Stuffed Italian Sausage
Published April 30, 2022 • Updated July 8, 2026
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For nights when dinner needs to happen fast, this stuffed Italian sausage is my go-to. Mozzarella cheese sticks stuffed inside, baked in marinara, three ingredients total. It's a low-carb fix using what's probably already in your fridge.
I keep a running list of recipes I can make without thinking. No measuring, no recipe card, just muscle memory. This is on that list, right next to my pizza bowl and crustless pizza. Three ingredients, one baking dish, done.
Here’s why I always keep these ingredients on hand: sausage stays good in the fridge for a solid week, mozzarella cheese sticks are the ones my kids snack on anyway (the string cheese kind, not the fried ones), and a jar of marinara sits in the pantry until I need it. On nights where I have zero plans for dinner, I pull all three out and the whole thing is assembled in under five minutes of actual work.
One thing I changed after making this dozens of times: use a full cup of marinara, not just half. At 400 degrees the sauce reduces fast, and with only half a cup the sausages come out drier than I want. A full cup with most of it poured over the top keeps everything saucy and prevents the cheese from scorching on the edges.
Once the cheese melts into the sauce and the casings get that light golden sear, you’ve got a keto dinner that looks like it took real effort. I serve mine with keto spaghetti when I want a full Italian night, or just a salad on busier evenings. Reader Marvell from the comments makes this once a week minimum. Andrew makes it twice a week. That’s the kind of recipe this is: not a novelty, just a rotation staple.
After four batches with mozzarella, I finally tried pepper jack cheese sticks instead. It took me too long to figure that out. The heat from the pepper jack plays off the marinara in a way plain mozzarella doesn’t. If you like the Italian comfort food approach, my keto skillet lasagna scratches the same itch with a different setup.
How to make stuffed Italian sausages
- Cut a slit down each sausage lengthwise. Go about halfway through the thickness so it opens like a hot dog bun but stays connected at the bottom.
- Stuff a mozzarella cheese stick into each slit. It should sit snug with the sausage wrapping around it.
- Lay the sausages in a baking dish, pour marinara over and around them, and cover with foil.
- Bake covered at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.
Key ingredients
- Italian sausages – Get the ones with casings. The casing holds everything together while the cheese melts inside. I use mild or hot (they cook the same), but I skip the sweet variety because it runs higher in sugar, which matters on keto. Bratwurst works here too.
- Mozzarella cheese sticks – The string cheese from the snack aisle. They’re the right length and width to sit inside the slit without any trimming. I’ve tested pepper jack, colby, and cheddar sticks too. Pepper jack is my favorite swap.
- Marinara sauce – Look for one with no added sugar and low net carbs. If you can’t find a good option, plain tomato sauce with dried Italian seasoning and garlic powder gets the job done.
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Ingredients
5 Italian sausage links -
5 mozzarella cheese sticks
-
1/2 cup marinara sauce, divided
-
dash Italian seasoning, optional
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Preheat oven
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Prep sausages
Using a knife, cut a vertical slit down the center of each sausage. Only go halfway through.
Stuff it
Unwrap each cheese stick and stuff each cheese stick into the slit of the sausages.
Get saucy
Pour 1/4 cup marinara sauce to the bottom of a square baking dish. Add stuffed sausages. Top with remaining marinara sauce. Sprinkle on Italian seasoning if using.
Bake
Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until sausage is cooked through.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
How deep do you cut the slit in the sausage?
I go about halfway through the thickness. You want the sausage to open wide like a hot dog bun, but the bottom needs to stay connected. If I cut too deep, the cheese leaks out during baking and I lose that gooey center when I cut into it.
Do you remove the foil at the end to brown the sausage?
I leave the foil on for the full 40 minutes. The sausage picks up enough color from the sauce, and pulling the foil off early dries everything out. If you really want more browning on top, take the foil off for the last 5 minutes, but I've never felt like mine needed it.
Can I make this in a slow cooker?
I haven't fully dialed this in, but it works at about 3 hours on low. The cheese melts more completely than in the oven, so the stuffing won't hold its shape as neatly. I'd use a full cup of sauce since slow cookers don't reduce liquid the way an oven does.
Are the sausages raw or pre-cooked going in?
I use raw sausage with casings. The 40 minutes at 400 degrees cooks them through completely. You can use pre-cooked if that's what you have on hand. Just cut the bake time to about 25 minutes since they only need to heat through and melt the cheese.
Does hot sausage change the cook time?
No. Hot and mild cook the same way and take the same 40 minutes. The only difference is heat level. I skip the sweet variety because it runs higher in sugar, and that matters when I'm keeping my carbs low.
What marinara sauce do you use?
I look for anything with 4g net carbs or less per serving and no added sugar on the ingredient list. My go-to changes depending on what's on sale, but I always read the label first. If I can't find a good jarred option, I use plain tomato sauce with some dried Italian seasoning and garlic.
How do I reheat leftovers without drying them out?
I add a splash of extra marinara to the container before microwaving for about 90 seconds. The sauce keeps the sausage moist and the cheese re-melts properly. Without that extra sauce, my leftovers get rubbery and the cheese turns tough.
Can I use hot dogs instead of sausage?
I've done it. Skip the marinara and use a cheddar cheese stick instead of mozzarella. My kids actually prefer this version as an after-school snack. The flavor works better without the tomato sauce.
How do you get the cheese stick inside? Do you just poke a hole in the sausage?
Not gonna lie, I can't just put raw sausage in a baking dish without searing it first, so I did two minutes a side in cast iron before stuffing. The sear changed more than I expected. The casing firms up just enough that the slit actually grips the cheese stick instead of springing back open (my issue with stuffed sausages forever), and the outside comes out with real color on it. Looks and tastes way better. Cheese stayed fully intact, possibly more contained than going in raw. Lost a little in the pan and ate it immediately, not unhappy about it. Four stars because the three-ingredient version is already doing a lot and the sear is just me being unable to help myself, but I'm doing it every time.
I didn't expect the casing to grip the slit open from a quick sear. I've just been shoving them in raw and losing half the cheese. Whatever you lost in the pan was probably the best part anyway.
Confession: cold cheese sticks go in so much easier. Ten minutes in the freezer while the oven preheats and they slide right in without splitting or squishing. Nothing leaking before it even hits the dish.
Ten minutes is such a small thing. I've been forcing room-temp sticks in and just dealing with the splits. Not doing that anymore.
foil on, timer set, walked away. it worked.
Pepper jack on batch three. That pull when you cut in.
Pepper jack gets way stringier in there. Hadn't thought about that heat coming through the marinara after 40 minutes.
Hadn't thought about the marinara heat doing that over 40 minutes. Explains everything.
Six batches in and I've settled on Rao's marinara with red pepper flakes stirred in before it goes in the oven. The heat soaks into the sausage as it cooks, completely different from the first few times I made it plain. Not going back.
Stirring them into the sauce before it bakes vs. shaking them on at the table is not the same thing. The heat does something to them. Six batches well spent.
Made this most Thursdays for the past couple months. The slit needs to be deep enough that the cheese stick sits flush inside the sausage; otherwise you lose a good chunk of mozzarella to the bottom of the pan before the sauce even shows up. Switched to Rao's marinara a few batches back and honestly the difference is real, worth it if you have it. One thing: the sausages along the edges dry out faster than the ones in the center, so I spoon extra sauce over those before covering with foil. Four stars because of that, but under an hour start to finish with almost no cleanup is hard to argue with on a weeknight.
The edge ones do run drier. I load extra sauce on those before covering and it mostly fixes it. Four stars is fair.
My son tilted the dish looking for more sausages underneath. Three ingredients and that's where we are.
Ha. He found the one flaw. I make double now just to avoid that exact problem.
First time making stuffed sausages and I had no idea the cheese would actually stay contained through 40 minutes of baking. Zero leakage. Do you use a specific marinara as the base, or does whatever's in the fridge work?
Whatever's in the fridge works. Flip the label and check for 4g net carbs or less, no added sugar. That's the whole filter.
I've made stuffed sausages probably a dozen different ways at this point. Cream cheese, spinach, shredded parm, you name it. The mozzarella stick method is something I should have tried years ago. Cheese stays contained in a way that loose shredded cheese never does, none of those little pools of grease-cheese bubbling out onto the pan. Added a bit more Rao's on top before covering with foil and it came out of the oven looking like it took way more effort than it did. My one note: go closer to 45 minutes if your sausages are on the thicker side, mine needed a little more time all the way through. Four stars only because I had to figure that out on my first batch, second batch was exactly what I was going for. Three ingredients, dinner handled on a Wednesday. That's all I needed.
Extra Rao's before the foil goes on is a good catch. Thicker links definitely need that 45 minutes, mine run that way too.
I kept passing on this one because three ingredients felt too simple to bother with. Made it on a night when I had nothing else planned, and I was completely wrong about it. The mozzarella melts into the sausage as it bakes, so you get this pull of cheese with every bite, and the marinara on the bottom caramelizes a little around the edges. I've made stuffed sausages before with all the usual peppers and onions, but this version has more payoff with less effort.
The marinara caramelizes more than you'd think for just 40 minutes under foil. I gave up on peppers and onions in stuffed sausages for the same reason.
First time making these and I'm not sure about the foil. Do you keep it covered the whole 40 minutes or pull it off toward the end to get some color on the sausage? I usually uncover things for the last few minutes when I want browning, but worried that might cause the cheese to bubble out.
Keep it on the full 40. The sauce handles the coloring, and pulling it early dries everything out. Foil's what keeps the cheese in.
First time making these tonight, fingers crossed. Quick question on the slit: how deep do you actually cut? I keep picturing a hot dog bun situation, like it opens but stays connected, not sure if that's right though. Does sweet vs hot even change the cook time? I grabbed the hot links because that's what they had, but now I'm second-guessing if that's weird with the marinara. And the foil: do you pull it off at the end to let it brown, or leave it on the whole 40 minutes?
Hot dog bun is right. I cut halfway through and stop. Go deeper and the cheese leaks out before it even melts.
Hot links take the same 40 minutes. Fine with marinara too. Sweet sausage is the one I'd skip, it runs higher in sugar.
Foil stays on the whole time. Pulling it off dries everything out.
There's this part of going keto nobody warns you about, which is grieving the meals that feel gone for good. Italian sausage stuffed with a mozzarella stick and baked in marinara sounds almost embarrassingly simple but when I pulled it out of the oven I just stood there for a second. It smelled like an Italian restaurant and tasted like one too. Sunday dinners feel like Sunday dinners again.
That grieving thing is real and nobody talks about it. Three ingredients, smells like a restaurant kitchen. I make this on Sundays too.
The mozzarella pull when you cut into these is a real moment. Half a cup of marinara goes fast at 400 degrees, and the sausage ends up drier than you'd want. Going with a full cup next time, most of it over the top.
The half cup disappears fast at 400. Full cup over the top keeps the sausage from drying out.