Cheesy Sausage and Spinach Pasta

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Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a relaxing weekend. 🙂 Today I’m going to share with you a quick and easy dinner recipe that I’m sure you’ll love. My One Pot Cheesy Sausage and Spinach Pasta is one of our family’s favorite dinners. One bite into this dish and you’ll see why. 🙂

This winning recipe is not only full of flavor, it’s also packed with protein. My husband is a firm believer of having protein with every meal. So when planning my meals, I always start with my protein and then build the rest of the meal around that main ingredient.

For this pasta dish my protein choice was Turkey Smoked Sausage from Hillshire Farm. Turkey sausage is not only lean, it’s also great for adding a nice smokey taste to any recipe.

I’m going to show you just how easy it is to make this fast one-pot dinner. The first step is to saute the sausage and then add some diced onions.

Once the onions are tender, add your diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and your pasta. To keep this recipe gluten-free I used quinoa pasta. But any type of dried pasta will work. After the pasta has cooked, add that beautiful green spinach. Call me weird, but I just love spinach. 🙂

Allow your spinach to cook down and then add the cheese on top. Let it set for a few minutes so all that tasty cheese can melt into a gooey goodness. 😉 Only thing left to do is grab a fork and enjoy!

I know eating meat at every meal can get expensive, but don’t worry! Right now at Safeway, you can score some major deals with coupons on the Safeway Just 4 U Website. I used the coupon below for my turkey smoked sausage. But you can also find several other types of Hillshire Brands on sale as well like Jimmy Dean frozen sausage, Lit’l Smokies cocktail links, Ball Park hot dogs and more.

If you are looking for some more delicious dinner ideas that are full of protein, check out these recipes:

Smoked Sausage and Potatoes with Broccoli

Ditalini and Sausage Soup

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

Smoked Sausage Penne Pasta

Pesto Alfredo Tortellini with Smoked Sausage

Tasty Smoked Sausage with Peppers

Chicken and Sausage Skillet with Veggies

Smoked Sausage Fried Rice

I hope you’ll give this quick pasta dish a try and let me know how it goes! What’s your favorite protein packed dinner?

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Cheesy Sausage and Spinach Pasta

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 6 oz. smoked sausage
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 8 oz. dry pasta (I used gluten free quinoa pasta)
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar and Monterrey jack cheese

Directions:

Thinly slice sausage and add to skillet with olive oil. Saute the sausage over medium until nicely browned, about five to seven minutes.

Add your diced onion to the skillet and continue to saute until onion has softened, about five minutes. Add the can of diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Stir to combine and dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet.

Add the uncooked pasta to the skillet and make sure it is submerged under the liquid. Place a lid on the skillet and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Then turn down the heat to low and allow to simmer for about ten minutes, or until pasta is tender. (Stir once or twice while cooking to keep pasta from sticking. )

Stir in the fresh spinach, one cup at a time, until welted. Be sure to keep the heat on while adding the spinach so the liquid will continue to simmer and thicken.

Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top, replace the lid and let it sit for a few moments to melt the cheese. Then it’s time to serve hot!