The flavors of pesto and Italian sausage blend beautifully in this Sausage and Pesto Pasta recipe. It’s also super easy to pull together and the only real prep required is cutting up the sausage.
This is one of several dishes starring pesto that have made it into my regular meal rotation in the last few years. This Sausage and Pesto Pasta recipe is super simple and versatile. We really like Spicy Italian chicken sausage, but you can experiment with any type and flavor of fully cooked sausage. Sometimes I add cut up asparagus if I have some on hand. You can add other vegetables too – just saute them in the same pan as the sausage.
Backpocket Meals
This is one of my “backpocket” meals. These are meals I don’t need to plan for in my weekly menu planning but that I can turn to when I don’t know what to cook or don’t really feel like cooking. Having a list of these meals, and all the ingredients on hand, can save me from ordering takeout in these situations.
For this meal, I buy chicken sausage when it’s on sale so I almost always have a package in the refrigerator. I always have pesto in the fridge and several types of pasta in the pantry.
Key Ingredients for Sausage and Pesto Pasta
- Pasta: We like spaghetti or penne but you can use any pasta.
- Sausage: We like Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage but try any fully cooked sausage you prefer.
- Pesto: I recommend Costco’s Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto but you can use any jarred or refrigerated pesto you prefer. See my post about my love for Costco pesto here.
- Parmesan Cheese: I like freshly grated parmesan cheese in a lot of dishes so I buy blocks of it at Costco.
Note: Make sure to check recipe card for full list of ingredients
Preparation Steps for Sausage and Pesto Pasta
- Cut sausage into 1/2″ rounds
- Cook pasta according to package directions and drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of pasta water
- While pasta is cooking, saute sausage in pan deep enough to also hold drained pasta. Since the pasta is already fully cooked, you’re just warming it up. Don’t cook too long or it could get rubbery.
- Add pasta to pan with sausage, add desired amount of pesto, and stir. Add a little pasta water if needed to get to desired consistency
- Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and freshly grated black pepper
That’s it! A really great meal in less than 30 minutes.
Substitutions or Additions
- Use any sausage and pasta you desire
- You can substitute other grated cheeses such as romano, pecorino as you prefer
- You can add a variety of vegetables. Sauté the vegetable first then add sausage.
Time Breakdown
Total Time |
25 minutes |
Hands ON time |
5 minutes |
Hands OFF time |
20 minutes |
BEST FOR:
Nights when you want to get a meal on the table pretty quickly with very little prep work. This is also a good way to use up fresh vegetables before they go bad. As mentioned above, also good for nights when you don’t know what to cook if you keep the ingredients on hand.
My Ratings
Taste | ||
Effort | ||
Nutrition | ||
Overall |
SUMMARY:
This loses a few points for nutrition due to the sausage – while it’s tasty it can have quite a bit of sodium. It requires very little prep and limited overall effort, making it a win for burnt out cooks. It’s something we enjoy about once a month and definitely meets the goal of “good enough, not gourmet”!
Serve with
I usually serve this with a salad, steamed broccoli, or roasted asparagus or broccolini.
More Pesto Dishes You Might Enjoy
Ingredients
- 1 package Chicken Sausage
- 1/2 package Pasta use more pasta as desired
- Jarred pesto
- Fresh grated parmesan
Instructions
- Cut chicken sausage into 1/2" rounds
- Cook pasta according to package directions
- While pasta is cooking, heat sausage in a deep skillet until heated through, about 6-8 minutes
- Drain pasta, saving about 1/2 cup of pasta water
- Add drained pasta to skillet with sausage, turn heat to very low
- Add jarred pesto to taste and mix. Add pasta water if needed to get to the desired consistency.
- Top with fresh ground pepper and fresh grated parmesan