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This cream cheese smoked sausage pasta recipe is fast, uses everyday ingredients, and it’s easy to make and comforting! Ready in about 30 minutes.
Another quick and easy pasta coming ‘atcha! You guys enjoyed my Simple Balsamic Smoked Sausage Pasta, so I thought I’d do another one since smoked sausage is just really good… especially in a cream cheese sauce that has a little kick.
This should go without saying, but sometimes it helps to state the obvious. You can definitely taste the cream cheese in this one, so if you’re not a fan of it, you may want to skip this particular recipe.
What kind of sausage to use?
I used a fully cooked Ukrainian sausage. Smoked sausages definitely vary, but whatever you can find/your favorite variety will be fine. Do use your best judgement when it comes to draining the fat, though. The kind I bought for this recipe wasn’t too fatty at all, but some will release a lot of fat, so it’s a good idea to spoon it out of the pan. You can use an uncooked sausage (e.g. Italian sausage) and cook it for this recipe (take it out of the casings and crumble it), but cooking time may be a bit longer.
Feel free to use a bit less than the 1 pound of sausage that’s suggested. I just used the whole coil that I bought.
Love cream cheese? Try my Quick Cream Cheese Pasta Sauce, Bacon Cream Cheese Tortellini or these Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes.
Recipe notes & tips:
- The corn adds a little sweetness and extra flavor and color (I had leftover grilled corn, but canned is just fine!). You could definitely swap it with another veggie that you happen to have on hand.
- Softening the cream cheese makes a big difference to recipe timing when it melts into the sauce faster, so please do not skip that step in the recipe. 🙂
- Try replacing the red pepper flakes with some Cajun seasoning (but perhaps use a low or no salt version as the sausage can be quite salty). Or, leave out the red pepper flakes altogether if you don’t want a bit of heat.
More tasty sausage recipes to try:
- Easy Sausage Rigatoni
- Simple Breakfast Casserole
- Pesto Pan-fried Sausage and Potatoes
- Sausage and Peppers Skillet
- Cheesy Rotel Sausage Dip
Will you give this smoked sausage pasta recipe a try? Questions? Let me know in the comments below!
Cream Cheese Smoked Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound smoked sausage sliced SEE NOTE
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 8 ounces cream cheese (block of Philly) softened
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- 1/2 cup corn (use canned or already cooked corn cut off the cob)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Take the cream cheese out of the fridge at least an hour prior to starting the recipe or microwave it for 20-30 seconds so it's very soft. Boil a salted pot of water and cook the pasta al dente according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, add the oil and sausage slices to a skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion and continue sautéing for another few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sausage has nicely browned and the onions have softened up and lightly browned as well.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Transfer the contents of the skillet to a plate and set it aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the chicken broth, cream cheese (I cut it into smaller pieces first), Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes to the skillet. Stir it constantly until it's a nice, smooth sauce (this will take a few minutes).
- Add the sausage/onions back to the skillet, along with the corn (drain the corn if using canned), and give it a good stir. Let it heat through for a minute or two.
- If the sauce has thickened up a bit too much, add a few tablespoons of the hot pasta water prior to draining the pasta.
- Toss the drained pasta with the sauce (add the pasta to the skillet) and serve immediately. Season with salt & pepper as needed. I added a bit of fresh parsley for garnish (optional... use if you happen to have some).
Notes
- I used a Ukrainian smoked sausage coil for this recipe. Any smoked sausage will work, or something like kielbasa/Polish sausage works too. I buy the kind that's already fully cooked. This type of sausage is not very greasy (but spoon out excess fat if yours is). If you use a sausage that's raw (e.g. Italian sausage), you will have to cook it for longer and probably drain some of the fat depending on what kind of sausage you buy. Feel free to use less than the whole thing/1 pound of it.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information. Calories will vary depending on what sausage you use. Some are leaner than the one in my nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I had a lot of substitutes on hand, so I made do. Used 3 links of spicy Italian sausage. I cooked them mostly, then sliced them and continued. I only had fat free cream cheese. Worked well. I ended up feeling that it needed some paprika for better balance. I topped the dish with a small amount of mozzarella and some parsley. We will make this again.
Thank you.
You’re very welcome!
I found this recipe through a list of fast and easy weeknight meals using smoked sausage. I picked this one because I had the ingredients on hand. It was not fast and easy, but it was delicious. Even my 3 small boys all loved it.
I used lentil pasta instead of regular pasta to up the protein (my way of ensuring the littles actually eat some protein). The flavorful sauce covered the earthy flavor of the pasta well. It did make for a very heavy meal, though.
The sauce took easily 10+ minutes to come together. That’s a long time to be constantly stirring. Overall, this won’t be a go to recipe because it took so long to make, but I will make it again (maybe when I don’t have toddlers.)
Hi Emily! I’m glad you and your boys liked it! Did you let the cream cheese soften up before adding it to the sauce (either microwave or let it sit for a couple hours on the counter)? That definitely helps things go a little faster. I don’t recall that part taking me as long as 10 minutes. I guess even a 30 min recipe would seem like a long time with 3 small boys though haha… I am childfree and can’t even imagine. Thanks for your review!