Italian Sausage and Tortellini Skewers
On January 18, 2022 (Updated April 15, 2022)
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Italian sausage and tortellini skewers are a crowd pleaser! These skewers are simple to put together and look beautiful to serve. You are going to love the flavors of grilled tortellini, sausage, and veggies when cooked hot on a grill.
Italian Sausage and Tortellini Skewers
I’m going on a bit of a kebab bender lately. For some reason, if it is not cooked on a stick, there is little appeal to me. I am obsessed with the possibilities of all things skewered and roasted over a fire, which led me down an amazing path to these Italian sausage and tortellini skewers. Surrounded by tender cooked and seasoned veggies, they make a delicious meal or appetizer.
Usually, you only hear of Italian sausage and tortellini in soup form. But the thought of the gooey, melty cheese surrounded by crisp charred pasta dough was enough to get my creative juices flowing. Luckily my fridge is always stocked with cheese tortellini and sausage (because I have kids, and also an appetite for yummy things) so I just had to add in whatever veggies I had on hand to make these skewers up in time for dinner.
Vegetables for Italian Sausage Skewers
For this recipe, I used yellow squash, zucchini, grape tomatoes, and red onions to add color and flavor to the kabobs. Honestly, these were just hanging out in my fridge and looked like a good use of produce.
Go ahead and get creative with these skewers and use whatever vegetables you like! Bell peppers taste amazing, as do cauliflower, carrots, beets, and broccoli. The possibilities are endless. These skewers are a great way to use up those leftover fridge veggies and get some yummy roasted goodness into your family’s tummies!
How to Make Italian Sausage and Tortellini Skewers
These skewers make the ideal weekday dinner. They’re super easy to make and ready extremely quickly!
- Cook the tortellini. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the tortellini to the water and boil for 1-2 minutes. Drain the water and pat the pasta dry.
- Assemble the skewers. Lay out all the ingredients you plan on using for these skewers on a large work surface. Next, alternating adding veggies, Italian sausage, and tortellini to the skewers. You can use whatever skewers you have on hand, but I like to use these metal skewers for this recipe.
- Season. Drizzle the skewers with olive oil, then season well with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. You could also try these with some of my Beef Seasoning (an awesome salt and pepper blended rub!) or my Fish and Veggie Rub.
- Grill. With the grill preheated to around 450 degrees F, place the skewers directly on the grill grates and grill for 10-12 minutes, rotating every 2-5 minutes as needed to evenly cook the meat and veggies.
- Add some cheese. Shave some fresh parmesan cheese on the skewers and continue to cook for a couple minutes until the cheese melts.
- Enjoy. Serve the skewers immediately with extra parmesan cheese and a side of marinara sauce for dipping (you can make this from scratch or simply heat up a pre-made sauce. Enjoy!
Tips for Making Italian Sausage Skewers
Before you head to the recipe to make these skewers, I have a couple tips to help you make them the best of the best.
- Use pre-cooked sausages. I typically don’t use pre-cooked sausages when I grill, but in this case, I went with an all-natural precooked chicken Italian sausage and they were delicious! Using pre-cooked sausage helps the heat from the grill crisp up the noodles and veggies in a matter of minutes. You don’t want to totally char the life out of your other ingredients while waiting for your raw sausage to cook through. The precooked sausage also holds up much better when skewered than a raw sausage.
- Use marinara as a dip. For an added touch of deliciousness, serve with a warm marinara sauce for dipping. Once the grilled morsels are off the skewer, you can just drizzle with the pasta sauce and it is like the most amazing grilled pasta primavera you’ve ever had in your life.
Was there anything you did differently to these skewers that turned out a complete success? Share your own tips below in the comments section!
More Skewer and Kabob Recipes
If you like eating other things on sticks, may I suggest these other delicious skewers, kabob, and kebab recipes? They’re all unique but given a fancy treatment when served on a stick!
Italian Sausage Skewers Recipe
This post was originally published in May 2015. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Italian Sausage and Tortellini Skewers
Ingredients
- 1 10-12 ounce package fresh cheese tortellini
- 4 precooked Italian sausage links diagonally cut into 1/4 in slices
- 1 small yellow squash sliced into rings
- 1 small zucchini sliced into rings
- ¼ small red onion cut into 1 inch pieces
- ¼ cup grape tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 2 ounces Parmesan cheese freshly shaved
- 12 ounces marinara suace
Instructions
- Cook tortellini. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Immerse the tortellini in the boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
- Preheat. Set your grill to medium-high heat (around 400-450 degrees). Close the lid and allow the grill to preheat while you prepare your skewers.
- Assemble all of the ingredients for the skewers on a large cutting board or work surface. Alternate skewering the tortellini, sausage, and vegetables until all of the skewers have been filled.
- Season. Drizzle the skewers with olive oil. Season with salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Grill. Place the skewers directly on the hot grill grates and cook for approximately 10-12 minutes, turning as necessary. While the skewers cook, warm the marinara sauce in a small saucepan.
- Add cheese. Shave the Parmesan cheese directly over the hot skewers on the grill and allow to cook for 1-2 additional minutes.
- Serve. Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately with the warmed marinara sauce. Top with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can these be made with kielbasa instead?
Sure!
Sooo Yummy!!
Made these for the first time tonight and they were sooooo delicious! Didn’t have any marinara, and honestly, don’t think they needed it. Going to be part of our regular repertoire now. Yummy!
This sounds fabulous! I love finding unique skewer recipes. Any suggestions for a substitute for the marinara sauce?
I don’t have any! I’d say just use whatever sauce you’d like to!
Pesto, garlic sauce, and alfredo
Have you made this on the traeger? Just wondering how long you’d cook it on there and what temperature? These look amazing!
Hi Alexis! I’ve done them on the Traeger. Just set your temperature controller to high and follow the cook time in the recipe. We love the grilled tortellini!