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.)
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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.
My family and I absolutely love this recipe! It has become part of our regular rotation.
That’s so great to hear Angela! I’ve impressed a lot of dinner guests with this one, thanks so much for the great review!💕
What a awesome recipe ! Loved everything about it tastes like a restaurant made it !
I am so happy to hear that Lisa, that’s my goal! Woo!! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know how it came out! 🙂 -Stephanie
Is there an alternative to sausage I could use? Have friends that don’t eat pork. Thanks.
Hi Roshini, this sausage pasta recipe is really designed around the use of sausage, you could use diced chicken if preferred but I haven’t tested it that way and the flavor likely won’t pack the same punch. I have a large variety of pasta recipes that don’t use sausage that you might want to check out instead. A few options include Caprese Pasta, Tomato Chicken Pasta, Chicken and Broccoli Pasta, and a ton of other options 🙂
Another home run, Stephanie!!! Very tasty. Not difficult to make. I’d recommend cutting up the sausage the night before or earlier in the day. I skipped the spinach but it was still amazing.
Wahooo! Thanks so much April, I’m so happy you found this easy to make and yummy!❤️
Made this tonight with spicy sausage. My only addition was sun dried tomatoes in addition to the roasted red peppers. It was outstanding! Thanks for a great recipe!!
You’re very welcome Sheila, I love the addition of sun-dried tomatoes, nice work! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💗
Have made this a few times with large success but am wondering— are the roasted red peppers drained?? Or is the juice supposed to go into the recipe? I want to make it to its full potential! 😀
Hey Taylor! It should be drained, sorry about that! I’ll clarify that in the recipe! 🙂
This looks delicious. I want to put this on my meal plan for next week. Do you remove the casings from the sausage before cutting into slices?
Thanks!
Hi Sara! I can’t wait for you to try it either! 🙂 If you can get a clean slice with the casings on, you can leave them on, that’s what I do! 🙂
Wow…this was amazing!!! My whole family loved it. Thank you SO much! Will definitely be making this again and I shared it on my IG!
Thanks so much Jessica! I love to hear the whole family loved it!💗
So rich and good! Really has depth of flavor. I used ground sausage.
Wahooo! I’m so happy you liked this one Jaime! Thanks so much for the great review!😃
Thos recipe it blue plate quality!
Wahoooo! That makes me so happy Cleo, thanks so much for the wonderful compliment!❤️