One Pot Creamy Sausage Pasta With Tomatoes And Spinach

One of my jobs as a Certified Nutrition Coach, is to help people spend LESS time in the kitchen. And you can do this by making use of this one-pot sausage pasta!

It’s a creamy, comforting, and delicious recipe. Plus, clean-up is simple.

I’m not sure who the genius is behind one-pot meals (or sheet pan meals either) but I truly thank them.

When you don’t have time after work and school to whip up a full laid-out meal but still want to feed your family clean eating inspired dish, this tomato sausage, dairy-free one pot pasta is for you!

• It comes together in just thirty minutes
• Uses gluten-free noodles (without turning everything to mush!)
• No cheese or excessive dairy needed
• It comes out with a creamy sauce
• One pot means no fuss and no mess
• Lightly seasoned so the kids love it

Ingredients You Need

Obviously, this one-pot meal revolves around tomatoes and sausages. But since it's dairy-free you won't find any parmesan cheese in there!

Choosing sausages: Any flavor of Italian sausage you choose will work for the one pot pasta. However, if passing this along to kids I tend to opt for mild sausages from the butcher (and make sure they're gluten-free if needed!).

Outside of the basics above, you’ll need:

Onion & Garlic: the base of any good pasta recipe. For kids, make sure to chop these very fine so they don’t notice them!

Chicken broth: water can be used but chicken broth makes the one pot sausage pasta taste so much more comforting. When I don’t have homemade chicken broth on hand I use Perfect Supplements Bone Broth Powder. It’s quick to whip up and a great immune system boost!

Diced Tomatoes: use a can without added seasonings if possible. If not, opt for a basil or Italian seasoned can.

Coconut Milk: this is one of the ingredients that help make this sausage pasta so creamy while still remaining dairy-free. Make sure to use the coconut milk from a can (the harder white part, not the water).

Nutritional Yeast: giving you all the flavor of cheese without the dairy! The yeast replaces parmesan cheese in the recipe. Nutritional yeast is a favorite amongst vegans but as a Certified Nutrition Coach, I personally love it because it’s high in B12.

Gluten-Free Noodles: you can use a variety of noodles for this one-pot sausage pasta but the best ones I’ve used are quinoa noodles or brown rice noodles. I find many of the chickpea noodles break down while boiling and turn the pasta into mush. Quinoa ones result in a creamy sauce.

How To Make One Pot Creamy Sausage Pasta

1. Heat the onion, garlic, and mushrooms over medium-high heat.
2. Slice the Italian sausage and cook them in the pan until brown.
3. Add in the diced tomatoes and seasonings.
4. Bring to a boil and add in the noodles.
5. Cover to cook until the noodles are mostly done (about ten minutes).
6. Whisk in the coconut milk and the remaining ingredients.
7. Cook for fifteen more minutes.
8. Serve.

Important Teaching Tips

The kind of noodles you choose will affect the texture of the dairy-free tomato sausage pasta. For best results, opt for brown rice noodles or quinoa noodles (this is also a great way to make this Italian pasta and broccoli a gluten-free dish).

This one pot sausage pasta recipe isn’t spicy but it is flavorful. If you like more of a kick in your pasta, add in a bit of red pepper flake (not great if you’re serving to kids).

The more you let the pasta cook, the creamier/thicker the dish will be.

This one-pot sausage recipe can easily be made ahead of time and reheated. If going this route, you’ll want to make sure not to cook the noodles all the way through.

It will thicken up in the fridge so when you’re reheating it, add ½-1 cup of broth and bring it back to a boil.

A quick reminder that if you need gluten-free dinners for allergy purposes, make sure to purchase gluten-free Italian sausages. A lot of chain sausages contain gluten for filler.

And if you have extra sausages, check out these ground sausage recipes.

Seasonings

This creamy, one pot sausage pasta recipe is pretty lightly seasoned. Just a bit of red pepper flakes, basil and salt.

If you like a spicier pasta, up the amount of red pepper flakes or add a pinch of cayenne pepper. I find the spicy version pairs best with something like Caprese salad in the summer because it's such a tasty contrast.

In place of parmesan cheese, this dairy-free pasta goes for nutritional yeast. Another option would be to sprinkle in some homemade, dairy-free parmesan cheese.