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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!
The flavours in this Creamy Sausage Pasta are something special, but thankfully it’s also a really easy dish to make.
This recipe 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)
The pasta softens in the liquid, transforming it into a delicious, sticky, silky sauce right there as it cooks. What could be easier?
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, one pan meals ARE LIFE. Check out some of my other winning one pan pasta recipes here.
Why you’ll love this easy Sausage Pasta recipe
⭐️ Dinner in under 30 minutes
⭐️ All made in a single pan
⭐️ Super fresh and mouthwateringly tasty
sausage pasta Variations
This is the basic recipe that I’ve tried and tested loads of times, but the beauty of this quick dish is that you can customise it in plenty of ways…
⭐️ 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
⭐️ Gluten Free Sausage Pasta – Make sure your sausages and stock are gluten free, and use your favourite gluten free pasta
⭐️ Vegetarian Sausage Pasta – Use veggie sausages instead
Ingredients for Sausage Pasta
- Onion and garlic – 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
- Olive oil – Regular type, not extra virgin!
- Sausages – Try to use a good quality, high meat content sausages (see notes below)
- 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 so go for your favourite. 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
1. Soften the onions in oil in a large pan with a lid. Meanwhile make up your sausage ‘meatballs’ (see notes below).
2. Add the sausages to the pan, then the peppers.
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.
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.
Tip: 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. It also makes them really deliciously meaty tasting.
More recipes with sausages…
FAQs
Use your favourite kind! If you’re in the US, this could be spicy Italian sausages, or if you’re in the UK it might be something like Cumberland. Anything goes. I use pork sausages in this because I like to keep it simple, but any would work.
I tend to use penne with Sausage Pasta as the sauce works well in the little tubes (and gives you more flavour in a mouthful!), but you could also try rigatoni or spaghetti, or any other pasta for the matter!
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.
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.
You can if you really don’t like them, it will still be delicious. However, if you do have them in the cupboard, please do try the fennel seeds in this – they really make the dish and might surprise you how amazing they make it!
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.
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
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Creamy Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tsp Olive oil
- 1 Large onion, Peeled and chopped
- 3 Cloves garlic, Peeled and crushed
- 400 g (1 lb) Good quality pork sausages
- 2 Large Red peppers, Deseeded and sliced
- 250 g (9 oz) Dry pasta
- 400 g (14.5 oz) 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 (3.25 cups) Vegetable stock, See notes
- 250 g (9 oz) Cream cheese
- 100 g (3 oz) Parmesan cheese, Grated
- 25 g (1 oz) Fresh basil, Chopped, optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or frying pan (one which has a lid) over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and fry gently until softened (about 4-5 minutes).
- Remove the sausages from their skins and plop into the pan in small chunks, add the pepper slices, turn up the heat and let everything fry for 5 minutes until the sausage chunks are golden and the peppers are just starting to blacken at the edges.
- Add the dry pasta, chopped tomatoes, fennel seeds, Italian herbs, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and about 500ml of the stock. Give everything a good stir, pop the lid on and cook for 13-15 minutes until the pasta is ALMOST cooked through and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
- * Note! I always make up 750ml of stock and then check on the pasta as it cooks and add more if needed, if it's looking dry. If you like very 'wet' saucy pasta, go ahead and add it all at the start.
- When the pasta is JUST ALMOST cooked, add the cream cheese, parmesan cheese and fresh basil (if using). Give everything a good stir and leave on the heat for a minute or two just to warm through.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello I am sitting here enjoying this recipe. The only difference is me adding a bag of spinach that was looking sad in the fridge and needed using up. So thanks for this it will last me for days!! Yum, yum and thrice yum!