This all-in-one Vegetable Sausage Pasta Bake is comfort food that the entire family will love! It’s loaded with deep rich meaty flavors from the browned ground sausage, with saucy penne pasta, hearty veggies, and melted mozzarella cheese!
This pasta bake is assembled in a casserole dish and baked until bubbling through. It’s a great way to get the family to enjoy their daily dose of vegetables without any fuss!
Jump to:
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- This vegetable sausage pasta bake is comfort food at its best! It’s sure to be loved by the whole family as a midweek meal and is great for potlucks too!
- Pasta bake is extremely versatile with simple ingredient swaps to suit the preferences of those you’re serving.
- It’s a great make-ahead meal since it freezes well. Make sure to keep one or two of these sausage pasta bakes in the freezer for the busy holidays!
This hearty and satisfying vegetable sausage pasta bake is a quick and easy dish that’s loaded with meaty goodness, saucy pasta, healthy veggies, and melted cheese!
🛒 Ingredients
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Note: The full list of this Italian Sausage Pasta Bake recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are listed in the recipe card below.
- Penne pasta - may use your favorite short pasta
- Italian ground sausage -- use hot or mild.
- Butter -- if using salted butter use additional salt sparingly.
- Olive oil
- Yellow onion - medium size
- Carrot - medium size
- Dried oregano
- Salt
- Pepper
- Zucchini - small size
- Fresh mushrooms - may use either the white button or crimini variety.
- Fresh garlic -- 6 cloves
- Tomato sauce
- Jar pasta sauce with meat flavoring
- Mozzarella cheese
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Preheat the oven, grease the casserole dish, and cook the pasta until al dente.
- Add the ground sausage to a large skillet and brown it while breaking it into crumbly pieces.
- Drain the fat from the pan and remove the sausage. Then add in butter and olive oil, followed by the carrot, onion, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook while stirring until the vegetables are tender.
- Now add the zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic, and cook while stirring until the vegetables are tender.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, pasta sauce, and sausage. Mix well.
- Add the cooked pasta to a baking dish.
- Add the saucy meat and veggies to the pasta in the baking dish, making sure everything is well mixed.
- Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over the pasta and filling.
- Bake the dish until golden brown and the cheese is melted. Allow the pasta bake to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with minced parsley.
🔪 Equipment
The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
You’ll need the following items to make this Italian Sausage Pasta Bake recipe successfully.
🤔 FAQs
These are the questions we are most frequently asked about making this recipe.
Absolutely! You could easily use ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey instead. You could also use crumbled raw sausage in this dish. Whatever you choose to use, make sure that you brown your meat first so that it’s completely cooked and adds delicious flavor to the rest of the pasta bake.
While you don’t want overcooked pasta, it’s best to cook the pasta separately first before adding it to the other pasta bake ingredients as there’s insufficient cooking time and cooking liquid to properly cook the pasta through if you were to add it dry to the casserole dish.
This pasta bake can accommodate those sensitive to gluten by using gluten-free pasta instead of regular whole-wheat pasta.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- This pasta bake isn’t spicy but you could introduce some heat by using spicy ground sausage or adding in some cayenne pepper.
- Use this pasta bake as a convenient way to use up leftover veggies in your fridge and kitchen. It’s an extremely versatile dish.
- This vegetable sausage pasta bake can be made ahead of time, without the shredded cheese topping, and stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Bring it to room temperature and then top it with fresh cheese before baking.
- The pasta will continue to cook after it has boiled and while in the oven. That’s why I recommend that you cook your pasta al dente otherwise it may get mushy.
- You can use store-bought pasta sauce or make your own from scratch for this pasta bake.
- While any type of pasta can work in this pasta bake, I always opt for the tubular type like penne pasta so that the sauce and cheese can cling to it better.
- Double this recipe if you are feeding a crowd. You can either assemble the ingredients in two separate casserole dishes to be baked in batches or you can use a much larger casserole dish if you have one.
📚 Variations
- I’ve used Italian ground sausage in this pasta bake but you can use any type of ground sausage that you prefer.
- Make this pasta dish vegetarian by removing the ground sausage and increasing veggies such as the mushrooms to provide that meaty taste. You could also use vegan-friendly ground meat as well although it may alter the taste of the dish slightly.
- This pasta bake is a great excuse to load in some hearty and nutritious veggies into the mix. Consider adding in different kinds of vegetables that your family will love such as bell peppers, corn, aubergine, and even spinach.
- Create a level of decadence to this pasta bake by folding in a few tablespoons of heavy cream or creme fraiche just before adding the shredded mozzarella topping and placing the casserole dish in the oven.
- Go ahead and use a different cheese in this pasta bake. Make sure that whatever you opt for melts well. You could use one type of cheese or even a combination of different cheeses such as cheddar, feta, and goat's cheese.
- Other delicious topping options include a sprinkle of breadcrumbs or freshly sliced cherry tomato halves in addition to the shredded cheese.
🥫 Storage
Leftover vegetable sausage pasta bake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave or a few minutes reheat in the oven, covered with foil, for 15 minutes at 350F.
You also have the option of freezing this pasta bake for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat just prior to serving.
📗 Related Recipes
Pasta bakes are often simple to assemble yet loaded with incredible flavor and texture, just like my Vegetable Sausage Pasta Bake turned out to be. If you love pasta bakes, then you should also treat yourself to my Ziti Al Forno or Baked Spaghetti Pie.
🍽 Serve with
Garlic bread and pasta bake are a match made in heaven which is why I recommend pairing these together.
If you’d prefer something lighter, consider a leafy green salad as a side dish to go with your serving of pasta bake.
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
Pasta bakes are close to my heart! Not only do they make easy and delicious meals for the family but they can be adapted to suit dietary and taste preferences with simple ingredient swaps. I always have a backup pasta bake in my freezer for those busy holidays or in case I get unexpected guests.
Another bonus…leftovers taste even better the next day once reheated!
If you love Pasta Bakes as much as we do, you'll love this company worthy one, it's our Mushroom Baked Rigatoni with Kale Gremolata. This dish is amazing and be prepared for everyone to ask for the recipe!
What's new? Check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We'll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make cooking fun and easy.
📝 Recipe Card
Vegetable Sausage Pasta Bake provides quick and easy comfort food, loaded with meaty-rich flavors, saucy pasta, healthy veggies, and melted cheese! Serve it with warm garlic bread or a light leafy green salad.
If you're family is craving a cheese stuffed pasta casserole, then you have to make our Giant Cheese Stuffed Shells. They are easy to make ahead and even freeze. See if your family doesn't request this recipe often.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
📖 Recipe
Potluck Italian Vegetable Sausage Pasta Bake
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Penne Pasta
- 16 ounces Italian ground sausage
- 1 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 1 Medium-size Onion finely chopped
- `1 Medium-size Carrot finely chopped
- 1½ teaspoons Dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- 1 Small zucchini halved lengthwise and sliced
- 1 cup Fresh mushrooms (White button or Crimini) chopped
- Fresh garlic 6 cloves minced
- 15 ounce Can Tomato Sauce
- 14 ounce Jar Pasta sauce with meat flavoring
- 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese (part-skim or whole milk) shredded
- Fresh Parsley Optional, minced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Grease or vegetable spray a 9X13-inch baking dish.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente.
- Drain the pasta and pour it into the prepared baking dish.
- In a large skillet, cook the sausage, breaking it up into small crumbly pieces, over medium until no longer pink, about 6-8 minutes.
- Drain the fat from the pan. Transfer the sausage to a plate.
- In the same skillet, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion, carrot, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook while stirring until the vegetables are tender, about 6- 8 minutes.
- Now add the zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic, and cook while stirring until the vegetables are tender, for about another 6-8 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, pasta sauce and sausage. Mix well then pour the sauce mixture over the pasta.
- Sprinkle the top of the casserole with mozzarella cheese.
- Cover the casserole with goil coated in cooking spray. BAke for 10 minutes.
- Uncover and bake until golden brown and the cheese is melted, for about 15-20 minutes.
- Let the pasta casserole stand at room temperature for at least 10 minutes.
- Garnish with the minced parsley and serve!
Comments
No Comments