One Pot Cheesy Sausage Pasta

One Pot Cheesy Sausage Pasta is the ultimate weeknight dinner savior! This hearty, creamy dish combines smoky sausage, tender pasta, and melty cheddar cheese all cooked together in ONE skillet. No boiling pasta separately, no extra dishes, just pure comfort food magic in 30 minutes.

Love More Pasta Recipes? Try My Bowtie Pasta with Ground Beef or this Tomato Zucchini Pasta next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Creamy, hearty, and full of rich flavor, this One Pot Cheesy Sausage Pasta is the ultimate comfort meal. Savory sausage, tender pasta, and melted cheese come together in a creamy sauce that’s perfectly seasoned. Made all in one pot for easy cleanup, it’s a quick and satisfying dinner everyone will love.

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Ingredients

Main Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 to 14 ounces cooked sausage, sliced into thin discs (I use kielbasa but any pre-cooked sausage works – it’s in a U-shape near the deli counter)
• ½ cup yellow onion or white onion, diced
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (leave this out if spicy food isn’t your thing)
• 2 cups chicken broth (get the reduced sodium kind so you don’t oversalt it)
• ½ cup milk (I use 2% because that’s what’s in my fridge)
• 10 ounce can Rotel (they have mild, medium, and hot – pick what works for you. Regular diced tomatoes work too if you want it mild. Leave it undrained)
• 6 ounces dry egg noodles (about 1¼ to 1½ cups – rotini and penne work great too)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch (only if you want super thick sauce)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (sharp cheddar tastes better but use what you have)
• Green onions for sprinkling on top (totally optional)

Want to Mix It Up?

• Add mushrooms or bell peppers when you cook the onions
• Swap in Pepper Jack cheese if you like spice
• Mix in some mozzarella for extra gooey cheese
• Sprinkle Parmesan on top before serving

Why These Ingredients Work

Using pre-cooked sausage cuts the cooking time in half. You’re just browning it to get those crispy edges that taste incredible. I learned the hard way to use reduced sodium broth – regular broth plus sausage equals way too salty. The Rotel gives you this little tangy kick that makes the whole dish addictive. My neighbor uses regular tomatoes because her kids don’t like spice and it still tastes great. Whole milk makes it creamy enough without getting heavy. Sharp cheddar has way more flavor than mild, but honestly I’ve used whatever cheese was on sale and it always works out.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Large skillet with a lid (mine’s 12 inches and it’s perfect)
• Sharp knife
• Wooden spoon
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Small bowl for the cornstarch if you use it
• Tongs help with stirring but aren’t required

How To Make One Pot Cheesy Sausage Pasta

Step 1: Brown the Sausage

Turn your burner to medium-high and heat up the oil in your skillet. Drop in the sausage slices and let them cook for 4-5 minutes, flipping them around so they brown on both sides. The sausage is already cooked so you’re just getting it crispy and brown. Chuck in the onions and cook them for another 3 minutes, stirring a bunch, until they get soft and see-through.

Step 2: Add Aromatics

Throw in the garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir it around constantly for 1 minute. Your kitchen will smell amazing right about now.

Step 3: Add Liquids

Pour in the chicken broth, milk, and Rotel with all its juice. Stir everything together and let it warm up for a minute or so.

Step 4: Cook the Pasta

Drop your dry pasta straight into the pan. Use your spoon to push it under the liquid so it’s covered. Turn the heat up until everything’s boiling, then drop it back down to medium-low or low. Stick the lid on and let it bubble away for 10-12 minutes until the pasta’s soft. Every few minutes, give it a stir with tongs so nothing sticks to the bottom.

Sometimes the pasta takes a couple extra minutes – that’s fine. If there’s still liquid and it’s not done, just leave the lid on and keep cooking. If it looks dry but the pasta’s still hard (this almost never happens to me), splash in another ½ cup of broth or milk.

Step 5: Optional – Make It Extra Creamy

Want thicker sauce? Scoop about ¼ cup of the hot liquid into a small bowl. Mix in 1 tablespoon cornstarch and stir until there’s no lumps. Pour it back in the pan and stir it around. Keep stirring on low heat for 2-3 minutes and the sauce will get thick and gorgeous.

Step 6: Add Cheese and Serve

Turn off the heat and dump in all the cheese. Stir it in and it’ll melt into this creamy, dreamy sauce. Taste it now – does it need more salt? More pepper? Add what it needs. If it tastes kinda boring, it probably needs salt. Throw some green onions on top if you feel like it and serve it hot.

You Must Know

Don’t eyeball the broth and milk. Actually measure them. The pasta needs the right amount of liquid or it won’t cook right. Too much liquid makes soup, not enough makes crunchy pasta. I eyeballed it once and ended up with pasta mush, so learn from my mistake.

My Personal Secret: The sauce looks runny when it’s hot. Don’t panic and add more cornstarch. Wait two minutes and it’ll thicken up on its own.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

• Get those sausage pieces nice and brown. That’s where a lot of flavor comes from.
• Don’t use a tiny pan. Everything needs room or the pasta cooks weird.
• I usually grab room temp milk from the counter but cold milk works fine too.
• Stir that pasta every couple minutes while it’s cooking. It sticks together if you ignore it.
• Buy the pre-diced onions from the grocery store if you’re in a rush.
• Shred cheese from a block yourself. The pre-shredded bags have powder on them that makes the sauce grainy.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

Make it spicy: Use hot Italian sausage, hot Rotel, extra red pepper flakes, and switch the cheddar for Pepper Jack.

Make it creamier: Use half cheddar and half cream cheese. Or stir in ¼ cup sour cream at the end.

Add vegetables: Mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini – whatever you’ve got. Cook them with the onions. Spinach is good too but add it at the very end.

Italian style: Grab Italian sausage, sprinkle in some Italian seasoning, and finish with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese.

Cajun version: Shake in Cajun seasoning with the garlic, use andouille sausage, add diced bell peppers.

Kid version: Mild sausage, no pepper flakes, regular diced tomatoes instead of Rotel.

Make-Ahead Options

This cooks in twenty minutes so I usually just make it when I need it. But you can totally cook it ahead and stick it in the fridge for 3 days. The pasta soaks up sauce while it sits, so you’ll need to add milk or broth when you reheat it to loosen it back up.

Prep trick: Slice the sausage and chop the onions a day or two ahead. Keep them in containers in your fridge. When you’re ready to cook, everything comes together super quick.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

• About sausage: Look for the kind that’s already cooked and comes in a U-shape or ring. It’s usually by the hot dogs. I love kielbasa but smoked sausage works great too.
• Pasta: Egg noodles are what I usually use but rotini holds sauce better because of all the grooves.
• The sauce gets thicker: Both from the cheese melting and just from sitting. That’s supposed to happen. Add milk if it gets too thick.
• Leftovers: This actually tastes better the second day after all the flavors hang out together overnight.

Serving Suggestions

This is pretty much a whole meal by itself but here’s what I put on the table with it:

• Green salad with whatever dressing you like
• Garlic bread for soaking up extra sauce
• Steamed broccoli if I’m feeling responsible about vegetables
• Caesar salad because Caesar salad goes with everything
• Apple slices or grapes for my kids

How to Store Your One Pot Cheesy Sausage Pasta

In the fridge: Put it in a container with a lid and it’ll last 3-4 days. The pasta drinks up more sauce as it sits so it’ll be thicker tomorrow.

Reheating: Heat it up on the stove over medium-low with a splash of milk or broth mixed in. Microwave works too – do it for 1-2 minutes and stir it halfway through.

Freezer: You can freeze it for 2 months but I’m gonna be honest – the pasta gets a little weird. If you do freeze it, cool it completely first, use freezer containers, and thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Allergy Information

Has: Dairy (milk and cheese), eggs (in egg noodles), gluten (pasta)

No dairy: This is hard to make dairy-free since cheese is kind of the point. You could try dairy-free milk and cheese but it won’t taste the same.

No gluten: Use gluten-free pasta. Start checking it around 8 minutes because it cooks faster than regular pasta.

No eggs: Just use regular pasta instead of egg noodles. Penne, rotini, and ziti don’t have eggs.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use raw sausage instead of pre-cooked?

Yeah! Just cook it longer in Step 1 – give it 5-7 more minutes until there’s no pink left. Then keep going with the rest of the recipe.

My sauce is too thin – what do I do?

Take the lid off and let it bubble for a few minutes. Or do that cornstarch trick from Step 5. Also remember the sauce gets way thicker once it cools down a little and the cheese melts in. Wait a minute before you add anything.

What if I don’t have Rotel?

Grab a 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes. Pour out about half the juice. If you want some spice, chop up a jalapeño and throw it in, or add more red pepper flakes.

The pasta isn’t cooking evenly – help!

Make sure all the pasta is under the liquid and stir it every few minutes with tongs. Also check that your heat isn’t too high – you want a gentle bubble, not a hard boil.

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