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.
This is my kind of weeknight meal!! And one that I know everyone in my fam will eat!! Love it Valerie!
This sounds so good! Would it work with a different type of pasta, like rotini? Thanks!
Yes! I’ve done this recipe with rotini and it works great. Any short, dry pasta will work.
Bravo! This was delicious. I used some fresh kabashi we had and all the other ingredients I had on hand, except the green onions so I left them out and added a little left over broccoli for something green . My husband raved about it. I’ll definitely make this again. Thanks for sharing
It’s really a very versatile dish and delicious with all kinds of add-ins. I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Maryanne!
OMW, I searched on Pinterest for “sausage, tomatoes, green pepper, and pasta” and your recipe came up. I couldn’t believe I had every single ingredient in the refrigerator or pantry and it was delicious! Kids from 9 – 23 loved it. Thank you!
Fantastic! So glad to hear Pinterest worked that way. That is pretty cool! I’m happy your family loved it – it’s one of our favorites too 🙂 Thanks so much for letting me know, Kelly.
I made this last night and it was absolutely fantastic! I followed the recipe but omitted the cheese and green onions. I thought that the pasta was flavorful and rich enough without the cheese. I loved that the pasta cooked in the skillet. This one pot meal saved me so much time and was so yummy! Thank you for posting this. It’s now added to my recipe rotation!
Hi Shivani! I’m so glad it turned out so well for you. This is one of my favorites that I turn to frequently on busy days. Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂
omg. I just made this tonight for dinner and I used Italian sausage with it. It was amazing. This a keeper recipe and i will defiantly make it again.
It’s so nice of you to come back and let me know. Thanks and I’m happy you enjoyed it! It is one of our favorites too 🙂
This recipe sounds and looks tasty
OMG! My kidos loves it;-) it was also fun too make
I feel the same way, Yvette! So glad you’re family enjoyed it 🙂
Any suggestions for substituting the tomatoes? A few members of oour family aren’t big fans of them. Thanks~!
Oh boy, that’s a tough one. The tomatoes are a pretty vital component to this recipe, Christine. I have one here who isn’t a fan of tomatoes but he loves this dish. You might want to still give it a try.
I used rotel
It’s very good with Rotel!
Can u use whole wheat pasta
Absolutely. Sub any brand or type of pasta you prefer.
Could you use Rotel Instead of adding the crush red pepper? Then you could get hot or mild drpending on how spicy you like it.
Absolutely!
This is delicious. I added spinach and used sweet italian chicken sausage.