There's no need to cook your pasta first with this one-pot easy sausage pasta bake! Save time by baking it with sausages in a delicious tomato sauce on a busy weeknight!
We'll also show you how we also make our favorite recipe in 15 minutes using the Ninja Speedi Rapid Cooker!
Forget recipes that ask for cooked pasta following package directions. There's days we don't don't have much time or energy to rustle up a meal.
There's days when I need as much help in the kitchen as I can get! And what inspired me to create this spicy sausage pasta bake was my love for simple steps and simple ingredients on the back of pasta bake jar.
My heart sinks when I read instructions like, "cook then drain pasta first". But with this recipe, the pasta bakes in a large skillet al dente to form a quick tomato sauce with everything else at the same time.
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✔️ Why You'll Love this Recipe
- No need to boil pasta first
- Creates less washing up
- Easy to make with little pot watching
- Cooks in a delicious cheesy sausage pasta
- Easy to adapt for an unofficial Slimming World or Weight Watchers recipe
🛒 Ingredient Notes
Please see the printable recipe card with exact ingredient quantities, daily values and preparation instructions at the bottom of this post.
Oil - we use cooking oil spray to sear the sausages, onion and garlic, or sometimes olive oil
Raw sausage - you can use low fat sausages for lean meat, or indulge in a hot Italian sausage
Passata - this is crushed tomatoes that are sieved (AKA tomato sauce) or swap for your favorite marinara sauce, or even white sauce!
Tomato puree (tomato paste) - which is concentrated for a richer, sweeter taste
Medium onion - red or green to add a warming flavour and texture
Bell pepper - any sweet bell peppers will work, but we mostly use red, but in the Ninja Speedi Air Fryer, we used a green bell pepper
Garlic clove - for a more complex flavour
Chorizo - adds such a great flavor, or omit if using spicy Italian sausages
Water - to help cook sausage and pasta all in the same pot. There's no need boil a large pot of salted water!
Spice or paste - this is optional, but sometimes we use 2 teaspoon of harissa paste, or 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika with 1 teaspoon of curry powder.
Oregano - for a delicious, herby taste, or you could use other pantry ingredients, such as Italian seasoning, fennel seeds or fresh herbs instead, etc
Mushrooms - to bulk it up and add texture
Stock cube - we use ham, but you could use chicken, vegetable, or even a stock pot
Seasoning - salt and black pepper to enhance the overall flavours
Grated cheese - for a cheesy, creamy pasta bake recipe, or use parmesan cheese, fresh mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, etc
Pasta - we use dry shell pasta, but you could use whole wheat, penne, rigatoni pasta, etc.
📋 Instructions
First, preheat your oven at 180c fan (200c, 400F or gas mark 6).
Add oil to an oven safe skillet and sear chopped sausages until all golden brown.
Ninja Speedis: skip this step as the sausages will be air fried.
Next, add everything else except the pasta and mushrooms, or any wet ingredients and saute until the onions are softened.
Ninja Speedis: like our original recipe method, you can use the Sear/Saute setting.
To make the easy spicy sausage pasta sauce, pour in the remaining ingredients, except the cheese.
Stir and heat up for 2-3 minutes.
Ninja Speedis: add everything except the sausages in the bottom - no need to heat up.
Add the mushrooms, dried pasta, and water, then stir, but make sure the layers of pasta are buried.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, then add the grated cheese and bake for a final 20.
Ninja Speedis: add the sausages on the crisper tray and bake on "Speedi Meals" for 15 minutes at 180c (400F)
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. You can cover it with aluminum foil if you wish.
Then add the grated cheese and remove any foil if used and bake for a final 20 minutes.
Ninja Speedis: once cooked, cut the sausages and stir them into the sauce.
Note: if you find the pasta isn't quite cooked (although this hasn't happened to us before), you could add a little water, cover, and cook for a few more minutes.
In the Ninja Speedi, you don't get a baked cheese topping, so instead, you could add the cheese top, or any remaining mozzarella, etc you may have, then cover and use the grill mode under medium-high heat.
👩🍳 Substitutions
There are a few simple swaps you can make for anyone with any special dietary requirements:
- Vegetarian - swap a meat sauce for vegan or vegetarian sausages and a vegetable stock cube
- Gluten Free - ensure you use GF stock and sausages
- Low calorie diet - for a low fat and an unofficial Slimming World pasta bake, use low syn sausages, omit the chorizo, and use FryLight
- Meats - use chicken sausage, mild Italian sausage, venison sausage, etc
⚖️ Variations
- Spicy - add a pinch of red pepper flakes or chilli flakes for some extra heat, cajun seasonsing for a gumbo taste
- Deluxe -make it a creamy sausage pasta bake by stirring in some cream cheese, and a splash of heavy cream at the end. And add some fresh basil
- Kid friendly - omit any spices and just focus on a cheese and tomato base for a sweet Italian sausage pasta bake
Another one pot wonder you might like is this cheesy leeks and bacon pasta recipe.
🔪 Equipment
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- Large skillet - or oven safe frying pan
- Measuring jug
- Chopping board
- Chopping knife
- Weighing scales
- Cheese grater
- Measuring spoons
- garlic press
- Wooden spoon
❄️ Storage
Storing - we prefer eating this hearty dish fresh out of the oven, but if you have remaining pasta, it can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Freezing - cool to room temperature and again, store in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Reheating - If you want to eat the next day, defrost in the fridge if required and microwave until piping hot. In an air fryer, I would reheat on medium heat, then low heat for any extra cheese at the end.
💡Pro Tips
- This recipe serves 2 people, but if you want to serve the whole family, simply double the ingredients, but use a large baking dish or casserole dish
- A great way to spread the sausage meat on a budget, but increase the pasta further, is to remove the skins from the sausages, and break up while pan frying
🍴 Serving Suggestions
Side salad: tuck into a healthy, leafy green salad for some crunch.
Bread: it also goes great with freshly baked garlic bread by partially slicing a baguette and filling with garlic butter, or some crusty bread
Freshly steamed vegetables: such as garden peas, broccoli florets, cauliflower, etc.
Wine: this delicious food goes down well with a glass of red or white wine! Or why not try this virgin Sangria?
❓ FAQ
We use dry shell pasta, but for other kinds, I would focus on a similar short pasta shape. You could even make it with penne pasta.
Yes, this sausage pasta bake came out perfectly as a 15 minutes Ninja Speedi meal. First, I seared/sauteed the onions and garlic until softened, then added everything except the sausages in the base.
Then placed the sausages on the crisping tray above and baked for 15 minutes at 180c (400F). Once done, we chopped the cooked sausage and stirred in with a dash of cream. Highly recommended!
➕ More Pasta Recipes
Looking for other pasta dishes recipes like this? Try these:
🍽️Pairing
Here are a few delicious sides that are great for dipping into a tasty pasta sauce:
📖 Recipe
Easy Sausage Pasta Bake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- Cooking oil spray
- 4 low fat pork sausages
- 250 ml passata (1 cup)
- 1 red onion halved and sliced
- 1 red pepper deseeded and dices
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 20 g chorizo diced (2 tbsp)
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 250 ml water (1 cup)
- 2 teaspoon harissa paste Or 1 for a milder spicy sausage pasta bake
- ½ tablespoon oregano
- 40 g mushrooms sliced
- 1 ham stock cube
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 60 g cheddar cheese grated (½ cup)
- 100 g pasta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven on 180 degrees celcius (fan) or gas mark 6.
- Meanwhile, spray a large cast iron casserole dish with oil spray - or any other pan that is fine directly on the hob and oven safe.
- Add the sausages and sear while turning for 5 minutes.
- Next add the onion, garlic and chorizo and saute until golden.
- Add the remaining ingredients except the cheese and water simmer and heat up on the for for about 2-3 minutes.
- Now place the dried pasta and water in the dish, stir well, ensuring as much of the pasta shells are buried.
- Then bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Sprinkle on top the cheese, then bake for a final 20 minutes, then serve between two people.
Disclaimer
*This is an unofficial page and has no affiliation or endorsement from Slimming World. Slimming World's website can be found at https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/. Any syn values are personal estimates and not verified by Slimming World.
Video
Notes
- This recipe serves 2 people, but if you want to serve the whole family, simply double the ingredients, but use a large baking dish or casserole dish
- A great way to spread the sausage meat on a budget, but increase the pasta further, is to remove the skins from the sausages, and break up while pan frying
Gilly
Tried this as just started on SW. It was really tasty and all the family loved it. One for the regulars list 😀