Smoked sausage in a light tomato cream sauce with perfectly cooked penne pasta. This flavorful Skillet Sausage Pasta is an easy one-pot meal that is ready from start to finish in 30 minutes.
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This Skillet Sausage Pasta was the very first one-pot pasta recipe I ever cooked . . . and, cooked, and cooked! It is so fast and easy and my family loves it so much that I’ve made it more times than I can count. Just throw uncooked dry pasta in a pot with other ingredients and it cooks up perfectly al dente and you have just one skillet to clean. These recipes are truly a revelation.
This one-pot method was inspired by a recipe I found over at Kevin and Amanda’s ages ago. It includes easy to stock ingredients which makes it one of those last minute, throw it together, busy weeknight meals that I can’t get enough of.
Ingredient Notes
- Olive oil
- Sausage – Fully cooked smoked sausage (regular, chicken, or turkey) in your flavor of choice. I usually use a chicken sausage like Aidell’s Bacon, Mushroom, & Swiss Cheese Smoked Chicken Sausage to save on fat and calories.
- Onion – Diced yellow onion.
- Garlic
- Low-sodium chicken broth
- Canned diced tomatoes – An undrained can of regular or fire roasted diced tomatoes.
- Penne – I like this recipe best with penne but you could substitute another short pasta like farfalle, fusilli, campanelle, or ziti.
- Crushed red pepper – The amount called for adds a nice kick and a touch of heat. If I was feeding little ones, I’d cut the amount in half or leave it out altogether.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Cream – Either half and half or heavy cream will do the trick.
- Monterey Jack cheese
- Green onions
How to Make Skillet Sausage Pasta
- Add olive oil to a deep skillet and cook the sausage and onions over medium heat until lightly browned, about 4 or 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two until fragrant.
- Add the broth, undrained tomatoes, uncooked pasta, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until the pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in half and half or heavy cream and simmer for another minute or two until warmed through. Remove skillet from heat, add cheese and stir until melted. Sprinkle with green onions and serve.
Serving Suggestions
While the pasta is simmering, quickly cook a vegetable side or throw together a salad and you have a family pleasing dinner on the table in about 30 minutes. Here are some of my favorite sides to go with this meal.
- Pesto Green Beans
- A simple garden salad with Homemade Italian Dressing
- Balsamic Grilled Zucchini
- Butter Lettuce Salad with Grapes and Gorgonzola
More Easy One Pot Pasta Recipes
- Skillet Lasagna
- Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Philly Cheesesteak Pasta
- Chicken and Spinach Skillet Pasta
- Meaty Tortellini Skillet
Skillet Sausage Pasta
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound fully cooked smoked sausage in your flavor of choice
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 8 ounces dry, uncooked penne pasta , (approximately 2½ cups)
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper, each
- ½ cup half and half or heavy cream
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced green onions
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a deep skillet and place over MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Add the sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two until fragrant.
- Add the broth, tomatoes, pasta, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, cover the skillet, and reduce heat to MEDIUM-LOW. Simmer until the pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the half and half or heavy cream and simmer for another minute or two until warmed through.
- Remove the skillet from the heat, add the cheese and stir until melted. Sprinkle with the green onions and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
Like this? Please rate & comment below!
Adapted from Kevin and Amanda
This post was originally published on August 26, 2013. It has been updated with new text and images.
i made this and then tired it with chicken its even better
Great!
I Just found this recipe will definitely try it…with less red pepper flakes and sweet Italian sausage and whole peeled tomatoes and in the base mix garlic with the onions
sounds nice, just have to adjust the weights to metric, and i will do it
My wife made this for us last night, fantastic!
A few modifications were made: she added some sliced-up baby bellas ‘cuz we needed to use ’em up, and some assorted heirloom cherry tomatoes we got from Costco. She halved the tomatoes, they gave a nice pop of tomato flavor.
She also used some Aidell’s chicken-apple sausage.
The sauce was delicious, creamy tomato with some nice heat from the chili flakes. Definitely going on my all-time favorite list of tasty, quick dinners.
That sounds excellent! I love her additions. I hope you have some leftovers for today 🙂
Yep, perfect for cold, crummy day like today. Can’t wait!
I loved this recipe idea when I saw it on Kevin and Amanda awhile ago. This gives me a reminder to test try it out. 🙂
Any ideas how to make this without tomatoes? I’m allergic, but I think my kids would like something along these lines.
I suppose you could substitute an alfredo or other type of cream sauce for the canned tomatoes but it would be a very different dish.
I love reading Kevin and Amanda! And I need to remember to try this out. Easy meals always makes me happy. 🙂
This IS a great one pot meal! That sausage looks wonderful! I’ll have to check it out.
We make this dish with turkey smoked sausage at least once a month. It is delicious! I like that the idea of using different types of sausage and/or cheese. I substitute 1% or Skim milk for the half and half also.
No words except… totally mouthwatering!!
This looks so ridiculously comforting and delicious. My husband would freak over this meal.
I have never seen bacon, mushroom, & swiss cheese sausage!! Sounds like it would make the perfect pasta dish
Delicious and easy and perfect for a weeknight!