I’m really digging these one pot pastas lately. It’s so nice to just cook everything in one pot and have less to wash (especially when you don’t have a dishwasher, like me!). Not to mention they’re super quick and cooking the pasta in the sauce/broth just adds so much flavor.
This one pot pasta is just slightly more involved than my “wonderpots” because I’ve added the step of browning the sausage before throwing all of the ingredients together in the pot. The few extra minutes needed to brown the sausage translates into a lot more flavor. This is a fairly basic “pasta with red sauce” recipe, but it’s definitely quick and easy, which is perfect for people with a small kitchen or just not a lot of time on their hands. If you want to make it a little more special, you can try adding in some other fun ingredients like: black olives, artichoke hearts, spinach, roasted red peppers, or a splash of cream to turn it into a creamy red sauce. The sky’s the limit, so have fun!
One Pot Sausage & Mushroom Pasta
One Pot Sausage & Mushroom Pasta
Servings 8Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 2-3 links Italian sausage ($1.99)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.52)
- 8 oz. mushrooms ($1.99)
- 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes ($1.00)
- 1 tsp dried basil ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 4 cups vegetable broth ($0.52*)
- 1 lb. rigatoni ($1.89)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.41)
- 1 handful fresh parsley (optional) ($0.23)
Instructions
- Add the olive oil and sausage links to a large pot and cook over medium heat until they are browned on the outside and firm enough to slice into rounds. Remove the sausage from the pot with tongs, slice into rounds, then return them to the pot and cook for a few minutes more, or until fully browned.
- While the sausage is cooking, slice or mince the garlic and slice or dice the onion (depending on how big you want your pieces). Slice the mushrooms.
- Once the sausage is browned, add the crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, mushrooms, basil, and oregano to the pot. Stir to combine and to dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Add the vegetable broth and pasta, then stir to combine. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to high, and bring it to a rapid boil. As soon as it reaches a full boil, give it a stir, replace the lid, turn the heat down to low. Let the pot simmer on low for 15 minutes. Stir it every five minutes or so while it’s simmering. Make sure it’s simmering (bubbling) the whole time. If it is not, turn the heat up slightly.
- After 15 minutes of simmering, the pasta should be tender and most of the liquid should be absorbed. If there is still too much liquid, let it simmer without a lid for a couple more minutes. Stir in the parmesan and top with fresh chopped parsley, if desired.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
I had some leftover Italian sausage in my freezer that needed to get used up, so that was the basis for this recipe. I had used half of this 19 oz. package previously and had the remaining 2.5 links left. You can use 2 links, you can use 3 links, or you can just use the whole package (5 links). It’s up to you!
First you need to cook the sausage a bit to make it firm enough to slice into rounds. Just put it in a big pot with 2 Tbsp of olive oil and cook over medium until it’s nice and brown on the outside (about 5 minutes).
Then remove it to a cutting board and slice it into rounds. It’s not completely cooked through yet, but that’s okay because it’s going right back into the pot…
Cook it a little more or until the sausage has browned and there is a nice golden coating on the bottom of the pot (that’s where the flavor is at!).
While the sausage is cooking, slice your vegetables (1 small onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 8 oz. mushrooms). You can slice or dice the onion and slice or mince the garlic, depending on how big you want the pieces to be in the finished dish. They both cook down considerably, so I left them in slices.
Once the sausage has browned, add one 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes, the sliced onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Also add 1 tsp dried oregano and 1 tsp dried basil. Give this mixture a good stir to dissolve the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
Finally, add 4 cups of vegetable broth and one pound of rigatoni. Stir to combine.
Cover the pot and turn the heat up to high. Let the pot come to a full, rapid boil. Once it reaches a full boil, give it a stir to loosen any pasta that might be sticking, replace the lid, and turn the heat down to low. Let the pot simmer on low for 15 minutes, giving it a stir every five minutes or so.
After 15 minutes, the pasta should be tender and most of the liquid should be absorbed. If it’s still too liquidy for you, just let it simmer for a minute or two without the lid.
Stir in 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan to add a little body to the sauce, then top with some fresh chopped parsley (optional).
Super easy! And who doesn’t love pasta with red sauce? WHO? (I know, now I’ll get someone who says otherwise in the comments… ;) )
Perfect easy, comforting meal for a rainy day
I made this tonight. I am not an extreme hater of the one pot but it’s not my deal. I prefer to cook my pasta separate. I used two cups of chicken stock and added the cooked al dente pasta to the sauce and cooked for another 2-4 min. It was pretty delicious. :)
Super yummy! I used a quinoa pasta since we are gluten free and added red pepper flakes. Our whole family enjoyed it!
This recipe has saved me so many times and my family is obsessed with it now.
This recipe is simple yet it provides a yummy result. I can’t believe how good it tasted.
Thanks Beth!
This has been my go-to meal for the past few years and I absolutely love it. Instead of using the crushed tomatoes I just use a little bit if tomato sauce with the broth but still tastes amazing. I also bake this into a ziti with some mozzarella and parmesan and it is phenomenal. Thanks for your delicious recipes!
I have made this pasta quite a few times. The first time I made it I was in a pinch as I didn’t expect to feed a couple of families on short notice. This worked perfect. I have made it adding spinach and about two tablespoons of cream at the end and it tasted great too. Great meal!
If you put the pasta in before the water boils AND you cook it for 15 minutes after that it will come out as an overcooked mess. Always respect cooking times (which vary from pasta to pasta) and add pasta only to boiling water. Sincerely, a perplexed Itaian
Italian* obviously goddamn keyboard
could I use homemade chicken stock that I have handy instead of vegetable broth? or would that change the flavor too much
Yes, that will work just fine, although you may need to add salt at the end. The broth I use has a decent amount of salt in it.
So I goofed and didn’t reread the recipe before boiling up four cups of BEEF broth. Shrugged and said “screw it” and used that anyway and it came out AMAZING. Don’t know if the broth changed the flavor at all, but this was a definite winner!
Is it possible that I could use jarred spaghetti sauce? Thanks, Beth!! :-)
Yep! I think a regular sized bottle is 24oz, so that’s pretty close to the crushed tomatoes that I used. :)
This was so good! Even my two picky kids cleaned their plates. We chopped up the mushrooms and onions super small and added finely chopped kale that I needed to use up. My kids usually protest eating any of those veggies, but in this dish, they gobbled them up. I will definitely be making this dish on a regular basis! Thanks Beth!
looks amazing, and pretty easy to make. I have most of them ingredients!! Thanks for inspiring me.
When you say add rigatoni, do you mean add cooked pasta or dry? Sorry, I’ve never made pasta in ‘one pot’ before!
For this one it’s dry, uncooked pasta. Great question! :)
Hi. What size pot are you using? How may quarts does it hold? It should tell you at the bottom of the pot. Thank you.
5 quart :)