Grilled Smoked Sausage and Pepper Hoagies are an easy summer dinner made with sausage, bell peppers, red onion and barbecue sauce, ready in 25 minutes. Because everything cooks on one grill, this quick recipe suits weeknight dinners, game day parties or a backyard cookout with friends.
Grilling the peppers in halves and the onion in thick slices is what keeps them out of the fire, since strips fall through the grates. Slice everything after it comes off the heat, so the pieces keep their char and stay crisp-tender.
This version brushes barbecue sauce over both sides of the sausage and vegetables only at the end, which stops the sugars from burning. The rolls toast around the edge of the grill during those last two minutes, so nothing sits waiting.
Grilled Smoked Sausage and Pepper Hoagies
Course: DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings13
minutes12
minutes575
kcalSmoked sausage, halved bell peppers and thick onion slices grill for ten minutes, then get brushed with barbecue sauce. The rolls toast cut side down while the vegetables are sliced into strips and rings for filling.
Ingredients
1 package (13 ounces) smoked sausage rope
1 whole red or green bell pepper, halved and seeded (or half of each color)
4 slices (½ inch thick) large red onion
¼ cup hickory or spicy barbecue sauce
4 hoagie rolls or 8-inch French bread rolls, split
Directions
- Prepare the grill:Oil the grate and preheat the grill to medium high. Cut the sausage rope in half crosswise.
- Grill the sausage and vegetables:Place the sausage, pepper halves and onion slices on the covered grill and cook 5 minutes. Turn everything, then continue grilling covered another 5 minutes, until the sausage is heated through and the vegetables are crisp-tender.
- Sauce and toast:Brush barbecue sauce over both sides of the sausage and vegetables. Arrange the rolls cut sides down around the edges of the grill and continue grilling covered 2 minutes, until lightly toasted.
- Slice and serve: Cut the bell peppers into strips and separate the onion slices into rings. Fill the toasted rolls with the sausage and vegetables and serve.
FAQs
What kind of smoked sausage works best for hoagies?
A natural casing rope sausage holds up best, since the casing snaps and keeps the juices inside on a hot grate. Skinless links work too, though they brown faster and can split, so watch them a minute earlier than the recipe says. Any fully cooked smoked sausage works, because you are only heating it through rather than cooking from raw.
Why grill the rolls cut side down at the end?
Toasting the cut side builds a dry, slightly crisp barrier that keeps barbecue sauce from soaking straight into the bread. Two minutes at the cooler edge of the grill is enough, since direct heat will scorch the rolls quickly. Doing it last also means the bread is still warm when you fill it, which matters more than you would think.
Should you slice the peppers before or after grilling?
Grill them in halves and slice afterward, because whole halves sit flat and take on char across the entire surface. Pre-cut strips lose moisture fast and go limp before the sausage has finished heating through on the other side. Slicing after grilling also lets you cut them thinner, so the strips lie flat in the roll instead of sliding out.
How do you keep the onion slices from falling apart on the grill?
Cut the slices a full half inch thick and leave the rings attached until after they come off the heat. A skewer pushed sideways through each slice holds the rings together, which makes flipping much easier. Turn them once with a wide spatula rather than tongs, since tongs pull the outer rings loose every time.
Can you make these hoagies without a grill?
A cast iron grill pan or a heavy skillet over medium high heat gives you the same browning indoors. The broiler works too, though you should turn the sausage and vegetables every few minutes so nothing burns. You lose the smoke, so reach for a hickory barbecue sauce, which puts some of that flavor back.
