Embarrassingly Easy Chicken Sausage Pasta
Juicy chicken sausage, caramelized zucchini, and blistered cherry tomatoes come together with buttery lemon pasta for the ultimate comfort food… without the heavy lifting. This chicken sausage pasta with summer veggies is cozy but light, fresh and flavorful, and ready in 20 minutes.
Erica’s Thoughts
Welcome back to Embarassingly Easy Dinners ft Costco shortcuts! It’s episode two and we’re making pasta with chicken sausage and summer veggies. Once again, I almost feel silly sharing a recipe this simple, but in case you’d never thought about roasting up veggies and the easiest protein around and tossing them with pasta… here ya go.
Yes, this is part of my Costco series – I grab the organic chicken sausage, flavor bomb tomatoes, summer squash, organic pasta, Parmesan cheese and olive oil – but you can use any variety/brand of these ingredients from any grocery store.
The key to this simple pasta recipe is high heat, short cook time. Zucchini and tomatoes are quick to cook and what we’re going for is a blistered, caramelized exterior. While the veggies and sausage are doing their thang in the oven, boil up some pasta and toss it with a little butter, lemon zest and juice and parmesan cheese. Butter noodles meet roasted veg? Say less. I also appreciate that this dish is very balanced. In many pasta recipes, the pasta dominates. But this meal is equal parts lean protein, vibrant veggies and satisfying carbohydrates.
I reserved a portion of ‘plain’ pasta (just the butter and Parmesan) for my particular eater and she was happy to try the sausage and zucchini separately from her pasta. My other not-so-particular eater absolutely gobbled this up! So it was a major dinner success that the whole family enjoyed. I served our pasta with a Caesar side salad (with leftover romaine lettuce and Caesar dressing from episode one’s chicken caesar lettuce wraps!) and some garlic bread.
Knowing that dinner can be made in 20 minutes and that I’ll only be dirtying one pot and one sheet pan makes the dinner ‘lift’ so much less heavy. Embarassingly easy dinner FOR THE WIN.
What You’ll Need to Make Delicious Chicken Sausage Pasta:
Chicken sausage: I use the Sabatino’s Organic Basil and Cracked Pepper chicken sausage from Costco but they also carry mild Italian chicken sausages and chicken and apple sausage. You can use any brand of chicken sausage you like.
Zucchini: I usually have a garden teeming with zucchini but we moved a few months ago and a garden hasn’t been a priority this year 😭 So use up your garden zucchini if you have it or snag the summer squash from Costco!
Cherry tomatoes: Flavor bomb tomatoes on the vine are consistently juicy and flavorful.
Seasonings: You’ll need good quality extra virgin olive oil to help everything caramelize in the oven, salted butter for the pasta and kosher salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning and garlic powder to lift the overall flavors.
Short pasta: Costco carries a 6-pack of organic pasta that features casarecce, gemelli and penne pasta types – it is a staple in my house.
Lemon zest and juice: Fresh lemon juice + butter makes for the most simple, zingy, delicious pasta sauce.
Parmesan cheese: Buy a block of parmesan and grate it yourself. It’ll melt better and make the pasta dish more cohesive and flavorful.
For serving: Fresh herbs like basil or parlsey, extra grated Parmesan, lemon wedges, and a drizzle of balsamic glaze if you want! Nonna Pia’s balsamic glaze from Costco is delicious and a great price.
How to Make this Chicken Sausage Pasta Recipe:
Preheat your oven to 450°F and line a large baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment.
Toss the zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and chicken sausage with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Spread evenly on the sheet and roast for 12 minutes, switching to broil for the last 2-3 minutes to blister the tomatoes and brown the sausage.
Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of water according to package directions, 8-10 minutes, until al dente. I always like to reserve a cup of pasta water or so, just in case the pasta needs a splash, but in this case I found it didn’t need it. Drain and return to the pot.
Toss the cooked pasta with butter, lemon zest and juice, and Parmesan cheese, mixing quickly to prevent clumping. Fold in the cooked sausage and veggies.
Serve warm, topped with fresh basil, extra Parmesan, black pepper, and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.
Variation Ideas
- add a big splash of heavy cream when you add the lemon juice, butter and parmesan to make creamy chicken sausage pasta
- swap chicken sausage for chickpeas to make this vegetarian
- add a handful of baby spinach or kale at the end to sneak in extra greens
- stir in a spoonful of basil pesto for extra summery vibes
- throw in a pinch of red pepper flakes if you like a little heat
- add 1-2 cups marinara sauce for a more ‘spagetti’ feel
FAQs
Use a 100% gluten-free pasta type like brown rice or chickpea pasta.
Yes! Store leftover pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Add an ice cube or splash of water when reheating to retain moisture.
The protein game here is very loose. You could use pork sausage, sweet Italian sausage, turkey sausage, cubed chicken breast, shrimp or chickpeas instead of chicken sausage. Keep in mind though that if you alter the protein source you may need to cook it differently. Cubed chicken breast, chickpeas and shrimp you can cook on the sheet pan with the veggies but ground sausage you’ll need to brown in a large skillet and then fold it into the pasta.
Use a dairy-free butter alternative like Earth Balance and omit the Parmesan cheese. You may want to add an extra glug of olive oil or pat of butter alternative to make up for the missing richness from Parmesan.
More delicious pasta recipe ideas:
Beauty in the simplicity, y’all.
If you try and like this recipe please don’t forget to leave a comment and star rating down below! If you love more lifestyle, behind the scenes and ‘eating in real life’ type of content come find me over on Instagram, @itsaflavorfullife, I love connecting with you all there!
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Embarrassingly Easy Chicken Sausage Pasta
- Prep Time: 8 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Boil/Roast
- Cuisine: American
Description
Blistered tomatoes, caramelized zucchini, chicken sausage and lemon-Parmesan pasta – this embarassingly easy weeknight dinner is easy, flavorful, and ready in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 6 chicken sausages, sliced into rounds
- 2 zucchini, sliced into half moons
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon each kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 teaspoon each garlic powder and Italian seasoning
- 12oz short pasta
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated (about 3oz)
- for serving: fresh basil, black pepper, lemon wedges, more parmesan cheese, balsamic glaze
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease or line large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
- Arrange the zucchini, tomatoes and chicken sausage on the baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon each kosher salt and black pepper and 1 teaspoon each garlic powder and Italian seasoning.
- Roast for 12 minutes, with the final two minutes on broil. The tomatoes should be blistered and bursting and the chicken sausage and zucchini should have some golden brown caramelization.
- While the chicken sausage and veggies are roasting, boil pasta according to the package directions in a large pot of salted water.
- Drain pasta and return it to the pot. Immediately toss with 2 tablespoons butter, zest and juice of one whole lemon and 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese. Toss quickly so the parmesan doesn’t clump.
- Add the roasted chicken sausage and veggies into the pasta, tossing gently to combine.
- Serve hot with extra parmesan cheese, fresh basil, a crack of black pepper and a drizzle of balsamic glaze, if desired!
Notes
Leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
If you have leftover romaine and Caesar dressing from our first recipe in the series, use it to make a side salad! I also love this garlic bread.
See above blog post for additional thoughts, step-by-step photos, ingredient information and answers to frequently asked questions!
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups (1/6 recipe)
- Calories: 476
- Sugar: 2.7 g
- Sodium: 822.2 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.1 g
- Fiber: 2.2 g
- Protein: 27.9 g
- Cholesterol: 94.8 mg
Crazy delicious for how simple this is and a good way to use up all the summer zucchini! The lemon juice and zest really elevate it so don’t skip. I used the Al fresco brand sweet Italian chicken sausage and it turned out so yummy.
Right!? The flavor is soooo good for the minimal effort lol! Glad you loved it Emily, thanks for the review!
Soooo good! As someone who gets stressed cooking and thinks most meals are difficult I can confidently say this is easy and delicious!!!
I’m loving these recipes w/ Costco shortcuts! I made this with the Veggie Craft Rotini pasta from Costco & it was delicious & so simple. Thank you!!
This is so easy and delicious! I can always count on “It’s a flavorful life” for the best recipes.
Wow thanks Adrian, that means a lot!!
I made this tonight and it was a hit for our entire family! We loved it. I chopped all the veggies and sausage in the morning and threw it on the sheet pan when I got home from work. Took me 15-20 minutes once I got home to cook and assemble. We will definitely be making it again!
Woot woot! Thanks Corrina!
Our neighbor recently gave us zucchini, tomatoes & red onion. This recipe was perfect to use all of those up. Quick & easy. My husband & 9yr old had seconds, which means it has their stamp of approval.
Thank you for continuously sharing your recipes! I appreciate it more than you know!
Aw Kati thank YOU! Comments like these inspire me so much, so glad you and the fam loved this dinner!
Easy and delicious. Thank you!
Easy and delicious! Was able to use tomatoes and zucchini from my garden, another win!! Both my 2 y/o and 4 y/o love this meal. It’s become a bi-weekly staple. Thanks for making this series so I would be brave enough to actually try some of your recipes (and think I could make them!) 😂 now we are trying new ones and appreciate you so much Erica!!
Easy and super bright and flavorful summer dish. I used turkey kielbasa because the store was out of chicken sausages. I forgot the butter but it was still great!
I’ve made this a few times, and my entire family loves it. Even my middle daughter, who despises tomatoes, declared the tomatoes in this dish “decently bearable.” So it’s a win in my book. I use the Kirkland parmesan and cracked black pepper chicken sausages from Costco.