Italian Sausage Pasta with Broccoli
This easy recipe for pasta with Italian sausage and broccoli is flavorful and dairy-free. It’s ready in 30 minutes which makes it great for weeknight dinners! Try it with bow tie pasta or penne.
Here’s my super long story before the recipe:
This morning I found this article (via Joy the Baker) from Thought Catalog called I’m Sick of Summer. It completely sums up how I feel about summer, especially since we’re in the middle of a heatwave right now.
Except, I don’t have to deal with the monotony of year-round job and I do have the excitement of a new hockey season each fall to remind me that something new is coming. But really, this is the reason I look forward to fall every year.
This recipe is totally unrelated to being sick of summer. I have no interesting story to tell you about pasta with Italian sausage and broccoli, other than saying that I love this meal.
I used to make it all the time, but somehow I forgot all about it. It’s been forever, but it’s just as delicious as I remember it. And, I now I’ve made it dairy free.
This recipe would be great with: tomato bruschetta / strawberry poppyseed salad / chocolate chip cookie bars
Ingredients:
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
- Italian sausage – Mild, spicy or sweet. You can use whatever Italian sausage style you prefer. I normally use sweet because I love that extra fennel flavor.
- Nutritional yeast – This is my dairy free alternative for parmesan cheese in this recipe. It blends nicely into the “sauce”, but you can use vegan parmesan (or if you can have dairy, feel free to use cheese).
- Broccoli – Fresh broccoli is best here. If you need to use frozen, it will not need as long to cook. I would only add it in the last two minutes or so.
Melissa’s tips for recipe success:
- My trick for adding fresh broccoli to any pasta dish – instead of cooking the broccoli separately, add it to the pot about 4-5 minutes before the pasta is supposed to be done (check the package instructions). Strain the pasta and the broccoli together, and you’ll have less dishes to do.
Frequently asked questions
More pasta recipes you’ll love: sesame noodles / butternut squash pasta sauce / penne bolognese / shrimp fettuccine / pasta fresca
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage (casings removed)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 pound farfalle pasta
- 1 head broccoli (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (*see notes)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta. In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil for the pasta. Cook the farfalle according to package directions, adding the broccoli to the pot 4 minutes before straining.
- Brown the sausage. Heat a large, nonstick skillet to medium-high. Add the sausage meat and brown, breaking it into small pieces. Continue cooking, stirring as needed until the sausage is golden brown and caramelized.
- Make the sauce. Add olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper. Reduce heat and continue cooking until the pasta is ready. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before straining the pasta and broccoli.
- Toss everything together. Add broccoli and farfalle to the skillet – adding 1/4 cup of pasta water at a time until the sauce has reached the right consistency. Stir in the nutritional yeast before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe inspired by Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes.
Hi! For step 3, where am I adding the oil, garlic and red pepper to? The sausage, I’m assuming? Thanks!
Yes. Just add it into the pan with the sausage!
We liked this recipe. I did tweak the recipe by adding 1/4c of Miyokos plain cream cheese at the end of the recipe. Yummy.
Your guess is right
WHY do you need the yeast and what doesn’t it do ?
The yeast just adds a savory, cheesy flavor to the recipe, but you can totally skip it if you don’t already have it!
We didn’t add the yeast we made our own Alfredo sauce and added it instead.
That sounds great!
Made this last night for my family. (Got 2 kids aged 4 and 1). Overall it went over very well!
I wish the sauce was a bit, saucier. Seemed like the flavour was really in the sausage, but didn’t transfer to the pasta. Maybe I did something wrong?
*Note: I don’t have nutritional yeast, we just topped ours with some fresh Parm.
This was so good! First time using nutritional yeast and I really liked the texture it added. My family of 5 (including two 12 year olds and a 16 year old) all loved it! I did add a little extra olive oil, but will definitely make again.
I’m confused to how much olive oil to add. Is it 3 tablespoons? Why does it says 3 tablespoons cup..
I’m so sorry. That was a typo. Thank you for bringing it to my attention! It’s fixed now.
If I wanted to use the peccorino cheese how much would i use?
About 1/4 cup!
My husband and I made this dish tonight. We loved it. Substituted Parmesan for yeast. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I really liked this simple recipe but I need tweak it some. I added more garlic and a couple more T. Of olive oil. I also used only 3/4 lb pasta because as I was mixing everything together it appeared like the pound was too much. I did use all the pasta water that was recommended. I also added ore cheese as I tossed the pasta.
We’ve made this twice now. Used parmesan instead of yeast & added chopped onions & sliced mushrooms. Next time I think we’ll have grated courgette too. Great recipe & easy to add extra veggies.
Is the Nutrional Yeast mandatory for this recipe? Never heard of it, or used it in the past.
Thank you.
No. It’s not! It just adds a cheesy flavor to the dish. I used it in place of parmesan cheese.
Very good! Loved the Nutritional Yeast in it. Just right. I did use the whole cup of water.
Will definitely make this again!
What is nutritional yeast
I’m in Aus.
What is nutritional yeast? Is it the same as bread-making yeast?
Nutritional yeast is NOT the same as bread making yeast. It is a substitute for a cheesy flavor if you are cooking dairy free. I am not a big fan of it so I added it to the “sauce” instead of on top. It really helped the flavor. You can always switch it out and use other dry cheeses such as parm for recipes that call for it (that are savory!).
What is nutritional yeast and where do you get it?
As another person said, it seemed like the sausage and the pasta didn’t flow together. I think it was the lack of sauce. Not bad but I probably won’t make it again.
Made this tonight but gluten free. Used GF rotini, and substituted spinach and tomato for broccoli. Excellent change up to our Wednesday dinner. Thanks.
This was so good! I’ve been trying to use less oil, so I subbed 3 tablespoons of aquafaba, and it came out perfectly. I also added in about half a jar of roasted red peppers I had lying around. I’ll definitely be adding this to my rotation.
What is the serving size?
One serving is about 1 ½ cups when the pasta is cooked.
Loved this as it was very easy. Next time, I will add the broccoli with only 2 minutes to go in the cooking process as I found the broccoli to be overcooked. I also added twice as much red pepper flakes to spice things up.
Hi I am going to be making this recipe with the next few days and I was wondering how much of the pecorino cheese I would need thank you
We loved this dish! I made this as written only adding three TBS of butter at the end of cooking to add a little richness. My hubby raved about this! I will definitely be adding this to my rotation!
I can’t pin this recipe!
So tasty!
Great recipe. Very easy and turned out great. Only thing I added was sautéed onions while browning the Italian sausage.
I was surprised at now good this was. Thanks for sharing, I’ll make this dish again.
This was wonderful! I added sun dried tomatoes, Trader Joe’s black garlic & Soffritto Seasoning blend. My husband had too go gluten & dairy free & he loved it. Will definitely make again!
Is the nutritional yeast necessary?
We use nutritional yeast as a substitute for grated parmesan cheese in our house. So, no it is not necessary for the recipe, you can skip it or try using vegan parmesan shreds instead.
I have made this so many times. It is delicious. My only sub is parmesan for the nutritional yeast as I always have parm on hand. Wonderful week night meal that comes together quickly. After making it a few times, I felt like my big cast iron skillet was finally seasoned enough to toss it all together in that pan and oh my, it got even better!!! Thank you 🙂
Great, simple weeknight meal. It’s a great recipe to start with as so much can be done with it. I added onions for a couple minutes before adding in garlic. Also, added broccoli to sausage mixture to cook instead of boiling it. Loved the spice from red peppers. Definite hit with the family. Will make again!
I really liked it! I expected it to be kind of dry without a “sauce” but I wasn’t really missing a sauce because it was so flavorful! I subbed turkey sausage and also did parmesan instead of the yeast. Super easy, quick weeknight dinner!
Made this for dinner tonight. It was very flavorful. I halved the recipe as it was two of us. You know how pasta absorbs the liquid then it’s kinda of dry the next day. Halving was a good decision. I followed suggestions on timing of broccoli and onion addition. My addition was a generous pinch of fresh herbs to oil. I understand adding the pasta water to your desired consistency, I added one cup to half the recipe and thought it was just right in turns of sauce consistency. Thanks for this simple yet flavorful pasta dinner.
Could I use chickpea pasta?
You can use whatever pasta you like. Follow the package instructions for al denté and the recipe should work just fine!
This is a staple in our home! I’m dairy free so I love this option with nutritional yeast. Sooo good, the whole fam loves
I was a little hesitant but this turned out great. Unfortunately I had to leave out the red pepper flakes for our kids. I’m not the biggest fan of italian sausage but I will be trying this again, possibly with ground turkey or leaving out the meat and serving it with grilled chicken on top. Plenty of ways to play around with it!
Tasteless 🙁 I was really excited to give this recipe a try and I have a newly discovered dairy intolerance. It wasn’t very good and I will not be making it again.
I have made this delicious recipe several times and will definitely make again…so quick and easy! My husband and I are the only ones in our home. Rather than half the recipe, is it ok to freeze the leftovers?
We eat organic only so We made this with all organic ingredients and brown rice and quinoa penne. I accidentally overdosed on Chili flakes but simple, delicious skilet dinner recipe and will definitely make again.
My family really enjoyed it. I made it with Italian chicken sausage with kale. Made sure I really crisped it up! I messed up though and added the olive oil with the sausage but it didn’t make a difference. Used the pasta water and added Parmesan cheese at the end along with some shaved Parmesan on top before serving. Delicious.
We make this about once a week. It’s foolproof and delicious. I measure it all with my heart and it turns out great every time. It’s not meant to be saucy.
Great dish! I’ve made this dish twice now and it always turns out perfectly! I, like other commenters, sub with Parmesan cheese.
Good work in this Blog & amazing info with fantastic quality.
Delicious and easy. I also appreciate how versatile the recipe can be. I put more pasta water than the recipe suggested to make a bit more of a sauce and so reheats a bit better.