Maple Mustard Sausage, Sweet Potatoes, and Cauliflower is a one pot dish that goes from stovetop to oven and is super tasty, especially for autumn and chilly weeknights. It’s a nutrition-packed meal that you’ll feel good serving family and friends.

One of my favorite things about meals like this sausage and sweet potato bake is that they are super adaptable. You can swap out sweet potatoes for another type of potato or change out the cauliflower. You can change up the sauce. Change up the protein. Seriously. It’s a fantastic recipe as it is but it’s also super easy to change up as you wish, depending on what you have on hand. Let’s talk about how you can do that.

What kind of sausage should you use?

I love to use a fresh hot sausage links here because the heat goes really nicely with the dish. However, you can use Italian sausage, smoked sausage, kielbasa, or ground sausage (roll it into meatballs before browning).

If you prefer, you can make your own sausage, like I do here in this garlic-free sausage. You can also use pork or chicken (your preferred cut, just know that the thicker the cut or if it has bones in, it will take a bit longer to cook through).

Do you have to use potatoes?

If you want to skip potatoes, you are free to. You can also use your favorite type of potato in place of sweet potatoes, but be sure to cut them about the same size as instructed below. If you skip potatoes you either need to add another bulkier veg in its place or serve a starch on the side.

Since I already use cauliflower in this recipe, other great substitutes would be cubed butternut or acorn squash.

Can you use frozen cauliflower?

You can but you won’t have as good results. Because the cauliflower is frozen, as it cooks it will release more water and turn limp and soggy. It won’t taste nearly as good and will be a bit mushy. You can also skip cauliflower and use green beans or broccoli in its place.

Can you prep this meal ahead of time?

So, as with all fresh ingredient meals, this meal does take a little prep work. It isn’t so much thought that it isn’t feasible for a weeknight meal. And the little bit of prep time is so worth it to know you put a good healthy meal on the table. However, there are some shortcuts or prep ahead steps you can take.

Buy cauliflower already pre-cut or cut ahead of time.
Buy or pre-cut the sweet potato.
Buy chopped onions.
Buy minced garlic. (I’m giving you permission here. This will save so much time in your life.)

If you cut the sweet potatoes ahead of time, just know that they are likely to discolor from oxidization, which happens when they are cut and exposed to oxygen. The best way to prevent or minimize this when prepping ahead is to store the cut potato in water until you use them. Then simply drain them off and cook as usual.

You can also cook ahead and just reheat the day you want to serve it. I do not recommend freezing this meal though as it would turn to mush and not be so good anymore.

The secret’s in the sauce

Yup. The secret is really in this tasty sauce. You can skip it and just season everything with your favorite seasonings but if you want to do that, why not just make this Baked Sausage, Sweet Potato, and Cauliflower dish? It’s a potluck favorite so you can’t go wrong there.

However, that’s a whole different flavor than this recipe. Maple Mustard just screams autumn to me and it’s warm and comforting. Plus, it’s a super easy sauce to whip up. Nothing finicky about it. If you don’t have maple you can totally substitute in honey but then it’s honey mustard.

You can also use spicy brown mustard instead of Dijon if you need to but I generally add a little extra spicy brown mustard since it isn’t quite as strong as Dijon.

And there you have it. You can have dinner prepped and in the oven in less than 30 minutes. That frees you up to spend sometime with your family or dinner guests. Or both. This really is one of my favorite autumn recipes because it allows me the freedom to enjoy life AND giving my family a good meal without being stuck in the kitchen the whole night.