Sausage and Spinach Penne Skillet Supper
This sausage and spinach penne skillet supper is a snap to prepare, only requires one skillet, and is packed full of flavor!
Remember the dish I told you about a while ago? A pasta skillet supper graced with sun-dried tomatoes, broccoli, and parmesan cheese?
I can easily say it is one of my favorite dinners of all time. And this dish I’m about to share with you…well, you can think of it as the first pasta dinner’s cousin.
Delicious, but a bit different.
Mildly spicy sausage, toasted pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes (again) and hearty spinach make up the flavors of this dish that is packed with pasta (and flavor).
I’ve said it before, but I just love meals that are made exclusively in one pot or skillet and this was no exception.
My family ate this up (pasta always has that effect on my kids) and it was a snap to prepare.
What to Serve With This
- Steamed vegetable or this Perfect Roasted Asparagus
- Simple green salad or this Marinated Caprese Salad
- Sliced Cheese
Sausage and Spinach Penne Skillet Supper
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound Italian-style turkey sausage, casings removed (I couldn’t find turkey sausage so I substituted mild pork sausage)
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced finely
- 3 ½ cups water
- 2 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped fine
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces about 3 1/2 cups penne pasta
- 1 (6-ounce) bag baby spinach
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot and add in the sausage. Cook until lightly browned and no longer pink about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the water, broth, sun-dried tomatoes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, then add in the pasta.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and cook at a strong simmer, stirring often, until the pasta is tender and the liquid has thickened, about 15-18 minutes (if you find the liquid is absorbing too quickly and the pasta is still undercooked, add a bit more water in small amounts until the pasta is cooked thoroughly).
- Stir in the spinach, a handful at at time, and cook until wilted. Off the heat, stir in the cheese and pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from The Best Skillet Recipes
This is one for the books. I absolutely loved the flavors and it was a quick meal to make for the family. I did use the entire box of pasta and used frozen spinach (precooked it) since I had some that I wanted to use.
This dish was so delicious
Delish! Made exactly as recipe read except used
regular tomatoes (didn’t have sun dried) and no nuts.
Husband orders a dish like this when we eat out
And said this was just as good or better!
This is a real keeper thank you.
I was wondering if there was a way to prepare this to be made before hand or into a freezer meal? A new to stock a new moms freezer.
I haven’t tried that but you could assemble it into a baking dish after it cooks and try freezing (to reheat later).
This recipe was Awesome
This will definitely fast become a family favorite! So flavorful and bursting with color! Love it!!!
This dish was delicious and easy. Best of all, cleanup was a breeze. Thank you!
Its very good! I found sundried tomato turkey sausage. It was extra flavourful. I didn’t use the pine nuts.
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! This has made the rotation in our house even though the kids don’t eat it because my husband & I love it. (We do leave out the pine nuts.) I love the ease of one-skillet and how fast this is to make. It’s hearty without being heavy! Amazing blend of flavors for one delicious dish!
Hi Mel – we made this recipe this week as we are transitioning into school season, and looking for easy quick dinners. Huge hit with my family. We used leftover breakfast sausage, fresh tomatoes as we didn’t have sun-dried on hand, and we will be making it over and over. Thank you SO much for the time you spend blogging and sharing recipes that your family loves. I’ve followed you for years, and just wanted to take the time to say thank you!
Thanks so much, Therese!
This was so delicious, I was concerned the gluten free pasta cooking in the water and broth would make the sauce too thick and gross, but my worries were unfounded. I love sun dried tomatoes, and they added such a great flavor to this dish. I have a binder of all my favorite recipes which is slowly becoming a mel’s kitchen cafe cook book, because I pretty much come straight to your blog for new dinners and always love them! thanks so much for sharing 🙂
My family loves this meal! It’s one of our favorites from your website! I took it to a luncheon and everyone loved it there too and asked for the recipe.
I made this for dinner tonight. I had some mild Italian pork sausage I wanted to use up, so I replaced the turkey sausage with the pork. I also omitted the pine nuts and substituted mostaccioli for penne. (I made these changes because I didn’t have the specified ingredients.) Despite the changes, it was still amazing and so simple! Rave, rave, rave reviews from my husband and son. Will definitely add this to our favorites!
Stephanie – I wouldn’t recommend doing it. The recipe works beautifully as written and I haven’t ever subbed in leftover pasta (which can be kind of gummy and mushy).
I am wondering how you might go about using leftover pasta in this dish instead od dry noodles. If it is possible, would I just reduce the liquid by half or something?
i made this sausage/spinach pasta dish last night. another hit!! the recipes you share seem too easy be so good. your blog has changed the way we cook and eat. we appreciate the time you put into it! (you mentioned yesterday that you are now in Northern Minny- my wife is from there and we were just up on the north shore of Lake Superior to ski at Lutsen. did you relocate anywhere near there? just curious. Thanks again!)
Hi Deb – you might lose a tad bit of flavor that the sausage adds to the pasta but otherwise, I think you could easily add it in at another step (as long as it is cooked through before the dish is done).
This was really good! I liked the way the water turned into a sauce as it evaporated. I think next time I would add the sausage after the pasta is done. I found the sausage to be a little “boiled”. Do you think that this would make a difference in the taste? Otherwise, I would definately try this again!!
Made this again tonight…still great. This makes it’s way on our menu every few months and we all say the same thing…”We need to make this more often!” Thanks again Melanie!
Thanks for yet another great recipe! We had this for dinner tonight and it was a hit, even with my super-picky 6 year old. And it was ridiculously quick and easy. I’m curious how well it freezes. I think I’ll experiment with our leftovers..
Just made this meal for dinner! Delicious! I love your site!
I made it this evening. It was a big hit! Thanks for the recipe, I’ll be making it again.
Eating it now and it is super good! Kids are gobbling it up.
Thanks, Traci!
Tori – thank you for your comment! I’m so glad you found your way to my blog and I’m really thrilled that this skillet supper was such a success. Thanks for letting me know!
I discovered your blog a few weeks ago, but last night I decided I’d finally try one of your recipes! This skillet dish was DELICIOUS! My husband and I absolutely loved it – and it was beyond easy to make! I used probably double the garlic and since I couldn’t remember which type of sausage to buy at the grocery store I used 1/2 pound hot & spicy and 1/2 pound mild & sweet – which actually worked out great! I will definitely make this again! Thanks for the great recipe!
I made this this weekend with the hopes that I could keep it in the fridge and reheat it quickly during the week for dinner (I’m tired of eating out on ballet night). Well we had company over at the house and it was devoured. Good thing it quick to make. Thanks for a great meal.
Hi Sonya – I’ve been enjoying all your comments on various posts. I’m glad that this dish was a hit with company…although that’s a bummer you didn’t get the leftovers you were hoping for!
Anonymous – thanks for checking in to let me know that you liked this!
This was wonderful! Even better the next day as leftovers. MMMMMM
Oh, looks good ! By the way, I finally made your Baked Oatmeal and it was a HIT with everyone including the hubs. We even snacked on it after dinner !! I just wish I had a working camera so I could take pics 🙁
Way to go My Kitchen Cafe !!
These are all my husband’s favorite flavors in pasta – I will need to make this very soon!
this is the quintessential pasta dish, melanie. i love everything about it, particularly that sausage. sausage isn’t combined with pasta often enough.
Oh, delicious! I love it. Well, I am guessing I’ll love it once I try it. I have to actually cook it first:) But dang! It looks good.
I have this on my blog too an agree it’s a winner. With all the bike riding I’ve been doing I think I’ve been living on pasta dishes like these.
That is my kind of quick and tasty work night pasta!
Looks yummy–I think I better purchase that skillet cookbook! My daughter made a skillet recipe you posted with chicken, pistachios, rice and coconut milk, it was so good I have been dreaming about it! Thanks for great recipes!
This looks so delicious Mel! I cant wait to try it!
That looks delicious! I love pasta dishes 🙂
This looks absolutely fantastic!
Very tasty and pretty too! Thanks for sharing.