One pot sausage pasta is one of the easy recipes for busy nights. All made in one pot and ready in under 30 minutes! Rigatoni cooked alongside bacon and sausages in rich red pesto sauce.
It’s easy, quick and bursting with flavor.
If you like pasta, I have some more recipes for you to try:
- Tuna Pasta Bake
- Tortellini Pasta with Broccoli & Bacon
- Spaghetti Aglio Olio y Pepperoncino
- Spicy Shrimp Spaghetti
They are all easy and quick so I hope you will find what some inspiration for your next dinner/lunch here.
Can you cook dry pasta in sauce?
Yes, you can. You just need to make sure that there is enough liquid (sauce) in the pot.
How do you make pasta without a pot?
In general, if you don’t have a pot, but still want to enjoy a bowl of pasta, you can use a skillet/frying pan to cook them in.
Just bear in mind that you will need a large skillet/frying pan so you might be able to do only 1-2 portions. This one pot sausage pasta recipe yields 3 portions, so you need a large pot unless you make 1 portion only.
How to make one pot pasta with sausages
Finely mince the onion. Remove casings from the sausages and chop them roughly.
Throw the minced onion, chopped sausages and cubed pancetta into a pot. Depending on how fatty the pancetta is, you may or may not need to add some oil. Saute everything for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Now, add the rest of the ingredients apart from fresh parsley and give everything a good mix. Cover with a lid and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, remove the lid, reduce the heat to medium and stir.
When making one pot sausage pasta, stirring is pretty important. While you don’t need to stir constantly, I highly recommend every 3-4 minutes. If you don’t, it tends to stick to the bottom of the pot.
Cook until the pasta is al dente (or to your liking).
I love serving one pot sausage pasta with chopped parsley, chili flakes and a ton of Parmesan cheese.
Ingredient substitutions
Herbs – Basil, oregano, marjoram – these are my favorite ones to use when making this one pot pasta. I also use fresh flat leaf parsley. If you don’t have it on hand, just omit it completely.
Liquids – Use either chicken stock/vegetable/beef broth or stock cubes & water.
Pasta – Spaghetti, penne or rigatoni are my favorite choices. Now for you it may be something else. Just bear in mind that different varieties/sizes/shapes have different cooking times so in some cases you might need to adjust the amount of liquid added.
Sausages – I used Spanish ones (they are called longaniza) to make this one pot sausage pasta but you can use Italian sausages or any other kind you like. The most important is to use the ingredients you like so you can truly enjoy a bowl of pot sausage pasta. Hot dogs are also a good alternative.
Cheese – There are so many tasty choices here. I love using parmesan, pecorino or grana Padano but cheddar or mozzarella are also great choices. You can stir it in or just sprinkle over.
Now I prefer using tomato passata when making pasta sauces as it has a richer taste. If you like, use canned tomatoes but I recommend increasing the amount of Pesto you put in.
Tips for making one pot sausage pasta
- Because the cooking time will vary from pasta to pasta your sauce might be thicker or thinner than mine.
- Check the pasta package information to see (roughly) what the cooking time is. You will need a little more that the time stated on the packaging. Maybe an extra 3-6 minutes.
- If you like spicy food, sprinkle some red chili flakes over.
- Use a wide-bottom pot for best results.
One Pot Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 Small Onion
- ½ pound Sausages (225g)
- 3 ounces Pancetta Bacon , cubed (90g)
- 10 oz Rigatoni Pasta (280g)
- 2½ cups Chicken Stock (625 ml)
- ½ cup Red Pesto (120ml)
- ½ cup Tomato Passata (120ml)
- 1 tsp Dried Basil
- ¼ tsp Salt
- A pinch of black pepper
Optional:
- Fresh Parsley , chopped
- Parmesan Cheese , grated
- Red Chili Flakes
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion. Remove casings from sausages and cut them into chunks.
- Transfer the onion, sausage chunks and cubed pancetta bacon into a wide-bottomed pot. Sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally (if the bacon does not contain a lot of fat, you might need to add a little oil to the pot as well).
- Add pasta, stock, pesto, passata, basil, salt and pepper. Stir well and cover with lid. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and remove the lid.
- Cook until the pasta is al dente (or to your liking, see note 8), stirring from time to time.
- When ready, stir in chopped fresh parsley and serve with cheese and/or red chili flakes. Taste it and add more seasoning, if needed.
- Best served warm.
Notes
- Bacon – use any bacon you like. I used pancetta cubes.
- Fresh parsley can be omitted or substituted with cilantro. I used about a 1/3 cup.
- Tomato passata (strained tomatoes) is the best choice here as it is richer than canned tomatoes.
- Dried basil can be substituted with dried oregano or marjoram.
- Sausages – use the ones you usually buy and you like. Italian sausages, Spanish sausages. Hot dogs are also a tasty alternative.
- Optional extras – cheese (Pecorino, Grana Padano, Parmesan, Cheddar …) and red chili flakes are my favorite toppings when I have them on hand.
- Chicken Stock – any stock/broth or stock cubes will work here.
- The cooking time may vary for you. This will depend on what type of pasta you use and what is its cooking time. In general, you will need to add an extra 3-6 minutes to the time stated on the package. This also means that the amount of stock used may vary slightly.
- For more information or if in doubt, I recommend reading the whole post.
Kate says
This looks absolutely perfect for a quick and yummy meal on a busy weeknight! Can’t wait to try this!
Beth Pierce says
Made this for dinner last night and had smiling faces all around the dinner table; delicious!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Yay! :)
Karman says
Love how everything can cook in one pot! This looks like a very satisfying meal…pinning for later!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks!
krissy says
this was mouthwatering. so cheesy and bursting with flavor. my new favorite main dish for any occasion or just a normal family dinner.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
That’s good to hear, Krissy :)
Veena Azmanov says
Amazing flavors and cheesy toppings. Love the combination of ingredients to make this yummy dish. Perfect Dinner for the family you love.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks, Veena!