Spicy Sausage Pasta

This spicy sausage pasta is the perfect weeknight recipe. It's creamy, full of flavor and made with a few basic ingredients like hot Italian sausage, store-bought marinara sauce, cream cheese, and parmesan cheese. Best of all, it comes together in less than 20 minutes.

This pasta is great for busy weeknights and packs a ton of flavor with minimum effort. It's easy to double or triple for a crowd and doesn't require a ton of ingredients. If you're looking for other great weeknight pasta recipes, try our Creamy Red Pepper and Tomato Pasta or Creamy Parmesan Tortellini with Tomatoes.

Ingredients

• Hot Italian sausage- we used Trader Joe's hot Italian sausage. Johnsonville has a pretty good hot italian sausage that can be purchased from most major grocery stores. If your sausage is in a casing (like the TJ's version), you'll want to remove the casing before cooking.
• Short-cut pasta- we use fusilli, but this recipe would also be great with rigatoni, bowtie, penne, or whatever else you enjoy. If short-cut pasta isn't your speed, feel free to try this a long pasta like spaghetti or bucatini.
• Marinara sauce- use your favorite store-bought brand. We like Victoria or Rao's the best.
• Cream cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• Minced garlic

See recipe card for amounts.

Instructions

Step 1: Cook the pasta according to package instructions.

Step 2: While the pasta is cooking, cook the sausage in a large pan over medium heat until cooked through, about 5-6 minutes. Break it up with a wooden spoon or spatula as it cooks. If your sausage has a casing around it, remove the casing before cooking.

Step 3: Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously.

Step 4: Add the marinara sauce and cream cheese and cook until the cream cheese is melted, about 5-6 minutes. Stir occasionally to break up the cream cheese and combine it with the sauce.

Step 5: Add the parmesan and drained pasta to the sauce and stir until the pasta is coated and the cheese is melted. Top with extra parmesan and serve.

Variations

• Add a protein like chicken or shrimp
• Use long noodles like spaghetti or bucatini
• Sauté some veggies with the sausage--peppers or onions would be great!
• Add some butter to the sauce for extra creaminess

Spicy Sausage Pasta Recipe

Recipe by Mollie

This spicy sausage pasta is the perfect weeknight recipe. It's creamy, full of flavor and made with a few basic ingredients like hot Italian sausage, store-bought marinara sauce, cream cheese, and parmesan cheese. Best of all, it comes together in less than 20 minutes.

Course: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

5 from 3 votes

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Servings

6

servings

Cooking time

15

minutes

Calories

800

kcal

Total time

15

minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 pound 1 fusilli or other short-cut pasta

• 1 pound 1 hot Italian sausage

• 4 cloves 4 garlic, minced

• 4 ounces 4 cream cheese, softened

• 24 ounces 24 marinara sauce

• 1 cup 1 parmesan cheese, grated or shredded

Directions

• Cook the pasta according to package instructions.
• While the pasta is cooking, cook the sausage in a large pan over medium heat until cooked through, about 5-6 minutes. Break it up with a wooden spoon or spatula as it cooks. If your sausage has a casing around it, remove the casing before cooking.
• Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously.
• Add the marinara sauce and cream cheese and cook until the cream cheese is melted, about 5-6 minutes. Stir occasionally to break up the cream cheese and combine it with the sauce.
• Add the parmesan and drained pasta to the sauce and stir until the pasta is coated and the cheese is melted. Top with extra parmesan and serve.

Notes

• We like Victoria or Rao's marinara sauce the best.

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