Ground Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce With Peppers

This rich and flavorful ground Italian sausage pasta sauce is packed with veggies to give you a nicely balanced meal.  

Sausage and Peppers Just Belong Together

I always chalk a hearty stick-to-your-ribs meat sauce up to being more of a cold weather meal, but this one hits different.

There’s something about the ground Italian sausage, bell peppers, and zucchini that make this sauce just fine for the warmer months.

We’ve always been a fan of sausage and peppers here—but up until now we’ve only featured them together with our sheet pan turkey sausage and peppers, sheet pan sausage and peppers on a bun, and on this sausage and roasted red pepper pizza.

So, it was time to make the combo sing with pasta!

How to Cook Italian Sausage for Pasta

Start by browning the ground sausage in a pot. Once the sausage is just cooked, remove it with a slotted spoon and set it aside.

Once the rest of your sauce comes together, stir the sausage into it, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Easy!

The Ingredients You’ll Need

• Olive oil
• Ground Italian sausage
• White onion
• Green bell pepper
• Zucchini
• Garlic
• Tomato paste
• Chicken broth
• Canned crushed tomatoes
• Fresh parsley
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper

How to Make Ground Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce With Peppers

1. Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Once it’s warmed, add the ground sausage and break the sausage up with a spatula into crumbles as it cooks.
2. Remove the cooked sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon, leaving the juices in the pot, and set aside.
3. Stir the onions, peppers, zucchini, and parsley into the pot. Hit it with a generous amount of salt, then let it simmer for 5-8 minutes or until the veggies are tender.
4. Add the garlic and stir, letting it cook for about 30 seconds.
5. Pop the tomato paste and chicken broth into the pot and give it a good stir, letting the tomato paste melt into everything.
6. Stir in the tomato sauce and, finally, add the sausage back to the pot.
7. Cover and simmer on low for about 30 minutes.

Recipe Tips + Tricks

• If you keep parmesan rinds in your freezer, now it a great time to use one! Pop a parmesan rind into the sauce before you cover it to simmer to enrichen the flavor of the sauce.
• Any noodle variation can be used with this sauce, but the best noodles to use for a hearty sauce like this are fat chewy ones. We love using pappardelle or rigatoni.
• You can replace the zucchini with any kind of summer squash; you could also use chopped mushrooms!
• If you want to add some heat, use hot Italian sausage and add chili flakes at your leisure.
• Red, orange, or yellow bell peppers can be used in place of green, but they’re all sweeter, so they will add a bit of a sweetness to the flavor profile.
• We love serving this with a hunk of burrata! The creaminess really cuts through the richness of the sauce leaving you with a nice balance. You could also use ricotta or cottage cheese.

Have You Made This Recipe?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a STAR rating & commenting below with feedback!

You can also show off your creations on Instagram by tagging @killing__thyme

Other Sausage Recipes You’ll Enjoy

• Sheet Pan Sausage and Peppers on a Bun
• One-Pan Tortellini and Sausage Skillet Dinner
• Sheet Pan Turkey Sausage and Peppers
• Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

SaveSaved Pin Print

5 from 14 votes

Ground Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce With Peppers

By: Dana Sandonato

This rich and flavorful ground Italian sausage pasta sauce is packed with veggies to give you a nicely balanced meal.  

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Want to save this recipe?

Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Email *

Save Recipe

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 TBSP olive oil
• ▢ 1 lb ground Italian sausage, Mild or hot, it's up to you!
• ▢ 1 cup diced white onion
• ▢ 1 cup diced green bell pepper, You can use red, orange, or yellow instead, but these variations are sweeter and will slightly sweeten the sauce.
• ▢ 1 cup diced zucchini
• ▢ 3 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
• ▢ 2 TBSP tomato paste
• ▢ 1/2 cup chicken broth
• ▢ 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• ▢ Fresh parsley
• ▢ Sea salt, to taste

For serving:

• ▢ 1 lb pasta—something fat and chewy is suggested, like pappardelle or rigatoni
• ▢ 8 oz burrata, divided (optional)
• ▢ Cracked black pepper

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions 

• Heat up the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
• Once the oil has warmed, add the ground sausage to the pot. Using a spatula or meat masher, break it down into crumbles as it cooks.
  
• When cooked, remove the sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon; set it aside.
• Bring the onions, peppers, zucchini, and parsley to the pot. Hit them with a generous amount of salt and let them all simmer for about 5-8 minutes, or until the veggies are tender.
  
• Stir in the garlic, letting it cook for about 30 seconds.
• Spoon the tomato paste into the pot, and then add the chicken broth; give it a good stir until the tomato paste melts into everything.
  
• Pour the tomato sauce into the pot, then stir in the sausage.
  
• Cover and let it all simmer on low for about 30 minutes.

Notes

• Pop a parmesan rind into the sauce before you cover it to simmer. This will enrichen the flavor of the sauce!
• If you prefer, you can replace the zucchini with any kind of summer squash or use chopped mushrooms.
• Use hot Italian sausage and add chili flakes to spice things up.
• Optional, but adding a nice hunk of burrata cuts through the richness of the sauce, leaving you with a nice balance. Other options include ricotta or cottage cheese.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 157kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 624mg | Potassium: 198mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g

Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!