Creamy Sausage Pasta

Want all the pasta recipes? Of course you do! Try them all, but these are my favorites: One Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta, Swedish Meatball Pasta, and Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad.

I know sometimes pasta gets a bad rap, but it’s honestly no worse for you than eating two pieces of bread on a sandwich, so long as your bowl (and that sandwich) aren’t gigantically oversized. Everything in moderation, right?

How Long do you Cook Ground Sausage?

Ground sausage only takes about 6-8 minutes over medium-high heat to cook through. If you’ve purchased sausage in the casings, you can easily cut the meat out of the casing before cooking and it will crumble up nicely. You’ll want to either take the sausage out of the pan with a slotted spoon if you are going to use the grease in a skillet for cooking something else, or you should drain the sausage and dump the excess fat in the skillet if you need to start clean.

At What Temperature Should You Cook Italian Sausage?

If you are cooking sausage links, you should place raw, thawed links onto a greased baking sheet or lined with parchment or another oven-safe liner. Place them about an inch apart and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, flipping over once at the halfway mark. If you’re not sure if they are done cooking, use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. It should read 160 degrees for fully cooked sausage. That’s the perfect way to cook Italian sausage for this pasta sausage white sauce recipe.

10 Side Dishes that Go Well with Pasta

Not sure what to serve with this authentic Italian sausage pasta recipe? No worries, I got ya covered.

Expert Tips and Tricks

Here are a few ways to take regular old pasta with sausage to the next level.

Make it a one-pot dish by adding in more vegetables. Good ones to add in include spinach, kale (add toward the end) or smaller cuts of broccoli, bell peppers, or zucchini (saute with the mushrooms). Make it spicy by adding red pepper flakes, diced jalapenos or poblanos, or even spicier sausage, if you can find it. Try using a veggie pasta or gluten-free pasta in this dish if you have special diet needs. It would be just as delicious with some spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles as well! Add bacon crumbles and goat cheese to up the savory ante! Swap out the sausage for another ground meat and add in 1 teaspoon dried Italian herb blend or 1/4 teaspoon each dried basil, thyme, oregano, and parsley or rosemary to the meat when you are browning it.