This Spicy Orecchiette with Chicken Sausage and Kale is a variation on one of my favorite fast weeknight dinners, pasta + parmesan + vegetable. If you’re a Budget Bytes veteran you probably have this formula memorized, but for all my new friends, this one will change your dinner game! I’ll list some variations and link to some of my favorites in the past, so you can see how this easy formula will help you make weeknight dinner effortless.
What Kind of Sausage is Best?
For this recipe I used an Italian style chicken sausage from Aldi, but this recipe is so flexible that you can use just about any flavor chicken sausage, regular pork Italian sausage, or even a vegetarian sausage (Aldi makes a great vegetarian sausage, too). If you want your dish extra spicy, choose a sausage that contains red pepper.
Can I Make This Non-Spicy Orecchiette with Chicken Sausage and Kale?
Yes, absolutely. I love the extra spicy kick, but this recipe is definitely delicious enough to hold its own without any heat. To make this recipe not spicy, make sure your sausage does not contain red pepper, skip the red pepper flakes below, and reduce the amount of freshly cracked black pepper.
Can I Use a Different Pasta Shape?
Definitely. Orecchiette can sometimes be hard to find and is definitely a bit more expensive than some other pasta shapes, so feel free to swap it out with whatever you have available. My second choice would be either thin spaghetti, whole wheat spaghetti (that nutty flavor goes great with Parmesan), or even wide egg noodles. Penne is also an easy and convenient choice.
What Can I Use in Place of Kale?
Fresh spinach is great, as is other green vegetables like broccoli florets or asparagus. I’m not against throwing a few grape tomatoes in there as well!
Make it Vegetarian!
This Spicy Orecchiette with Chicken Sausage and Kale is actually pretty easy to make vegetarian! As mentioned above, Aldi makes a great vegetarian sausage that is very similar to chicken sausage. I also make this recipe quite often without any sausage at all, and still love it. For the Parmesan you can either use some nutritional yeast flakes straight, or whip up a batch of vegan parmesan. Here are a couple recipes for vegan parm from a couple of bloggers that I trust: How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese—Minimalist Baker, Easy Vegan Parmesan Cheese Recipe—Cookie+Kate.
Spicy Orecchiette with Chicken Sausage and Kale
Servings 4 about 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 8 oz. orecchiette ($1.33)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 12 oz. chicken sausage ($2.99)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.27)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 8 oz. chopped kale* ($2.14)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.44)
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 1 pinch salt ($0.02)
- freshly cracked pepper to taste ($0.05)
Instructions
- Cook the orecchiette according to the package directions. Before draining the orecchiette in a colander, reserve about 1/3 cup of the starchy pasta water.
- While the orecchiette is cooking, begin preparing the rest of the recipe. Slice the chicken sausage into medallions.
- Add the olive oil and chicken sausage to a large pot and sauté over medium until the chicken sausage begins to brown (about 5 minutes).
- Add the minced garlic and butter to the pot with the sausage and continue to sauté for one more minute.
- Next, add the chopped kale and reserved pasta water. Turn the heat down to medium-low and continue to cook and stir until the kale has wilted (about 2-3 minutes). Use your spoon to dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the pot as you stir.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the cooked and drained orecchiette. If the pasta and kale are still steaming heavily, let the contents of the pot cool for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to release steam. You want the Parmesan to coat the pasta, but not melt.
- Once the pasta and kale is hot, but not steaming, add the grated Parmesan, crushed red pepper, salt, and about 15-20 cranks of a pepper mill. Stir to combine, then taste and add more salt if needed. Serve warm.
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Notes
Nutrition
Video
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
Want More Recipes with this Quick Dinner Formula? Check out Bacon and Spinach Pasta with Parmesan, Bowties and Broccoli, One Pot Sausage and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta, or Simple Portobella Pasta.
How to Make Orecchiette with Sausage – Step by Step Photos
First, cook 8 oz. orecchiette according to the package directions. Before draining the pasta, reserve about 1/3 cup of the starchy pasta water.
Slice 12 oz. chicken sausage into medallions. Add the chicken sausage to a large pot along with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté the sausage over medium until it begins to brown (about 5 min), then add 2 minced cloves of garlic and 2 Tbsp butter. Continue to sauté for one minute more.
Add 8 oz, chopped kale to the pot along with the reserved pasta water.
Turn the heat down to medium-low and continue to stir and cook until the kale has wilted. Use your spoon to dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the pot as you stir.
Remove the pot from the heat and stir the cooked and drained orecchiette into the kale and sausage. If the pasta and kale are still steaming hot, let it cool for about five minutes because you don’t want the Parmesan to melt when added, you just want it to stick to the pasta. Once it has cooled a bit, add 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, a pinch of salt, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 15-20 cranks of a pepper mill).
Stir until everything is combined and coated in Parmesan, then taste and add another pinch of salt if needed.
Serve warm and enjoy!!
Yum! This makes a great Friday night dinner- it took maybe 20 minutes from start to finish. I used precooked chicken sausage, so all it needed was browning. I also used spinach instead of kale, because that’s what I had in my fridge. It would be easy to put zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, corn etc in there as well.
This one checks all the boxes- quick, easy, short ingredient list, tasty and healthy. Another winner Budget Bytes recipe!
What a review! Thanks Lydia :)
I happily ate this for 4 days! It’s the first pasta dish I’ve made that I felt could be served in a restaurant
This is the second recipe I’ve made from your website and I’m in love with this!! This meal was amazing. I’m glad I made it as a meal prep so I can eat it for the next two days! My husband loves it too! Only edit I made to it was switching the kale for spinach! Thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad you liked it!
FYI, this freezes well! I just stirred in a bit of butter when I reheated it and added some more parm :-P yummm!
Thanks for sharing that!!
This is probably the 6th or so recipe I’ve tried by you. It was a huge hit in my house. Even the kale! I added three large basil leaves from the garden and used a sweet Italian chicken sausage. So yummy. :)
This looks delicious, thank you so much for sharing! However, I’m new to cooking, and although you said that this dish ‘reheats beautifully’, could you please recommend how one would go about doing so properly?
I just use the microwave, 30-60 seconds at a time until it’s heated through. :)
I made this tonight vegetarian style with mustard greens, no sausage or cheese, and stirred a beaten egg over the hot pasta and greens. Wow! Mustard greens, where have you been all my life?
Another budget bytes keeper! Used Italian Sausage and spinach but next time I’ll try chicken sausage and kale if I can. Nice that most of the ingredients are stuff I keep on hand.
Squeezed a lemon over the top at the end for a little brightness – highly recommend it if you have one on hand!
I make a recipe similar but use chorizo for the chicken sausage. It adds a nice spice to the sauce. I’ve also used pepperoni in a pinch. Just some ideas to spice it up!
A simple, tasty dish. It took less than 30 minutes to make, which is nice, and it made about four servings, so my partner and I had lunch leftovers for the next day. I used egg noodles and found that to be tasty. I added two extra cloves of garlic to add a bit more flavor. Overall, it felt like a ‘light’ dish, so it was good on a hot day, and it tasted good, but wasn’t ‘wow’ worthy beyond how easy it was to make. I’d make it again when I have a time constraint for dinner.
I made this last night. I used chicken and apple sausage because that is what I had and I used spinach instead of kale. Quick and easy to prepare and my whole family gobbled it up. My 13 year old had three helpings of it which is highly unusual!
What do you think about substituting tempeh for the chicken sausage?
I don’t think it will be quite as good because the chicken sausage is packed with herbs and spices, whereas tempeh doesn’t have much flavor on its own.
*spinach for kale!
Great! When I make it again I’ll cut down on the cheese. I substituted kale for spinach and added cannellini beans. Wonderful dish!
Made this last night and it was a huge hit with my dude and me! It wasn’t too heavy and clean up was way easier than it is with saucey pastas. I used chicken apple sausage and some penne I had leftover from a recipe last week, and I added mushrooms. This will definitely be in regular rotation for an easy dinner!