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For an easy weeknight dinner the whole family will love, try this simple 20-minute Sausage Pasta recipe.
It’s the perfect comfort food made with frankfurter sausages, red onion, tomato passata, heavy cream, and peas.
This flavorful dish reheats easily and is great for meal prep. Top with freshly grated Parmesan and finely chopped basil!
Recipe Tip
Enjoy the dish hot or cold, for lunch or dinner, too!
Sausage Pasta Ingredients
Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for the complete details!
- Pasta: I use fusilli, but you can use penne, macaroni, and spaghetti (to name a few).
- Sausage: Frankfurter hotdogs (which are often pre-cooked).
- Butter: Use a knob of salted or unsalted butter to sauté the onions and sausages.
- Onion: Choose red, yellow, or white onions, or even shallots.
- Passata: Forms the basis of the tomato sauce. If the tomatoes are too tart, I like to add a bit of balsamic glaze, cane sugar, or maple syrup.
- Heavy cream: Balances all the flavors and makes the sauce extra creamy and rich.
- Frozen peas: I use frozen peas for convenience all year round.
How to Make Sausage Pasta
- Prepare the ingredients: Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Heat butter in a large frying pan. Sauté the onions. Chop the sausages.
- Add sausages to the pan and fry until cooked through and golden brown.
- Pour in the passata, and then the cream.
- Top the sauce with the cooked pasta, frozen peas, and season well. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
Serving Suggestion
I love to add pomegranate arils too for a bit of sweetness.
Possible Variations
- Pasta: Use whatever pasta you have on hand, or opt for orzo, rice, potatoes, or couscous.
- Sausage: Swap for any type of sausage you prefer (chorizo, salsaccia, beef, lamb, chicken, or turkey). If the sausage is raw, be sure to cook it through.
- Tomato passata: A tin of tomato paste (add stock or water to make a sauce) or tinned tomatoes will also work perfectly. You can even omit the tomato and stick to the cream sauce.
- Heavy cream: Sour cream, Greek yogurt, half-and-half, and coconut milk are all great alternatives.
- Peas: Add any chopped veggies you like: corn, broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, or zucchini.
How to Store Leftovers
Store in a large glass container in the fridge and enjoy within 2 days.
FAQs
If you use a sausage you like, you’re bound to enjoy the finished dish, too. I love to use frankfurter sausages (pork), but I’ve also tried chorizo and a spicy salsaccia, which are also delicious.
Pasta needs a lot of liquid, so it’s best to cook it separately and then mix it with the sauce thereafter.
Add a knob of butter to a medium-sized pot and heat leftovers on medium heat. Pour in extra cream, as the pasta soaks up a bulk of the liquid and heat through.
More Easy Meals
Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 300 grams pasta, fusilli
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 8 sausages, frankfurters, 480 grams
- 390 grams tomato passata
- 100 grams frozen peas
- 150 ml heavy cream
- sea salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- Parmesan cheese, grated, to serve
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped, to serve
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the instructions.
- Heat a large frying pan (medium-high) and add a tablespoon of butter.
- Top the pan with the chopped red onion and fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Slice the sausages in 1cm chunks (0.4 inch) and add to the hot pan.
- Once the sausages are cooked through and slightly browned all over, add the tomato passata (about 8-10 minutes).
- Heat the tomato passata until it starts to simmer.
- After 2-3 minutes, add the cream.
- Heat through until the cream has thickened (about 3 minutes).
- Add the cooked, drained pasta, frozen peas, sea salt, and pepper (to taste).
- Top with Parmesan cheese and chopped basil.
- Serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
