This creamy smoked sausage pasta recipe is ready in only 30 minutes. It is a one-pan recipe for easy meals with smoked sausage and tender pasta cooked in a creamy tomato sauce and loaded with cheese. Make it lower-fat for a healthier diet or spicy for your taste, all by the choice of ingredients.
🥣Ingredient
Smoked sausage—or kielbasa, andouille, or other precooked sausage
Aromatics—onion, garlic, and green onion
Tomatoes—diced or RoTel
Dairy—sour cream and shredded cheese
Dry pasta or noodles
Salt and black pepper
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Featured Comment by Jon Eric:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐"Doc! Another favorite of mine, this recipe and the Cheesy Jambalaya, have been my after-work go-to's for a while now. Quick, easy, and, of course, delicious. Thanks for the 30-minute recipes!"
I have written this recipe as a light version of smoked sausage paste with a full taste and creaminess. It is suitable for healthy diets, such as low-calorie and low-fat diets.
Check out some other must-try easy casserole dishes, 30 Minute Cheesy Jambalaya, Chili Mac, and Cheesy American Goulash.
👨🍳How to Make Smoked Sausage Pasta—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Chop an onion and cut the smoked sausage into ¼ inch medallions.
2. Cook the sausage and onion in a large oven-safe skillet until the onion is clearing then add garlic for the last 30 seconds.—about 5 minutes.
3. Add chicken broth, salt, black pepper, RoTel (or drained diced tomatoes.
4. Add dry pasta of your choice.
5. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover. Stir occasionally and cook until the pasta is tender—about 15 minutes for standard pasta.
6. Add shredded cheese and mix in.
7. Sprinkle more shredded cheese on top.
8. Place under broiler until cheese is melted and browned.
9. Garnish with chopped green onions if desired.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
🥣Ingredient options and variations
Sausage: I suggest turkey smoked sausage or kielbasa, which provides excellent taste and decreases fat. Any sausage can be used, but it should be thoroughly cooked before being used in this recipe if it is uncooked.
Pasta: Use a bite-sized standard commercial-type pasta or noodles. I used bowtie pasta, but rigatoni, ziti, penne, or egg noodles would be good choices. This choice determines the length of the simmering phase of the recipe—it needs to cook until al dente.
Cheese: I like Monterey Jack cheese in this casserole, but Pepper Jack, mozzarella, or cheddar cheese are also excellent choices.
Tomatoes: If you want no heat, use diced tomatoes that have been drained. Alternatively, use tomatoes with green chilis added (Rotel). These chilis come in various heat levels and should be added undrained.
Spices: No additional spices are suggested, but you can add other flavors. Red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper can adjust the spiciness.
You can adjust the heat easily with the Rotel™, which comes with various spice levels.
Optional vegetables: Diced bell pepper, mushrooms, or zucchini can be added to the dry pasta. Other vegetables, like broccoli, can be added fully cooked when the cheese is added.
👍Make a lighter version.
For my lighter, skinny version of this sausage pasta, I used lighter ingredients: turkey or chicken sausage, 2% cheese, and lower-fat sour cream. And I sauteed the onion and sausage with the minimum amount of oil.
Never use non-fat cheese or sour cream—you will have poorer results.
Using full-fat products, one serving is 562 calories and 36 grams of fat. By switching to lower-fat products, one serving is 374 calories and 12.5 grams of fat. Since this is how I usually cook this recipe, this is what appears in the nutrition calculations.
🤔Variations to try
Cajun sausage pasta: Start with andouille sausage. Use the drained diced tomatoes and cajun seasoning.
Italian sausage pasta: Start by browning Italian sausage with onion and garlic. Use rigatoni, ziti, or penne for the pasta. Then, add drained diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning or basil. Finally, add mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
🍲Other casserole recipes
Check out some easy-to-make Italian casseroles, like Baked Chicken Spaghetti, Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage, and Chicken Pasta Bake.
🍽️What to serve with smoked sausage pasta
Serve with a fresh green like a garden salad or a plate of cut fresh vegetables.
Add a contrasting bread like Old Fashioned Cornbread, Cornbread Biscuits, Healthy Biscuits, or Cheddar Bay Biscuits (Red Lobster Copycat).
❄️How to store and reheat leftovers
Store leftovers sealed airtight and refrigerated for 4 days or frozen for 4 months.
Reheat, after thawing overnight in the refrigerator if frozen, on the stovetop with a bit of oil, in the oven, or in the microwave. The pasta may have absorbed some of the moisture; a splash of water or milk may be needed.
❓FAQs
The sodium can be decreased by using low-sodium broth and cutting the added salt in half to save 200 mg of sodium per serving.
If using gluten-free pasta, it is best to precook the pasta to al dente before adding it since cooking uncooked gluten-free pasta in a dish is unpredictable.
And don't forget to check the labels on all the other ingredients since there is variability between brands.
📖 Recipe
Creamy Smoked Sausage Pasta
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Ingredients
- 1 pound smoked sausage - turkey sausage suggested
- 1 onion - medium chopped
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 2 cloves garlic - minced or crushed
- 14 oz chicken broth - Low sodium suggested
- 14 oz drained diced tomatoes - or undrained RoTel
- ½ cup sour cream - low fat suggested
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 8 oz dry pasta - of choice
- 1 ½ cup shredded cheese - Monterey, cheddar, or mozzarella. Low fat suggested.
- 2 green onion - sliced to garnish optional
Instructions
- Preheat 1 ½ teaspoons oil over medium-high heat in a large oven-safe skillet.
- Chop 1 medium onion and 1 pound of cooked sausage of your choice into ¼ inch medallions. I suggest turkey smoked sausage.
- Add the onion and sausage to the pan. Cook until onion is clearing nicely and sausage is browning—about 5 minutes. Add two cloves of minced garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
- Add a 14 oz can low sodium chicken broth, 14 oz drained diced tomatoes or RoTel, ½ cup low-fat sour cream, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Mix well.
- Add 8 oz.(2 cups) of dry pasta of your choice.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat to low: cover and simmer. Stir occasionally and cook until pasta is tender — about 15 minutes for standard pasta. If you are approaching the endpoint for the pasta and too much fluid is present, uncover and increase heat to medium-high for the last few minutes.
- Add ½ cup of shredded cheese of your choice and mix in.
- Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheese on top.
- Place under broiler until cheese is melted and browned.
- Garnish with chopped green onions if desired.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- This is an easy recipe to modify to your taste. You can use the sausage, pasta, and cheese of your choice. The recipe post provides many variations and options.
- The uncooked pasta works well if you use standard commercial pasta, but always be aware of the endpoint you want and watch for it.
- If you want to use a non-standard type of pasta, you need to cook it until al dente or cook it separately and add it near the end when mixing in the cheese.
- I like to use precooked turkey sausage, but you can use any sausage of your choice. You can even use bulk sausage as long as you cook it to a safe 165°.
- You can also use the cheese of your choice. I suspect most will use cheddar, but I like Monterey. Even mozzarella would be good. To decrease fat, you can use 2% milk cheese. Please do not use non-fat cheese.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and will freeze well for 3-4 months.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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This is a skinny version of an American Test Kitchen Spicy Sausage Pasta recipe (subscription required) from their The Best Simple Recipes cookbook.
Editor's Note: Originally Published September 28, 2013. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Shannon says
This dish really does have a great flavor, but I forgot how spicy Rotel is to my kids and me. I used beef smoked sausage and nothing low fat. 😆 I'm looking forward to trying it again with fire roasted tomatoes and maybe a little fresh spinach at the end.
Karen says
I made this tonight with spicy sausage casings off and broken up. It was awesome! My daughter and I both loved it! I googled based on what I had in the fridge and how lucky I was to find this recipe. I have it saved to favorites and will definitely make again.
DrDan says
Hi Karen,
Welcome to the blog.
I really need to rewrite and redo the photos for this recipe but glad it worked well for you. I won't be changing the recipe since I do really like the results.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Dawn says
Delish! It's now on our "most played" recipes rotation.
DrDan says
Hi Dawn,
Welcome to the blog and sorry about the delayed response.
This is a very tasty recipe but very dependent on the sausage. It doesn't get much attention so it is on my list to update and republishe.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Jon Eric says
Doc! Another favorite of mine, this recipe and the Cheesy Jambalaya, have been my after-work go-to's for a while now. Quick, easy, and, of course, delicious. Thanks for the 30 minute recipes!
Jon Eric says
I'm terrible with the HTML. This recipe is great, too: https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/cheese-jambalaya/
Eric says
Made this one tonight (with the diced tomatoes) and it turned out great! I went ahead and mixed in all of the cheese which made the presentation a little less impressive but it also made the sauce really creamy which was great. Will definitely make again soon!
DrDan says
Thanks for the note Eric. I think I will do this again tonight.
Eric says
Made this again tonight (I've made it a few times in the last year, it's my wife's second favorite recipe behind the oven filet on this site), and one tip is that for leftovers the next day if you heat it up in a pan on the stove and mix in some more cheese it's almost as good as the day before.
DrDan says
Thanks for the idea and the comment.
Dan
Michelle says
This is on the stove cooking, as I type this... I can't wait to try it. My 6 yr old son chose this for dinner tonight. :)
DrDan says
It is a little spice for a 6 yr. old. But I loved the taste...
Dan
Colleen Smith says
This sounds delicious. I was at BJ's and bought some Hillshire Farms Turkey Kielbasa. Of course there were three packages in one bundle. I fried some up for dinner with some potatoes for my husband and I and froze the other two. I was looking for something different for this sausage and this looks like it will fit the bill.