I’ve got to be completely honest and say I used to turn my nose up at sausages used in recipes, outside of my favoured way of eating them, of course – which is in a white soft roll with barbecue sauce and caramelised onions straight off the barbecue (yum!). But thanks to watching way too many Jamie Oliver cooking episodes, I’ve found that the right kind of sausage (the chunky, good-quality kind) combined with pasta is the best combo. It’s super speedy, simple and outrageously delicious!

This Creamy Tomato Sausage Pasta is comforting and made in just one pan with minimal prep time. I love buying a batch of sausages and freezing them, ready for when I need them. I love using an Italian-style sausage with fennel for this recipe, but you can use any sausages that you like – beef and garlic or beef and caramelised onion sausages work a treat too! The sausages are squeezed out of their casings to form “meatballs” (this takes 2 minutes, which is much faster than rolling meatballs!) and are then cooked with the pasta in a garlicky, creamy tomato sauce, all in the one pan. This is the perfect family dinner for busy weeknights – and an added bonus is that it can be made in bulk and frozen, ready for when you need it!
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Creamy Tomato Sausage Pasta
Creamy Tomato Sausage Pasta is a cosy, comforting and – most importantly – fuss-free meal to whip up at the end of a busy work and school day. Here sausages are squeezed out of their casings to form easy “meatballs”, then served with pasta in a creamy tomato sauce.
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) good-quality pork or beef sausages
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp freshly minced garlic
- 700 g (24 oz) passata
- 21/2 cups (625 ml) beef stock
- 300 g (101/2 oz) short pasta such as rigatoni (pictured), macaroni or penne
- 1 cup (250 ml) heavy (thickened) cream
- Sea salt flakes, to taste
- Cracked black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup (25 g) freshly grated parmesan, plus extra to serve
- ¼ bunch fresh basil, leaves picked, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Squeeze the sausage meat from the casings and roll the sausage meat into balls.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, deep, heavy-based pan over medium–high heat. Cook the sausage meatballs for 2–3 minutes until golden brown on all sides.
- Stir through the minced garlic, immediately followed by the passata and beef stock.
- Bring to a gentle simmer and stir through the pasta, cream, salt and pepper.
- Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer (it needs to be bubbling gently otherwise the pasta won’t cook).
- Place the lid on and cook for 10–12 minutes until the pasta is just cooked, stirring regularly, making sure the sauce isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Turn the heat off and leave to rest, covered, for 3 minutes. The extra sauce will absorb into the pasta during that time (see note 1 for tips).
- Sprinkle with parmesan and basil, if using, to serve.
Notes
Note 1 – To make a one-pan pasta dish (where the pasta is cooked in the pan with the sauce), it’s important that you use a heavy-based piece of cookware such as a heavy-based casserole dish (cast-iron) or a thick-based, deep frying pan. Thin cookware will not heat evenly and may leave you with too much or too little liquid. The liquid needs to be simmering the entire time (gently with small bubbles) so that the pasta cooks through. If it isn’t, modify the heat by turning it up or down slightly to maintain that simmer.
LEFTOVERS
Creamy Tomato Sausage Pasta leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw completely in the fridge overnight before reheating.
MAKE AHEAD
Creamy Tomato Sausage Pasta can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw completely in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
cassandraandrews says:
What a winner this recipe was in our house tonight! Simple, budget friendly, tasty and leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Thank you so much.
Nicole says:
So wonderful to hear, thank you so much for your lovely comment! ❤️
Olivia says:
Lovely dinner, very nice sauce.Would recommend trying.
Jules says:
My son gave me a standing ovation for this dinner. It was so easy and tasted great. It did seem to make a lot, so we will be freezing some of this for another night or two. I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes. Thank you.
Jo says:
My family LOVE this! I cook it on repeat!
Nicole says:
I love to hear this, Jo! Thanks so much. Nic x