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Sweet and Sour Kielbasa

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This easy Sweet and Sour Skillet Kielbasa is a family friendly weeknight recipe perfect for busy nights. With real ingredients and a homemade sweet and sour sauce, this quick kielbasa recipe is sure to become a favorite in your meal plan.

This 30 minute skillet kielbasa recipe only takes a minimal amount of prep work, and its filled with real ingredients your family will love.
Sweet and Sour Kielbasa on blue grey plate with fork

 

sweet and sour kielbasas on two plates

 

 

Meals during the week should always be super easy, full of real ingredients and definitely super tasty! This skillet meal only takes a minimal amount of prep work, 30 minutes (if that!) to make, and its filled with real ingredients! The result is a super tasty meal the whole family will love, and it will take hardly any effort on your part!

 

 

If your family loves kielbasa, make sure you check out my other quick and easy kielbasa recipes like this Kielbasa and Zucchini Recipe with Linguine!

What I love most about this meal is that I am a HUGE fan of skillet meals! They are so easy. If you don’t have a great skillet, you definitely NEED to get a good quality cast iron. They last forever, they are super easy to care for, and they are amazing. If you are looking for more information on why I choose cast iron, or how to care for them, check out my Cast Iron 101!

 

Sweet and Sour Kielbasa on blue grey plate with fork

 

How to Make Sweet and Sour Kielbasa

This weeknight dinner is easy to make, so its great to fit into your crazy evening schedules!
  1. Slice your peppers, onions, pineapple and kielbasa.
  2. Cook the onion until it starts to caramelize.
  3. Add in the peppers and sauté for 3-5 minutes.
  4. Add in the garlic and kielbasa and cook until the kielbasa is browned.
  5. Pour in the sauce and the pineapple and cook until the sauce has thickened!
  6. That’s it! Serve and enjoy!
 
 

How do you cook kielbasa sausage?

Kielbasa is one of those meats that is great any way you make it. You can roast it in the oven, pan fry it, or grill it. In this recipe we pan fry it.
 

How do you make quick homemade sweet and sour sauce?

Homemade sweet and sour sauce is really easy to make at home.
Stir together honey, apple cider vinegar, tomato puree, and ginger. That is it!
 

How do you prep ahead of time?

Sweet and Sour Kielbasa is easy to prep ahead of time, if you evenings are crazy busy and you need to make dinner even faster! Try these steps to cut down on your prep time:
  • Slice your peppers and onions ahead of time. Store in an air-tight glass container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
  • Mix your sauce ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 1 day.
  • Slice the kielbasa into coins up to 1 day ahead of time and store in an air-tight container in the fridge until ready to cook.
  • Use microwave ready rice pouches or a rice cooker (affiliate link) to help cut down on time spent on cooking rice. 
 
 
how to make sweet and sour sauce
 
 

How to Make Sweet and Sour Kielbasa Kid Friendly

Sweet and Sour Kielbasa is a kid friendly meal – its packed with pretty, vibrantly colorful produce, has a sauce kids adore, and is an easy meal that is perfect for any night of the week!
 

Dinner Conversations with Kids

Dinner time should be more than micromanaging each and every bite your kids take. Use this opportunity to bring in a more analytical way of thinking about and trying food:

  • Talk about the different colors of produce they are trying – can they take a bite of something red, yellow, green, etc?
  • Talk about the textures of the ingredients they are using – How differently do the peppers feel in your mouth than the pineapple? 
  • Talk about the flavors they taste – does the sauce taste more sweet or sour to them? 
  • Ask questions about what their favorite part of the dinner is – Is there anything they would change next time to make it yummier?
 
 
sweet and sour kielbasa with rice
 
 

How to Serve Sweet and Sour Kielbasa

This weeknight meal is perfect to serve to families because its sweet and sour sauce is delicious  for all ages! 
Serve this with plain white or brown rice, quinoa, or even lo mien noodles.
 
If you have younger kids who do not like their food touching, separate out the peppers, onions, pineapple and kielbasa into their own individual piles when plating. Or serve this family style with a bowl of rice on the table and allow everyone to be in charge of putting how much they want on their own plates.
 
 
serving bowl filled with kielbasa, pineapple, and peppers with sauce
 
 

Kids In The Kitchen: How Your Kids Can Help You Cook

Getting your kids in the kitchen is an amazing way to help them be more interested in trying new foods and confident in their own abilities. This Halloween Pizza recipe is great because it helps expose them to vegetables in a fun way and they get to practice their knife skills. This recipe is perfect for beginner cooks because it is so easy! And it is a great recipe for kids to experiment and become more comfortable with new flavors – which means they are more likely to eat it!

  • Kids aged 1-3 can help you wash and dry the peppers, as well as measure and mix the ingredients for the sweet and sour sauce.
  • Kids aged 4-6 can do everything above, plus help you cut the pineapple pieces into smaller chunks and slice the kielbasa into coins.
  • Kids aged 7-10+ can help you do everything above, plus help you slice the bell peppers and onion.

*Please note that these recommendations are generalized, and to please use your personal discretion with your child’s skill level. And always, always supervise! Read more about how to have your children help you in the kitchen.

 

two plates of sweet and sour kielbasa with text overlay of recipe name

 

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Sweet and Sour Kielbasa on blue grey plate with fork

Sweet and Sour Kielbasa

This 30 minute skillet kielbasa recipe only takes a minimal amount of prep work, and its filled with real ingredients your family will love.
4.83 from 17 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: One Pan
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 598kcal
Author: Jenni

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Kielbasa
  • 1.5 cups pineapple chunked
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 2 bell peppers – red and green or whatever colors you want
  • cup honey
  • cup apple cider vinegar
  • cup tomato puree
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger
  • 2 TBSP Olive Oil

Instructions

  • In a large sautee pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.
  • Add the onion slices and sear for a few minutes until they start to caramelize.
  • Add the pepper chunks and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
  • Add in the garlic and the sliced kielbasa and cook until the kielbasa is warm and starting to turn brown on the sides.
  • In a small bowl, stir together the honey, apple cider vinegar, tomato puree and minced ginger.
  • Add the sauce and the pineapple to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened.
  • Serve with rice.

Notes

The produce can be sliced and kept in an air-tigh container in the fridge for up to 3 days before cooking.
The kielbsasa can be sliced and kept in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 1 day before cooking.
The sauce can be mixed and stored in the fridge for up to 1 day before cooking.
Serve with rice, quinoa, or rice noodles.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 598kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 26g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 1215mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 36g
 
 
 
 

 

7 Comments

  1. Thanks, Jenni, this was really good! I added a jalapeno because I needed to use it up and I used crushed pineapple instead of chunk because that's all I had on hand. It reminded me a little of Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken 😉 Can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

    1. So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 Jalapeno would be a great addition!

  2. Delicious dish I made yesterday! Easy and I enjoyed the combination of flavors! Yummy!!

  3. Made this for dinner tonight. It was pretty good although I used apple cider vinegar as that was all I had, I think I probably should have used a little less. Still very good.

  4. My family said a big thank you to you for this recipe, and I say thank you too!

    Just perfect, easy and just served tonight for our dinner.

  5. Christina says:

    I love how this recipe uses kielbasa! The smoky flavor goes great with the sweet ad sour!

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