This Cheesy Sausage Pasta is the dish that made me fall in love with one-pot pastas all those years ago. It’s fast, easy, SUPER flavorful, and because everything cooks in one pot, there’s barely anything to clean up after dinner. WIN. The flavorful combination of smoky sausage, spicy diced tomatoes with green chiles, and creamy Monterey Jack is simple but irresistible, and it cooks in about 30 minutes. That’s a winner in my book!
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What’s in Cheesy Sausage Pasta?
This recipe was inspired by an absolutely mouth-watering photo I saw on Pinterest, which was this Spicy Sausage Pasta from KevinandAmanda.com. But, of course, I made some changes to fit the ingredients I had on hand. I nixed the heavy cream in the original recipe because I figured that between the cheese and sausage, there’d be plenty of fatty goodness going on. My version ended up being rich, but not so much so that you’ll feel super weighed down. I also added fresh spinach because I have a HUGE bag in my fridge just waiting to be used up. Plus, I felt that the recipe needed a little green.
What Else Can I Add?
Some other vegetable options for this recipe are bell peppers or broccoli, both of which go great with smoked sausage. If you want to add bell peppers, dice them up and saute them with the onions in the beginning. If you want to add broccoli, cut it into very small florets and add it with the pasta so that the broccoli can simmer a little bit and soften. There are so many different ways you can take this recipe… I’m excited to hear what you come up with!
What Type of Pasta to Use
This recipe works great with any short pasta shape (bowties, penne, rotini, etc.). I originally used campanelle (my favorite frilly flower shaped pasta), but I couldn’t find any this time around so I decided to go with wide egg noodles. One note: If you are using regular pasta (not egg noodles, which are a little more delicate), you may need slightly more broth.
Can I Use a Different Cheese?
I particularly love Monterey Jack cheese for this recipe because it melts into a super creamy texture that kind of mixes into the sauce for a super creamy finish…without adding any cream. Other cheeses will also taste great, but they probably won’t have the same creamy finish. You can try cheddar, mozzarella (aim for whole milk mozzarella instead of part-skim), or even a sprinkle of crumbled feta. And remember, pre-shredded cheese won’t melt nearly as well as cheese you shred yourself! ;)
Cheesy Sausage Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.38)
- 7 oz. smoked sausage ($1.75)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1 10oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel) ($1.00)
- 8 oz. wide egg noodles* ($1.40)
- 1.5 cups chicken broth ($0.20)
- 3 cups fresh spinach ($0.85)
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack ($1.25)
- 1 green onion, sliced ($0.20)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and slice the sausage into rounds.
- Add the cooking oil and sausage to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until the sausage is well browned. If there is excess fat in the skillet, drain it off before moving to the next step.
- Add the onions to the skillet with the sausage and continue to sauté until the onions have softened. Allow the moisture from the onions to dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet.
- Add the diced tomatoes with green chiles (with juices), uncooked pasta, and chicken broth. Stir until everything is evenly combined. It's okay if the broth does not fully cover the pasta.
- Place a lid on the skillet and allow the broth to come up to a boil. When it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and let the pasta simmer for about 10 minutes, or until tender. Stir the pasta occasionally, replacing the lid each time.
- Once the pasta is cooked and only a small amount of saucy liquid remains, it's time to add the spinach to the skillet. Gently stir the fresh spinach into the pasta, allowing the residual heat to wilt the spinach.
- Once the spinach has wilted, top the pasta with Monterey Jack cheese. Place the lid back on the skillet and let the pasta heat over low until the cheese is melted and creamy.
- Sprinkle the sliced green onions over top just before serving.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Cheesy Sausage Pasta – Step By Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion and slice about 7oz. smoked sausage (half of a 14oz. link—you can freeze the rest!) into medallions.
Add the sausage and 1 Tbsp cooking oil to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until the sausage is well browned. If there’s a lot of excess fat in the skillet, drain it off before proceeding to the next step.
Add the onions to the skillet with the sausage and continue to sauté until the onions have softened. Allow the moisture from the onions to dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet.
Add one 10oz. can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (like Rotel), 8 oz. pasta, and 1.5 cups chicken broth. If you’re using regular pasta (not egg noodles), increase to 2 cups broth.
Stir everything together until well combined. Place a lid on the skillet and allow the broth to come up to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and let the pasta simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally (replacing the lid each time). Make sure the broth maintains a simmer.
While the pasta is cooking, shred about 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese and slice one green onion. When the pasta is tender and only a small amount of saucy liquid remains in the skillet, it’s time to add the spinach.
Add about three packed cups of fresh spinach to the skillet and carefully stir until the hot pasta wilts the spinach.
Add one cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese on top of the pasta. Place the lid on the skillet and let it heat over low for a few minutes, or just until the cheese is melted and creamy.
Top the finished pasta with the sliced green onions and serve hot!
Soooo cheeessyyyy. 🤤
I had some spinach in my fridge that I had been struggling to use up, and this recipe popped up in my Instagram feed. I followed the recipe exactly, and it turned out great! My husband said three times during the course of his meal how delicious it was. I will definitely be making this recipe again, a real winner!
i want to cook this can you freeze this dish once cooked
I don’t think I’ve tried freezing this one, so I’m not sure how it will hold up. I need to rephotograph it soon, though, so when I do I’ll test it out for ya. :)
I have been making this dish for years and it is now, officially, my 4-year old son’s favorite dish. It’s the first time he has declared a home-cooked dinner (not pizza or PBJ) to be his favorite and that warms my heart for some reason. We all have that dish that Mom made that we always ask for when we visit home, and this just might be it for him.
That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for sharing. :)
This if a family favorite!
I also make it for my elderly neighbor, it thinks it’s the best meal he has very had!
Delicious and very satisfying! I used whole wheat spiral pasta and a Mexican cheese blend. I doubled the recipe but used just one onion.
Made this tonight (a triple batch!) for about the 5th time, and…man. This recipe NEVER disappoints! I used wide egg noodles this time (delicious!) and turkey smoked sausage. My husband practically floated nose-first down the stairs on the heavenly aroma… :)
I enjoy this immensely! Easy and oh so belly comforting.
Ok I’m not trying to be that girl who questions the nutrition info haha normally whatever I use is super close to what’s listed! But for some reason this one is coming out way off and im sure it must be something im doing! The only substitute im making is using two of the beyond hot Italian “sausage” but even when I looked up the calories in the sausage that’s listed, I still have fewer calories in the fake meat. But this is coming out to 700 cals per serving! Help! Haha when I googled the hillshire farms one listed the whole package is 1,020 calories so half of it would be 510. But 6oz of the beyond meat is 431 cal. So it must be the cheese? 1 cup 4oz is a little confusing… does that mean 12 oz? It probably doesn’t because it would say 1.5 cups in that case. Some websites say that a cup of shredded cheese is 4oz. Anyhow, help! Haha :)
Hello! Nutrition info should *always* be questioned, IMHO. :) Nutrition data calculated on paper like this is never really going to be very accurate because ingredients vary a lot and the databases that we use for ingredient nutrition information are just kind of an average for similar ingredients. I went ahead and recalculated this using the nutrition API that is available through our recipe plugin and it came out a little higher in calories. I also cleaned up the ingredient list a little to make it more readable (it got messy when we switched to a new format years ago). The cheese specifically is 1 cup of shredded cheese, which usually weighs about 4 ounces (this is not the same as 4 fluid ounces). I hope that helps!
I followed the recipe exactly as written – it was wonderful! Two of my husbands friend were here for dinner and just loved it. I serve this dish once every 6-8 weeks, and of course hubby’s friends are invited.
I love the original version of this dish dearly, but due to grocery stock quirks and a bit of poor planning on my part, tonight’s version was made with diced tomatoes with jalapeno and preshredded “queso quesadilla” cheese. Still delicious. Thanks Beth, for this and many others.
I used andouille sausage
Added. Fresh rosemary, Italian seasoning, Salt and pepper, heavy whipping cream, shredded Parmesan cheese extra garlic, and white wine
So, you completely changed the recipe, and then only gave it 3 stars? I guess YOUR recipe was 3 stars then. SMH.
This was soooooo good and so easy ! Thank you for this. The only change I made was to use my favorite spaghetti sauce instead of the canned tomatoes – since my pantry is a bit limited these days – but it turned out fantastic! I added some more spices too: dried basil, dried oregano, garlic powder and some crushed red pepper flakes, all added to the oil while sautéing the diced onions. We used brown rice little mini pasta shells and 4 links of super flavorful bison bratwurst! (Especially yummy treat from CrowdCow in Oregon) Husband usually isn’t a fan of any dish that looks like a casserole – but this one he couldn’t eat enough of it! We’ll be making this again ! Without the cream, it wasn’t too heavy at all, yet still “comfort food” satisfying.
Made this tonight. Super easy and tasty!
This was a big hit with very picky DH.
Almost used regular canned diced tomatoes instead of diced tomatoes with chilis (didn’t think I had them) – glad I didn’t, the chilis really made the dish.
I used turkey kielbasa and protein rotini from aldi, and followed the recipe exactly. I was surprised that it had so much flavor without any added seasoning.