This Italian Sausage Bow Tie Pasta is easy – and reminds me of something you would get at an Italian restaurant. Our family loves it … and I hope yours does too!
Italian Sausage Bow Tie Pasta
Brian and I had our first “date” at Olive Garden. At the time, Brian lived out of town, so he had a little further to go to get to that Olive Garden than I did. Or so I thought. I arrived early and decided to sit in my car and wait for him to arrive (which wasn’t a long wait). We talked to each other on the phone while he was driving into town … and I guess he missed the part about telling me he was in the parking lot – because he snuck up on me … and gave me a mini heart attack by knocking on my window.
After giving him a hard time, we went inside and enjoyed a nice meal together … and talked a lot! I absolutely love that we can talk for hours and hours …. and we have the cell phone bills to prove it. ?
A little surprise
Towards the end of the date, when they bring the check – they also bring you those little Andes mints. I may have flicked one of those mints at him (imagine elementary school – when you flicked the paper football through your friend’s hands that were the “uprights”), which totally caught him off guard. He had no idea it was coming, and it hit him in the chest. The look on his face was priceless. I like to believe that’s when we both knew it was love. ? He also learned a crucial lesson that day about his future wife – always expect the unexpected! And sometimes, I play too much! ? Hehehe.
My husband loves Italian food. It’s probably his favorite. From time to time, I like to surprise him with dishes I know he’ll like. This Italian Sausage Bow Tie Pasta is an easy one! It reminds me of something you would get at an Italian restaurant.
Italian Sausage Bow Tie Pasta is full of perfectly cooked pasta in a creamy tomato sauce with plenty of chopped spinach and chunks of spicy or sweet Italian sausage. It’s bound to be a new family favorite.
Recipe for Italian Sausage Bow Tie Pasta
- bow tie pasta
- olive oil
- Italian sausage
- red pepper flakes
- onion
- garlic
- Italian-style plum tomatoes
- heavy cream
- spinach
- fresh parsley
How to make Bow Tie Pasta and Italian Sausage recipe:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions; drain.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet add the olive oil then cook and crumble the sausage and red pepper flakes over medium-high heat until cooked through and browned. Add onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is tender. Add the tomatoes and heavy cream. Simmer until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Add the spinach and cook an additional 3 minutes. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.
A few tips for Italian Sausage with Bow Tie Pasta:
- Use whatever kind of Italian sausage you prefer – mild, sweet, or hot. You can even use turkey Italian sausage if you prefer! I usually use mild because of personal preference.
- If you buy the Italian sausage with casings, be sure to cut the casings open and use the ground meat.
- No heavy cream? For every 1 cup of heavy cream, melt 1/4 cup of butter and slowly whisk in 3/4 cup milk. This works for most recipes that require heavy cream, but it will not whisk into stiff peaks.
- Leftovers are great reheated for lunch the next day!
Other recipes you may enjoy
Italian Sausage Bow Tie Pasta
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 oz bow tie pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage casings removed
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- ½ cup diced onion
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 can Italian-style plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped 28 oz.
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 cup packed spinach leaves cut into thin strips
- Fresh parsley minced (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet add the olive oil then cook and crumble the sausage and red pepper flakes over medium-high heat until cooked through and browned. Add onion and garlic. Cook until onion is tender.
- Add the tomatoes and heavy cream. Simmer until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Add the spinach and cook an additional 3 minutes. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.
Notes
- Use whatever kind of Italian sausage you prefer – mild, sweet, or hot. You can even use turkey Italian sausage if you prefer! I usually use mild because of personal preference.
- If you buy the Italian sausage with casings, be sure to cut the casings open and use the ground meat.
- Leftovers are great reheated for lunch the next day!
Nutrition
Please note that the nutritional information listed on this page is an estimation based on the products I used. Ingredients and nutritional information can vary significantly between brands. Always be sure to read labels. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Likewise, recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them.
Originally published on September 6, 2012. Updated on May 9, 2020.
Jamie this is such a sweet post.
Love Italian!
This recipe is sure to be prepared for my man tooo.
ps I also just "pin" to my recipes
Thank you 🙂
I love Italian sausage! And, I live off pasta, this dish is perfect, cant wait to try it.
Sounds yummy! Pinned.
Great story Jamie! Your recipe for the bowtie pasta sounds delicious! I love all the ingredients and make one very similar but since I like changing things up sometimes, this will be perfect!
I love creamy pasta dishes! Thanks for sharing again at Foodie Friends Friday! Cindy
Hi Jamie,
I will just love this dish, it has a great flavor combination. Hope you are having a fabulous weekend and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
This looks delish! What great flavors. Thanks for sharing at Church Supper. Have a blessed week & come back soon~EMM
This looks AMAZING! And I have all the ingredients in the house. This is going to be on table this week. Thanks so much for sharing over at Hunk of Meat Monday!
Love Olive Garden….cute story :). Thanks so much for sharing this at Must Try Monday. It looks great!
I make a dish almost exactly like this – it's one of my favorites.
Great story! Thanks for sharing. Also YUM on the pasta. I've just started using Italian sausage with pasta dishes and I love it!
Michelle
Oh my, this looks like one I need to try soon!! Thanks so much for linking up to Tasty Thursdays on The Mandatory Mooch!! I hope you will link up again. The party will be live tonight. http://www.mandatorymooch.blogspot.com
Thanks, Nichi
I know my family would love this. And spinach is something I'm just nuts over. Thank you for sharing with See Ya In the Gumbo. I'm happy to have this recipe!
Could mozzarella cheese be added in to make this more creamy/cheesy?
Absolutely!
Pasta dishes are probably my favorite dish.Thank you for this recipe.
What a fun and sweet story about your first Olive Garden trip!!! We love a good pasta dish here, so I can't wait to try this one.
Y'all are too cute! And this meal sounds great!
Thanks for linking it to Mom's Test Meal Mondays! 🙂
Any substitute of heavy cream ?
For every 1 cup of heavy cream, melt 1/4 cup of butter and slowly whisk in 3/4 cup milk. This works for most recipes that require heavy cream, but it will not whisk into stiff peaks.
This was FANTASTIC!!!! Ever better then I imagined! Thank you for the great recipe!!
Simple and delicious meal! Everyone loved it, even the kiddos. Definitely making this again.
This was delicious! I didn’t have heavy cream so I used 1/4 c of butter and 1 1/4 c Half n half. I used fire roasted diced tomatoes. Didn’t think it would be tasty but it was. Simple recipe. Thanks
This was delicious! Super easy and looks like an elegant dish. I couldn’t find the Italian style plum tomatoes so I used cans of diced basil/garlic/oregano tomatoes. And also topped it off with shredded Parmesan cheese. My family absolutely loved this. Thanks so much!
i added parmesan cheese and some cream cheese–excellent
This was delicious & easy to make! My family loved it! I didn’t have enough bowtie pastas I added fettuccini ?
I used less tomatoes and added mor red pepper flakes. And omitted spinach. Also topped with Parmesan cheese. Was very good
Love this recipe, easy and very tasty. I kept everything the same except the pasta, I used Orecchiette became
That’s what I had on hand.
Yum! My husband says this is one of my better homemade pasta dishes and I agree. I halved the recipe for two and still have leftovers. I used a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano. I also added sweet red peppers and some fresh mushrooms to the skillet. It doesn’t take long to prepare either!
Easy to make and very yummy.
I cooked this for dinner tanight AMAZING
Thank you for sharing
Do you think I could add a mixture of parmigiana cheese and fresh mozzarella to the top and it be good? Trying this tonight for the first time.
Sure! I think that sounds great!
Great recipe. My kids enjoyed it. I added shredded parm cheese to help thicken sauce.
Oh!
Fairly easy to make, I added Italian green beans- kept the spinach. I was dubious about the red pepper flakes, but they only added another flavor layer…. not too much “heat”. I cooked sausage links, then cut them into bite size pieces as opposed to “crumbling”. Also, concerned using the heavy cream, but it incorporated and held all yummies together. This recipe is definitely a delicious KEEPER… Thank You.
“warning”
This recipe makes a TON OF good eating!!!
PURE HEAVEN!!
This recipe was super easy and fast! Perfect blend of ingredients. I didn’t have bow tie pasta on hand so I substituted with penne pasta. This one is a hit and will be added as a regular dish in our family! 😊
This was a hit. I added diced yellow pepper and sliced fresh mushrooms along with the onion & diced garlic. I didn’t have plum tomatoes so I substituted a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes. LOVED this recipe.
I’ve made this several times and just love it!! The only thing I’ve used that’s different is the tomatoes. I use 2 smaller cans of diced tomatoes. This is definitely a keeper!
This was delicious! I made it in my instant pot. Browned the sausage/garlic/onions; added the tomatoes and pasta; and about 1c water. High pressure 5 min, QR, then turned to sautés; adding spinach and 1/2 evaporated milk. Finished with fresh grated Parmesan. Really good, like you said restaurant quality!!! Will be in rotation!
This is my family’s new favorite pasta recipe and that is saying something because my youngest child says “Pasta is life.”
This is a delish and quick week night meal. Topped ours with fresh Parm. Loved it thank you for sharing!!
This was great!!!! I made it for the first time tonight and my husband and I ate way more than we should have!!! Thanks for sharing such a delicious meal!!!! I made it with Bob Evans Italian Sausage!
I don’t have fresh spinach, can I use frozen?
Yes! Be sure to let it thaw and ring out as much of the liquid as you can before using it! 🙂
This was really good! Used Italian Chicken sausage and cut back on the red pepper flakes. Quick and easy, will definitely be making again! Thank You!!
This has become one of my family’s favorite dishes! Thank you! To make it easier (and I REALLY am bad about taking time to measure accurately), I just used a 10 oz bag of spinach, and I lessened the cream and just added a splach of broth so I wouldn’t feel so bad when I add some cheese to the top. 🙂
Thanks, Shirene! I appreciate the feedback and I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe!
Just made this for my family for the first time, and it was sooooooo delicious! Everyone loved it. 🙂
Looking forward to making this for my hubby’s birthday dinner.
I hope y’all enjoy it!
This came out really good!!
I just read through the comments before asking my question. Could you substitute green peas instead of the spinach? I like the spinach, but the green peas would add an additional flavor.
Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
I’m sure that would be fine. If you try it that way, I would love to hear your thoughts.
I think this would be a great recipe to add diced zucchini and/or yellow squash to. It would be very colorful as well as delicious!
I think those would be great additions!
This turned out beautifully! I added in corn and peas, upped the red pepper flakes to 1 tsp, and coated chicken, instead of sausage, with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
Love! Made this as a surprise dinner for my guy (bow tie pasta is his favorite), and both him and I were over the moon about it! We actually had it twice in one night it was so good!
It was inexpensive and impressively delicious. I would suggest prepping/cutting up all the veggies before you start cooking because cook time goes surprisingly fast. Plus if you do this you can put on a Netflix show or movie and watch while you prep/cook. Makes it a little more fun!
I chose mild Italian sausage because he likes it mild but if it were my taste buds only I’d use spicy Italian sausage and put in extra red pepper flakes.
Pro Tip: Take the time to slice the spinach in thin strips like Jamie suggests. I know that part’s a little tedious but its worth it because it doesn’t clump when cooked. Also if you like tomatoes, don’t be afraid to maybe add a little extra of the canned tomatoes and maybe a little less creme if you’re trying to cut back on cream. I’m going to try this next time 🙂 (but I also have a little obsession with tomatoes so that’s totally personal preference).
Great for left overs! Great recipe! Thank you Jamie for taking the time to create and share!
Thanks so much for the feedback, Morgan! I appreciate it and I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
Yummmm! Thank you for posting/sharing this recipe! We love it!
It’s amazing
This was a hit. Which is rare. 😆🤦♀️
Adjustments I made:
– 8 oz chickpea rotini instead of 12 oz bow tie
– 1 cup cream instead of 1.5 cups (less pasta)
– Baked in a pan in the oven for 20min at 350
I would double the spinach next time. I used half a 5 oz box box, but looked like I could have hid more in there. 🍃
This was such an easy and delicious recipe! My family loved and it and I enjoyed how easy it was to whip up. Will definitely be a go to recipe in my house.
I’ve made this recipe once before and it was very good. Do you think it would turn out just as good if I used ground beef instead of sausage?
I think so. You might want to season your ground beef since it won’t have any of the spices like the sausage.
This recipe was AH-MAZING! It was creamy and flavorful deliciousness! The whole family loved it! And an extra bonus….SUPER EASY! DINNER IN 30min.
I made this yesterday for the first time for dinner. I used stewed tomatoes instead of dried tomatoes as that was what I had, I USED BABY SPINACH, It was delicious and my husband loved it. I would probably cut this in half next time as it was way to mush for the 2 of us. Definitely a hit
Jamie,
Thanks for sharing…turned out great. I substituted the red pepper flakes with julienned cut Red Pepper’s instead. Turned out wonderfully and disappeared before I could get any leftovers for lunch the next day; everyone loved it as much as I did, unfortunately for me of course. Thanks again.
Added 3 cheese blend and more seasoning to the finished product – overall it taste good!
I added a handful of a Parmesan Mozzarella blend to the finished dish and mixed it in so that it thickened the mixture. Outstanding recipe!!
This is such a good easy recipe. It’s my go to to take to someone when they have a baby. It’s delicious and easy and reheats well. I Love it and everyone else always loves it too.
Could I use sun dried tomatoes instead?
Sure! They would be delicious!
This was wonderful, added it to a monthly rotation of dinners.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe. My husband and I love this. Make it regularly. It’s absolutely delicious!!
Great recipe! I added some shredded Italian cheese & it was perfect!
Was bland upon first taste, but the flavors intensify the longer it all sits together. I added zucchini for more veggies for the kids and topped with parm – parsley addition is also another nice layer of flavor. Can’t wait to have it for leftovers for lunch – WAY too much bowtie though, even after adding the extra veggies – I’d use 3/4 pound of pasta instead of a full pound (unless the bowties I purchased were just larger than usual – no options at the store other than stupid expensive huge bowties!)
We love this recipe! I shared with my sister and she really loves it!
This is one of my favorite dishes to make !! It’s easy and delicious !
We found this recipe from pinterest and have been making it once or twice a month for over a year now. It is SO good, one of our absolute favorites, even my picky husband’s absolute fave recipe. He asks for it all the time. We sub the plum tomatoes for petite diced canned tomatoes and we add some mozzarella at the end. I share the link with anyone who needs a good pasta dish! Thanks so much