Garlicky Chicken Sausage Pasta

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I don’t know about you but some nights after I log off from a long day of working from home, I’m starving but have literally no energy to make something that’s terribly involved or will take more than 30 minutes from prep to serving. I also don’t want something super heavy, especially in the summer, and don’t have the patience to order out and wait for the food to be done (in the city that can take over an hour during peak times!). So, instead I, raid the fridge, and somehow, I often end up making some kind of variation of this dish.

Pasta, with a meat protein, a green veggie and some tomatoes with a little olive oil (and sometimes butter…and sometimes white wine…in the sauce and on the side, depending on the day I’ve had), garlic and lemon. It’s an old standby that always gets the job done. No fuss, lots of room for flexibility depending on the ingredients I have, and most importantly always flavorful. Did I mention it went great with white wine?

Why you should make Garlicky Chicken Sausage Pasta with Broccoli, Tomatoes and Lemon

Garlicky chicken sausage pasta with broccoli, tomatoes and lemon is a light, filling and flavorful weeknight—or, in these times, weekend—dinner meal that can be served in one pan. This meal can be made start to finish in about 30 minutes (including prep time) and is incredibly versatile as far as ingredients. Its versatility also makes it a great meal for when you’re running low on groceries or don’t have the mental energy to think of anything else to make. No matter the ingredients, if you stick to the formula of pasta + protein + green veggie + tomato + garlic, lemon & olive oil, you can basically use any variation of the first ingredients.

 

What Ingredients You Need to Make Garlicky Chicken Sausage Pasta with Broccoli, Tomatoes and Lemon

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons butter (can use salted or unsalted or can be substituted for olive oil)
• 8 oz Spaghetti (or pasta of your choice)
• 2 Chicken sausages
• 1 Head of broccoli
• 1 Medium-sized tomato
• 4 Large cloves of garlic
• ½ Lemon
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)
• Basil (for garnish—optional)
• Parmesan, asiago (optional)

 

Pro Tips/Things to Know About This Recipe:

Butter

• For this recipe, you can use salted or unsalted butter. Just be aware of the salt levels of your dish (including your pasta) if you are cooking with salted butter. A good rule of thumb is to taste your veggies and sausage at every stage in the recipe, once you start cooking, to make sure that your salt levels are always balanced.
• I don’t always use butter when I make this recipe—and you can easily sub the two teaspoons of butter for more olive oil.
• If you are only using olive oil, I would recommend using a higher quality extra virgin olive oil than you might if you were using a mix of butter an olive oil.

Chicken Sausage

• For this recipe, I used a chicken apple sausage for a more sweet flavor, but feel free to use any type of sausage you like—can even be easily subbed for veggie sausage or sausage from another type of meat.
• You can also sub the sausage for 1 medium-sized chicken breast (cubed), or about 15 shrimp. If you are going with chicken, add to skillet for 2-3 minutes to allow the meat to cook some before adding the broccoli. If you’re using shrimp, cook alone in the beginning (2 mins on each side over medium heat) and remove from the skillet and set aside until all of the veggies are done cooking. Add them back into the skillet right before you add the pasta and stir to combine. This helps avoid overcooking the shrimp.

Pasta

• I often use spaghetti for this recipe because it combines easily with the other ingredients, but you can also feel free to use penne, rigatoni, fettuccine, etc. The most important thing is that the noodles aren’t too big that they totally take over the dish (like giant shells), or too small or delicate that they can’t hold up in the dish (angel hair or pastina).

Vegetables

• The great thing about this recipe is it’s versatility. If you don’t have broccoli, you can substitue it for most other green vegetables such as peas, arugula, spinach, broccolini, kale, etc. If cooking with green leafy vegetables, add them just after adding the tomatoes in the recipe and cover skillet with lid for a few minutes. This will keep greens from overcooking.

Cooking Order

• Garlic is added at the end of this recipe to allow everything to absorb and hold onto that garlic flavor, which sometimes can fade if the garlic is added in first, and other ingredients are added in on top of it. That said, if you prefer a lighter garlic flavor, feel free to add your garlic at the beginning of the recipe either right before or right after the sausage and broccoli begin cooking.
• The cooking order of everything in this recipe is dependent on every components cook time in a skillet over medium heat. If you decide to vary any other ingredients that were not called out above, be sure to alter the order in which they are cooked in the recipe based on that ingredients individual cook time.