Orecchiette Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli
Orecchiette Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli is one of my favorite weeknight pasta dishes, a real crowd-pleaser, and my husband even goes back for seconds. This is the only way I can get Madison to eat broccoli, I cook the pasta and broccoli at the same time all in the same pot, which creates a pesto-like broccoli sauce the kids can’t pick out (trust me, it’s so good!).
But what I really love about this dish is that it’s ready in less than 20 minutes, and makes enough for leftovers (an easy lunch for Madison which I pack in her thermos) I personally like to add some crushed red pepper flakes to my bowl, up to you!
Here’s a video to shot you just how easy this dish is!
Orecchiette Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli
Orecchiette Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli is one of my favorite weeknight pasta dishes, a real crowd-pleaser, and my husband even goes back for seconds. This is the only way I can get Madison to eat broccoli, I cook the pasta and broccoli at the same time all in the same pot, which creates a pesto-like broccoli sauce the kids can’t pick out (trust me, it’s so good!).
Ingredients:
- 14 oz package Italian chicken sausage, casing removed
- 12 oz uncooked pasta (or brown rice or quinoa pasta for gluten-free)
- 6 1/2 cups fresh broccoli florets, no stems (16 oz)
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
Directions:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Meanwhile heat a large nonstick skillet and brown the sausage over medium-high, breaking it up as it cooks with a wooden spoon until browned, 5 to 7 minutes; remove from heat.
- When the water boils, add the pasta and bring back to a boil, when the water is boiling, add broccoli and cook according to pasta instructions for al dente.
- When pasta is almost done cooking, reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta and broccoli.
- Return the pot to the stove and set heat to high; add 1 tbsp olive oil, when hot, add garlic. Cook until golden, about 1 minute, reduce flame to low and add pasta back to the pot with the sausage.
- Mix well, add remaining olive oil, grated cheese, salt and pepper to taste mixing well and smashing any large pieces of broccoli to break up.
- Add 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water and mix well adding more if needed.
- Serve in pasta bowls with additional grated cheese on the side, if desired.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 8 servings, Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
- Amount Per Serving:
- Freestyle Points: 8
- Points +: 8
- Calories: 284 calories
- Total Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: g
- Cholesterol: 2mg
- Sodium: 321mg
- Carbohydrates: 37g
- Fiber: 4g
- Sugar: 2g
- Protein: 17g
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So delicious! Our second time making this for dinner – love how quick, easy and flavorful it is 🙂 Also added red pepper flakes (a staple in our house).
This was fantastic, my husband loved it too. I even got my veggie and fish eating daughter to try chicken sausage and she gobbled it up. Just wondering though, I followed everything to a tee measuring with my scale but after making 1 1/2 cup portions like it said, there was no where near 8 servings, wondering where I went wrong. Perhaps next time I’ll double up the broccoli quantity so I don’t affect points.
I have been making this recipe regularly for months. It is really simple and great and earned a quick spot on the weekly dinner rotation. I don’t do the whole “1 cup of broccoli water” thing and instead use a cup of chicken broth. The water is so frothy that it was more trouble than it was worth in my opinion. But other than that I make no changes and we love this recipe. Even my 3 year old likes it!!
Gina, is there a way to adapt this to the Instant Pot?
Can this be frozen without loss of quality? There’s too much to eat in one week and would hate to waste it!
I have frozen the “Easiest Pasta and Broccoli” (which is very similar minus the chicken sausage) in the past and it didn’t hold up well for me in the freezer. I would make a half recipe instead of freezing it.
Loved this and can’t wait to make again. Going to add more broccoli and maybe add in some bell peppers and onion next time but i did love it the way it was! Just want to play around with it 🙂
Can you recommend a chicken sausage brand ? I have never had it and want to be sure I try a good one as the idea is a bit different for me.
I like Premio
Is it raw sausage or the skinny pre cooked ones? That’s all I seemed to be able to find in chicken sausage.
I’m making this tonight! Does using brown rice pasta change the WW points at all?
Sometimes it adds points
Amazing. Simply amazing.
I made this tonight and it was so good. First time cooking with Chicken Sausage. Will definitly be making this again.
This is so easy, quick and tasty, I’ll definitely be making it again! I added red pepper and chicken broth like other reviewers suggested, sooo good!
This was really tasty and satisfying , I added the red pepper flakes. Thank you.
This was SO good! Even my daughter who claims to hate broccoli, loved it and asked to have it for lunch the next day. However there were no left overs. I did make a few changes based on what I had in the house. I used med shell pasta, pre-cooked asiago and pepper chicken sausage (casings removed and cut into 1/4″ bites), and I used chicken broth instead on pasta water. The other thing I did was make a portion with spaghetti squash (replacing pasta) since I wanted to cut carbs and calories. Pasta version was a bigger hit but squash version was pretty darn good too! Thank you!