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One Pot Italian Sausage and Tomato Basil Pasta

Averie Sunshine

4.52 from 180 votes

Updated: Apr 14, 2025

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One-Pot Italian Sausage Pasta 🇮🇹👏🏻 is an EASY comfort food recipe that’s loaded with Italian flavors, ready in 20 minutes, made in ONE pot, and a family favorite! No need to boil the pasta separately to save time and dishes!

Italian Sausage Penne Pasta Recipe

• I am a huge pan of one-pot recipes, meaning you cook the protein and the pasta in the same pot, and you don’t need to drain any pasta water later. 
• It makes life so much simpler and obviously doing dishes is a breeze with just one pot.
• This family-friendly comfort food pasta dish is ready in 20 minutes and is sure to be a hit with everyone.
• The al dente cooked pasta (I used penne) with flavorful ground Italian sausage, juicy tomatoes, the creamy-cheesy factor from the sour cream and Parmesan, along with the fresh basil was a total winner for my family. They immediately gave this one-pot recipe a 10 out of 10!

What’s in Italian Sausage Pasta? 

To make this one-pot sausage pasta recipe, you’ll need: 

• Italian sausage – I used ground Italian pork sausage. You can use mild sausage or hot sausage. You can also use beef sausage, or your favorite kind of ground sausage. See the section below for more details.
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Oregano 
• Canned petite diced tomatoes 
• Water
• Penne pasta – I tested the recipe with penne and being that everything boils together, stick with penne or ziti since other pasta shapes may need more or less water. Other small-shaped pasta should work such as rotini, bowtie, small shells, or wheels. I don’t recommend using a long, thin pasta like spaghetti for this recipe. 
• Sour cream – Use full fat sour cream for best results.
• Parmesan cheese -Freshly grated Parmesan cheese is the way to go.
• Fresh basil – So flavorful although you can use fresh parsley too.

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.

What Type of Italian Sausage Should I Use? 

I used one pound of hot Italian sausage links so I needed to remove the casings. If you can find one pound of your favorite brand of sausage without casings, it makes things even faster.

The hot Italian sausage adds the perfect pop of spiciness without being too hot or spicy but if you or your family are more sensitive to spicy foods, then I recommend sweet Italian sausage instead.

Whether you make spicy sausage pasta or sweet Italian sausage pasta, this recipe is bound to be a hit! 

How to Make Italian Sausage Pasta 

1. Simply brown Italian sausage over medium-high heat.
2. Then add garlic, a can of diced tomatoes, dry uncooked pasta, water, and simmer for about 15 mins, or until the pasta is tender and the water is all soaked in.
3. Then add sour cream (for creaminess) and fresh Parmesan cheese (for cheesiness) before stirring in fresh basil to the pasta and sausage mixture. It’s a match made in heaven! 
4. Serve and enjoy! If you want it spicier, you can always add red pepper flakes

what to serve with one pot italian sausage pasta

Cheesy Garlic Bread

House Salad

Garlic Cheese Flatbread

Tips for Making Italian Sausage and Pasta 

• Do NOT cook the pasta before adding it to the skillet. It cooks in the same skillet with the tomatoes, sausage and water and soaks up so much more flavor that way. 

• Stir the pasta once midway through cooking, paying attention to the pasta on the bottom of the skillet so it doesn’t stick. Don’t stir it too frequently.
• You might not need to add any additional salt to the pasta. Remember that the sausage, tomatoes, and Parmesan are already salted. Give the pasta a taste after it’s cooked before seasoning it. 

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4.52 from 180 votes

One Pot Italian Sausage Pasta

By Averie Sunshine

🇮🇹👏🏻 An EASY comfort food recipe that's loaded with Italian flavors, ready in 20 minutes, made in ONE pot, and a family favorite! No need to boil the pasta separately to save time and dishes!

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients 

• ▢ 1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed (I used hot but sweet Italian sausage may be substituted)
• ▢ 2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil, as desired
• ▢ 3 to 5 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
• ▢ 1 teaspoon oregano, optional
• ▢ one 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes, I used Hunt’s no-salt added, tomato basil oregano flavor
• ▢ 2 ½ cups water
• ▢ 2 cups penne pasta, another small-shaped pasta may be substituted
• ▢ ¼ cup sour cream
• ▢ ⅔ to ¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ▢ ½ cup loosely packed fresh basil, chiffonaded
• ▢ freshly ground black pepper, to taste if desired

Instructions 

• To a large skillet at least 4-inches deep or large pot, add the sausage, 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil if desired, and brown sausage over medium high heat. Crumble sausage as it cooks; do not drain.
• Add the garlic, optional oregano, stir, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir nearly constantly.
• Add the tomatoes, water, pasta, stir, cover the skillet with a lid, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until pasta is al dente and the water has incorporated. Stir once midway through cooking, paying attention to the pasta on the bottom of the skillet so it doesn’t stick (this is why I recommend olive oil, even with sausage).
• Turn off the heat, add the sour cream, and stir to combine.
• Add the Parmesan cheese and stir to combine.
• Add the basil, pepper if desired (I didn’t need to add salt), and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

Notes

Storage: Recipe will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3-4 months. Reheat in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or as needed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 511cal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 34g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 758mg, Potassium: 318mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 162IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 140mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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