Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

Comfort food is coming right up with this warm and inviting Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage. Creamy, cheesy and just a little bit spicy, this dish is absolutely delicious.

What You'll Love About This Recipe

Anything that's warm, cheesy and baked is what I want to eat right now. This chicken sausage pasta recipe is a great solution for weeknights and weekends.

You can count on it for at least a dinner or two depending on how many are eating, plus leftovers for lunch. Why not make it tonight?

• This recipe takes minutes in hand-on prep time, and it's easy to prepare.

• Pantry ingredients like canned tomatoes and dried pasta might be in your cupboard right now! This is great news!

• If you have some sausage in the freezer, you're one step closer to an absolutely delicious, cozy meal.

Here's a list of the key ingredients for this recipe, and for the full list plus instructions, please scroll to the recipe card below.

• Chicken sausage: Raw sausage is often sold in bulk at the grocery store, or in casings, and often it comes pre-seasoned. Look for Italian sausage, chicken or turkey, either are great options.

• Tomato sauce: Thick, chunky, quick and super delicious, I always buy whole canned tomatoes if possible, but diced tomatoes work too.

• Cheese: Creamy, melty nutty Harvarti cheese fits the bill perfectly here, but mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese do too.

• Pasta: Old reliably delicious penne is best for this recipe, a perfect style to hold the delicious sauce.

• Seasonings: All the usual suspects, plus a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes to amp up the flavors and add a mild spiciness.

This is an easy recipe with a lot of pantry ingredients, some that you might even have on hand. Here's a quick run down on the steps, but scroll down to the recipe card for the full ingredient list and recipe instructions.

1. Make the sauce: This sauce comes together quickly.. just chop the onions and garlic, brown the sausage over medium high heat and carefully add the crushed tomatoes, pour into a large skillet or dutch oven. Add seasonings and let it gently simmer until most of the liquids are gone.

2. Cook the pasta: Add the pasta to a large pot of boiling water with a pinch or two of salt per directions on the package, but pull the pasta out of the water a full minute and a half before it's done - it'll continue to cook when you bake the pasta in the oven and be perfectly al dente. Drain pasta.

3. Mix to combine: Gently combine the the sauce and pasta together before placing in an ovenproof baking dish.

4. Add the cheese.

5. Bake: The pasta is ready when the cheese melts and it's heated through, about 30 minutes.

• Make the pasta a day ahead if you'd like, and keep it covered in the fridge until ready to use.

• I always place pasta dishes like this on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper before placing in the oven.

• Ground turkey or pork sausage instead of chicken sausage totally works and is totally fine.

• Use Monterey Jack or Mozzarella cheese instead of Havarti if you want, but it's worth seeking out for its amazing nutty flavor and extra melty consistency.

• For serving, add a little drizzle of good olive oil and a dusting of freshly grated Parmesan cheese to the top of each plate to make this taste "extra extra" if you know what I mean.

FAQ’s

Can this dish be made in advance?

Absolutely! That's one of the best things about baked pasta…it's super convenient to make in advance. Just cover the dish well with parchment paper or foil (or like me, both) and store it in the refrigerator for up to two days.

Before baking, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before placing in a pre-heated oven on a baking sheet.

Is there a way to avoid mushy pasta?

Under-cook the pasta by a full minute and a half before proceeding with the recipe. It'll continue to cook as it bakes in the oven, and under-cooking is like a little insurance policy for this.

Can I use another type of pasta?

Yes! You can use any tube-like pasta for this recipe, which holds a sauce better than noodles.

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage is comforting, bold and delicious

Course: Dinner

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil

• ▢ 1 medium yellow onion, diced

• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt

• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, crushed

• ▢ 1 1/2 pounds chicken sausage, uncooked, casings removed if any

• ▢ 1 28- ounce Italian style tomatoes, whole, peeled

• ▢ 1 15 ounce tomatoes, diced in their juice

• ▢ 1/2 cup water

• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon oregano

• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt

• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• ▢ 3 tablespoons Italian (flat leaf) parsley, chopped

• ▢ 2 bay leaf

• ▢ 1 pound penne pasta, dried

• ▢ 1/2 cup ricotta cheese

• ▢ 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese plus more for serving

• ▢ 8 ounces Havarti cheese, grated

Instructions

• MAKE THE SAUCE

• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil a dutch oven or large non-stick sauce pan, and add the onions with the salt and cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until onions are soft, 5-8 minutes

  Add the garlic and cook for another minute, stirring to make sure the garlic doesn't get brown

  Add the chicken sausage, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon until no longer pink, about 4 minutes

  Add the whole peeled tomatoes, gently and carefully crushing the tomatoes with your fingers as you add them to the pan, then add the diced tomatoes and the water, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and one tablespoon of the chopped fresh parsley as well as the bay leafs.

  Simmer on medium heat on the stove for 30 minutes, remove bay leafs.

  Prepare the pasta according to the package directions on the box, salting the water with a tablespoon of salt before adding the pasta.

  Remove the pasta from the water a minute before the final cooking time, as you'll want the pasta to be a little bit firm before before baking.

• MAKE AND BAKE THE PASTA

  Heat oven to 350 degrees

  Drain the cooked pasta from the water, then add it back to the pot you cooked it on.

  Add the chicken sausage mixture, the ricotta cheese, the Parmesan cheese, and another tablespoon of chopped parsley.

  Mix gently to combine everything, then and add to a large casserole dish that you've added a drizzle of olive oil to the bottom of. Casserole dish is 9×13" size.

  Sprinkle the top with Havarti cheese and another tablespoon of Parmesan cheese and the remaining tablespoon of fresh parsley.

  Bake for about 30 minutes until the cheese melts and everything is heated through.

  Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and Parmesan cheese for serving.

Notes

• Make the pasta a day ahead if you’d like, and keep it covered in the fridge until ready to use.

• I always place pasta dishes like this on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper before placing in the oven. (Easier to grab.)

• Ground turkey or pork sausage instead of chicken sausage is totally fine.

• Use Monterey Jack cheese instead of Havarti if you can’t find it, but it’s worth seeking out for its amazing nutty flavor and extra melty consistency.

• For serving, I like to add another little drizzle of some good quality, fruity olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese right off the block.