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. 🤤
Found your recipe on Pinterest and I made it tonight; followed your recipe (except substituted turkey sausage for beef sausage) and it was delicious! Thank you for posting this!
I made this tonight. I doubled all the ingredients and used mozzarella and some cream cheese because I didn’t have monterey jack. It was good but very soupy! What did I do wrong?
I forgot to say that I used stewed tomatoes instead of diced tomatoes and I used rotini noodles.
You can let it simmer for a couple of minutes without the lid if it’s too liquidy. That will help some of it evaporate. Also, unfortunately mozzarella doesn’t melt into the liquid in the same way that the Monterey Jack will, so it won’t quite have the same texture.
This was good and really creamy even though it’s doesn’t use that much cheese. I used penne and Italian sausage.
Made this for dinner last night and it was delicious! My boyfriend couldn’t get enough of this stuff. I modified the recipe a bit… I didn’t use spinach but I added mushrooms, a scoop of cream cheese along with the Monterey jack cheese and it came out really creamy. I was worried it was going to turn out a little soupy as I read some of the previous comments but as soon as I added the cheese and the cream cheese it turned out perfectly. I also used Italian hot and sweet sausage which gave a really nice kick to it.
Great recipe and two thumbs up!
Made this earlier this week and my boyfriend and I loved it! Going grocery shopping today to make it again this weekend.
i made this tonight and I loved it. My mother who does not like pasta ate a full plate and called her sister to brag about how delicious her dinner was. I will be making more of this very soon.
I just made this and it was just SO good! Especially for a cool fall night. My 3 yr old and my husband both loved it. It turned out exactly right – not soupy, not dry. Added mushrooms for fun and a tbsp of cream cheese because I didn’t have enough cheddar jack. So easy and so delicious, thank you!!!
Made this twice. Best sausage pasta ever. Neice asked if I bought it from a restaurant.
Making again for tonight dinner. Thank you so much for the blog.
This looks wonderful, a dish I am sure my husband will love. I want to make this next week but I have to ask, what kind of pasta did you use in this dish? Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I forgot what the Italian name for the shape is, but on the package it calls them “flowers”. They’re really great! I think it’s Delallo brand http://www.delallo.com/
Egg Noodles! Cheap and works great
This was delicious! And we got WAY more than four servings out of it.
I cannot get enough of this pasta. I couldn’t really find monterrey jack for a reasonable price, so I stirred a bit of cream cheese into the pasta and topped it with some other cheese. My brother and boyfriend absolutely loved it!
Well I’m only 21 and I love on my own in NM (my mom is THE BEST cook but she’s all the way in OH) so I’ve been trying to cook at home more instead of eating out all the time. I made this today for me and my boyfriend and we both ate 2 helpings to ourselves, very, very, good! Even though it was my first time ever cooking something like this it came out perfect, not too soupy! Thanks so much for this!
I made this because it looked really easy and it was extemely simple. My kids ate it up I didn’t even get to eat it.
This dish is fabulous! My husband went back for 3rds….he’s never had thirds before! So happy I found your blog :)
Def ate more of this than I needed to! It was so good! Probably the best sausage pasta Iv’e ever made. I made some changes to the recipe. I used hot italian sausage because my boyfriend really like that and I doubled up on the chicken broth and pasta. I was making it for the 2 of us using rigatoni and i thought that the 8 oz of pasta wouldn’t be enough so i doubled up on the liquid but still used one can of the chili tomatoes. Also the spinach I bough in the beginning of the week was bad now (Fri) lol. So there was no spinach but the meal turned out fantastic. I also added a splash of milk for some richness but would have been just as good without it. My boyfriend love 3 things in a pasta dish; sausage, spicy sauce and cheese. This was the perfect combo of all 3. Also i used cheddar cheese instead of the jack.. Thx Beth!