Creamy Sausage Pasta {One Pot}

Name: Creamy Sausage Pasta
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 tsp Olive oil; 1 Large onion (Peeled and chopped.); 3 Cloves garlic (Peeled and crushed.); 400 g Good quality pork sausages; 2 Large Red peppers (Deseeded and sliced.); 250 g Dry pasta; 400 g Tin of chopped tomatoes; 1 tsp Fennel seeds; 2 tsp Italian herbs; 0.5 tsp Dried chilli flakes; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; 750 ml Vegetable stock (See notes.); 250 g Cream cheese; 100 g Parmesan cheese (Grated.); 25 g Fresh basil (Chopped, optional.)

Published: Jul 8, 2019 · Modified: Sep 25, 2023 by Sarah Rossi · This post may contain affiliate links.

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This Creamy Sausage Pasta is a quick and easy one pot recipe. It makes a brilliant midweek dinner, where the pasta is cooked in a super tasty sauce, all in a single pan.

This is simply an all-round hit with the whole family!

Easy sausage pasta recipe made in one pot with peppers, tomatoes and garlic.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, one pan meals ARE LIFE.

The water that the pasta cooks in transforms into a delicious, sticky, silky sauce right there as it cooks the pasta. What could be easier?

This recipe for Sausage Pasta uses a few extra tricks: cream cheese for a creamy sauce without any heavy cream, chunks of sausage for mini meatballs without the faff and magical fennel seeds which transform it into something really special (more on that in a minute).

Check out some of my other winning one pan recipes here.

Why you’ll love this Sausage Pasta recipe

⭐️ Dinner in under 30 minutes

⭐️ All made in a single pan

⭐️ Super fresh, tasty and creamy

Penne and sausage one pot past recipe with a creamy sauce and peppers.

Variations on this Sausage Pasta recipe

⭐️ Sausage Pasta Bake – Pop some breadcrumbs on top and melt under a hot grill before serving. (If you plan to do this, you will need to add all of the stock, and possibly a little more, as all of it will be absorbed by the extra heat.)

⭐️ Cheesy Sausage Pasta Bake – Add plenty of grated cheese on top and melt under a hot grill before serving. (If you plan to do this, you will need to add all of the stock, and possibly a little more, as all of it will be absorbed by the extra heat.)

⭐️ Spicy Sausage Pasta – Increase the chilli flakes in the recipe to your taste.

⭐️ Healthy Sausage Pasta – Remove the cream cheese from the recipe and use lower fat sausages, or even just pork mince.

Sausage Pasta Ingredients

Onion – If you want a shortcut, frozen, pre prepared is perfect (it’s what I use mostly as one of my favourite shortcuts). Fresh is fine too.
Garlic – Same as above.
Olive oil – Regular type, not extra virgin!
Sausages – Try to use a good quality, high meat content sausages.
Red peppers (or bell peppers/capsicum if you’re in the USA) – You can use other colours (or other veg in fact) but I think these work well with the other flavours.
Pasta – Any dried pasta works well. I haven’t tried it with wholemeal pasta but it would probably just take a little longer to cook.
Tinned tomatoes – Any type of chopped tinned tomatoes will work for this. I do find that better quality tomatoes are noticeable if you can.
Fennel seeds – These little monkeys are controversial! I do not like aniseed flavour AT ALL, but in this dish they do somehow just elevate it to something special. Please invest in a jar and try it, and let me know what you think!
Italian herbs – Any dried Italian herb mix is fine, or oregano if you don’t have a mix.
Chilli flakes – You can add more if you like Spicy Sausage Pasta. It is worth adding this, even for kids, as it really adds a warmth to the dish.
Vegetable stock – Any good quality, fairly low salt, vegetable stock is fine. I think Marigold brand is the best around.
Cream cheese – Any brand is fine, low fat or regular.
Parmesan – Grana Padano is a good, slightly cheaper alternative to Parmesan if you prefer.
Fresh basil – Fresh basil can get very squishy when chopped. I tend to snip into strips with scissors.

How to make Sausage Pasta

Onions and garlic softening and frying in frying pan for the recipe Sausage Pasta.

Soften the onions in oil in a large pan with a lid. Meanwhile make up your sausage ‘meatballs’.

Peppers, sausage and onions frying in a frying pan for the recipe Sausage Pasta.

2. Add the sausages to the pan, then the peppers.

Ingredients for one pot pasta in a frying pan ready to cook for the recipe Sausage Pasta.

3. When the sausage is starting to blacken, add the rest of the ingredients and pop the lid on until the pasta is al dente.

Hands holding a bowl of easy one post creamy sausage pasta recipe.

4. Add in the cream cheese, parmesan and basil. Stir though to heat and serve immediately.

Hint: I always make up 750ml of stock but only add 500ml to start with. I then check on the pasta as it cooks and add more if it’s looking dry.

Substitutions

Veggie sausages – You can try this as a vegetarian alternative dish by using chunks of veggie sausages instead. It will work really well.
Vegetables – Feel free to mix up the kind of veggies you add in here, according to your tastes or what you have in and needs using up.

Leftovers

In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days.

NB If you don’t serve this as soon as it’s cooked, you’ll find that the sauce absorbs into the pasta and there’s not a lot left. It won’t affect the taste, you may just want to add a splash more stock or some cream cheese when you warm it through.

In the freezer I’m not a big fan of freezing pasta as it can go quite mushy when defrosted and reheated.

All that said, there’s nothing wrong with freezing for lunch if you have leftovers, it’s just not quite as good as fresh or reheated from the fridge.

Top tips for making Sausage Pasta

Making the sausage ‘meatballs’

Sausage ‘skin’ pieces can be a bit yucky, so I just take each sausage and cut along the length and remove the sausage meat from the skin. Break it into large (or small) chunks as you pop into the pan.

I like to squish some of the sausage chunks with the spoon as they cook so that they go nice and crispy.

How much liquid to use

I always make up 750ml of stock but only add 500ml to start with. I then check on the pasta as it cooks and add more if it’s looking dry. If you like very ‘wet’ saucy pasta, go ahead and add it all at the start.

The secret ingredient of fennel seeds

Please do try the fennel seeds in this – they really make the dish!

FAQ

When will the pasta be cooked?

It’s important to add the cream cheese etc JUST before the pasta is cooked, so when it is still ‘al dente‘ (has some ‘bite’ to it) as the pasta will continue to cook in the heat of the sauce and pan and you do not want it to be stodgy.

Do you have any other good one pan pastas?

I sure do – I have loads! Try out my

Cheeseburger Pasta
Cheesy Baked Gnocchi
BBQ Chicken Pasta
Orzo Bolognese
Peri Peri Chicken Pasta
Chorizo Gnocchi Pan Fry
Broccoli Orzo Bake
Macaroni Cheese
Cajun Chicken Pasta
Tuna Pasta Bake
Butternut Squash & Halloumi Orzo Bake

Can you recommend a good pan for this recipe?

Try and use a big lidded pan for this recipe. I have tried-and-tested some one-pan pans recently and there were some good ones in that list. Hope this pan review helps.

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