-do culture that we are living and raising a family in, it is no wonder that processed convenience foods are so tempting and easy to reach for. I mean, we are busy folks who need something to give!
Which is why I love a really one-skillet dinner that comes together in a few minutes. No pile of dishes to conquer after the meal and a healthy dinner still makes it onto the table in a reasonable amount of time.
They are my sanity saver and often what stops me from ordering takeout when I have had a day of constant hustle.
This Sweet Potato Apple Sausage Skillet dinner has been my most recent easy-peasy one-skillet creation to keep the family fed, happy and life humming along while still getting real food on the table.
How to serve it to children
I know a great many of you have young children like me. And making a dinner that everyone will feel jazzed about eating can sometimes feel like quite a feat. Which is why I aim to have as many of my recipes be family friendly as possible. So that you don’t have to feel like a short order cook.
One thing I have learned as my years as a mom and a teacher is that every meal is kid-friendly with a few small adaptations based on your unique child’s preferences. Here are a few tips and tricks I use in my home or suggest to other parents with young eaters.
- Deconstruct it. Either using a plate or a muffin tin, separate out the apple, sweet potatoes and sausages from one another. This allows for you to make the same meal, but serve it so that your child can enjoy the sausage, apples and sweet potato separately. It also helps for a meal to feel less visually overwhelming, especially when one of the ingredients might be new.
- If serving to very young children, be sure sausage, sweet potatoes and apples are cut small enough to prevent choking.
- Cook a serving sausage, apple and sweet potato on the side without seasoning. Children’s sense of taste is much more sensitive than that of an adult. So if your child prefers foods that are a bit blander, simply cook the ingredients in a side skillet without the seasoning. He/she will still enjoy the same meal as you but in a way that feels more comfortable for them. And, yes, this makes for an extra dirty dish, but that is way better than a hungry child or dinner table drama.
Suggested adaptations
- Use ground sausage instead of links. Just make sure to cook it through in the pan, remove, cook potatoes and then add back in at the end.
- Skip the apples. Not everyone likes the combo of sweet and savory, so removing the apples and replacing them with butternut squash would be a lovely little change.
- Use favorite sausage links. If your are not a fan of chicken sausage, pre-cook pork sausage links god well with these flavors as well!
- Using uncooked sausage links? Just make sure to cook them through first. Remove from pan, cook potatoes and onions and then add sausage back in at the end to combine.
Other easy veggie-loaded dinners to keep you going…
- Instant Pot Black Bean & Butternut Squash Soup
- Veggie-Loaded Chicken Bites
- Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole
- Healthy & Easy Turkey Burgers
- Sheet Pan Greek Chicken & Veggies
Sweet Potato Apple Sausage Skillet
Equipment
- large skiller
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 medium sweet potato peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/2 medium yellow onion chopped
- 2 apples cut into 1/2 inch pieces. I like to use Fuji or Granny Smith
- 4 large pre-cooked chicken sausage links if Whole30/Paleo is important, make sure sausage is compliant
- 2 tsp fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup broth
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add onions, sweet potatoes and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent and potatoes are fork tender. About 10 minutes
- Stir in the apples, garlic, thyme, cinnamon and sliced sausage. Cook for 5 minute.
- Add broth to skillet and bring to a boil. Cook until broth has evaporated. About 5 minutes
- Serve and enjoy warm. Allow leftovers to cool and store in fridge for up to 3 days.
I can’t get over how cozy and tasty this is!! I want to eat it all right now!
Oh yeah, and super duper simple to throw together. Win!