This Italian Sausage Spaghetti features marinara sauce, fresh tomatoes, spinach, garlic, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, and fresh herbs! There is so much flavor packed into this crowd-pleasing pasta dish! The whole recipe takes only 30 minutes and requires simple ingredients found in most pantries.
Servings4 people
Calories774kcal
Table of Contents
Ingredients
Pasta
- 12 oz spaghetti
Spaghetti sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 15 oz Italian sausage mild, crumbled
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or Herbs from Provence
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes to taste
- 13 oz marinara sauce or tomato sauce
- 6 oz spinach fresh
- 4 tomatoes medium size, chopped
- salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
- fresh thyme
Instructions
Cook pasta
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Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. While the pasta cooks, proceed with the recipe below.
How to make spaghetti sauce
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Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat in a large, heavy-bottomed, high-sided skillet.
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Add crumbled sausage and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the sausage is cooked. Drain excess fat.
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To the same skillet with sausage, add minced garlic, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, marinara sauce (or tomato sauce), and fresh spinach. Bring to a boil on medium heat and stir everything well. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, for 4 or 5 minutes until the spinach wilts to your liking.
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Add chopped fresh tomatoes, and cook for about 2 more minutes.
Assembly
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Add cooked and drained pasta to the sauce. Reheat.
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Mix everything well. Remove from heat.
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Season with salt, freshly ground coarse black pepper, and red pepper flakes, if you like. Top with fresh herbs, such as thyme.
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Tip: use your best judgment about the salt. If the sausage is salty enough, you might not need to add any extra salt.
Notes
- Tomato sauce. It can be a store-bought tomato pasta sauce or marinara sauce. Any flavor will work: traditional, tomato basil, arrabbiata, or garlic tomato sauce.
- Sausage. I used mild Italian sausage. Italian sausage links can be used, too, with casings removed and sausage links sliced. You can also use sweet or spicy Italian sausage.
- Italian seasoning of Herbs from Provence. The mix that I used contained dried rosemary, thyme, parsley, tarragon, marjoram, basil, and sage.
Nutrition
Calories: 774kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 1261mg | Potassium: 1282mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 5457IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 5mg
