One-Pan Butternut Squash Sausage Pasta, a cheap and easy dinner recipe that can please the whole family. A delicious alternative to the good old pasta with tomato sauce, this dish is a fantastic recipe for toddlers who can use their little hands to feed themselves.
As a mum of two little girls, I make sure that pasta never misses from my pantry. It always makes an excellent last minute meal, and saves the day when I have no idea what else to put on the table.
Pasta is particularly great for baby-led weaning, as babies can use their little hands to feed themselves, or just explore different textures and tastes. And it's definitely a great dinner recipe for toddlers who get all the goodness from one plate: carbs, veggies and protein in one meal.
Butternut squash is naturally sweet, so that's always a winner with kids. It coats the pasta beautifully, so there is no need for jarred sauces at all.
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How to make butternut squash sausage pasta
You gotta love one-pot pasta recipes. Quick, easy, and most importantly, only one pot to worry about. Cleaning it is also easy peasy. Together with my One-Pot Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta and One-Pot Cheesy Ground Beef Pasta, this squash and sausage pasta is one of my favourite midweek dishes.
- start by slicing the sausages and fry them in a pan with a bit of oil. You can use any kind of sausages you like, pork, chicken, vegetarian, vegan, you name it!
- add the cubed butternut squash and spring onions, vegetable broth and pasta, and leave to cook with the lid on until the pasta is cooked through and the liquid is evaporated
- season to taste and garnish with parsley
And that's it, super quick and easy, it's it? Fussy toddlers approved this, I am telling you now! So, what's with the butternut squash and sausage pasta casserole that made the toddler eat so well?
It's a delicious combination of sweet butternut squash, cooked until mushy to form a sauce, cheesy goodness, yummy sausages, lots of parsley, and pasta, all cooked in the same pot.
Can you freeze this dish?
Yes, absolutely! It's best to portion it though before adding it to a freezer-friendly container, in this way you reheat just the right amount you need. And you can use either fresh butternut squash, or frozen one. Some shops sell frozen butternut squash cubes, so that's quite handy.
I had a bag of frozen butternut squash cubes, so all I had to do is boil them for about 5 minutes in hot water, then cut them up in cubes, and add them to the pan. Since that pasta takes about 20 minutes or so to cook, the butternut squash becomes mushy, making it the most delicious sauce. Do give it a go!
What else can I use instead of butternut squash?
Any squash works well here, or, why not, other Fall favourite vegetables: sweet potatoes and pumpkin, but also carrots or a combination of any of these. Just follow the same instructions, and the texture should not change much, if at all.
More pasta dishes to enjoy with the family
Chicken alfredo penne pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach
Clean-eating lean turkey spaghetti bolognese
If you’ve liked my ONE-PAN BUTTERNUT SQUASH SAUSAGE PASTA or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
One-Pan Butternut Squash Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups fusilli pasta
- 400 g sausages
- 1 cup cubed butternut squash
- 1 spring onion
- 3 cups low-salt vegetable stock (broth)
- 2 tablespoon freshly-chopped parsley
- a pinch of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ cup grated Cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Slice the sausages, add the olive oil to a pan and fry the sausages for about 5 minutes until cooked through.
- Cut the spring onions and add them to the pan together with the butternut squash.
- Give it a good stir, then add the pasta and the vegetable stock, and cook with the lid on for about 20 minutes until the pasta is cooked and the liquid is nearly evaporated. Stir a few times while it cooks,
- Add the cheese, season with black pepper, give it a good stir, then add the chopped parsley and remove from the heat.
- Serve hot!
Notes
- If you'd like to see the measurements in CUPS and OUNCES, please click on the US CUSTOMARY link.
- The amount of ingredients can be adjusted according to the number of servings you need, please click on the number of servings to change it.
- You can use any kind of sausages, pork, chicken, turkey, vegetarian or vegan.
- I opted for a low-salt vegetable stock as the sausages added enough flavour and salt to the dish, so there was no need for added salt. Feel free to add more if you like.
- Any kind of pasta can be used, it does not have to be fusilli.
- Butternut squash can be swapped for sweet potatoes, pumpkin or carrots.
Nutrition
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Adina says
So it gets better as they grow up. They would still not eat everything (vegetables are still an issue) but at least they are trying, even if it's a little bit and if I serve them one type of veggie several times in a shorter period of time they actually stop fussing about it so much. 🙂 Both my kids would absolutely love this pasta dish, provided I mash the pumpkin a little bit so that they don't actually see the pieces... Pumpkin only bothers them in rougher format, if it's mashed they don't mind it at all. Go figure! 🙂
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you, it's reassuring to know things get better. I really struggle to come up with recipes that my daughter will eat. Good to know things might change later on 🙂