Enjoy this comforting, creamy sausage pasta with Italian sausage and your favorite pasta smothered in a velvety garlic-Parmesan sauce. This 20-minute restaurant-quality dinner is going to be an instant family favorite.
Today we’re making a warm bowl of creamy sausage pasta for some feel-good comfort food. Choose between sweet, mild, or hot Italian sausage and your favorite kind of pasta to pair with a rich cream sauce. I used spinach to add a splash of green to the meal but if you’re not a fan, swap it out with peas, sun-dried tomatoes, or mushrooms.
This meal will taste like you simmered it lovingly and slaved over a stove all day but only uses simple pantry staples and is ready in 20 minutes. Serve it with some garlic bread or garlic knots. For more creamy pasta dishes, try out Tuscan sausage pasta, Tuscan chicken pasta, lemon pepper chicken Alfredo pasta, salmon pasta with spinach, or this sun-dried tomato and spinach pasta. Let’s start cooking.
How To Make Creamy Sausage Pasta (1 Min Video)
Ingredients in Creamy Sausage Pasta
CREAMY SAUSAGE PASTA RECIPE TIPS
- Skillet – You’ll need at least a 12″ stainless steel skillet to fit everything in. If you want more room to toss things around and don’t want to fuss with space, try using a Dutch oven.
- Italian sausage – I used mild ground Italian sausage but feel free to substitute it with sweet or hot Italian sausage. You can also use Italian sausage rounds instead of ground Italian sausage. A meat smasher comes in really handy to break up any clumps in the meat.
- Browning – You don’t need any oil while browning the ground sausage, it will render its own fat which you can pan-fry it in. If you like crunchy browned bits in your meat, cook the sausage a little longer till some of the meat is crisp and golden around the edges. Make sure to drain the pan fully of any excess grease so you don’t wind up with pools of grease in your lovely cream sauce.
- Pasta – I used penne pasta but any kind of tubular pasta will work just as well. You can also use bowties, fusilli, corkscrews, shells, elbows, or long pasta like spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine and angel hair. This should also work with gnocchi and ravioli.
- Onions and garlic – Feel free to substitute fresh onions and garlic with onion and garlic powder. This is also a great option if you don’t want chunks of onions and garlic in your cream sauce.
- Wine – Use a dry white wine like pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc since you want the wine to add acidity and not sweetness. To make this recipe kid-friendly, substitute white wine with chicken broth instead.
- Parmesan cheese – Freshly grated Parmesan works best so it melts smoothly in the sauce. I usually buy a block of Parmesan and grate it myself using a microplane. If you’re short on time, you can get some pre-packaged grated Parmesan cheese from the store though. It won’t melt as smoothly as freshly grated Parmesan but it’s still pretty decent. My go-to brand is BelGioioso.
- Spinach– I use baby spinach but if you’re not a fan, you can leave it out or substitute it with fresh basil or one of the other veggie suggestions below.
- Reheating – This can be reheated over the stovetop or in the microwave. Add some milk and/or more Parmesan cheese while reheating to loosen the sauce and bring back some creaminess.
Customize It!
- Veggies – Swap out spinach for other veggies like peas, sun-dried tomatoes, or mushrooms.
- Make it richer – For a richer, Alfredo-like sauce, add more grated Parmesan cheese.
- Add some spice – Add a few dashes of red pepper flakes for some heat.
And that’s about it. Enjoy your bowl of comforting pasta and let me know how you liked it and any substitutions you made in the comments below!
MORE CREAMY PASTA RECIPES TO TRY
- Tuscan Sausage Pasta
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Salmon Pasta with Spinach
- Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato and Spinach Pasta
- Lemon Pepper Chicken Alfredo Pasta
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Creamy Sausage Pasta
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
Enjoy this comforting, creamy sausage pasta with Italian sausage and your favorite pasta smothered in a velvety garlic-Parmesan sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground Italian sausage
- 1 lb. penne pasta
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, minced
- 3–4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup chicken broth / dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 3 oz. fresh baby spinach, tightly packed (about 3 cups)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a pot of salted water according to the package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Over medium heat, brown the sausage in a large skillet, about 5 minutes. Break up any clumps, remove sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside. Drain any excess grease from the pan.
- Melt butter in the pan and saute onions until soft. Add in the garlic and saute for another 30 seconds then return sausage to the pan.
- Deglaze with white wine or chicken broth and scrape off any stuck-on browned bits from the pan.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, and pour in the heavy cream. Season with Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a gentle boil, add in Parmesan cheese and stir until the cheese melts smoothly into the sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
- Add baby spinach and stir until the spinach wilts into the sauce.
- Add the cooked pasta and toss until pasta is fully coated in the sauce.
- Dish and serve hot.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Veggies – Swap out spinach for other veggies like peas, sun-dried tomatoes, or mushrooms.
- Make it richer – For a richer, Alfredo-like sauce, add more grated Parmesan cheese.
- Add some spice – Add a few dashes of red pepper flakes for some heat.
- Scroll up to RECIPE TIPS for more useful tips, suggestions and ingredient substitutions.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
Comments & Reviews
My husband and I made this recipe today and we LOVED it. Adding it to our recipe book. I would love to know what the calorie and nutrient information is? Please and thank you.
It was served at our Christmas meal and it was excellent.
Wow, I’m honored a recipe of mine was used for Christmas! Thanks for taking the chance with this recipe at such an important time and I’m so happy it worked for everyone.
One of my family go to recipes
So good so easy! 🩷
Glad you’ve found a go-to recipe, Karen! Thanks for sharing how much you love this recipe and enjoy the pasta the next time you make it 🙂
We didn’t cook the wine long enough for the alcohol to seep out.
I suggest much less pasta if you want it to be creamy. Me and my mom used half of what the recipe said for noodles and it still felt like to much.
Don’t be afraid to add in more salt and pepper since the cream doesn’t have much flavor. We also used for onion and garlic since those things make everything better
Thanks for sharing your substitutions and tips, Caden! You could also add more heavy cream/milk and thicken it up with Parmesan cheese if you like things super saucy and adjust as needed.
Super easy to make! We’ve swapped white rice out for the pasta at times, and we’ve also made it with kielbasa and pierogies instead of sausage and pasta. It’s perfect every time!
Wow, good to know this also works well with rice! I love the idea of kielbasa and pierogies using the sauce, I bet they tasted great with all that cream and spinach.
Instant favorite.
Thank you for giving the recipe a go and letting me know. I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Starting to cook again and started with this pasta dish. It was really good, and my husband even loved it (spinach and all). Looking forward to making more of your recipes
Thank you for choosing this recipe to get back into cooking. It makes me happy to hear you’re off to a good start and everyone enjoyed the recipe 🙂 Have fun trying out the other recipes and I hope they have good results!
4.5,great recipe for leftover grilled Italian sausage
So great to hear that, Sabrina. Thank you for sharing!