This cheesy Italian sausage pasta combines the best of two delicious worlds into one tasty pasta bake. Al dente noodles with alfredo sauce, meat sauce, and a hefty layer of mozzarella cheese to create a hearty pasta bake that ticks all the comfort food boxes.
Growing up, our mom made all kinds of recipes for lunches and dinners. We’re foodies because she’s a foodie, which means we were exposed to lots and lots of different flavors and ethnic foods.
While we love just about everything, there’s one kind of cooking that we both always think of when we think of comfort food – Italian. From pizza to spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and even soups, pretty much any Italian recipe hits the spot for us. It’s the same with this cheesy Italian sausage pasta. It combines two different classics into one tasty dish. We’d say that’s comfort food at its finest.
Why You’ll Love This Italian Sausage Pasta Bake
- Basic Ingredients: Both sauces are made with basic ingredients found in your pantry or the grocery store.
- Easy to Make: This is a simple recipe that requires minimal cooking skills. If you can use a skillet, you can make it!
- Perfect for a Crowd: Whether you’re feeding your family or need something for a potluck, this dish can feed an army!
- Versatile: You can use different meats and cheeses to change up the flavor of this dish.
Ingredients
- Ground Beef and Italian Sausage Links: A mix of ground beef and Italian sausage adds so much flavor to the sauce.
- Tomato Sauce and Paste: Tomato sauce and paste are used to create the base for the meat sauce.
- Onions: Onions add natural sweetness with a bit of a bite to the meat sauce.
- Seasonings: Slap Ya Mama, red pepper flakes, and a few other spices add deep flavor with just the right amount of heat.
- Butter and Flour: Butter and flour create the roux for a nice, thick alfredo sauce.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Heavy whipping cream makes the alfredo sauce extra-rich and silky.
- Parmesan Cheese: Parmesan cheese gives the alfredo sauce its signature flavor.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact measurements.
Flavor Variations
- Extra Spicy: Use hot Italian sausage for an extra spicy version of this recipe.
- Mild: Leave out the red pepper flakes for less heat.
- Pasta: Any short, textured pasta will work for this recipe.
- Mushrooms: Add mushrooms to the meat sauce for more flavor and an even heartier texture.
How to Make Cheesy Italian Sausage Pasta
For the Meat Sauce
1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cook the pasta according to the package for al dente. Drain and reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Set aside.
2: Cook the beef, Italian sausage, and onions in a large skillet until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are tender. Then, drain the meat and return it to the pan.
3: Add the remaining meat sauce ingredients, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
For the Alfredo Sauce
1: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes until the mixture smells nutty.
2: Add the heavy whipping cream and stir to combine. Then, add the parmesan cheese and stir until melted.
3: Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the pasta water. Cook until the sauce has thickened.
For the Pasta Bake
1: Add the noodles to the thickened alfredo sauce and stir gently.
2: Pour the alfredo mixture into a prepared 9×13 baking dish and top it with the meat sauce.
3: Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese and cook uncovered until the cheese is hot and bubbly. Enjoy!
Hint
It’s important not to overcook the noodles, or they’ll break apart when you stir them into the alfredo sauce.
Storage
Refrigerate this pasta bake for up to 4 days in an air-tight, freezer-safe container. We don’t recommend freezing this recipe because of the alfredo sauce layer. Sauces made with heavy cream almost always break when defrosted and create a grainy, watery mess.
What to Serve with Baked Pasta
Serve this hearty pasta bake with simple vegetable sides like green beans, a salad, or corn on the cob. And, of course, no Italian meal is complete without breadsticks!
For a sweet ending to the meal, serve desserts with a bright, fruity flavor to balance out the hearty, savory of the pasta bake. Things like lemon blueberry cookies, mini cherry pastries, and mini coconut cream pies all work well.
Tips
- Be sure you cook your pasta to al dente and no further. You’ll be baking this dish after adding the pasta. Overcooking the pasta initially will make it mushy by the time the recipe is finished cooking.
- Stop cooking your meat mixture as soon as it’s no longer pink. Overcooked ground meat and sausage become tough and rubbery.
- Be very gentle when spooning the meat sauce over the alfredo sauce and smoothing it out. You’re going to a nicely delineated separation between the two.
Frequently Asked Questions
Al dente translates literally to “with bite”, and that’s exactly what you’re looking for. About the time you think your pasta should be ready, remove a piece and take a bit. If the pasta is tender but still has a bit of chewiness and resistance, it’s perfectly cooked.
The biggest secret to making perfectly al dente pasta is draining it about 1 to 2 minutes BEFORE the package directions state you should. As the pasta cools, it will continue to soften, making the perfect al dente texture.
The secret to delicious alfredo sauce without a flour flavor is cooking the roux longer. Your roux is ready when it’s golden and smells a bit nutty. Be sure not to cook it longer than that, however, The longer you cook a roux, the less thickening power it has.
Creamy sauces made with dairy, especially cream or whipping cream, almost always break when defrosted, turning your recipe into a grainy, water mess.
Try This Easy Cheesy Italian Sausage Pasta Today
This cheesy Italian sausage pasta bake is easy in just about an hour, and 20 minutes of that is the baking time. That makes it the perfect recipe for a weeknight dinner or an easy addition to any party. With so much flavor and so little effort, this is one of those recipes that will become an instant staple in your recipe rotation. Give it a try. We know you’re going to love it.
More Delicious Pasta Recipes You’ll Enjoy
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Cheesy Italian Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 ounce bow tie pasta
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Meat Sauce
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound Italian sausage links, cut into ½ slices
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon slap ya mama seasoning
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- (2) 15 ounce tomato sauce
- 12 ounce tomato paste
- 1½ teaspoon oregano
- 1½ teaspoon basil
Alfredo Sauce
- ½ cup butter
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 16 ounce heavy whipping cream
- 10 ounce shredded Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ cup pasta water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Cook pasta per package directions for al dente. Retain 1 cup of pasta water. Set aside.
For the Meat Sauce
- In a large skillet or frying pan, over medium high heat, cook ground beef, Italian sausage slices, and onions until meat is no longer pink and onions are tender. Drain and return to the pan.
- Sprinkle with seasonings, stir.
- Pour tomato sauce and tomato paste into the meat mixture. Stir to combine, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
For the Alfredo Sauce
- In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter and then stir in flour.
- Pour heavy whipping cream into the pan and stir until combined.
- Add Parmesan cheese, stir until melted and add salt and pepper.
- Add pasta water to cheese sauce and stir.
- Once the sauce has thickened, add the cooked pasta to the alfredo sauce. Stir to combine.
- Pour the pasta into the prepared baking dish followed by the meat mixture on top of the pasta.
- Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until the cheese is hot and bubbly.
- Serve with a side salad and garlic bread.
Notes
- Be sure you cook your pasta to al dente and no further. You’ll be baking this dish after adding the pasta. Overcooking the pasta initially will make it mushy by the time the recipe is finished cooking.
- Stop cooking your meat mixture as soon as it’s no longer pink. Overcooked ground meat and sausage become tough and rubbery.
- Be very gentle when spooning the meat sauce over the alfredo sauce and smoothing it out. You’re going to a nicely delineated separation between the two.
