Baked Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage today! This easy comfort food recipe is quick and easy to make, and freezes well. You can either bake this in one larger 9″x13″ baking dish in order to have leftovers, or divide the recipe into two smaller dishes and freeze half for a quick pre-made dinner later in the month. (Here, I used a 6″x8″ and 7″x9″ dish to make one for now, one for later.)
Baked Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 lb box pasta (I used Penne, but you can use whatever you’d like — rigatoni works well, too.)
- 1 lb ground bulk Italian sausage, browned
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 jar of pasta sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, bring water to a boil, and spray a 9″x13″ baking dish (or two smaller dishes) with cooking spray. While your water is coming to a boil, gather your ingredients. Cook pasta, following directions on the box for “al dente,” and brown the sausage. When the sausage is browned, add the garlic and saute it with the sausage for a minute or so. Drain the pasta & pour the cooked pasta back into the pot. Add the pasta sauce, salt, browned sausage, and garlic to the pasta.
Mix well and pour into your prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella and bake 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees until the cheese melts.
Dinner is served!
Quick and easy, with enough for leftovers or to freeze for later: You can’t beat that on a busy weeknight! Serve this baked penne pasta with a simple green salad and garlic bread to make an entire filling and hearty meal.
If you choose to divide your dish into now-and-later portions and are planning to use the second half within the next month or so, you can simply cover with cling wrap and freeze; otherwise you’ll want to move the dish into a freezer bag or freezer-safe container for longer term freezer storage.
Easy print version
Baked Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 lb box pasta I used Penne, but you can use whatever you'd like -- rigatoni works well, too.
- 1 lb ground bulk Italian sausage browned
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 jar of pasta sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, bring water to a boil, and spray a 9"x13" baking dish (or two smaller dishes) with cooking spray.
- While your water is coming to a boil, gather your ingredients.
- Cook pasta, following directions on the box for "al dente," and brown the sausage.
- When the sausage is browned, add the garlic and saute it with the sausage for a minute or so.
- Drain the pasta & pour the cooked pasta back into the pot.
- Add the pasta sauce, salt, browned sausage, and garlic to the pasta.
- Mix well and pour into your prepared baking dish.
- Top with mozzarella and bake 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees until the cheese melts.
