Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage
This baked pasta with chicken sausage is full of delicious flavors. It’s perfect to take to someone and it makes a heaping 9X13 pan full.
This is my husband’s favorite meal ever. Ever. Right up there with his beloved Sweet and Sour Chicken, which is saying a lot.
He. Loves. This Meal. And he requests it all the time. I think it as one of those meals that is something straight from a restaurant – a good restaurant.
This baked pasta is chock full of good stuff: tender noodles, creamy cheese, flavorful chicken or turkey sausage, hearty sauce packed with spinach, the list goes on and on.
This is a perfect meal to take to someone and it makes a heaping 9X13 pan full (in the pictures above you see an 8X8-inch dish; don’t be alarmed, this is overflow from halving the recipe again).
Don’t be afraid of the sausage. It is delicious and we love it so much in this dish (fighting over the tender little nuggets) that I’ve used it in many other pasta/rice dishes because it is so versatile.
Make this. You won’t be disappointed.
FAQs for Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage
The best way is to seal it really well (you can double layer the foil and then put the whole covered pan in a large freezer ziploc bag and try to press out all the air – or suck it out with a straw)- this will keep really well for a couple of months in the freezer. Then, make sure you let the casserole cool before wrapping up before. That helps reduce freezer burn and ice crystals.
Yes! Use whatever onion you have on hand!
Absolutely!
What To Serve With This:
A steamed veggie (or for something fancier this Creamy Confetti Corn with Bacon)
Divine Breadsticks or a really, great dinner roll like these Fluffy Whole Wheat Rolls
Cottage Cheese
Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 pound rigatoni
- 10 ounces frozen baby spinach, thawed and drained well (can substitute 1 or 2 9-oz. bags fresh spinach)
- 12 ounces precooked smoked chicken, or turkey sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick (see note)
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, 4 ounces cut into 1/2-inch cubes and 4 ounces shredded
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic. Cook for another minute.
- Stir in tomatoes, oregano and basil; simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add cream; cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook the pasta in the boiling water until about a minute less than the al dente package directions. (If using fresh spinach, add it to the pot of boiling pasta right at the end and cook until wilted.) Drain, and return contents to pot.
- Add tomato sauce, sausage, spinach and cubed mozzarella to the pot; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Scoop pasta into lightly greased 9X13-inch pan (or divide evenly between two 8X8-inch pans).
- Top with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake until browned and edges are crisp, 20 to 30 minutes.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food
Hi Melanie, made this last nite and it was delish! We have a ton leftover though, would it be OK to freeze (even after it was baked already)?
Thanks!
Anonymous – yes, you can probably freeze it but you won’t want to cook it fully to reheat it – instead I would let it defrost in the fridge and just reheat for a shorter time in the oven. I’m glad you liked it!
I felt bad after posting a question on how to get the cheesecake cookies to work so I just wanted to post here and say that I absolutely love this dish. I have made it many times since you have posted it and even took it to my friend after she had her baby.
This dish is perfect because 1. It makes my husband very very happy 2. It is super easy to make 3. It is very impressive and 4 It is very budget friendly.
Thanks for sharing all these great recipes. I make tons of them and share your blog with people all the time!
Brandy – I’m glad you liked this! Thanks for the comment to let me know. And don’t you dare feel bad about the cookies – I like to know when people need to figure out how to make something work!
Anonymous – I’m only a few hours north of you so I know all about the cold weather!! I hope the pasta dish turns out well for you and I’m so glad you liked the coconut cream pie. Thanks for letting me know!
I recently bumped into your blog while seraching for a recipe for Coconut Cream Pie. Which I made to the “t” and it was phenominal! I can’t wait to try this dish! Everything about it screams yuminess! It is cold here in Chicago and snowing earlier, perfect day for some baked pasta!
Anonymous – I think your substitution of diced tomatoes sounds wonderful. And if you want it more saucy next time but want to keep the same amount of pasta, you could add another can of tomatoes. Thanks for letting me know you liked it!
Made this last night and it was a big hit. i wondered about the sausage as I haven’t cooked with it before but it was fantastic! One question–I couldn’t find crushed tomatoes, only diced or stewed, so I just used 2 cans of diced tomatoes. We also wanted more sauce, so next time I will slightly reduce the amount of pasta, but we really like it! My husband, son and granddaughter all ate it and loved it. Also thanks for making it printable, I copied it out by hand 🙂
Thanks for making it printable! 🙂 We both really enjoyed this & I blogged it here: http://reciperhapsody.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/baked-pasta-with-spinach-sausage/ Thanks for sharing another great recipe!
I’m making this for dinner tonight–though I’d let you know the “printable version” isn’t click-able.
Mary Karlee – what a fantastic substitution you made with the sour cream. I’ll have to try that next time! Thanks for letting me know you liked this.
I made this tonight and it was so yummy. I didn’t have heavy cream on hand, so I just threw in a spoonful of sour cream. It tasted great. Thanks for another great recipe!
Hey Megan – I saw your post on this and am so glad you and your husband liked it. Thanks for letting me know!
We loved this recipe! It makes so much, we ate it for days and never got tired of it. I used whole wheat penne pasta (which I think was about 13oz instead of 16) and it was perfect! Definitely making this the next time we have company for dinner 🙂 I posted about it on my blog as well 🙂
Michelle C. – I’ve used both before and either works great – the soft (fresh) mozzarella produces a creamier result but the normal everyday mozzarella is also delicious. Good luck!
Question…do I use a brick of mozzarella cheese or the soft round kind? I’m so excited to make it this week.
Hey Melanie – thanks for checking in to let me know you liked this!
What can I say, another yummy recipe from your site. Thanks!
Anonymous – yes, the recipe reads correctly – it calls for a 14.5-ounce can of crushed tomatoes and 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes. It isn’t meant to be an overly saucy dish but if you like more liquid/sauce, definitely feel free to up the tomatoes! Glad you liked it despite the lack of sauce.
Hi Melanie,
Made this last night and it was a hit! I wanted to verify something though, the recipes uses just a 14.5oz can of crushed tomatoes, and not the 28oz? I just felt that it needed a little more, which I would probably use the entire can next time.
Thanks!!
Emily – I LOVE MKC blog stalkers, so thanks for admitting to it! It makes me feel good that you enjoy the recipes – and I am SUPER happy your two year old came through and ate this dinner well for you. That’s a success!
I made this tonight and it was great. I think it’s my husband’s new favorite. My two-year old even asked for more. I make so many recipes from your blog that I hardly even use cookbooks any more–I’m officially a Kitchen Cafe blogstalker. Thanks so much! Emily
Kara – glad this pleased so many (all those boys!!). Thanks for letting me know.
Hi Cindy – thanks for your comment! I’m so glad you liked this baked pasta and the other recipes that you’ve tried. Thanks for checking in to let me know.
Just made this for dinner last night. My hubbie, four boys, one of my son’s friends, and I all LOVED it. Thanks for another great recipe!!!
I recently made this and it was DIVINE! I also froze 1/2 and can report that it freezes VERY well.
This looks absolutely delicious. I am bookmarking this dish to try very, very soon!
I guess I’m not big into the sausage scene, because I can’t think of where to get precooked chicken sausage. I always use uncooked ground sausage. The only precooked sausage I can think of are those frozen breakfast links, but I think that’s pork. Any direction you can offer?
Looks yummy but I also wonder about the sausage?
FYI–you can buy chicken sausage at Super Target, and they sell in all sorts of different flavors.
Even better than the sweet and sour chicken?? My family loved that one – so I will be trying this recipe next week. I’ll let you know how it turns out! Thanks for yummy,easy to follow recipes 🙂
laurie
Well if you like this even better than my fave Sweet and Sour chicken I will have to try it!
This looks delish! Yet another one of your recipes I will try (I lost count). I, too, am wondering about chicken sausage…would that be in the meat section?
Thanks!
Lorie
Hey everyone – here’s the 411 on the chicken or turkey sausage – I always find my turkey sausage in the same section as the hotdogs. It is prepackaged in a U-shape and is next to the precooked sausages and hotdogs (like kielbasa and chorizo). And thanks to JoAnn’s comment, I now know where to find actual chicken sausage. I’ve always used the Jennie-O brand of turkey sausage and love it so much, I don’t know if I’ll switch (well, that and I don’t have a Super Target anywhere close).
turkey sausage = all kinds of awesome. i can see why this dish is your hubby’s favorite and why it always gets compliments–fancy-shmancy yet totally doable!
Oh my deliciousness!!! This was everything you said it would be – just FABULOUS! I used 2 cups of shreddred mozzarella because that’s what I had on hand, and it didn’t mess anything up. I will for sure be making this the next time we have people over – they will love me 😉
Hey Jan – ok, I was kind of nervous for someone to try it after I raved about it so much so you can imagine my relief when I read your comment and realized you loved it. I’m so glad! Thanks for letting me know.
My family will love this dish as it has all our favorites! Thanks for reposting it!
Hi Melanie,
I love making your homemade pizza crust and pizza sauce. It’s a repeat at our home. I have a question. Do you know of something I could substitute for heavy cream as I am trying to keep recipes low in fat/calories? I wonder if I could use fat free half and half? Or 2 % milk? What are your thoughts? Thank you!
i love this! i just want to dig right in to that pan!
Hi Laura – to be honest, if you want a substitution for heavy cream, I would simply leave it out of the recipe. The sauce won’t have the cream factor but I don’t think it will make a huge difference. It will be more like a straight marinara sauce instead of a creamy red sauce. If you want the creaminess, I would try fat free half and half. Let me know if you try it!
Fabulous dish! So happy you re-posted it! I know my family would enjoy this meal.
Well I certainly can’t pass up the opportunity to print this out with that endorsement behind it!!!
I am going to have to try this one. Thanks for posting it 🙂
It sounds (and looks) divine!
oh…my…goodness….I made this last night for dinner and it was HEAVENLY. I’ve made at least ten dishes from you site and you haven’t failed me yet. Thank you!!!
Made this for dinner last night. It was so yummy, and easy! I couldn’t find chicken sausage at my store, so I just bought turkey, but it was great. My son loved putting the noodles on his fingers (he’s 2). Haha. We’ll definitely be having this again!
Alison – wow, ten dishes! Thanks for trusting my recipes enough to keep making them. I’m so glad that you liked this pasta dish. I’ve finally decided that anyone who loves it as much as we do is bound to be my BFF. So I guess you are stuck with me! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Stacie – Read my response to the comment above yours to realize what you’ve gotten yourself into by liking this dish. I’m impressed your 2 year old ate it (even via the fingers!). Thanks for letting me know.
I made this last night and we LOVED it. It is a keeper. I have made about 6 recipes so far and have loved them all. I have so many that I want to try that I don’t think we will have any repeat meals for weeks on end! Thanks!! Cindy