Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta is a family favorite Italian pasta recipe! This easy pasta dish is full of savory sausage and a delicious, creamy, parmesan sauce and ready in 20 minutes!
With back to school in full force and busy nights ahead of us, I am finding myself reaching for new quick and easy dinner inspiration. I happen to love Italian sausage because it’s so flavorful and delicious, I can use it to make a simple meal that is flavor packed in no time. There’s nothing better than having a restaurant quality pasta dish on the table in 20 minutes! Plus, everyone in my house loves a good creamy pasta dish any night of the week!
How to Make Italian Sausage Pasta:
- For this Italian Sausage Pasta, you will start by cooking your penne pasta in a large pot of salted, boiling water according to package directions.
- As soon as you add your pasta to the boiling water, you will heat some olive oil in a large skillet. Then, add in your Italian sausage, minced onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Once your sausage is cooked through, you can drain any excess grease from the pan if necessary. Then, return the meat mixture to the skillet.
- Then, you will turn your heat down to low. Add the cream to the pan and bring to a simmer, and put all of the spinach in the pan. It will take about 3-5 minutes for the spinach to wilt.
- Next, drain your pasta. Add your shredded parmesan (fresh is best!) and pasta and give everything a good stir to coat.
You guys have spoken and seem to be loving these easy 20-30 minute weeknight meals as much as we do! I’m happy to say this Italian sausage pasta is one of my personal faves! If you’re looking for more simple dinners, don’t miss my Creamy Parmesan One Pot Chicken and Rice or my One Pot Homemade Hamburger Helper!
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Ground Italian Sausage
- 1 Pound Penne Pasta
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1/2 Yellow Onion Minced
- 2 Cloves Garlic Minced
- 1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream
- 5 Ounces Baby Spinach
- 1 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- Cook the penne pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cook the Italian sausage along with the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt until the sausage is no longer pink.
- Drain excess fat from the skillet if necessary and return the meat mixture to the pan.
- Turn the heat to low and add the cream to the skillet. Bring to a simmer and add in the spinach.
- Cook, stirring for about 3 minutes until the spinach is wilted.
- Stir in the parmesan cheese until melted. Stir the pasta into the sauce.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I want to preface by saying I’m rarely impressed with most recipes. I consider myself a better than average cook but I am not professionally trained. I try a lot of so called 5 star recipes and rarely find one that I even consider tasty. I found this recipe to be really tasty and easy. The sausage with the cream sauce gave a delightful balance. I used high quality Italian sausage made from an Italian Deli. The flavor combinations were a perfect balance. The sauce wasn’t too heavy and the sausage did overpower the dish. I am going to put this in my rotation for sure.
This was Amazing!! Easy & fast!
This is a real winner ! My husband keeps asking for this and it works out well since ground beef can be hard to find these days !
Loved this recipe. Added broccoli and a tbsp of sweet chili sauce. Yummy!!!
This now on our dinner rotations. It is one of our favorite pasta recipes and we LOVE pasta dishes. I highly recommend people to try this. Very easy. Very good.
Can I use dry onion, Jared garlic, green bottle Parmesan and frozen spinach, i have those things on hand but I’m a little afraid making so many sub for the lower quality version of thing might just make a mess?
I’m so happy I came across this recipe! I had to substitute a lot of things but this is DELICIOUS!
Thought I had Penne Pasta but it was farfelle. I had no baby spinach but had kale. Had no cream but made it with butter and 2% milk . Had no Parmesan cheese but had mozzarella!!!
Fantastic recipe! The family raves about how delicious it was.
Absolutely delicious!! And easy to make, too! (I just add extra garlic because I always double or triple the garlic in any recipe). My husband asks for this at least once a week! lol
Loved this! So simple and so good! I used hot Italian sausage and 3/4 lb of penn pasta. Did not have heavy cream but used Half and half and it worked perfectly. Thanks for Sharing such an easy delicious recipe.
Great pasta dinner!! I used half and half instead of heavy cream and cooked fresh broccoli florets instead of spinach. It was delicious!