Spaghetti with Sausage and Simple Tomato Sauce Recipe (2024)

Enjoyed the dish and would make it again. Used pork jalapeno & cheddar sausage that was very spicy. Drained the tomatoes to address previous reviewers' complaints about watery sauce, and I'd repeat this in the future.

My market only had spicy chicken sausage, and they were very spicy! The sauce is a tad on the thin side and I let it cook down for about 12 minutes. Otherwise, very good and very easy to prepare. Perfect for a weeknight dinner.

Delicious! I roasted 3 red peppers and added them to the recipe. Amazing! Great fall and winter meal

I make this recipe a lot. I use uncooked spicy Italian sausage while I broil for a few minutes on each side, then slice and put back in the broiler to brown. Don't use precooked sausage as it tends to be touch. I also add more red pepper and garlic then asked for. In addition, I hand shave the cheese into bigger pieces and then mix it in with sauce instead of sprinkling on top. I have made this for a party of 8 and everyone loved it.

This was a BIG hit with entire family. Broiling the sausage was the key and using fresh basil. LOVE LOVE LOVE

This one to us was a just little spicy (my husband loves really spicy) but mostly tasty. Will definitely make again! Very few ingredients and very easy to make.

Not sure why this is so highly rated. Watery and pretty bland except for the red pepper and sausage. Most importantly: not worth 460 calories!!!

Cooked as written, and was very pleased. A quick, hearty weekday dinner. May saute some onions or mushrooms next time, just for variety.

I thought this was a perfect weeknight meal when craving something hearty and healthy. I added onion to the sauce and saute before addding the tomato. I also let the sauce reduce longer than four minute to eliminate some of the water from the tomatoes, as well as adding in some coursely chopped grape tomatoes (just had some left in the fridge). I also added oregano and seasoned to taste. It was savory, spicy and delicous!

Just made this for dinner and it was amazing. How could so few ingredients turn into something like this. The sauce was not watery at all. I did use canned plum tomatoes. I really think the quality of the sauce depends on the quality of the canned tomatoes. I also added a little dried oregano but made no other changes. I will not buy jarred sauce ever again!

Very very good for a healthy dish. Tastes fresh (despite the canned tomatoes) and light, but the sausage gives it a little hartiness (sp?). Will definitely make regularly.

I LOVED this spaghetti! I don't have a food processor, so I used canned tomato sauce. To bulk it up, I also added sauteed canned mushrooms and half of a tomato, finely cut up, which I sauteed with the mushrooms. I also used mild Italian sausage instead of the recommended hot sausage. We don't like spicy, so the red pepper was enough for us. But other than these changes, which were mainly personal preference, the spaghetti was wonderful. I would recommend it!

I used crushed tomatoes, and a little oregano. I also broiled the sausage, after it had been sliced for longer than it said to, so they would get a little more crispy. My kids gobbled it up, and I thought it was great as well.

This is a regular in our meal rotation - very easy and tasty - especially like the red pepper flakes, they add a nice flavor to this dish.

This was a wonderful dish! The best thing about it was the time it took; it was completely ready in 20 minutes (I cooked the sausage while I made the sauce). Will definitely make again!

This is one of my family's all time favorites. Not only is it easy but so good. I agree with some of the other posts, fresh basil really adds to it. Makes for a great dinner.

This was yummy!! Very yummy. I did add some Italian Seasoning and garlic salt, and a little more crushed red pepper flakes than it asked for. I really couldn't taste the spice. I did broil the sausage as well. However, when I make this again, I think I will just crumble the sausage and cook it with the garlic and red pepper flakes and add it to the sauce so that it's more evenly distributed. It didn't feel like enough sausage the way the recipe goes.

We love this dish and have made it several times. We use spicy turkey sausage for extra zip. Great easy recipe.

I omitted the garlic, used mild chicken sausage instead of hot turkey sausage, and halved the red pepper. We liked it, but it was still too spicy.

I didn't have any sausage on hand, so took suggestion of making with shrimp, so a slightly different dish than what others reviewed. I agree the sauce is simple and very basic, but that gives you a lot of latitude to personalize it. I added more garlic, basil and hot pepper flakes and a little fresh oregano as well. Doubt I'll make again any time soon, but did enjoy that night.

Good, easy, easy and good. Only change I made was to put in half hot and half sweet Italian sausage, because my girlfriend doesn't do hot. Make it!

Really liked browning the sausage first, have never done this at home, don't know why not, it gave the dish a distinctive texture & flavor. (Nearby we have an Italian tavern open since the 1930s that browns their sausage.) Used petite diced tomatoes undrained, not blended, otherwise made to recipe. Quick & easy.

This is a staple in my house. The sauce is so easy to make, and so delicious. I doubled it, and we ate on it all week. I paired with a salad and the No-Knead Overnight Thyme and Parmesan Rolls from the same issue. I do think the sauce as is is very watery, however if you use crushed tomatoes instead you can omit the blending step, and the sauce is perfect - not too thick, not too watery.

I thought this recipe was delicious. It was surprising how the simple ingredients were so flavorful. I added extra basil. I think the fresh basil is the key..along with the Parmigiano-Reggiano. If you skipped those ingredients you really missed out!

Me and the hubby really enjoyed this, but not really any more than regular spaghetti. A friend of mine made this recipe before I did and she told me that the sauce really needs some spices. So, I added salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. I did really love the broiled sausage...the crispier the better!

This is simply great - simple and very delicious. We prefer sweet italian turkey sausage so I substituted - but because we wanted the heat I doubled the red peper. We also used whole wheat pasta in place of regular pasta. I may have reduced the sauce more than 4 mins but it wasn't runny and it was DELICIOUS. My husband will request this weekly I'm certain. We had salad and steamed vegetables to keep the calories down. Thank you Cooking Light - my husband says "it's as good as pasta dishes we've had in Rome!".

I used a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes to avoid the food processor (and subsequent clean-up) and sweet Italian sausage. Sauce was not runny as others have described. With the amt of crushed red pepper, this dish is spicy enough without the hot Italian sausage. I would even reduce the amt of red pepper next time for the little ones in the family. I liked the idea of broiling the sausage. Very easy to cook.

My husband and I liked this recipe but (like other reviewers), thought the sauce was sort of watery. We enjoyed it reheated the next night even more as the sauce was thicker. Substituted dried basil and Parmesan cheese, but otherwise followed the recipe. Served it with a fruit salad. We'll make this again.

I thought this recipe was fantastic, though I suppose I did change it quite a bit. I made CL's Ultimate Quick-and Easy Pasta Sauce instead of the Simple Tomato Sauce. I gathered from some reviews that the Simple Sauce wasn't anything wonderful, so I decided to use a sauce that I really like. The recipe was great> I used whole wheat fettucine because that was all I had. Next time I am going to use whole wheat spaghetti. I am definitely going to make this again.

This was a good solid weeknight recipe. It was quick to make and tasty but not overly special or memorable (not a huge deal, recipes like this often end up rotated in more often than super exciting ones!!)> Followed the recipe exactly with italian turkey sausage from a local butcher. The sauce would stand up to whole wheat pasta but we used smart pasta instead because it was what we had.

I thought this was a great dish but it was a little too spicy. I used an italian chicken sausage since I could not find the turkey variety in my stores. It was very simple to prepare and other than the heat my family loved it. I will try this one again with less pepper.

this wasn't throw-in-the-trash-and-order-a-pizza or anything, but i gave it only one star b/c i "would not make again". i followed the recipe exactly, but the sauce was so liquidy that it was more like spaghetti sitting in tomato soup.

This was too spicy for my family and I decreased the red pepper to 1/4 teaspoon.

My husband can't get enough of this one. I made it with regular italian sausage the first time, we liked the taste much better then with the hot italian. I've also added a can of tomato paste to make it richer. Great as leftovers the next day

We loved this red sauce. My dd thought it was the best sauce ever! It was easy...I followed the recipe exactly (except for extra garlic!!). I'll be making extra to freeze for the future.

This was a quick and easy dinner. Not the most flavorful sauce, but for a weeknight dinner it was delicious. Only thing is I wouldn't make it with the dressing that was recommended with it for a side salad, it was too potent and changed the flavor of the pasta. My husband wasn't a fan at first, but then when he ate the leftovers the next day, he loved it!

My family loved this recipe. The only problem I had was trying to find the hot turkey sausage so I subed in hot pork sausage. Served with salad and garlic bread. My son is still asking when we can have this one again.

I must have done somethign wrong if so many people loved this recipe. I thought it wasn't any better than a jar sauce and I wasn't impressed with it.

So simple and delicious I have my 14 year old make it for us when I'm too busy! Modified for vegetarian - use morning star grillers instead of sausage.

I think this is the first time I've been disappointed in one of the "Dinner Tonight" selections. I found it quite bland other than the sausage. Frankly, I'd have preferred to use one of the better canned spaghetti sauces and added the sausage to that. It would have been easier and tastier.

So Easy! Used whole wheat spaghetti, hot chicken sausage, and San Marzano tomatoes. Very flavorful. However, for those sensitive to spicy dishes,(like myself) you may want to decrease the crushed red pepper, this dish is hot. Served along side salad with roasted shallot vinaigrette,(also CL). Will definitely make this again.

this was soooo simple and really delicious. I made it exactly as the recipe was written, although I did sub shirataki noodles for spaghetti (it saves about 150 cal per serving!) Loved the spice from the pepper and the sausage. Not too spicy though, just enough!

Very disappointing. I prepared the recipe exactly as printed. The red pepper flakes added to the hot turkey sausage resulted in a dish in which the spicing was much too raw. I would never make it again.

This was an easy throw together weeknight meal. i used leftover andouille sausage from last weeks gumbo. it was fantastic! i used shaved parm and it was just as good. i also substituted the refrigerated pasta to cut down some cook time. i will definitely make this into the two week rotation!

Very good and so easy for a weeknight. I added oregano and a few other spices and cooked the sauce for a lot longer but only b/c it was all assembled so quickly, we were not ready to eat yet.

This was a great simple shortcut recipe to enjoying a traditional homemade pasta sauce. It was savory and spicy. Great for a weeknight!

This was EASY and yummy! My kids aren't spicey people, so we didn't do spicey sausage, nor add the red pepper. But, it was delicious nontheless with lean turkey sausage, whole wheat pasta, and the VERY simple sauce. I loved the basil on top-nice earthy taste. DEFINITELY will make again-thanks!

Very simple and delicious. Great way to cook sausage, have never broiled it before. I used regular hot italian sausage rather than turkey.

My kids loved this - made it without the red pepper