These Italian sausage sandwiches make a quick, easy meal that will please the whole family. This toasty sandwich is stuffed with Italian sausage, caramelized onions, marinara sauce and melted mozzarella cheese.
This meal comes together in less than 30 minutes and the prep work is basically nonexistent. It’s perfect for busy weeknights; it’s also great for casual weekends.
Use mild or hot Italian sausage depending on how spicy you like things. We used hot for ours! Italian sausage is such a versatile ingredient; we use it all the time. Getting dinner on the table on busy weeknights can be a challenge and this is one ingredient that helps make it happen. Since the sausage is so flavorful, we can keep other ingredients to a minimum. Try these Italian sausage meatballs, orecchiette with sausage, or this Tuscan soup.
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Ingredients
- 16 ounces Hot or Mild Italian Sausage Links (4 links)
- 1 tablespoon Canola Oil (plus 1 teaspoon if needed for the onions)
- 1 cup Water
- 1 medium Onion, sliced thin
- 1 cup Marinara Sauce
- 1 cup grated Mozzarella Cheese
- 4 Sub or Hoagie Rolls (1 for each sausage)
- Chopped parsley for garnish, optional
You will also need
Cook the Italian sausage
- Heat the oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the sausage. Cook the sausage for 4-6 minutes, turning them occasionally to brown on all sides.
- Carefully add the water to the skillet and cover.
- Cook the sausages for 15-20 minutes until most of the liquid has cooked out and the internal temperature reaches at least 165°F. Use an instant read thermometer to make sure.
- Take the skillet off the heat and remove the sausages. Place them on a plate or pan and keep warm. Loosely cover the pan with foil and/or place in the microwave it should stay warm away from drafts.
Cook the onions
- If there is any liquid left in the skillet drain it off, but do not wash. There should be a layer of oil, if there’s not, add one teaspoon.
- Heat the skillet on medium. When it’s hot, add the onions. Cook them gently until they turn a nice golden color, approximately 5-7 minutes.
- Stir the onions frequently so they don’t burn. Remove the skillet from the heat and build the sandwiches.
Preheat the oven
While the onions cook, move the oven rack to the bottom third of the oven so that the sandwiches are not sitting too close to the heating element. Set the oven to the low broil setting.
Build the Italian sausage sandwiches
Cut each sub/hoagie roll to roughly the size of the cooked sausage. Then cut the bread in half lengthwise, but don’t go all the way through, like butterflying.
Add two tablespoons of the marinara sauce to the bottom piece of the roll and sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese.
Add one sausage to each roll and top each with two tablespoons of marinara sauce, cooked onions and 2 tablespoons of shredded mozzarella cheese.
Arrange the Italian sausage sandwiches on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Broil the sandwiches for 4-5 minutes or until the bread is lightly toasted and the cheese is melted.
Keep an eye on the sandwiches, turn the oven light on and watch them carefully. Do not step away from the oven. The sandwiches will toast very quickly and can go from beautifully toasted to burnt in no time!
Garnish with a little parsley if desired and enjoy.
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Italian Sausage Sandwich
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Hot or Mild Italian Sausage Links 4 links
- 1 tablespoon Canola Oil plus 1 teaspoon if needed for the onions
- 1 cup Water
- 1 medium Onion sliced thin
- 1 cup Marinara Sauce
- 1 cup grated Mozzarella Cheese
- 4 Sub or Hoagie Rolls 1 for each sausage
- Chopped parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- You will also need: sheet pan, large non-stick skillet with a lid
Cook the Italian Sausage
- Heat the oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the sausage. Cook the sausage for 4-6 minutes, turning them occasionally to brown on all sides.
- Carefully add the water to the skillet and cover.
- Cook the sausages for 15-20 minutes until most of the liquid has cooked out and the internal temperature reaches at least 165°F.
- Take the skillet off the heat and remove the sausages, place on a pan or plate and loosely cover with foil to keep warm.
Cook the Onions
- If there is any liquid left in the skillet drain it off, but do not wash. There should be a layer of oil, if there’s not, add one teaspoon.
- Heat the skillet on medium. When the skillet is hot, add the onions. Cook them gently for 5-7 minutes until golden, stirring frequently. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Preheat the oven
- While the onions cook, move the oven rack to the bottom third of the oven and set it to the low broil setting.
Build the Sandwiches
- Cut each sub/hoagie roll to roughly the size of the cooked sausage. Then cut the bread in half lengthwise, but don’t go all the way through.
- Add two tablespoons of the marinara sauce to the bottom piece of the roll and sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese.
- Add one sausage to each roll and top each with two tablespoons of marinara sauce, cooked onions and 2 tablespoons of shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Arrange the Italian sausage sandwiches on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven.
- Broil the sandwiches for 4-5 minutes or until the bread is lightly toasted and the cheese is melted. Do not step away from the oven; keep an eye on the sandwiches so they don’t burn.
- Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.
Melanie
Wonderful recipe, I followed the recipe EXACTLY. One “issue” is…if you put 1 cup of water in the pan, after you have browned them, then COVER and cook for 15 – 20 minutes, how is it there is no liquid in the pan. I suspect if I measured the amount of liquid liquid I have left there is probably more than 1 cup, since some of the fat has drained into the water. So, to cook the vegies in that wonderful liquid, they wouldn’t be sauteed, they would be boiled. So my only option was to use whatever oil I could scavenge from the top of the slightly cooled pan, and add a little olive oil and sautee them that way. It would have been very helpful to know if you meant to leave the lid off so the water would disappear while cooking.
I’m working with it anyway…loved this!
Melanie
Elizabeth
Hi Melanie,
I’m sorry you had trouble.
From the recipe: Cook the sausages for 15-20 minutes until most of the liquid has cooked out and the internal temperature reaches at least 165°F.
Take the skillet off the heat and remove the sausages, place on a pan or plate and loosely cover with foil to keep warm.
Cook the Onions If there is any liquid left in the skillet drain it off, but do not wash. There should be a layer of oil, if there’s not, add one teaspoon.
Hope this helps, thanks for stopping by.