A healthy AND creamy pasta dish, our Italian Chicken Sausage Pasta is packed with flavor, spice and
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👌 Why this Recipe Works
One pot! Minimal mess, minimal cleanup!
Cooks fast! Like all of our recipes, our Italian Chicken Sausage Pasta can be made in 28 minutes or less!
Creamy! This recipe calls for low fat cream cheese, which has less fat than regular cream cheese, but still gives our dish the creamy flavor and consistency we like!
Chicken sausage. Chicken sausage generally has fewer calories and less sodium than pork sausage, making it a healthier choice.
Note: If you like quick and healthy pasta dishes, be sure to also check out our Ground Turkey Spaghetti with Hidden Veggies, another household favorite of ours. And for more recipe ideas featuring sausage, be sure to check out these 35 Italian Sausage Recipes for Dinner!
🛒 Ingredients
Notes on Ingredients
- Chicken Sausage-We love Al Fresco Chicken Sausage because these sausages contains no artificial ingredients and are minimally processed. They are also significantly lower in fat and carbs than most other brands of sausage and are gluten-free!
- Pasta- We choose whole grain rotini for this chicken sausage pasta not only for its health benefits, but also because this pasta's twisted shape holds the dish's sauce so well. But feel free to choose any pasta you like!
- Parmesan - This is totally optional, but adds a nice flavor.
- Cream cheese- To keep this dish light, we used low fat cream cheese but feel free to use regular if you'd like a richer taste.
- Red pepper- Feel free to increase for more spice!
👩🍳 How to Make this Dish
Step 1: Lightly brown chicken sausage with onion and garlic, and set aside.
Step 2: Make sauce and cook pasta in sauce.
Step 3: Stir in sausage and cheese.
Top with parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes and enjoy!
Kids Steps:
🥄Paint the stock pot with butter, using a basting brush. Slice the sausage using Curious Chef Children's Knives
🥄Measure seasonings using the Curious Chef teaspoon set (we love this brand!).
🥄Set the timer for pasta. This is a great chance for kids to learn about cooking times. Taste the pasta intermittently so they can see the difference over time.
🥄Stir in cheese and watch it melt! Kids love this job!
✏️ Expert Tips and Tricks
- Lightly brown sausage. Since the chicken sausage is fully cooked, you'll simply want to sear it for a few minutes with the garlic and onion until only lightly browned.
- Cook noodles in the pasta sauce unless you plan to freeze the sauce or serve leftovers. In that case, you may want to cook pasta separately.
- We recommend that you top the whole dish off with shredded parmesan and red pepper flakes if you want an added kick!
🥒 Side Suggestions
Packed with sausage, veggies and pasta, this meal stands on its own pretty well. Yet, if you want to serve a side with it, we recommend garlic bread (Pepperidge Farm is our fave) or a simple garden salad. For my kids, our go-to sides are carrot sticks or sliced cucumbers with salad dressing as a dip.
❓FAQ
To thicken your sauce, add cornstarch mixed with water (start with 4T of water and 2T of cornstarch) and slowly pour it into sauce.
While we love whole wheat rotini, other short pastas like fusilli or rigatoni would be great as well.
I don't recommend freezing the pasta, but you can definitely freeze the sauce. In that case, we recommend making your pasta separately at the time you plan to serve your dish.
Chicken sausage is typically made from ground chicken meat and not pork. However, many chicken sausages are contained in a natural pork casing.
👶 Tips for Picky Eaters
- Sausage on the side. If kids don't like their protein and sauces to mix, consider setting some sausage aside before combining it with the pasta sauce.
- Kids pick the pasta. Many different kinds of pasta will work great in this dish. Let kids choose their favorite.
🧶 Craft for this Recipe
Grab some extra dry rotini to make this amazing DIY Cardboard Frame with Pasta. DIY Cardboard frames are a great way to say "I love you!." Kids will love getting creative with these heart-shaped frames!
🍽 Other Pasta Dishes to Try
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🍝 Italian Chicken Sausage Pasta
Equipment
- Large stock pot
Ingredients
- 1-2 Tablespoon butter
- ½ onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 11 ounce Sweet Italian Style Chicken Sausage Links sliced
- 3 ½ cups chicken broth or stock
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 Teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 Teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 Teaspoon basil
- ½ Teaspoon black pepper
- ½ Teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups rotini or penne pasta uncooked
- 1 ½ - 2 ounce low fat cream cheese
- ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- ½ Teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Melt butter in large stock pot. Add onion, garlic and sausage. Cook, stirring frequently, for 1-2 mins or until sausage is slightly browned. Remove pot contents and set aside.
- Add broth, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and seasonings to stock pot and stir together. Bring liquid to a boil, add pasta and cook according to pasta box instructions.
- When pasta is fully cooked, stir in cream cheese and sausage/onion/garlic mix. Cook another 1-2 mins until cheese is melted. Top with parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes (optional).
Notes
- Lightly brown sausage. Since the chicken sausage is fully cooked, you'll simply want to sear it for a few minutes with the garlic and onion until only lightly browned.
- We love whole wheat rotini, but other short pastas like fusilli or rigatoni would be great as well.
- Cook noodles in the pasta sauce unless you plan to freeze the sauce or serve leftovers. In that case you may want to cook pasta separately.
- To thicken your sauce, add cornstarch mixed with water and slowly pour it into sauce (start with 4T of water and 2T of cornstarch).
- To lighten the meal, limit cheese or use low-fat cream cheese.
- Red pepper flakes are optional, but will give your pasta a fun kick!
Nutrition
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. While we are not certified nutritionists, we work with a Wordpress-integrated nutrition API to calculate our recipes' ingredient values.
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