This Sausage, Kale, and Sweet Potato Skillet is a quick and nourishing meal for busy weeknights. It’s packed with nutrition and ready in no time.
Table of Contents
- Nutritious Ingredients
- Getting your Mise en place
- Sausage, Kale, and Sweet Potato Hash
- Check out more great recipes!
I have often wondered how many meals and recipes were created out of sheer desperation. Casseroles in particular come to mind, as does banana bread. I think of the busy, perhaps harried women who were trying to make do and feed many mouths during tough times. I imagine those recipes are created simple by looking at what was available and thinking a little creatively.
It never fails to amaze me how, when you keep a well-stocked pantry and have been cooking from scratch for a while, meals can come out of even the simplest ingredients, and often, they are the most delicious.
Case in point: this Sausage, Kale, and Sweet Potato Skillet.
This meal came about because of my own desperation. It was a hectic day. Schedules were all over the place: my husband had meetings and I had grades to get in. Children’s tummies were rumbling. and it was the witching hour of four-five o’clock. The temptation to get take out pizza was strong.
Sometimes take out pizza is the answer, but sometimes it’s not.
This night, pizza wasn’t the answer, as much as I wanted it to be. I had about 30 minutes before supper; I could make something quickly.
Nutritious Ingredients
I had three main ingredients on hand: sausage, sweet potatoes, and kale. I almost always have these one hand. Kale is a constant garden producer for nearly half of the year. I almost always have plenty of ground pork and pork sausage in my freezer from a local farmer, since I buy an entire pig at one time. And sweet potatoes are always in my pantry.
Sausage and dark greens go extremely well together, and are often paired with pasta. Something about the sturdy bitterness of the greens marries well with the sweet, salty, fatty pork. But instead of using pasta, I used sweet potatoes. Necessity is the mother of invention after all.
Pork Sausage
I encourage everyone, both for quality and for price, to purchase bulk meat from a local farmer. Of course, I understand that might not be possible for everyone, so get the best quality pork sausage that you can. You can either use links that you removed the casing, or just the ground sausage will do. If you cannot find a quality Italian sausage, use ground pork and make your own sausage. It’s easier than you think!
Kale
Kale, or any dark leafy green will do. Swiss Chard would be amazing in this. Even turnip greens or collards would work. Use whatever is the most fresh. I recommend shopping at your local farmer’s market for the best taste and price, but it’s even better if you have it growing in your backyard or in a terra cotta pot on your back porch. Kale is a sturdy and beautiful vegetable to grow and you really can’t mess it up.
Sweet Potatoes
I have yet to grow sweet potatoes myself, so usually try and purchase them from a local farmer at my market. But even that doesn’t work year round, so I find the best looking ones from my grocery store. Sweet potatoes are inexpensive, easy to digest and full of beautiful nutrition. It makes a regular appearance on my dinner table.
Getting your Mise en place
The first thing to do is get everything ready. This dish goes quickly and easily once everything is prepped. I loath peeling potatoes, but sweet potatoes have a rather tough skin, so I peel and dice potatoes into about half inch cubes and set aside. I also dice up an onion and peel four garlic cloves.
Once the potatoes are set up, heat some olive oil in an enamel-coated, cast iron Dutch oven, When the oil is shimmering, add the onions and a pinch of salt to let them soften and sweat. I’ll grate or mince in four garlic cloves, and add a pinch of red pepper flakes. If you’re using hot Italian sausage, you could skip the red pepper.
Once the onions and garlic are fragrant and soft, add the sausage. Brown it, and if you notice a lot of fat, drain some off.
Add the cubed sweet potatoes and give a stir, then add the wine, scraping off any bits that stuck to the bottom of the pan. Then smell the wonderful fragrance of wine mixed with the onions, garlic and sausage. Heavenly. Life can be good even in the hectic moments
Let the alcohol cook off before you add the chicken stock. Give another stir, and then cover, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes or so, or until the potatoes are mostly soft.
Meanwhile, wash the kale and partially dry. It doesn’t matter is the kale still has some moisture on it; that’ll just help steam it and make it tender.
After about 15 minutes, add the kale with a little salt and a dash of nutmeg. Cover to let the kale wilt a little before you stir, otherwise you have kale all over your stove top.
Cook covered, until the potatoes are soft and the kale is wilted and tender, but still bright green. Serve, garnished with a grate or two of fresh Parmesan and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.
Then sit down with your precious family and enjoy the sausage, kale, and sweet potato skillet with a few moments of quiet you have before the chaos of bedtime ensues. The crazy life we live is worth every insane moment.
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Sausage, Kale, and Sweet Potato Hash
Sausage, Kale, and Sweet Potato Skillet
Equipment
- 1 very large skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
- 1 bunch kale stems removed and chopped
- 4 large sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into ½ inch cubes
- ½ cup white wine (optional; if omitting add more chicken stock)
- 1 cup chicken broth or stock
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- grated parmesan
- chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Heat a very large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and onions with a pinch of salt and sauté until translucent, 3-5 minutes.
- Add garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Sauté until fragrant and soft, about 1 minute
- Add sausage to the pot and brown, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.
- Once sausage is cooked through, add sweet potatoes, stirring to incorporate.
- Add wine and deglaze the pan, scrapping any brown bits from the bottom.
- When the alcohol has cooked off, add the chicken stock, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, wash and chopped the kale. Add to the skillet with the nutmeg and cooked until it's soft and wilted, but still has a bite to it, about 5 minutes more.
- Serve topped with freshly grated Parmesan and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.
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