Pasta with Sausage and Fire Roasted Tomatoes
Pasta with Sausage and Fire Roasted Tomatoes is an easy Italian meal that’s ready in just 30 minutes and always gets rave reviews! This recipe includes a flavorful meat sauce made with Italian sausage, fire roasted tomatoes and parmesan cheese that gets tossed with tender spaghetti noodles. Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh basil, and you’ll have a restaurant quality dinner in the comfort of your own home.
Pasta lovers, listen up: this rich, meaty recipe for pasta with sausage will be your new favorite way to eat those twirl-able noodles this fall and winter!
In my opinion, you just can’t go wrong with pasta for dinner, whether it’s baked mac and cheese, creamy chicken pasta or this tasty sausage pasta dish. This is seriously the best meat sauce that I’ve ever had. You’re going to LOVE it too!
I love topping pasta with a hearty meat sauce because not only does it add lots of flavor, but it also adds tons of protein to an otherwise carb-heavy dish.
Serve it with steamed veggies or a side salad, and you’ll have a complete balanced meal.
This sauce recipe is so thick and hearty on its own, you might be tempted just to eat it with a piece of buttered crusty bread.
Some might even argue that scooping up the saucy meat at the bottom of your bowl is the best part of the meal!
With “back to school season” here, this simple sausage pasta recipe is perfect for inspiring home-cooked weeknight dinners. It’s also a great way to get everyone around the table for a cozy Sunday afternoon meal with company and conversation.
Let’s get to all of the delicious details!
ingredients needed
This delicious creamy sausage pasta recipe has such wonderful flavor thanks to the combination of Italian sausage, sautéed onions + garlic, fire roasted tomatoes, parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Here’s everything you’ll need:
- Sausage. Feel free to use regular or Italian sausage. I personally love using Italian sausage because it has an amazing sweet, slightly spicy flavor. If you’re looking for a leaner option, Italian chicken or turkey sausage is a great alternative!
- Onion + garlic. Sautéed diced onion and garlic adds delicious aromatic flavor to the sauce.
- Chicken broth + cornstarch. The chicken broth is the base of the sauce and mixing it with a little cornstarch will help it thicken up.
- Fire roasted diced tomatoes. I highly recommend fire roasted diced tomatoes rather than regular diced tomatoes because they’re much more flavorful.
- Parmesan cheese. For best results, use a high-quality parmesan cheese and grate it yourself.
- Basil. Fresh basil has a slightly sweet taste that helps to cut the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Pasta. I like using regular spaghetti noodles for this particular recipe, but feel free to use any pasta shape you’d like. Gluten-free noodles work, too.
How to make this recipe
Making this pasta with sausage couldn’t be easier! Here’s a quick rundown of the process, but for full instructions, reference the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Cook sausage. In a large pot over medium to high heat, cook sausage and onion together until onion is soft and sausage is browned. Add garlic, and cook on low for a minute or two.
- Add broth. In a liquid measuring glass, mix the cornstarch with the broth until completely dissolved, then add the broth mixture to the skillet with the sausage. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring often, for a few minutes until sauce has thickened.
- Add tomatoes, parmesan and basil. Now, add the can of tomatoes and stir to combine. Add parmesan cheese and fresh basil and stir to fully incorporate ingredients.
- Boil pasta. You can cook the pasta while you’re cooking the sausage and the sauce. Boil water for pasta in a large pot. When it comes to a boil, add a generous pinch of salt and add your pasta to the water. Stir and when pasta is al dente, turn off the heat and drain most of the water.
- Combine ingredients and enjoy. Add the cooked pasta into the cooked sauce and stir to combine. Garnish with more parmesan cheese and fresh basil, if you’d like. Serve warm and dig in!
Tips for recipe success
This pasta recipe is pretty simple and straightforward, but I do have a some tips, so you have the best results every time:
- Sausage. I typically use lean Jennie-O Italian Style Turkey Sausage for this recipe. It has plenty of flavor without a lot of grease. You can use meat with a higher fat content, just be sure to drain off any excess fat after it’s cooked.
- Cooking pasta. Don’t forget to season the water with plenty of salt before adding in the pasta; otherwise this dish may taste under-seasoned. As a general rule of thumb, I add 1 teaspoon salt per 4 cups of water.
- I highly recommend using freshly grated Parmesan cheese for this recipe. Pre-grated cheese often contains stabilizers and anti-caking agents and does not melt as well. Also, a high quality Parmesan cheese will add such wonderful flavor to this pasta dish. I typically shop the speciality cheese counter of my local grocery store.
- For just a little kick of heat, add about 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes to the sauce.
- Once prepared, this sausage pasta will keep in the fridge for about 5 days. To reheat the pasta, add it to the stove with a splash of olive oil or broth and heat until warm.
Variations
This sausage pasta meal is delicious as-is, but feel free to change things up to customize it to your family’s preferences and what you have available.
- Pasta. My kids love regular, long spaghetti, so that’s what I typically use when I make this family-friendly meal. But feel free to use any pasta variety you like. Rigatoni, fettuccini, rotini or penne pasta would all be great choices.
- Protein. Instead of using sausage, try this with ground chicken, beef or meatballs.
- Herbs. Not a fan of basil? Fresh parsley is a great substitute.
- Vegetables. Want to sneak in some veggies? The addition of sautéed veggies in this dish would be great. Try adding sautéed mushrooms, zucchini, artichokes or eggplant.
Serving suggestions
This pasta dish is great on it’s own, but you can also serve it with a variety of side dishes! We love it served with my favorite Italian salad and crusty garlic bread! You could also whip up a simple green salad. Just toss mixed greens with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Feel free to add toppings to your salad such as red onion, cherry tomatoes, avocado or croutons.
This pasta with sausage is always a big hit with both kids and adults – it’s a must try recipe!
more delicious pasta recipes to try
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and if your family loves it as much as mine does, be sure to give it a five star ⭐️ rating! Also, tag @kimscravings on Instagram with a picture of your creation. It’s so fun to see what you’re cooking! Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy delicious recipes straight to your inbox.
Pasta with Sausage and Fire Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 pound regular or Italian sausage (Jennie-O Italian Style Turkey Sausage is my go-to for this recipe)
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 (15 oz.) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup fresh basil, snipped into little pieces
- 1/2 pound dry spaghetti (or your favorite pasta)
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium to high heat, cook sausage and onion together, stirring often, until onion is soft, sausage is crumbled and browned and cooked all the way through. Add the minced garlic, and cook on low for only a minute or two. (Garlic burns easily!)
- In a glass measuring cup, mix the cornstarch with the broth until completely dissolved, then add the broth mixture to the skillet with the sausage. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring often, for a few minutes until sauce has thickened. Then, add the can of tomatoes and stir to combine.
- Add the grated Parmesan, and the chopped basil to the sauce and stir to incorporate all ingredients.
- While cooking sausage, boil water for pasta in a large pot. When it comes to a boil, add a generous pinch of salt and add your pasta to the water. Stir and when pasta is al dente, turn off the heat and drain most of the water.
- Add the pasta to the pot with the cooked sauce. Mix together, then garnish with more basil and parmesan cheese. Serve warm. Enjoy!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Sounds delicious! Would you recommend freezing the sauce to use in future meals? Thanks.
Thanks! I haven’t tried freezing it, but if I were going to, I would probably do so before adding the Parmesan cheese and then you could add it in when you heat it up to enjoy it. Hope you get a chance to give it a try!