If you have trouble eating enough vegetables, this pasta bake is here to save the day. It’s packed to the brim with nutrient-rich veggies, Italian chicken sausage, and creamy goodness. Everything comes together in one pan (other than cooking pasta) and one serving has 20 grams of protein with just 265 calories!
Italian Sausage Pasta Bake Recipe Walkthrough
You’ll find a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post, but the walkthrough below will cover ingredient notes and tips worth reading before diving in.
Step 1: Sauté Mushrooms, Zucchini, and Red Bell Pepper for 5 Minutes
Don’t be afraid to let the veggies develop some color here. Add them to the hot olive oil, toss/stir, and let them hang out for most of the 5 minutes.
That said, you shouldn’t need to deglaze the pan or have any burning here. If you smell charring, stir and consider reducing the heat a smidge.
Ingredient notes for step 1: Feel free to use other types of mushrooms. To save prep time, you can probably find all three of the veggies here pre-sliced. You can also omit any of the veggies in this recipe. Just know the serving sizes and nutrition info will be affected.
Step 2: Add Garlic, Cherry Tomatoes, and Chicken Sausages and Sauté Another 5 Minutes
If you have some crispy bits stuck to the bottom of your pan at this point, you can use a bit of red wine vinegar (or any liquid) to deglaze the pan before continuing.
Give everything a stir and let it hang out again. The cherry tomatoes should begin to wrinkle around the 5-minute mark. You want them to stay mostly whole so avoid completely mashing them with your spatula.
Ingredient notes for step 2: I used two different types of chicken sausage from Trader Joe’s (garlic herb and spicy Italian). Though you could use their sweet Italian to reduce the spice or any other type of fully cooked sausage in your pasta bake. Check out my 5-ingredient chicken sausage pasta for another recipe to make with leftover sausage. For the cherry tomatoes, I used a medley, but you could probably do any cherry or grape tomato option.
Step 3: Add a Marinara, Light Alfredo Sauce, and Pasta of Your Choice
Turn off the heat before adding the sauces. If you need to deglaze again, a little marinara should do the trick. Give everything another stir before adding cooked pasta.
Keep the pan over the burner after turning it off. You want to keep everything warm in case you need to wait on your pasta to finish cooking.
Stir the pasta in and you’re ready to top with cheese and bake. Almost done!
If you’d prefer a one pot pasta, be sure to check out my creamy Italian turkey pasta next.
Ingredient Notes for Step 3
If you’ve tried my Cajun Sausage Pasta Bake, you’ll be familiar with the light alfredo and marinara combo. There are dairy-free alfredo options out there, but you could also omit and use more marinara in its place.
Other alfredo replacements might be a low fat ricotta like I used in my Beef Cannelloni recipe or the blended cottage cheese and alfredo sauce I used to make my high protein lasagna.
For the pasta, you could use a lower carb option like the Banza chickpea shells I used for my Taco Pasta Bake.
Step 4: Top with Shredded Mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano and Bake for 15-20 Minutes
Ingredient notes for step 4: Use freshly grated cheese if possible. Regular parmesan is a fine substitute for the parmigiano reggiano, but the later packs a bit more flavor in the small amount used (in my opinion). Feel free to use other pasta-friendly cheese options. And in case you’re wondering, cutting the mozzarella in half to save some calories and fat should work fine.
Bonus tip: Serve this pasta bake with some of my parmesan bread twists or cheesy garlic air fryer bread (you can bake it, too)!
If you have questions about making this Italian sausage and veggie pasta bake, you can leave a comment below. And I always appreciate your feedback. Let me know your thoughts in a recipe review or snap a pic and tag me on Instagram.
Italian Sausage and Veggie Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp 16g Olive Oil
- 8 oz Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced
- 1 large, 175g Red Bell Pepper, sliced
- 1 large, 300g Zucchini, cubed or sliced
- 8 oz Cherry Tomatoes
- 4 cloves Garlic, minced
- 4 Chicken Sausage Links, sliced*
- Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
For the Pasta Bake
- 8 oz Barilla Protein+ Farfalle
- 1/2 C 125g Marinara
- 1/2 C 125g Light Alfredo Sauce
- 3/4 C 84g Shredded Mozzarella
- 1/4 C 28g Shredded Parmesan Reggiano
- 1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper, optional
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 400F and begin bringing salted water up to a boil for cooking the pasta. Cook the pasta for 6 minutes once the water comes to a boil.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the mushrooms, zucchini, and red bell pepper to the skillet. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken sausage, garlic, and cherry tomatoes to the skillet. Stir and sauté another 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and add the marinara, light alfredo sauce, and cooked pasta. Stir everything together and top with the mozzarella, parmesan, and crushed red pepper.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
I was happily surprised by how much I liked the flavor of this dish. I was worried about the combination of marinara and light Alfredo sauce. But my husband and I both thought it was excellent! I omitted the mushrooms and used a can of diced tomatoes instead of cherry and it was perfect.
Subbing for Celiac
This was another amazing pasta recipe. I used Banza instead of Barilla – If you wanted you could use Jovial GF bow ties, but the marcos aren’t as good. I said this in the cajun recipe review I left, but I used Classico for the light alfredo for this one too and it worked amazing.
Subbing for Celiac
This was another amazing pasta recipe. I used Banza instead of Barilla – If you wanted you could use Jovial GF bow ties, but the marcos aren’t as good. I said this in the cajun recipe review I left, but I used Classico for the light alfredo for this one too and it worked amazing.
This is a new staple in my weekly rotation! It fits my macros and my husbands appetite 😉 it’s super simple given you use pre-cooked sausage and can easily tweak the veggies based off what’s in your fridge. I love that all Mason’s recipes are free and I don’t have to buy a eBook. Not that I mind financially supporting, but it’s easier to pull up the recipe on the web than it is flip through an ebook. Thanks, Mason!
There has definitely times I make supper and my husband has been like.. what is that? My husband loves filling meals and this recipe was right up his ally. I did change out the pasta to Bonza but really it’s whatever pasta you like. I would hit the print or the save as button on this recipe. You will come back it for sure!
I absolutely love this recipe!! I literally make it every week. The only things I have changed is I use chicken sausage, cannned diced tomatoes instead of cherry and spaghetti squash instead of pasta. Its so good!
This recipe is so good. It makes a lot of food! Love all the veggies in this dish. And the serving size is huge!! It is a new favorite at my house 🙂
The Divine aroma of the Italian sausage, vegetables, and marinara are comforting. This is a super easy recipe to make low calorie, low carb, or keto! The versatility makes it a go-to family meal. Serve sausage & veggies over spaghetti squash or zucchini, or add a crusty sliced baguette, or extra cheese. A simple crowd pleaser!
I made this without mushrooms and with Banza pasta, and we all loved it ! My parents were visiting and they asked for the recipe afterwards!
I’ve only made this once but I’ve been itching to make it again. It is so flavorful, I love the tomatoes. It also isn’t super calorically dense so it leaves room for dessert for the day!