This Creamy Sausage Pasta recipe has a cream cheese and Parmesan blend with roasted red peppers, sweet or spicy Italian sausage, spinach, and your choice of pasta!
Be sure to try my Italian Sausage Pasta recipe next!
Creamy Sausage Pasta
The flavors in this recipe are incredible! It’s got sweet or spicy sausage, roasted red peppers, spinach, and the most flavorful garlic Parmesan cream sauce.
A white wine reduction adds even more flavor, along with a hint of tomato paste that’s offset with softened cream cheese that’s melted into the sauce. (And the seasonings are incredible.)
You can get as creative with the ingredients as you want! Use any kind of pasta, sun dried or diced tomatoes instead of roasted red peppers, kale instead of spinach, Asiago instead of Parmesan, chicken broth instead of wine, (I could go on for days). OR, keep it all as-is and get ready for an amazing meal!
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Sauté the sausage until browned and cooked through. Set aside. Deglaze the pan with white wine and use a silicone spatula to ‘clean’ the bottom of the pan. Add tomato paste and garlic. Reduce by half, about 4 minutes. Add chicken broth and seasonings.
Stir in the heavy cream. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Add the roasted red peppers and stir in the softened cream cheese until combined.
Let it bubble gently and reduce while you cook the pasta to al dente. Reduce sauce to low heat and gradually stir in the Parmesan cheese until combined. Add the spinach and the sausage along with any juices from the plate.
Add the cooked pasta and stir to combine. Garnish with parsley and red pepper flakes and serve.
Pro Tips
- I used Premio Sweet Italian Sausage for this recipe, Ground sausage can also be used if preferred.
- Diced tomatoes or Sun Dried Tomatoes can be used instead of roasted red peppers.
- Kale can also be used instead of spinach, add it to the sauce when the pasta is about halfway cooked through, it will need longer to heat through.
- I used Colavita Rigatoni for this recipe, but any kind of pasta can be used in this recipe.
- Chicken broth can be used instead of wine if needed.
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 151!
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- This is the Le Creuset skillet I used in this recipe, (and in 90% of my recipes). It’s pricey, but it conducts heat really well and is oven safe. The size is perfect and the quality is great.
- Pasta Strainer– This is the one I have 🙂
- Box Cheese Grater– Always shred cheese from a block, it melts and tastes much better. Bagged shredded cheese contains cellulose which prevents it from melting as well.
- Spice Rack-This is the one I have, it’s a snap to measure out your seasonings quickly and easily. (Big time saver.)
Try These Next
Get My Free Meal Plan
I’ve got a Free Meal Plan with 7 of my super popular recipes (complete with grocery list)! Sign up for my email list and I’ll send it over now along with weekly dinner recipes!
And follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Creamy Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Italian sausage, hot or sweet
- ½ cup dry white wine, See notes
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 7 oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained, Equal to about 1 cup.
- 1 ½ cups spinach
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ lb. rigatoni
- Fresh parsley, to garnish
- Red pepper flakes, to garnish
Instructions
Prep Work:
- Combine the chicken broth, mustard powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning and set aside.
- Measure out additional ingredients before beginning.
Instructions:
- Cut the sausage into 1/2-inch thick slices. Heat 6 tablespoons water over medium heat in a large, high-walled skillet. Add the sausage. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove lid and increase heat slightly, cook until browned, 5-7 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Carefully drain excess grease from pan but leave brown remnants. Add the white wine, tomato paste, and garlic to the pan and set to medium heat. Use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom of the pot. Let it bubble gently until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth and seasonings. Stir in the heavy cream. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the roasted red peppers and stir in the softened cream cheese.
- Let the sauce bubble gently while you boil the pasta to al dente. Don’t overcook. Drain once cooked.
- Reduce sauce heat to low. Gradually sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese, stirring continuously to incorporate. Add the spinach and the sausage along with any juices from the plate. Add the cooked pasta and stir to combine.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and red pepper flakes and serve.
Notes
- Wine: Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay are great in this recipe. Chicken broth can be used instead of wine if needed.
- I use Premio Sweet Italian Sausage links in this recipe. Spicy sausage links or ground sausage can also be used if preferred.
- Diced tomatoes or sun dried tomatoes can be used instead of roasted red peppers.
- Kale can also be used instead of spinach, add it to the sauce when the pasta is about halfway cooked through, it will need longer to heat through.
- I used Colavita Rigatoni for this recipe, but any kind of pasta can be used in this recipe.
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 151!
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
This pasta dish was absolutely amazing, my 24 yr old daughter made it because I worked until 7 pm, she followed it to a T, we used sweet Italian sausage, and Chardonnay wine, it’s my new favorite dish!
That’s so sweet your daughter made this for you Dawn 🤗! Thanks so much for the great comments and review!
I made this recipe for dinner tonight and it was fabulous. I also added a 1/2 cup of Riccata cheese. I will definitely make this again.
This is one of my favorites Michelle, I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Adding some Ricotta is a great call, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💗
I am a relative newbie when it comes to cooking so this seemed a bit too complex for me. However, the recipe instructions were fairly clear so I decided to dive in and have a go at it. I did not have roasted peppers so I used canned roasted tomatoes and substituted fresh basil for the spinach. Other than that, everything was done according to the recipe. The results were fantastic! This was so good I was thinking I’d be have enough for lunch the next. But, there were so many calls for seconds, there was nothing left.
Sounds like you really nailed it, nice work!🙌 Sounds like you’ll need to make a bigger batch next time! Thanks so much for the great comments and for taking the time to leave a review, it’s much appreciated!
Totally delicious and my family LOVED it!
That makes me so happy to hear Marlene! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and leave a review!😃
I made this and the Italian sausage really gives it a really good flavor. I didn’t have tomato paste or wine or spinach so I used extra chicken broth and cracked open a can of tomato sauce and thicken some with cornstarch. It was a very good meal.
Happy to hear you enjoyed this one Ruby, thanks for taking the time to comment!😃
I just finished making this and all I can say is WOW! I followed the recipe except I used diced tomatoes instead of sun dried. This recipe is so phenomenal I had to stop and right a review right away. The only advice I can give you is make sure you watch your pan when you are browning the sausage. You don’t want burnt drippings. I got distracted so next time I’ll watch like a hawk.
I’m so happy you enjoyed this one Jennifer! Thanks for taking the time to leave such great comments!❤️
This pasta is fire!!!
Hey Melissa, I am so happy to hear that you love the pasta, that’s great news! Thank you for taking the time to leave this review, I really appreciate it! 🙂 -Stephanie
5 Stars for this recipe Delicious and easy to make. Had all the ingredients so cooking went quickly. My husband and I just loved it. It’s a keeper recipe!
Wahooo! I’m so happy to hear that Nadie, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!😃
This recipe was so so tasty! I had to cut myself off, I kept grabbing fork fulls as I put the left overs into containers (left overs were just as good by the way). My husband, who doesn’t like many pasta dishes, loved it and ate left overs twice! Thanks!
I’m so happy this was such a hit! I’m the same way, I have to cut myself off sometimes lol😂. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Yummy love my rigitoni
So happy to hear that Carolann!
This is one of my favorite recipes !!! My hubby loves mushrooms so I added that to this meal. The roasted peppers are delish. So savory. Next on my list pinto soup.
Thank you Stephanie
Yayyy! That makes me so happy Dawn! I can’t wait for you to try the Pinto Soup next, enjoy! Thanks so much for your support!❤️