This Italian Sausage Pasta has the most flavorful tomato sauce with Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. It’s easy to make with hot, mild, or sweet Italian sausage and your choice of pasta! 

Italian Sausage Pasta in a skillet with a wooden spoon scooping it up.

Italian Sausage Pasta

When you need a hearty Italian dinner to feed the fam, this incredible Italian Sausage Pasta is the way to go! That flavorful tomato sauce and two-cheese blend is everything! You can get creative with whatever pasta you want to use, and you can use any variety of Italian sausage that you want.

Be sure to check out my pro tips below to help determine the best types of cheese to use, the best pasta options, and more! 

How to Make It

See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

Cook and crumble the sausage and soften the onions. Set aside. Deglaze the skillet with dry white wine (or chicken broth) and reduce by half.

Cooking sausage and onions in a skillet and deglazing it with white wine.

Add butter, garlic, and flour. Cook for 2 minutes. Add sauce mixture (tomato sauce, beef broth, half and half, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, beef bouillon, oregano, basil, parsley, mustard powder) in small splashes, stirring continuously. Add the diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Add the meat back. Simmer while you boil the pasta to al dente.

Adding diced tomatoes and ground sausage to a skillet with tomato sauce.

Stir in the Parmesan and 1/3 of the mozzarella. Stir in the drained pasta. Top with mozzarella and cover until melted. Serve with Garlic Bread with Cheese!

Adding cavatappi pasta to sauce next to a skillet with mozzarella cheese on top.

Pro Tips

  • Sausage: 
    • Hot, mild, sweet, or regular sausage can be used in this recipe, depending on your preference. (I like using hot or mild.)
    • A combination of sausage and ground beef may also be used.
    • Note that sausage is seasoned/salted, so if adding unseasoned beef, you’ll likely want to season it with salt/pepper.
  • Tomato Sauce: I use Hunt’s tomato sauce in this recipe, tomato passata can also be used.
  • Pasta:
    • Aside from cavatappi, penne, ziti, and rigatoni are also great choices.
  • Cheese: Shred/grate the cheese from a block to ensure it melts well and tastes the best.
    • Parmesan: I use Belgioioso Parmesan.
    • Mozzarella: Use whole milk, low moisture mozzarella for this recipe. I use Galbani or Dragone. 
    • Melting the Mozzarella: Work quickly when you stir in the cooked pasta and top with mozzarella so that the heat from the hot pasta melts the cheese. You can also melt it in a 350° oven for a few minutes.
  • Wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Sauvignon Blanc are my go-to dry white wines for this recipe.
  • Bouillon 1/2 bouillon cube is optional, it gives the sauce more depth of flavor.
  • Serve this with Garlic Bread with Cheese!

Storage

  • Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftovers freeze/reheat well. Thaw and microwave for easy lunches/dinners.

Italian Sausage Pasta on a white plate with cheese on top.

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A skillet filled with Italian Sausage Pasta with a wooden spoon.

Italian Sausage Pasta

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
5 from 10 ratings
Servings: 6 people
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This Italian Sausage Pasta has the most flavorful tomato sauce with Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. It's easy to make with hot, mild, or sweet Italian sausage and your choice of pasta!

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric
  • 1 lb. ground Italian sausage, hot, mild, or sweet
  • ½ cup dry white wine, can sub chicken broth
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoon flour
  • 1 (15 oz.) can undrained diced tomatoes, Rotel is also good in this.
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese
  • ½ lb. cavatappi pasta, can sub penne

Sauce

  • 15 oz. tomato sauce
  • ¾ cup beef broth
  • ¼ cup half and half
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce, I use Frank’s hot sauce
  • ½ beef bouillon cube, see notes
  • ¾ teaspoon EACH: dried oregano, basil, parsley, mustard powder

Instructions

  • Pro Tip: If you prefer to use the oven to melt the mozzarella on top (in the last step), preheat oven to 350°.
  • Combine sauce ingredients in a large measuring cup with a spout and set aside. Measure remaining ingredients before beginning.
  • Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the sausage. Cook and crumble for 3 minutes, then add the onions. Stir occasionally until the onions are softened and the sausage is cooked through, 5-6 minutes. Drain grease and set aside on a plate. Turn the heat off.
  • Begin boiling a pot of water for the pasta. Add ½ tablespoon salt once a boil is reached.
  • Add the wine to the same skillet used to cook the sausage and set the heat to medium. Let it bubble gently and reduce by half, about 4 minutes. Use a silicone spatula to “clean” the brown bits from the pot and work it into the wine, this will give the sauce more flavor.
  • Add the butter, garlic, and flour and stir to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
  • Add the sauce mixture (from step 2) in small splashes, stirring continuously. Do this slowly to ensure the roux doesn’t break and that the sauce remains thick.
  • Add the diced tomatoes along with the juice from the can. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the sausage/onions back and stir to combine.
  • Simmer, partially covered, while you boil the pasta to al dente, stirring occasionally as it cooks. Drain once cooked.
  • Reduce heat to low. Gradually sprinkle the Parmesan into the sauce, stirring continuously. Sprinkle in 1/3 of the mozzarella, saving the rest for the top.
  • Stir in the cooked pasta.
  • Top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Close the lid and allow the cheese to melt. (Or transfer to a 350° F oven for 3-5 minutes or so.) Serve!

Notes

Pro Tips
  • Tomato Sauce: I use Hunt’s tomato sauce in this recipe, tomato passata can also be used.
  • Pasta:
    • Aside from cavatappi, penne, ziti, and rigatoni are also great choices.
  • Cheese: Shred/grate the cheese from a block to ensure it melts well and tastes the best.
    • Parmesan: I use Belgioioso Parmesan.
    • Mozzarella: Use whole milk, low moisture mozzarella for this recipe. I use Galbani or Dragone. 
    • Melting the Mozzarella: Work quickly when you stir in the cooked pasta and top with mozzarella so that the heat from the hot pasta melts the cheese. You can also melt it in a 350° oven for a few minutes.
  • Wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Sauvignon Blanc are my go-to dry white wines for this recipe.
  • Bouillon 1/2 bouillon cube is optional, it gives the sauce more depth of flavor.
  • Serve this with Garlic Bread with Cheese!
Storage:
  • Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftovers freeze/reheat well. Thaw and microwave for easy lunches/dinners.
The nutritional information provided is an estimate and is per serving. There are 6 servings in this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 652kcal, Carbohydrates: 42g, Protein: 27g, Fat: 40g, Saturated Fat: 18g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 15g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 105mg, Sodium: 1589mg, Potassium: 747mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 864IU, Vitamin C: 16mg, Calcium: 293mg, Iron: 3mg
Did you try this recipe?Mention @TheCozyCook on Instagram or tag #thecozycook!
Course: Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine: American, Italian
Author: Stephanie