Easy Smoked Sausage and Vegetable Stew (Easy Summer Skillet)

A warm, smoky sausage and vegetable stew built from crispy kielbasa, baby potatoes, peppers and courgette in one pan. Ready in under 45 minutes, budget-friendly, and easily a full family dinner on its own.

Sausage and vegetable stew is a quick, filling one-pan dinner made with smoked kielbasa or sardelki, baby potatoes, peppers, courgette and ripe tomatoes. The sausage is fried until crisp, then everything is simmered together in a little stock until the flavours pull together.

It takes well under an hour and uses cheap, easy-to-find ingredients. It is hearty enough to serve on its own with crusty bread, and adaptable to whatever summer veg you have in the fridge.

Ingredients for This Sausage and Vegetable Stew

• Vegetable oil – a neutral oil for frying, so it doesn't compete with the smoky sausage.
• Kielbasa or sardelki sausages – smoked, Eastern European–style sausages that give the stew its savoury, smoky backbone. Sardelki are softer and milder; kielbasa is firmer and holds its shape.
• Baby potatoes – cooked first so they stay tender and creamy without turning to mush in the pan.
• Yellow onion – the sweet, savoury base for the whole dish.
• Garlic cloves – added late so they stay fragrant rather than bitter.
• Bell peppers – red or mixed colours (sweet Bulgarian-style paprika peppers) for sweetness and body.
• Courgette – goes in near the end so it keeps a little bite rather than collapsing.
• Cherry or baby plum tomatoes – ripe ones add a fresh, juicy burst against the smoky sausage.
• Dried oregano, parsley and marjoram – a simple herb trio that lifts the whole stew.
• Chicken or vegetable stock – just enough to make a light sauce to dip bread into.
• Salt and black pepper – added carefully at the end, since the sausage and stock are already salty.

How to Make This Sausage and Vegetable Stew

1. Step 1: Cook the baby potatoes in the microwave following the instructions on the bag, usually around 9–10 minutes. If you are using loose baby potatoes, place them in a microwave-safe bag inside a bowl, add a little water, and heat on full power for about 9 minutes. Release the steam carefully and let them cool enough to handle. Slice the kielbasa or sardelki into rounds. Heat a little oil in a large skillet and fry the sausage rounds until crispy, stirring occasionally, for around 5–6 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

2. Step 2: Add the diced onion to the same skillet and fry for 3–4 minutes. Add the sliced peppers and sauté for another 5 minutes. Check the potatoes, and once they are cool enough to handle, cut them in halves and add them to the skillet. Stir in the dried parsley, oregano and marjoram, along with salt and black pepper. Stir everything together and cook for 2 minutes so the flavours start to combine.

3. Step 3: Add the sliced courgette, minced garlic and halved tomatoes. Heat through for just 1 minute so the courgette keeps its shape.

4. Step 4: Return the sausage to the skillet and pour in the stock. Stir everything together, reduce the heat, cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper if needed. Let the dish rest under the lid for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with crusty bread for dipping into the sauce.

How to Serve and Store This Sausage and Vegetable Stew

This sausage and vegetable stew is a meal in itself, so it needs very little alongside it. A few thick slices of crusty bread or a soft bread roll are perfect for mopping up the sauce. If you want to stretch it further, serve it over rice or with a simple green salad on the side. A spoonful of sour cream on top works beautifully and softens the smoky edge of the sausage.

Let any leftovers cool fully, then transfer them to an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. The flavours deepen overnight, so it often tastes even better the next day. Reheat gently in a pan over medium heat, adding a splash of stock or water if it has dried out. I don't recommend freezing it, as the courgette and potatoes turn soft and watery once thawed.

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What This Sausage and Vegetable Stew Costs Around the World

This sausage and vegetable stew is genuinely cheap to make, which is part of its appeal.

• In the UK, a batch serving four works out at roughly £6–£7 in total, or about £1.50–£1.75 per serving, with smoked sausage from Tesco, Aldi or a Polish shop being the biggest single cost.
• In Ireland, the same stew comes to around €8–€9 in total, or about €2 per serving, with kielbasa easy to find in Dunnes, Tesco Ireland or Polish delis.
• In the USA, expect around $9–$11 for the dish, or roughly $2.25–$2.75 per serving, with kielbasa widely stocked at Walmart, Kroger and most large supermarkets.
• In Australia, it lands at about AUD 14–16 in total, or AUD 3.50–4 per serving, with smoked sausage from Coles, Woolworths or European grocers.
• In Poland, the natural home of kielbasa, the stew is the cheapest of all at around PLN 22–26, or roughly PLN 5.50–6.50 per serving, with excellent fresh kielbasa from any local butcher or market.

Whichever country you cook it in, this remains a low-cost, high-comfort sausage and vegetable stew.

Tips for the Best Sausage and Vegetable Stew

• Fry the sausage until it has genuinely crisp, browned edges before removing it. This step builds the smoky, savoury base that flavours the whole sausage and vegetable stew. The browned bits left in the pan dissolve into the stock later and add real depth. Rushing this stage gives you a paler, flatter-tasting dish, so give it the full 5–6 minutes.
• Cook the potatoes separately first, as the recipe instructs, rather than simmering them raw in the pan. Baby potatoes need more time than the other vegetables, and microwaving them keeps them creamy without overcooking the courgette and tomatoes. Letting them cool slightly before halving also stops them crumbling. This small bit of organisation is what keeps the textures right.
• Taste before you add any salt at the end. Smoked sausage and stock cubes both carry a lot of salt, and it is very easy to overdo it. Add the herbs and pepper first, simmer, then taste and only then decide on salt. You can always add more, but you cannot take it back out.
• Add the courgette late and barely cook it. Courgette turns to mush quickly, and the whole point here is a fresh, slightly firm bite against the soft potatoes and crisp sausage. One minute before the stock goes in is plenty. If you prefer it softer, give it two minutes, but no more than that.
• Use ripe tomatoes and add them whole-halved rather than chopped small. Cherry or baby plum tomatoes hold together and release little bursts of juice as they warm through. This keeps the stew fresh and summery instead of turning it into a heavy tomato sauce. Tomatoes still on the vine tend to be the sweetest.
• Let the dish rest under the lid for the full 10 minutes after cooking. This resting time lets the flavours settle and the sauce thicken slightly as everything cools a touch. It also gives the potatoes time to soak up the smoky, herby stock. A rushed stew straight off the heat never tastes as rounded as one that has rested.
• Choose your sausage to suit the texture you want. Firm kielbasa holds its shape and gives you distinct, chewy rounds, while softer sardelki break down a little and make the stew more tender. Both work, so pick whichever you can find and enjoy. A Polish or Eastern European shop will usually have the best of either.
• Don't overcrowd the pan when frying the sausage. If the rounds are piled on top of each other, they steam rather than fry and never crisp up properly. Use a wide skillet and, if needed, fry in two batches. A little patience here makes a noticeable difference to the final flavour.
• Keep the lid on while the stew simmers and rests. Trapping the steam helps the vegetables cook evenly and stops the small amount of stock from drying out. It also keeps the dish hot while it rests. If you like a slightly thicker sauce, leave the lid off for the last couple of minutes of simmering.
• Treat the vegetables as flexible and use what you have. This sausage and vegetable stew is very forgiving, so mushrooms, green beans or a handful of spinach all slot in happily. Just match the cooking time to the vegetable, adding quick-cooking ones late. It is an ideal recipe for using up odds and ends from the fridge.

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Sausage and Vegetable Stew Recipe

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Sausage and vegetable stew is a smoky, one-pan dinner of crispy kielbasa, baby potatoes, peppers, courgette and tomatoes. Quick, budget-friendly and filling, it's a full family meal ready in under 45 minutes and perfect with crusty bread.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil – for frying (about 2 tbsp)
• 600g (1 lb 5 oz) kielbasa or sardelki sausages, cut into rounds
• 500g (1 lb 2 oz) bag baby potatoes
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 bell peppers, deseeded and sliced
• 1 large courgette, halved lengthways and sliced into half-rounds
• A handful of cherry or baby plum tomatoes, halved
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 100ml (scant ½ cup) chicken or vegetable stock
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the baby potatoes in the microwave according to the bag instructions, usually around 9–10 minutes. If using loose baby potatoes, place them in a microwave-safe bag inside a bowl with a little water and heat on full power for about 9 minutes. Release the steam carefully and leave to cool enough to handle.
2. Slice the sausage into rounds. Heat the oil in a large skillet and fry the sausage until crispy, stirring occasionally, for 5–6 minutes. Remove and set aside.
3. Add the diced onion to the same pan and fry for 3–4 minutes. Add the sliced peppers and sauté for a further 5 minutes. Halve the cooked potatoes and add them to the pan. Stir in the parsley, oregano, marjoram, salt and black pepper, and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add the courgette, garlic and halved tomatoes, and heat through for 1 minute.
5. Return the sausage to the pan and pour in the stock. Stir, reduce the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
6. Rest the stew under the lid for 10 minutes before serving with crusty bread.

Notes

Taste before adding salt, as smoked sausage and stock are both naturally salty.

Add the courgette late so it keeps a little bite rather than turning soft.

Firm kielbasa holds its shape; softer sardelki break down a little for a more tender stew.

Cook the potatoes separately first so they stay creamy and don't overcook the other veg.

Leftovers keep for up to 3 days in the fridge and taste even better the next day.