Our creamy Pumpkin Pasta with Italian sausage and fresh sage is pure, seasonal comfort food. This easy weeknight dinner recipe always disappears!
When the weather turns cooler, we all start craving comfort food.
Sometimes that means baking sweets, but this savory Pumpkin Pasta is far from tasting like dessert. With zippy Italian sausage, a creamy pumpkin sauce and a generous amount of fresh sage leaves, this Pumpkin Pasta is the best thing to happen to your dinner table this season.
Ingredients
Don’t be overwhelmed by the ingredient list. Almost everything is a pantry staple that you probably have on hand. A few ingredient notes:
- Pasta - I like medium-sized pasta for this recipe because I feel it works well with the sausage chunks but any pasta shape will work just fine.
- Italian sausage - Want a little kick? Go for spicy or hot sausage. Prefer a more family-friendly vibe? Choose mild Italian sausage.
- White wine - I used a Washington Pinot Gris. Opt for a drier wine instead of a sweeter one.
- Chicken stock or chicken broth may be used.
- Pumpkin puree is the only option. Do NOT use pumpkin pie filling.
Instructions
Step 1: Brown sausage with onion and garlic. Add wine, sage and bay leaf. Cook until wine is reduced by about half.
Step 2: Stir in stock, pumpkin and cream. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Step 3: Add pasta to pot with sauce and stir to combine.
Tip: Don’t feel like doing extra dishes tonight? Cook the pasta in the same pot before starting the sausage!
FAQs
Yes, but I recommend making the sauce and the pasta separately and combining when you are ready to eat so the pasta doesn’t absorb all of the sauce as it sits. Just before serving, gently warm the sauce, add the cooked pasta and heat through.
Tip: Toss your cooked pasta with a little bit of olive oil before refrigerating to keep the pasta from sticking together.
Add an equal amount of chicken stock in place of the wine.
Serving Suggestions
A killer salad is a must with this pasta recipe. A few of our favorites are this Arugula Salad with roasted grapes and feta cheese as well as this Pear Salad with candied nuts and a maple vinaigrette.
And don’t forget to check out all of our main dish recipes for more dinnertime inspiration!
More pumpkin recipes
- This flavorful pumpkin chili is made with protein-rich ground turkey for a healthier weeknight meal.
- Start your morning with a batch of these pumpkin apple waffles.
- Want some dessert recipes? These pumpkin cheesecake bars have a chocolate cookie crust for a gorgeous layered appearance. Short on time? Get some of that same cheesecake flavor with this quick and easy pumpkin dip. Or try something new with this pumpkin bars recipe that uses a pumpkin bread mix as well as pumpkin butter.
- If you prefer to drink your pumpkin, this pumpkin martini is for you. Made with Kahlúa and butterscotch liqueurs, this drink is dessert in a glass.
Recipe
Pumpkin Pasta with Sausage & Sage
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium-shaped pasta cooked and drained
- 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 bay leaf dried
- ¼ cup freshly chopped sage
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
- Parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
- Brown sausage in a large pot or skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for another 3 minutes. Add bay leaf, sage and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 10-12 minutes. Stir in chicken stock, pumpkin and cream until sauce is thoroughly combined. Season with nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer sauce for 5-10 minutes.
- Add cooked pasta to the sausage sauce and heat through. Remove bay leaf.
- Top with parmesan cheese and serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info not guaranteed to be accurate.
Add some seasonal flair to your weeknight dinner with this easy Pumpkin Pasta recipe with fresh sage and Italian sausage. This savory pasta is pure comfort food - perfect for cool, crisp fall evenings!
I love savory uses of pumpkin! This pasta dish looks AMAZING - the pumpkin/sausage combination is perfect! Great fall dish, thank you for sharing it.
What a great fall dinner idea. Love the pumpkin in this.
Pasta is always a winner at our house!
Pumpkin in savory dishes in the best! And it goes so well with the sausage!
I know! Sweet pumpkin gets all the glory, but this recipe is a dinner staple here.
I love adding pumpkin to savory dishes! This pasta dish looks amazing. So many great flavors all combined into one! Pinned!
Thanks, Danae! We love it, too!
Yay for this awesome combo! Try it - it is wicked delicious!
I knew you'd approve! 😉
This sounds absolutely amazing! A great fall dish. Yum!
It's starting to feel like fall around here this week, Patricia. Bring on the comfort foods!
Can I substitute all chicken broth instead of the wine? I'm on a very limited budget and I can't afford to buy wine.
Absolutely, Ami!
I really need to start using pumpkin in more savory dishes! This looks great!
It's almost a challenge for me now, Jessica...what other savory ways can I use pumpkin??
Anna
This was a hit. HUGE HIT!. I was eating it out of the pot it was so delicious. I called Lisa because I was out of cream and she suggested a flour/water/milk mix to thicken. Love having a chef on speed dial. 🙂
YUMMMO! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Yay! P.S. I love having Lisa on speed dial, too. 😉
Pumpkin would not be a standard choice for me either in a past recipe. But this sooooo works! I love the creamy wine sauce too.
Agreed, Carol. It's funny how the unexpected can be so lovely!
Made this for dinner tonight and everyone loved it. Only thing I did differently was used shallots instead of onions. Delicious!!
Fantastic! So glad to hear you enjoyed it as much as we do!
Thank you so much for this! We had a Big can of pumpkin purée we had opened to give our pup (who had a tummy ache) and I had no idea what to do with the reset!
I used spicy italian turkey sausage, added asparagus and used about 4oz of herb goat cheese (in place of the heavy cream)... Holy Cow!!! So Deeeelish! Thanks again! 🙂
Loooove the goat cheese variation. Must try next time!!