I’ve only been cooking with andouille sausage for about a year now, but it has quickly become one of my favorite ingredients. This spicy, very flavorful sausage is commonly used in a variety of Cajun dishes. Andouille (pronounced “an-DOO-ee”) is typically a pork sausage, but the kind I buy is the 100% grass-fed beef one from Teton Waters. All of their products that I’ve tried have been great, and no they didn’t pay me to say that. I found their grass-fed ground beef at our local Natural Grocers last year, and really liked it, so I started trying more of their products.
If you have kids or someone that doesn’t like spicy things, you could substitute smoked sausage for the andouille. The cajun seasoning I used is one from Slap Ya Mama. Because the andouille sausage is already pretty spicy, I only used a 1/2 a teaspoon of cajun seasoning for this recipe. You may want to adjust this based on the heat level of the one you use. Also, some cajun seasonings can be pretty salty, so keep this in mind when seasoning the dish. You could use a salt-free version if you want to have more control over the salt level.
My husband and I both really liked this dish, so it will be making more appearances on our dinner table. It’s so simple to make, doesn’t have a ton of ingredients and comes together really quickly. That’s my kind of recipe!
Andouille Sausage and Quinoa Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa , rinsed (if not using pre-rinsed)
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 medium white onion , diced
- 1 large green bell pepper , diced
- 1 medium zucchini , halved lengthwise, cut into thirds lengthwise and diced into 1/4 pieces
- 2 cloves of garlic , minced
- 1 (12 oz) package of fully cooked andouille sausage, sliced in half lengthwise, then chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/2 tsp cajun seasoning (I used Slap Ya Mama brand)
- sea salt to taste
- To garnish:
- sliced green onions (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan, combine the quinoa and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 12-15 minutes or until the water has been absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- While that's cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and onions and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the zucchini and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 6 more minutes, or until veggies have softened. Add the cajun seasoning, garlic and sausage, let cook, stirring, for two minutes. Add the cooked quinoa and cook, stirring, for another minute to allow flavors to marry. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.