Fried Sausage and Apples Skillet Meal

Fried Sausage and Apples Skillet Meal is a two ingredient easy weeknight meal made from only smoked sausage and apples.

Paired with a crusty loaf of bread and coarse deli mustard it is simple rustic perfection. A simple cast iron skillet sausage fry inspired by the dishes of Alexander Hamilton’s time.

Cast iron skillet recipe inspired by the past

Smoked sausage and naturally sweet apples combine for a delicious balanced bite with big flavor!

This meal needs only a hot cast iron skillet and two ingredients. The same simple ingredients and techniques that were a necessity in the past are lifesavers in the modern busy-weeknight-kitchen.

I love old cookbooks. Not just those vintage Betty Crocker cookbooks from our mother’s kitchen but the really old ones. Cookbooks from 100 years ago or more.

I find it so interesting to read about what people used to eat and how they would prepare their meals. A glimpse into their everyday lives. Not the headline-making aspects of history but, the little moments. Their daily rituals, their struggles, and their joys. What did it take to run a household? What did dinner parties and entertaining look like? In what ways are things the same as our current lives and how do they differ? Some answers to these questions are hidden in the pages of old cookbooks.

You can view versions of many historical and just-plain-old cookbooks for free online at archive.org.

Or you can find great modern cookbooks that decipher old ingredients and preparation methods for you! Like this recipe for Fried Sausages and Apples based on a recipe in The Hamilton Cookbook by Laura Kumin who adapted it from a Fried Sausages and Apples recipe found in a 1805 Revolutionary period cookbook, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse.

Ingredients

• Smoked sausage – is a busy weeknight lifesaver and can put meals on the table in minutes like Sheet Pan Sausage and Cabbage , Sausage and Kale Soup and Green Lentil Stew. You can substitute apple sausage to play up the delicious apple flavor. Or use fresh sausage like the original recipe called for but the cooking times will be slightly longer to ensure the sausage is cooked through.
• Apples – The apples impart a sweetness to the sausage and the sausage gives the whole dish a nice smokiness. For good variety and texture, choose several different types of apples. A mix of crisp tart apples like Granny Smith and sweet and soft apples like Gala give the entire dish great flavor and texture. The apples need to be quartered and cored but there’s no need to peel. But if you’d prefer a softer bite you can peel the apples like Laura Kumin’s directions call for to speed up the cooking time even more.

Step by step instructions

1. Wash, core and cut half the apples in quarters. Thinly slice the other half.
2. In a large cast iron skillet or other heavy bottomed pan brown sausages over medium high heat.
3. Once the smoked sausages begin to brown add the apples, both thinly sliced and quartered.
4. Continue browning the apples and the sausage for several minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Add the water, cover and reduce heat.
6. Simmer skillet meal covered to steam for 5-10 minutes or until the sausages are completely heated, the quartered apples have softened and the sliced apples have turned to sauce.
7. Remove sausage and apples from heat. Remove the sausage rope to a cutting board and transfer the apple mixture to a serving platter.
8. Slice sausages and add to platter.
9. Serve sausage and apples as is or try serving sausage and apples with potatoes or with bread and grainy mustard.
10. Enjoy!

Customize It!

Be thankful that our modern kitchens are not subject to the same limiting restrictions as those of our Revolutionary Era ancestors. So if you’d like to turn this two ingredient meal into a three or four ingredient meal you can get creative and have fun!

• Add a little sliced onion, butter, garlic and/or dried thyme to the pan with the apples.
• Swap out water for apple cider or beer.
• Sprinkle fresh sage and fresh ground black pepper on top.
• Serve with potatoes and or cabbage to make it a little more substantial.
• Use the leftovers to make sausage and apple stuffing with cornbread or regular bread cubes.

Yield

It is generally recommended to have ⅓ to ½ pound of sausage per person when serving sausage. This one skillet meal recipe serves 4 with ½ pound of apples and a pound of apples per person but can easily be cut in half to serve two. Or doubled to serve more and either cook in a large skillet. Or make sheet pan sausage and apples instead and bake in the oven.

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