Italian sausage, sundried tomatoes, and red pepper in a creamy, cheesy sauce, this Creamy Italian Sausage and Tomato Pasta is quick and easy, and it tastes amazing. It's sure to be your new go-to dinner on busy weeknights. A family favorite!
I love it when I can make a delicious dinner that everybody loves, that fills the kitchen with wonderful smells, and even has a little leftover that reheats beautifully for a midnight snack or tomorrow's lunch - all in the time that it takes to boil pasta. This Creamy Italian Sausage and Tomato Pasta is exactly that. 30 minute meals for the win!
This Creamy Italian Sausage and Tomato Pasta is filled with so many wonderful flavors - red bell peppers, sundried tomatoes, basil, a garlicky cream sauce, parmesan to deepen the flavor, and best of all - Italian sausage fragrant with garlic and fennel. You won't believe the crazy good smell it makes in your kitchen. You won't need to call anyone for dinner - they'll come running!
There are so many flavors going on in this Creamy Italian Sausage and Tomato Pasta, the kids won't even notice that you've slipped in some super healthy vegetables - spinach, red bell peppers, two kinds of tomatoes. That's a win-win!
Creamy Italian Sausage and Tomato Pasta is so quick and easy to make. Simply boil some pasta while you make the sauce. Sauté some onion and red bell pepper in a little olive oil for a minute or two. Add the sausage and cook until its brown and cooked through.
Stir in some finely minced garlic and chopped sundried tomatoes and let it sauté for a minute. Then add a can of chopped tomatoes, a bouillon cube, and ½ cup water and let it come to a bubbly simmer. Stir in the cream and let that simmer a minute or two. Add the parmesan, stir it in, let it melt, and turn off the heat. The cooking is done!
Stir in a big handful - or a bag if you like - of baby spinach. There's no need to chop it if you don't want to. I give mine a rough chop so it blends in better (i.e. so the kids don't recognize it). Ok, let's be honest, so I don't recognize it. No need to cook it, it will melt beautifully into the sauce and keep its bright green color.
All that's left is to sprinkle with some basil and toss it with the pasta. I like to toss the pasta with a spoon of butter first, but that's just personal preference. Also, if you want to make it ahead of time, keep the sauce and the pasta separate. The buttered pasta will stay hot a few hours if you wrap the pan in a blanket. The sauce can just be gently reheated before tossing with the pasta.
Busy families, I've got you covered! Enjoy!
Creamy Italian Sausage and Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb box of penne or other pasta (454g)
- 1 tablespoon butter (.5oz, 14g)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 lb Italian sausage (454g)
- 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- ¾ cup sundried tomatoes, chopped (100g)
- 15oz can chopped tomatoes (425g)
- 1 chicken bouillon cube
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup parmesan cheese (1.5oz, 43g)
- a large handful of baby spinach (about 2.3oz, 65g), chopped or not
- a handful of fresh basil leaves (about 1.5oz, 43g), chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the pasta:
- Boil pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain and toss with butter.
For the sauce:
- Sauté chopped onion and red pepper in olive oil for about a minute.
- Add sausage and cook until brown.
- Add minced garlic and chopped sundried tomato and sauté for about a minute.
- Add can of chopped tomatoes, bouillon cube, ½ cup water, and cook until bubbly.
- Add cream and let simmer for about 2 minutes.
- Stir in parmesan cheese until melted and turn off heat.
- Stir in baby spinach, let rest a minute or two. Stir in chopped basil. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss with hot buttered pasta.
Don't forget to pin for later!
You might also like:
Creamy, Cheesy Italian Sausage and Basil Penne:
Sundried Tomato Mascarpone Pasta:
Creamy Portobello and Mascarpone Pasta:
Make big batch next month.
Ok! 🙂
My family LOVED this! I doubled it and I think I could have fed 20 people. I made it two days ago and everyone's fighting over the leftovers. Highly recommend!
Thanks so much, Jenni! So happy to hear that you liked it!
I made this for dinner tonight but I tweaked it a bit with some of my own Spices and added more fresh parmesan cheese. It came out totally amazing and full of flavor. My family loved it! This is definitely the best and will be made again!
Thanks so much, Chantal! So glad you loved it!
I have been making this recipe for years and noticed it was gone from food.com and had to track down the closest possible one and this was it! The only difference in which I will stick with is the fact that you use red peppers and I enjoy using the crush red pepper instead, cooked along with the italian sasuage. Thank you for keeping this recipe alive. I thought I lost it forever!
So glad you enjoyed it, Heather! I have to admit, though, I haven't seen the food.com recipe! Pasta dishes, to me, are all about the perfect balance of flavors and finding combinations that go really well together. So many times after I've developed a recipe or had what I thought was a really great idea, I discover someone else had already thought of it. Oh well, I guess some combinations are just meant to be! Thanks so much!
This reminds me of my favorite Italian restaurant that closed down years ago. Their recipe adds Shrimp and Gaeta olives! Magnifico!!
Sounds wonderful, Shannon!
This was a delicious recipe. Loved that you added spinach for some greens and extra nutrition. My husband devoured two portions and raved about it Thank you!!!
Thanks so much, Laura! So happy you liked it!
Can I just say how much I appreciate this pasta and recipe?! My husband is not a fan of pasta and I absolutely love it, so it’s been rough trying to figure out good recipes in our house. I made this last night and my husband LOVED it! He said I can add this to the list to make again! score! Thank you so much, even our 2 kiddos (2.5 y/o & 1 y/o) loved it! We will definitely be making again!
Thanks so much, Bre! So happy you liked it!
Can this be frozen?
Hi Terri,
I haven't tried freezing it. The texture of the sauce may change. I'll give it a test the next time I make it. Let me know how it turns out if you try it.
I absolutely love this recipe. I’ll definitely make it again and again. Thanks for this delicious recipe.
Thanks so much, Julia! So happy you liked it!
Can this be heated in a slow cooker
Hi Shirley, It could be reheated in a slow cooker, although it is best when the pasta is freshly tossed with the sauce and served immediately. Cream based sauces do thicken and are absorbed by the pasta pretty quickly after combining, so you may need to add some water or broth. As far as cooking it in a slow cooker, I suppose it could be but I haven't tried it. It does sound like an experiment that I would like to try.
My boyfriend and I absolutely love this pasta recipe! Our only critique is that we wish there was more sauce to the pasta. Would doubling the sauce portion for the X1 portion of pasta be too much?
★★★★★
Hi Abby! Doubling the sauce would be just fine. If there’s any extra sauce, it would perfect for dipping some crusty bread into. Thanks so much!
My family loved it.
Thanks so much, Mildred! So happy you liked it!
Hi! Can’t wait to make this. Do you drain the diced tomatoes?
Hi Rosie! I don’t drain them. Hope you like it!
Made it as written I use dried basil frozen chopped spinach because I didn’t have the fresh I thought it was excellent thank you so much
★★★★★
So happy you liked it, Laurie! Thanks so much!
Made this recipe many times and people keep asking for more! I'm not someone who measures, so there's more of everything. I used Campari tomatoes & it was more fabulous!
★★★★★
So happy you liked it, Lee Ann!