I think spaghetti is a household staple dinner in nearly every American household. And likely elsewhere too. My family is disappointed if I don’t make spaghetti at least once a month. I’ve come up with my own easy sausage spaghetti recipe over the years that I think you and your family will enjoy too. Feel free to add your own spin on it and save the leftover sauce for other meals throughout the week.

What You’ll Need for Sausage Spaghetti:

Before you start cooking, you’ll need to gather all your ingredients and tools. I find preparing all of my ingredients beforehand makes for a less stressful cooking experience. Some folks like to prep as they go along, but I can’t function that way. Now, if you have another person to cook alongside of you, then do whatever saves you time but also keeps the stress levels low. Here’s what you’ll need for our easy sausage spaghetti recipe.

Ingredients:

• Mild Italian Ground Sausage (16 oz. package)
• Cento San Marzano Tomato Sauce (28 oz.) – 3 cans
• Green bell pepper – 1 cup chopped
• Onion – 1 cup chopped
• Tomato (beefsteak or vine) – 1 whole, chopped (or make it quicker with one can of diced tomatoes)
• Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
• Mushroom – 1 cup, washed and thinly sliced
• Bay leaves – 3 whole
• Italian seasoning – 2-3 tbsp
• Cinnamon – 1 tsp
• Olive oil – 1 tbsp
• Salt and Pepper
• Spaghetti – 1 package (16 oz), cooked

As for your kitchen tools, you’ll need a large stockpot for boiling the pasta, chopping board and knife, mixing bowl and spoon, large skillet and spatula/spoon.

How to Make Our Sausage Spaghetti Recipe

Remember, everyone makes their red sauce a little different from the next person. So if you feel you don’t appreciate my method or an ingredient I’m using. OR if you feel I didn’t use enough of something or not enough, you can adjust. That’s the best part about cooking. You can put your own spin on it and make it your own. We don’t have to be carbon copies of each other.

1. Prepare Your Ingredients

Like with any recipe, your first step is to prep all of your ingredients. I like to wash and chop my veggies before I do anything else. You’re going to chop your onion, bell pepper, and tomatoes then mince your garlic if not already minced. In addition, bring a large stockpot of water to a boil in which you’ll cook your pasta.

2. Boil Your Pasta

After you’ve prepared your veggies, it’s time to add the spaghetti to the water. Here’s a professional tip: salt your water with a good amount of salt…it should taste like ocean water. I learned this trick from the world renowned chef Samin Nosrat. Cook your noodles until al dente. Then drain. If you really want to make this meal Michelin-level, make your own homemade pasta beforehand.

3. Brown Your Sausage

Now, let’s get to making the sausage spaghetti sauce, shall we? Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add your Italian ground sausage, onions, and peppers. Brown the meat, which takes about ten minutes. I also like to have the onion turn transparent and the pepper soften well. Just before the next step, I add garlic and let it cook for a minute until fragrant.

4. Add Wet Ingredients & Spices

Next, we’re going to add the rest of our ingredients: the wet ingredients and spices. So pour in your tomato sauces, add the diced tomatoes, mushrooms, and all of your herbs and spices. Bring to a slight boil then turn down the heat and cover until it hits a simmer.

5. Simmer and Serve

Let your sauce simmer for at least 15-20 minutes. But I swear, the longer it simmers, the tastier it gets. Those flavors, spices, meat and veggies marinate together and create a masterpiece. Just make sure you stir it, particularly at the bottom, so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn. Be sure to taste the sauce throughout the process so you know whether to add more salt, cinnamon, oregano, etc. Serve over spaghetti, thin spaghetti, rigatoni, etc.

Use Your Sausage Spaghetti Sauce in Different Ways

Hands down the best thing about making a big pot of sausage spaghetti sauce is that you have leftovers you can eat and repurpose! Here are some ideas for saving and repurposing your sauce:

• Freeze the leftovers to use in a pinch
• Make a lasagna
• Sauce can be used in Baked Ziti
• Pour over sausage, grilled peppers and onions
• Can be used as a tomato base in a soup or stew
• Chicken parmesan
• As a dipping sauce for bread or breadsticks
• Add heavy cream and make sun dried tomato spaghetti
• Pour over stuffed peppers
• Pour over stuffed mushrooms
• Use over Italian meatloaf
• Make a vodka penne

Alternative Proteins to Sausage

Some folks can’t eat a lot of pork or prefer something over mild Italian ground sausage. Here’s some other ideas for proteins to use in your spaghetti sauce:

• Crab (I swear crab is DELICIOUS in a red sauce!)
• Shredded chicken (pre-made and add at the end)
• Cubed chicken (premade and add at the end)
• Ground turkey (can be added directly into the recipe in step 2 to substitute for pork sausage)
• Ground chicken (can be added directly into the recipe in step 2 as substitute for pork)
• Turkey sausages (sliced and cooked as a substitute for ground sausage right into the sauce)
• Chicken sausages (sliced and cooked as a substitute for ground sausage right into the sauce)
• Fish (cooked separately and added at the end)
• Shrimp (cooked separately and added at the end)
• NO sausage or meat
• Tofu for vegans and vegetarians