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.
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
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.
Video
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.
Adapted from Kevin and Amanda
This post was originally published on August 26, 2013. It has been updated with new text and images.
Pastalicious!
The recipe is delicious. I used hot Italian sausage I also added sliced blacked olives. All of had was Colby jack but it tasted great.
It reminded me of a Tex Mex pasta (spicy) I will make it again. I love that I only used 1 pot!!
Can I substitute shrimp in place of the sausage, but still follow the recipe otherwise?
You might like my recipe for Shrimp and Spinach Pasta. It’s the same method with ingredients that I think work better with shrimp.
Incredibly filling and good. I add half a cup of water because I love the broth so much.
This will quickly become a staple in my house!! Replaced the canned tomatoes with sundried (what we had) and added three bug handfuls of spinach once the pasta was done cooking. SO GOOD!!
Can this recipe work without chicken broth?
The liquid is necessary in order to cook the pasta properly. You could use water but it won’t be as flavorful.
Delicious recipe! I used farmers sausage and threw in a few fresh tomatoes and didn’t have cream but had some milk, so I used that. Still very tasty! I also cut back the crushed pepper to make it toddler friendly. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
I make this all the time, I use spicy sausage which pairs well with the red pepper flakes. Love the dog pic, my dog salivates in the kitchen when I make it 😊
I’m going to add this one to my rotation of “I don’t have food for dinner!” recipes. I had all of the ingredients for this minus a couple of minor changes which didn’t affect the taste at all. I had a mix of peppers & onions so I threw them all in, I only had a can of tomatoes & green chilies, and I only had pepper jack cheese so I left out the crushed red pepper. It came out great!
Haha! I think I need to see that list of recipes 🙂 So glad it worked out for you, Anne!
My family really enjoyed this. I used sliced sweet italian sausage links, and added some green, red and yellow pepper when cooking the onions. My husband hates any kind of heat, so had to leave the crushed red pepper out.
Plenty of left overs!
Dumb question….do I drain the diced tomatoes?
Hi Deborah. There’s no need to drain the tomatoes. You want that liquid in there.
This was so good! Next time, I think I’ll use sweet Italian sausage instead of smoked sausage. I also swapped out the Monterey jack cheese and used mozzarella. Great recipe!
I’m trying it out tonight!
It’s too bad you don’t have print que button on your recipes, to print off and take to the store and to the kitchen.
Your website is REALLY sharp.
I say this as my printer is working its brains out printing out well over 30 pages and counting.
Please install a print button.
Thanks,
Phil Baker
Alton, IL
Hi Phil. We do have a great big button on all of our recipe cards here. Just look for the big PRINT button over the image at the top of each card. So sorry you missed it!